Something Like Winter by Jay Bell Page B

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”
    “ Of her or the countless
straight guys you’ve toyed with?”
    Ben’s face grew serious.
“It’s not like that.”
    “ I was just
teasing.”
    “ I know, but you’re
different.”
    Tim wasn’t sure what that
meant. Was he different because Ben thought he was gay, or was he
different because Ben had feelings for him? Either way, the
intensity of that look had Tim interested in anything but more
conversation. “Kiss me.”
    Ben came to him and did as
he was told. Tim started gently but then nibbled and gnawed on his
lips. He felt like he could eat Ben up, like some sort of cannibal
vampire. Kissing Ben drove Tim wild, maybe because he didn’t have
to be as cautious as he was with girls. He would have gladly spent
the rest of the day lying together in the leaves, but a twig
snapped and they both jumped. They froze, only their eyes moving as
they tried to detect more noise. When it didn’t come, they both
chuckled. Then Ben attempted to unbutton Tim’s shorts.
    “ Not here!” Tim said,
sitting up and knocking his hand away. “Jesus, we’re out in the
open!”
    Ben’s brow furrowed. “We’re
not exactly in public. No one ever comes out here.”
    “ But they could,” Tim said.
“There are houses just over there.”
    “ Fine.” Ben rolled his eyes
before a different idea occurred to him. Tim knew from his
expression that he was in trouble. “Come home with me. I’ll smuggle
you upstairs to my room, and you can stay the night.”
    “ Like your parents wouldn’t
notice?”
    “ My parents won’t care,”
Ben said. “Those are your choices. Whip it out here and now, or
come home with me.”
    “ Or I can go home and jack
off,” Tim said.
    Ben’s smile was way too
confident. “You can’t say no to me.”
    Instead of arguing, Tim
proved him right.
    * * * * *
    True to his word, Ben
smuggled him inside the house and up the stairs undetected. Ben
lived only a few blocks over, in a neighborhood old enough to have
character. The houses were a little smaller than those in the new
subdivision where Tim lived, but still decidedly middle class. Once
they reached the safety of his room, Ben slipped out again to order
a pizza for dinner.
    Ben’s room wasn’t quite
what Tim had expected. That is, it contained nothing conspicuously
gay. No posters of guys on the wall or rainbow bedspreads. Tim
couldn’t even say it was tastefully decorated, since it was all a
little eclectic. The wrinkled-up bed had probably been made in
haste. A coat rack in the corner held a jacket or two and a couple
of hats, and two identical CD shelves were maxed out. A small
writing desk against one wall held a laptop, and of course the
requisite stereo and TV finished the decor. All in all it was a
typical guy’s room, except maybe for the scented candles on the
windowsill.
    Tim felt restless, sitting
on the edge of the bed briefly before rising again to check out a
collage of photos on the wall. Most were of Ben and a pretty black
girl—the fabled Allison, most likely. In one Ben had his hair dyed
black and Allison was pretending to smoke a pen like it was a
cigarette. In another they were younger and dressed for Halloween.
Allison was wearing a man’s suit, a false mustache, and
slicked-back hair. Ben was dressed up like a woman, wearing
make-up, a horrible wig, and a tank top stuffed with two oranges
for boobs. Tim leaned in, trying to decide if Ben as a girl did
anything for him when the bedroom door opened.
    Ben walked in wearing a
hopeless expression, his mother close behind. She couldn’t be
anyone else, the family resemblance all too clear. Take Ben, make
him shorter and style that blond hair into a bob, and voilá!
    “ Sorry!” she said. “I don’t
mean to intrude. I’m June, Ben’s mom.”
    “ Tim,” he said, accepting
her extended hand.
    “ Aren’t you handsome! We’re
just about to order pizza, and I wanted to know what you
like.”
    “ Which I told her I would
run up