Page 33 of String Boys

“This is the dumbest thing,” he said, kissing it on the head and rubbing it against his cheek. Seth saw movement from outside and gestured with his chin. Kelly lowered his hand and looked out the window, waving merrily to his mom and dad. Agnes ran up to Seth’s window, her customary black pigtails bobbing as she blew a bubble on the glass. Seth laughed and put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder.

“I got something for them too,” he said, and ran to the door, grabbing the candy necklaces from the end table as he did so. “Agnes!” She stuck her head inside cheekily.

“Did you get me candy hearts?” she lisped, her front teeth a second-grade casualty, like the teeth of every other kid in her class.

“Of course,” he said. “Don’t I always?”

She nodded like a bobble doll and took the necklaces from him. “Ooh… Lily and Lulu will be all excited. Their Valentine’s Day sucked. Some stupid boy said he liked Lily, but he got them mixed up.”

Seth grimaced. It didn’t help that they both preferred jeans and flowered shirts and they traded all the time. Identical twins, except for the hair. “That’s too bad,” he said, figuring they’d put things together on their own. “Tell them I said happy Valentine’s Day, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Seth! I love you!”

Seth flicked one of her ponytails. “Love you back. Go kill someone in the arena, okay?”

She laughed. “I don’t even know what that means! I’m playing soccer.” And then she ran to where her mother waited patiently by the car.

“We have ice cream cake,” Linda Cruz called. “Come up with Kelly. Bring your dad.”

Seth nodded and waved and then closed the door. As he watched the car drive away, he started to close the curtains with the pulley and was unsurprised when Kelly’s arms wrapped around his waist.

“Mm.” Seth closed his eyes and savored Kelly’s warmth at his back.

“Your card was cute,” Kelly said softly, standing on tiptoe to whisper in Seth’s ear. “And I’m keeping it forever.”

Two kittens, draped over each other, surrounded with sparkling hearts and music notes that were superimposed on the picture. The inside had been blank, so Seth had written, “You’re my favorite song.”

“Good,” Seth whispered, turning in his arms. He hadn’t closed that final two-inch gap between the curtains, but he figured it was good enough.

“You lied to Matty, though,” Kelly said, brushing their lips together softly.

“How?”

“You’re our family. If Isela’s gonna be family after Matty knocks her up, then you’re our family already.”

Seth’s chuckle sounded strained as he remembered sex ed classes and all those surreptitiously watched videos. “You gonna knock me up?” he teased.

Kelly’s eyes went to half-mast, and he raised his chin. Seth lowered his head so Kelly could whisper in his ear, “Only if that happens when I touch your dick.”

Seth grunted, his words a touch on their own. His mouth crashed down on Kelly’s with a hunger he’d never had for food, and Kelly responded just as hard.

It was like they’d been practicing dancing at slow speed for nearly three months, and now they were going at triple time.

But it was okay now, because they knew the steps.

Kelly’s hands fumbled with Seth’s shirt and sweatshirt, and he pulled them over Seth’s head and dropped them on the floor while Seth fiddled with Kelly’s jeans. His button fly was super stubborn, and after three or four tries, he gave a growl and yanked all the buttons open.

Kelly laughed softly and put his hand on Seth’s. “It’s full in there,” he said, giving a geeky little laugh. “Careful.”

Seth buried his face against Kelly’s shoulder and groaned. “I want to touch all of your skin,” he confessed raggedly. “How do we do that?”

Kelly stepped back and yanked off both his shirts, his shoulders and torso gleaming softly brown in the low light from the lamp. They were both shirtless then, and Kelly’s jeans were halfway to his knees. He wore boxer briefs, Seth realized, licking his mouth and trying to get some moisture in there.

Tented boxer briefs.

They both locked eyes, and Kelly gave him a quick smile. “I want to kiss all your skin too,mijo,” he said, and Seth recognized the endearment.

He didn’t have a good one for Kelly, but he could be brave.