Page 132 of String Boys

Finally,finally, the wave receded, and Seth was whispering into the phone.

“You back with me?”

“Barely,” Kelly whispered, bringing his hand up to his mouth. He couldn’t taste Seth—he wanted to taste himself.

“Gonna show me?”

Kelly chuckled. So dirty. Like twelve-year-olds. Well, maybe not Seth. Seth hadn’t known sex until he’d looked at Kelly and seen him.

Kelly showed his hand, covered in white cream, and deliberately licked it off. Seth gave a grunt, then a moan, and as Kelly watched his face avidly in the phone, a shot of clear liquid hit his chin and spattered across his cheek.

Oh.

“Show me,” Kelly whispered, sucking on the webbing between his thumb and forefinger.

Seth did, looking him gravely in the eyes through fiber optics and thousands of miles.

Oh Lord.

His eyes….

Kelly shuddered again, in letdown, and sank into the bed, not even bothering to wipe away the decadence of the last half hour.

Even the smell of his come permeating the air felt like a release.

“Happy birthday to me,” he said, feeling comfortable in his skin for the first time in weeks.

“That wasn’t even the real present,” Seth told him, breathless and happy.

“Wasn’t that the flowers?” Kelly frowned, puzzled, and Seth’s shy, dorky smile made its appearance again.

Derp.There went Kelly’s heart, dropping down the tunnel, in love with him as he always was. It was like every time he could see the landscape of the world without Seth, he’d actuallytalk to Seth, and the world would shake him into wonderland, where love existed, all over again.

“Naw. I told you I wanted to tell you something. You still have your passport?”

Kelly had gotten it when he’d helped Seth get his. Poor Seth—all the things he’d needed. He might have space-cadeted himself right out of Italy if Craig and Kelly hadn’t stepped in and helped him get his paperwork done.

“Yeah.”

“Well, like, I’ve got this conductor, right? And he’s super rich, like, ‘a different house on three continents’ rich. And he’s going to New York for three months and….”

And Seth explained what he wanted to do, and Kelly’s heart—which had felt cramped and claustrophobic and small and angry since watching Seth disappear on a plane in August—took a great big deep breath and began to soar.

HE SHOWEREDagain and caught another Uber after that. For a moment, he thought about calling Vashti but decided against it.

Vashti had been a good friend, but not a great one.

Kelly thought they needed a little talk.

His mom was up watching television when he got home. Something dark and noir with lots of bodies and a cynical hero—the girls hated detective shows, and this was her chance to watch what she liked.

“Hey, sweetheart.” She smiled tiredly as he walked in. “Good night dancing?”

“Mm. Best part of the night was talking to Seth afterward.”

“Seth?”

“I, uh, called him. Missed him.” He spent a lot of time not talking about Seth, but the family knew.