Page 16 of Out of Bounds

“And you’re not studying my brain.”

“Touche.” Brennan laughed to himself, his tongue poking out between his teeth.

I made Brennan laugh!

He tried to get the shape of the apple correct. His first attempt was an oval, but he was whittling it into proper form. He felt eyes on him, looked up, and Brennan ducked back into his book.

Cliff wasn’t sure how much time had passed. His mind went into a state of flow as he worked on his drawing, as he worked and reworked his shading and drawing.

“What?” he asked when he looked up.

“I asked how’s it going.”

Cliff surveyed his drawing. He couldn’t help but break out into a smile. It was a definite improvement from what he drew in class.

He held up his sketchpad. Brennan gave him a double thumbs up. He moved his chair to be right next to Cliff.

“Great job on the shading. You got the way the sun is hitting it.”

“It actually looks like an apple,” Cliff said. “Doesn’t it?”

“I would put it in the produce section.” Their arms brushed against one another as Brennan took the sketchpad to get a closer look. “Keep practicing. You’re on the right path. Next time, we can go over how to better control your hand for shape.”

“I’d like that.”

Brennan turned his head, their faces incredibly close. He drew his lips into a wide smile that seemed to stop time. “Who knew you were such an artist?”

“You better watch your back.”

“And I’ll whoop your ass on the court.”

“You’re welcome to try.”

“Clifford with the trash-talking. Is this how you are during games?”

“If someone starts shit, I end it.” False. Cliff never engaged with trash talk on the court.

“Savage,” Brennan said in a low growl.

“Don’t mess with me.”

Cliff didn’t knowwherethis was coming from, who this person was. The moment had seized him, whatever this moment was, even if it was only in his head. He had watched from the sidelines of life as guys and girls shamelessly flirted with each other. Now it was his turn.

Was this flirting? Does it count as flirting if one of the guys is straight?

“I knew you had a dark side.” Brennan was still smiling, still inches from his face, still looking at him.

Cliff realized he was on a ride about to careen off the tracks. Was this in his head? What was going on?

But before he could figure things out, Brennan abruptly stood up and went to the sink for a glass of water. Cliff felt relief the moment was over, but also frustration that it couldn’t continue. He couldn’t make sense of things.

“I have to get to practice. For basketball.” Practice didn’t start up for another two weeks, but Brennan didn’t need to know that.

“Yeah.” Brennan continued to gulp down his water, then refilled his glass. “I went for that long run and didn’t drink any water.”

“You need to hydrate.” This was the opposite of the banter they’d just had, as smooth as two rusty gears clanking together. “Thanks again for the lesson. Next time, we’ll do shapes?”

“We’ll do a fuckton of shapes.” Brennan finished his water and remained standing against the sink.