Page 26 of String Boys

Kelly nodded his head, caught the tempo, and started singing the words, ’cause he’d learned them when Seth had first played this song. When his mother knocked on the window and waved, Kelly was standing next to Seth singing cacophonously because he had no talent, and Seth was just about to start the super hard and fast part that beat the devil hands down.

Kelly’s mom laughed and nodded, and his sisters waved happily before they all turned toward the car—Isela included, dammit.

Seth kept playing—because if he knew a song and didn’t make mistakes, he always played through—and had just wrapped up the lightning quick ending when Isela’s father strode by, looking furious.

“Round two,” Kelly said under his breath. Seth nodded, and they started all over again, Seth playing so hard, the strings were fraying under his bow. Mr. Cortez stopped his stride across the parking lot as they stared at him, and Kelly strode over to the curtains. He’d been watching Seth for years; he understood drama. As the violin hit its final crashing chords, Kelly started to pull.

The curtains snapped almost shut just as the final chord hit and the third string on the instrument broke with a burst of sound. A two-inch space stayed open in the middle, and Kelly yanked on that, because it was a little bit broken and never shut by itself.

Seth and Kelly stood for a moment, panting, staring at each other in exultation, and then the quiet cool of the room sank into them. Seth set down his instrument just as Kelly started walking and they met at the couch, hesitating for a breathless moment before Seth cupped Kelly’s cheeks and kissed him hard.

Kelly moaned. Oh, yes. This is what kissing was supposed to be. Seth’s mouth moved over his repeatedly, tasting, licking, sucking on his lower lip, stroking Kelly’s tongue with his own. Kelly slid his hands around Seth’s waist, slipping behind his back and under his shirt, feeling the thrill of bare skin.

Seth whimpered and sank down onto the couch, Kelly joining him, mouths fused. Seth pulled away just enough to kiss the corner of Kelly’s mouth, and then his jaw and ear. He paused for a moment, his breath a magical torment.

“Nibble,” Kelly urged. Feeling Seth’s lips on his earlobe made him sweat.

Seth tugged, then sucked the lobe into his mouth and nipped, and the thing in Kelly’s pants gave a giant throb.

Seth did it again and it exploded.

“Nunghah!” Kelly gasped, pulling away and burying his face in Seth’s neck. “Oh God. Oh God. That’s no fair. No fair, no fair, no fair.”

“What’s no fair?” Seth breathed, moving to Kelly’s neck.

“I came, dammit!” The wetness in the front of his pants was spreading, and Kelly wanted to cry. “I wanted to kiss you some—mmmff….”

Seth took his mouth again, and Kelly’s groin began to swell again. Oh! Dang! Those things were magic, weren’t they? Seth’s whole body was shaking, though, and Kelly needed to help him out. He managed to pull away, and like Seth had, he moved his lips to Seth’s earlobe. He sucked gently, then again, and to his surprise, Seth shook his head no. Instead, he issued a little whine and moved Kelly’s hand to his chest. Kelly pulled away and shoved it under Seth’s hoodie, rubbing his bare skin, cupping to feel the slight mounds of pectorals, developed nicely from holding the violin. Seth made a sound in his mouth, and Kelly found flat nipples and began to gently pinch, making them not so flat, making them hard and sensitive and—

Oh! Seth groaned loudly and arched his hips and Kelly gave a long, firm pinch—

Seth groaned again and bucked up against Kelly’s thigh, shaking hard, like a violin string about to snap.

And then he broke.

The two of them collapsed onto the couch, Seth prone, Kelly on top, trembling in the coolness of the shaded living room.

Kelly didn’t want to get up, but the wetness in his shorts was getting cold and clammy and urgent.

“Seth,” he mumbled. “Seth, I’ve got come in my pants.”

“Yeah,” Seth said, sounding shocked. “So do I. I didn’t know I could do that.”

Kelly pulled back and squinted. “You never had a wet dream? A fantasy? Rubbed one out after dark?”

Seth’s face, which had gone blotchy under the faded clay-brown of his skin, was suddenly suffused with a rosy undertone.

“No,” he said, sounding lost. “I… I didn’t know I liked boys.”

“Then what did you dream about?” He was such a mystery, this boy Kelly had loved forever.

“Music,” Seth said simply. “And sometimes your eyes.”

Kelly giggled, burying his face against Seth’s throat. “You’re such a faraway boy,” he said, rubbing his cheek against Seth’s. “But you dreamed about me.”

“Your eyes make me happy,” Seth said, kissing his hair.

“You make me happy,” Kelly told him, closing his eyes. His heart was so big, it hurt.