From the Ashes by Daisy Harris

which in turn poured all over an already sopping-wet Jesse, but then he said, “Okay. You’re done.” He loosened his hold on Char’s leash.
    Char launched forward, dragging Tomas off his feet so he landed on top of Jesse.
    “Ow.” Jesse’s shout was high-pitched.
    Tomas’s knee grazed Jesse’s balls, and his chest crushed Jesse’s rib cage.
    Next to them, Chardonnay shook out the water. A tidal wave of dirty suds landed on Tomas’s face.
    From the porch, laughter exploded, with Mr. Perez joining in with his deep guffaws. Mrs. Perez shouted in Spanish so fast it might have been artillery fire. Jesse had no idea what she was saying, but he was pretty sure that “I’m not doing your fucking laundry” was in there somewhere.
    On top of him, Tomas shouted something back at his mother. He rolled over, pulling Jesse on top of him. He smiled playfully. How could the Perezes not know Tomas was gay?
    When he got them both up to standing, Tomas jogged across the yard to grab the towel he’d left at his back door. He wore a white T-shirt that was wet and dirty and clung to the swells of his arms. His worn-out jeans were covered in dirt and dog hair. Tomas looked rough and ready and like the sexiest thing Jesse had ever seen.
    “Grab me the collar?” Tomas called over. He tried to wrangle Char into the towel.
    “Nah.” Jesse ran over and took the towel out of his grip. Char would feel better if Jesse dried her off. Jesse was mad at her for the slobber, and he didn’t want her to roll around and get dirty all over again. “Let me dry her.”
    Tomas put his hand on Jesse’s back, only for a split second, but that was long enough. It seared Jesse’s skin. “I’ll be right back.”
    Jesse tried to get his emotions under control so he didn’t do something stupid, like kiss Tomas in front of his family.
    He scrubbed at Char’s fur with the towel, surprised by how much hair shed off her. She needed a brush as badly as she’d needed a bath, but that was a battle for another day.
    “Here.” Tomas walked up, holding the collar by its ends. He draped it around Char’s neck and clicked the black plastic fastening. Tomas gazed at Jesse with an expression so soulful it melted him right in place. “You ready to shower?”
    Jesse shivered, remembering he was cold. “Oh yeah.” He turned to Chardonnay and waved his finger at her. “I hope you appreciate all the work we just did.”
    She panted and danced around in that scooting way of hers. With her tongue sticking out, it looked like she smiled.

    They made out slowly that night, rubbing off into the space between their bodies, with Tomas on top. That seemed to be Tomas’s favorite way to get off.
    Jesse enjoyed it, though he wished Tomas would accept a blowjob.
    For the next week and a half, Jesse and Tomas settled into a pretty stable pattern. Tomas drove Jesse into the city on the mornings he went to work, and on other days, Jesse used his forty-five-minute commute to study. They had dinner on their own on weeknights, but when Jesse agreed to eat at the bigger house on Saturday, Diego and his kids hadn’t shown up.
    The second weekend Jesse lived at Tomas’s house, they took Chardonnay to the dog park in Bellevue. Char pulled like crazy at first, but once Tomas convinced Jesse to let her run free, she trotted along beside them. She liked every dog she met, and several bouts of butt sniffing broke out. After that, Char would put her shoulders down and her ass up and start playing like a puppy.
    One time when she assumed the position, Jesse met Tomas’s eyes, and he could tell they were both thinking the same dirty thoughts. Not about the dog, of course, but about each other. Jesse tried to laugh, but he knew he was blushing.
    They didn’t talk about sex, not directly at least. Jesse wanted to tell Tomas he was a virgin but wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Not that it mattered. Tomas had respected his no-sex rule since the first night and never even hinted he