A Good Enough Reason by C.M. Lievens Page A

his words. “What do you mean?”
    “You sure you have the time to hear this? It’s gonna be pretty long.”
    He heard Matt move and fabric rustle. “Sure. Come on, hit me.”
    “Ah, you remember when we watched porn together?” It’d been the first and only time they’d done that together. It was too awkward.
    “How could I forget? We looked everywhere but at each other for two days after that.”
    It made Ellis smile, and he knew he’d done the right thing by calling Matt. “Well, I kind of did it again, with someone else.”
    “You’re kidding me, right?”
    “No. I wish I was, though.”
    “I take it it didn’t go well?”
    “It was even more awkward than when I did it with you.”
    “Ouch. Who was it?”
    “Umm, Dale.” Ellis had expected Matt to start yelling, but he stayed oddly silent. “Matt? You still there?”
    “You mean Dale Stephens?”
    “Didn’t we already have that conversation the other day?” Ellis joked, but it fell flat.
    “Ellis. Was it Dale Stephens?”
    “Yeah, of course it was.”
    “And he agreed to it?”
    “What do you think I did, Matt? It’s not like I tied him to his bed. Of course he agreed. In fact, it was his idea.”
    “Ellis Aylmer, you better start explaining right now. I want to know where you were, why you were there, and how Dale asked you to do that. Now.”
    “I miss your bossy self.”
    “I bet you miss all of me. Now talk.”
    “It’s not like we decided to do it, not exactly. It was just a bet, I guess.”
    “Who bet you to jack off together?”
    “No one. He read some of my fan fiction, and I was surprised to see he wasn’t running away screaming after the sex bits, so he challenged me to watch straight porn. We went to his house, he put a DVD in, but instead of watching it, we kind of looked at each other.”
    “Who took his cock out first?”
    “Matt!”
    “Don’t be a prude, El. Who took his cock out first?”
    “He did,” Ellis mumbled. He did feel better talking to Matt, but he could have done without the third-grade interrogation.
    “And he was looking at you?”
    “Yeah, the entire time.”
    “You were looking at him?”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me you like him?”
    “What?” Ellis yelled. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
    “El, it’s me. Matt. Your best friend. Of course I know you like him. You’ve been talking about him for days.”
    “That’s not true.” Except it was.
    “What did we talk about the last time I called?”
    “Dale,” Ellis grumbled. “But it was only to tell you who I’d been partnered with!”
    “Okay, so who did you talk about in your last e-mail and in the ones before that?”
    “Dale.” Ellis didn’t want to admit it, but if he couldn’t tell Matt, who could he tell? “Fine. I might like him. Maybe.”
    “Good boy. Now what are you going to do about it?”
    “What can I do about it, Matt?” Ellis sighed. “He has a girlfriend, and it’s not like he declared eternal love to me.”
    “No, but he did jack off looking at you. That’s a big indication he likes your body, at least.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Trust me, El.”
    “Still, what do I do tomorrow? It’s going to be weird as heck.”
    “Act normally, as if nothing happened. If he does like you, maybe it’ll spur him to do something about it, and if he doesn’t, at least you guys won’t be too awkward. You have to work together after all.”
    Ellis wished it would be that simple, but he doubted so.

Chapter Six
     
     
    ELLIS TURNED to look at the honking car and smiled when he saw who was driving. It stopped next to the curb, and he quickly climbed in. He fastened the belt before turning toward Seth. “My savior.”
    Seth snorted. “Savior, my ass. You were nearly there anyway.”
    “Ah, but you saved me from completely freezing my ass off.”
    “No talking about asses unless they belong to females. But then I guess you wouldn’t know anything about those.”
    “Hey, I can appreciate