Page 128 of Pride High 2: Orange

“It could have been a stack of fucking pianos! Makes no difference to me! Where does the dipshit live?”

“In Colorado Springs.”

Diego gritted his teeth. “Lucky for him.”

“You’d beat him up for me?”

Diego hesitated, reminded of a girl he’d been involved with who had wanted to piss off her ex-boyfriend. He wasn’t falling intothattrap again.

“I wouldn’t want you to anyway,” Ricky said. “I loved Jeremiah. I guess part of me still does. I just… don’t want to get hurt again.”

Diego thought of all the girls he’d made cry. “Then you’re doing the right thing. I’ll make it easy on you and keep my dick in my pants.”

“But just for now,” Ricky said. “It’s not like Ineverwant to. I mean, assuming that you want to.”

“Yeah, of course,” Diego said. He was more than willing to find somewhere secluded to park. A blowjob would be awesome right about now.

Ricky was still looking at him funny. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

Diego snorted. “No.”

“Have you ever wanted one?”

“Nope.” He didn’t like the way Ricky’s forehead creased, so he added, “I never wanted a girlfriend either. But I liked having them around. While it lasted.”

“So you’re not into relationships?”

Diego thought about the void that was inevitably left behind when he scared people away, and how much it felt like starting over again. No dad, no friends, not even a mom, since she was something else now. Just him on his own in a world that was somehow both terrifyingly huge and suffocatingly small.

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“So it’s not hopeless?”

Diego didn’t answer. Not right away, because he wasn’t the kind of person who clung to hope. That sort of optimistic bullshit didn’t serve him well. But with Ricky around, Diego found himself believing all sorts of stupid things. Like how getting a role in a school play could somehow solve his problems. Which it didn’t. But ithadbeen fun.

“Not completely,” he said at last.

This seemed to cheer Ricky up. They parked at a burger joint and ate inside while commiserating about how school would start again soon. But at least they would see each other every day. Diego drove him home afterwards and parked next to the curb. He left the engine running.

“See you in PE, I guess,” Diego said.

“Yeah.” Ricky didn’t move. He kept staring at him like he wanted something.

A fist bump? A tongue in his ear? Some sort of guarantee that everything would be okay? Diego wasn’t sure. In the end, Ricky looked disappointed before saying goodbye and climbing out of the car. Diego’s stomach sank while watching him trudge through the snow to the front door. Whatever they had, it was already starting to fall apart. Maybe that’s why he didn’t drive away. Diego figured he should at least make sure Ricky got inside okay, but he was still standing there on the front porch.

Only at first. Ricky dashed across the lawn and threw open the passenger side door to climb inside.

“Forget something?” Diego asked.

“Yeah,” Ricky replied. “This.”

He kissed Diego so suddenly that he barely had time to react. He did though, kissing him back before giving into laughter.

Ricky pulled away with a look of concern. “Was that okay?”

“Yeah,” Diego said. “Definitely.”

“Okay.” Ricky seemed relieved. “See you at school tomorrow.” And with that, he was out the door and racing across the lawn.