Page 126 of Bobby Green

Reg shook his head, and Bobby could see his shy smile in the dark. “Maybe a little while longer. Maybe until we know this thing I’m doing works.” He ducked his chin. “I really want to promo an event with you in it.”

Bobby laughed, and Reg covered his eyes. “It’s dumb! I know it’s dumb! But… but you are so….” He pulled his hand away from his eyes and cupped Bobby’s cheek. “So beautiful,” he said, biting his lip again. “So hot. And I love that I’m not the only one who sees that. I love that the world sees that. I… I know that you bring home something that only I get. And for now, that’s enough. When it stops being enough—”

“You’ll tell me, right?” Bobby asked anxiously. God help him, he’d been the invisible kid from Dogpatch for so long. Being Bobby on Johnnies, having the whole world look at him, being beautiful, being sexy, fucking like a god—it felt powerful.

Hefelt powerful.

It had taken him a while to figure out why—why he loved his one scene every three weeks or so. Why he didn’t want to actuallybe withanyone but Reg, but why he wanted tofuck guysas long as the camera was rolling.

But now that he knew, he’d like to keep it.

Not at the cost of Reg, though.

He’d seen enough shitty human connections, even at nineteen, that he knew to treasure the ones that were wonderful.

“I’ll tell you,” Reg said softly. “I’ll tell you when it gets too hard.” He rubbed his thumb across Bobby’s lips—a tender, grown-up gesture from a man who’d tried hard to find his inner adult this last year. “I’ll tell you when it’s getting in the way.”

Bobby smiled and lowered his head for a kiss. Reg responded, and the kiss kept going. Not urgent. Notfuck me now. Just a gentle build, their mouths in the night, their hands on each other’s skin. Bobby pressed him against the bed, wanting more—not more sex, but more kissing, more touching, morethem.

Eventually their clothes came off, and their final coming together was in each other’s fists, but that was secondary. They never stopped kissing, never stopped touching—

Never stopped loving, with all they had learned.

Bobby held Reg for a long time after Reg fell asleep and before he got up and dressed, going to sit watch in the next room, because he just… just didn’t trust the well-being of the man in his arms to the sister who wasn’t able to care for him the way she probably wanted to.

Theyhadlearned a lot since October—both about each other and about themselves.

Would it be enough?

Please God—let it be enough.

AT THEend of the week, they asked Skylar and Rick to come over and sit with V while Reg went and manned his first show—but they were under strict instructions to act like they were in the closet.

Skylar had rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, just like the rest of our lives in front of my parents. Awesome.”

“Really?” Bobby grimaced. “You’re going to keep visiting and tell them you’re friends?”

Skylar shrugged. “Well, they didn’t take ‘boyfriends’ too well, right? And seriously. How often do I see them? Once a year? I mean, not everybody can be Mrs. Bobby’s Mom.”

“Vern,” Rick said maliciously. “Vern’smom.”

“And what isyourreal name?” Bobby asked, showing all his teeth. “Becausemymom is starting to call me Bobby ’cause I like it better.”

“Yeah,” Rick returned, needling. “But doesn’t that make you Bob Roberts?”

Skylar chortled. “Dude! Burn!”

Bobby let out a mock growl. “Skylar, what’s his real name?”

“Gaylord,” Skylar said promptly.

Bobby’s whole body went transcendent with joy. “Really?”

“It is not!” Rick protested. “It’s Derrick.”

“Hunh.” Bobby wrinkled his nose.

“Yeah, I know,” Skylar agreed. “It’s the epitome of anticlimax. So, no holding hands or having sex in the living room. Anything else?”