Page 34 of Something Like Winter

The haunted house itself wasn’t as cool as the ones back in Kansas, but it had all the basic requirements. Some rooms had cheap animatronic monsters; others had costumed actors who did their best to scare them. The chainsaw-wielding guy at the end could already be heard, but first they had a pitch-dark maze to navigate. Tim grabbed Ben, pulling him down a corridor and whispering the words he had been dying to tell him.

“I broke up with her.”

“With Krista?” Ben’s voice was so hopeful that Tim chuckled.

“Yeah. You were right. It’s you I like and it’s you I want.”

He pressed himself against Ben, found his lips in the dark, and kissed him. Soundtracks of creaking boards and howling monsters serenaded them, the smell of smoke machines in the air. Tim couldn’t think of a stranger place to get so turned on, but he could have taken Ben right then and there. Unfortunately, a group of girls bumped into them and shrieked. Why was the universe always throwing women at him?

Tim shouted, causing another round of shrieks that sent them away. Then he took Ben’s hand and led him out of the maze.

* * * * *

The candles were lit one by one, the Zippo lighter singeing Tim’s fingers as the last wick sputtered to life. He turned around. His room looked good in candlelight, especially with Ben in his bed. This was another birthday gift. Tim had given Ben a house key and asked him to sneak in. Having come close to losing him, Tim now needed more than just the weekend nights they shared in Ben’s room.

Of course that meant one more calculated risk. Tim waited farther down the hall, watching Ben creep into his room like a thief. Tim’s parents were out of town for the weekend, but they wouldn’t have heard a thing. Even if they did, they so rarely paid attention.

And now Ben was in his bed, curled up on his side and grinning. “So I hear you’re officially single,” he said. “Does this mean you’re back on the prowl?”

“I never stop prowling.” Tim flicked the Zippo shut, growling like a tiger.

“I see. At the ripe old age of seventeen, don’t you think it’s time you settled down with someone special?”

“Meaning?” Tim inquired.

“I want to be your boyfriend.”

“Jesus, Benjamin! You don’t let up do you?” It took all of Tim’s effort not to smile. Why not make it official? But he didn’t plan on making it easy. “It’s not enough that you make me dump my girlfriend?”

“If she was good enough for you to date, then I am twice as qualified.” Ben smirked and then sang, “Anything a girl can do, I can do better.”

“Off hand, I can think of a few things that you can’t!”

“Well, anyway. What do you think?” Ben’s expression became vulnerable. “Seriously.”

“I think I want a test drive before I buy the car.” Tim pounced on him, and after some wrestling around, shrieking and laughing, their touches became intimate. They didn’t get much sleep that night.

The next morning, Tim had the talk with Ben, hoping he had given enough to get something back. He had just returned from the bathroom when he noticed Ben was awake. After a little banter, Tim decided now was as good a time as any.

“My parents can’t know about this. No one at school either.”

Ben didn’t hold back. “So just like things were before?”

“Not like before. No Krista, no other girls, and definitely no other guys. Just me and you. I want it to stay that way.”

Ben didn’t look convinced, but Tim hoped some part of him understood. He was protecting what they had. The doors to Tim’s heart were open now. He would be Ben’s boyfriend, be loyal, do everything he could to make him happy—but Tim would never let others get near what they had.

Chapter Nine

“Trouble at home, Tim?”

Stacy Shelly sat down at the lunch table across from him. When Tim had broken up with Krista on Friday, he hadn’t imagined what the following week would be like. Parties would be easy, since they could mingle on opposite sides of the room, but school was tricky. He and Krista shared a class together and had long ago swapped seat assignments to sit next to each other. And then there was lunch. Tim didn’t know how he was supposed to handle that, so he sat alone at a different table. Until Stacy found him.

“What’s wrong?” she continued. “Daddy sleeps around? Mommy drinks too much?”

Tim glared at her. “I broke up with your best friend, and now I’m on your shit list? Is that how it’s going to be?”

Stacy pursed her lips. “Well, I did have to listen to her cry all weekend. You owe me for that. No, what really bothers me is the transparently fake reason.”