Our December by Diane Adams Page B

win the lottery and no one told me," Jared teased.
    Alex blushed."It's Clark, he's nosy, and he's trying to figure out how being gay works. We Googled some gay facial recognition stuff after we left the other day. I said you were gay, and he didn't think so." Clearly uncomfortable, Alex's shoulders tensed and he shifted his feet.
    "Pretty brave to just ask." Jared was amused.
    "He dared me." The confession made Jared laugh and they relaxed.
    "So, are those the measurements?" Alex asked.
    "Yeah, they're supposed to tell us what we're doing." Jared frowned at the once precise drawings now covered with his notations and corrections. Alex nodded but it was obvious that wasn't what held his interest. He gave Jared another sideways look. He couldn't be more than fifteen; dangerous territory for the direction the conversation seemed headed. Nevertheless, acting as if talking about being gay was wrong didn't sit well with Jared.
    "It's… scary," Alex muttered in a dead on analysis of his situation. It wasn't an easy confession, and none of it seemed like the kind of conversation someone would have with a stranger, but Jared thought it might be easier for Alex that way.
    "Yeah, it is. Very scary."
    Alex met his eyes. "You know what I mean?"
    He seemed surprised. His gaze locked with Jared's holding a desperation that gave Jared a vivid flashback to his own burgeoning sexuality. Realizing how different you are from everyone you know was terrifying, and at fifteen, even worse.
    "I know exactly what you mean. It'll be okay." Jared glanced at his watch before calling over his shoulder, "Back to work." His two-man crew put up their lunch boxes and headed back to their jobs.
    "You don't seem scared." The boy observed.
    Jared shrugged. "I'm not, anymore."
    Alex glanced back at the plans. "I didn't know construction workers had to be so smart. That's a lot of math."
    "You aren't kidding. It gives me a headache."
    "I like math. I'm really good at it." Alex looked back to where they were building. "That's wrong over there, isn't it? It won't fit that way."
    Jared felt surprised by the boy's swift analysis of the problem. "Yeah, that's right, any idea what we should do?" he asked with a wiry grin.
    Alex barked out a laugh. "No clue, dude, but I could learn to do that, except mine would work."
    Jared enjoyed Alex's enthusiasm, but they noticed Clark headed back in their direction and Alex stepped away.
    "Really, okay?" he asked with a sudden return to their previous topic, his eyes searching Jared's face for reassurance.
    Jared grinned with a confidence he didn't always feel. "Really," he promised.
    Alex didn't look convinced, but Clark was ready to go. He slapped at the back of Alex's head on his way by. Alex swatted back, moving with him towards the door. He paused there, glancing back at Jared with a grin before hurrying after his friend. Jared's heart stuttered and his mouth went dry.
    My God, a man could lose his mind to a smile like that . For half a second, he allowed himself the hopeless wish to be fifteen again. The boy's smile haunted him. It turned Alex's pleasant but average face into something of remarkable beauty. Jared knew it was ridiculous. The smile of a boy he didn't know shouldn't affect him so much.
    He'd never thought of twenty as being old before. Sighing, his practical nature regained control and Jared put Alex out of his mind and went back to work.

Second Impression
     
    Alex was on his way home from school when he noticed the house across the street was being worked on, it looked like they were adding on. He stopped to watch wondering how hard it was to do the plans for something like that. Seeing the cubbies built and meeting Jared had aroused his interest in building; the amount of math involved intrigued him. Math was his passion, but equally as interesting, at that moment, was the sign on the side of the pick-up sitting at the curb, JD Construction . He'd seen the same truck parked outside the college library when