“God. What a fucking idiot,” Alycia stated with a mouthful of ice cream.
“What?” I asked, taking the carton back.
“Mike. He’s such an asshole! I mean, really…. What did he think was gonna happen?”
“I dunno. Maybe he thought we were gonna start boning in the middle of dinner?” Wesley suggested, taking the ice cream carton away from me.
“Wesley!” I shouted, because of what he said and because he stole the ice cream.
“I mean, if that’s what he was expecting, then we wouldn’t wanna let him down,” he continued, blocking the ice cream from me.
Alycia laughed, leaning back in her chair. “Oh, ew! Please, just not in front of me. As far as I’m concerned, Toren’s asexual and….”
“Oh no, you’ve got it so wrong. Toren’s very sexual and very, um… passionate,” Wesley said with a grin at the corner of his mouth and a lascivious look in my direction.
“Oh my God! Look at how red you are! Toren, you look like a tomato!” Alycia squealed.
I knew I was bright red, but I couldn’t help myself. Wesley laughed and pushed the ice cream toward me.
“Will you guys shut up?” I said, hiding my face behind my hands.
“Aw, you’re so cute!” Alycia teased, poking my arm.
I finally got them settled down, and we watched TV in the living room until about one in the morning. Alycia left a message for Mom that she was staying the night, and I hoped Mom wouldn’t be able to tell she was stoned by her message. I brought out a blanket and a pillow for Alycia and set them down on the sofa. We said good night, but Alycia stopped us. She came up to me and kissed my cheek.
“Thanks for dinner. And for listening. You guys are the best.”
Chapter 27
“HEY! WELCOME home! How was your first day of school?”
“It was good,” I answered, dropping my book bag at the door. Wesley was wearing my apron and he looked so cute. “What are you doing?” I asked, giving him a kiss and glancing into the kitchen.
“No! Don’t go in. I’m making dinner and it’s a surprise,” he said, pushing me into the living room. I peeked as I was pushed past the kitchen and it looked like it exploded. “Dinner’ll be ready soon, so just sit down and be a good boy.”
“You look good in an apron,” I said and grinned. I sat down on the sofa, and Wesley shook his ass before returning to the kitchen. I laughed and thought he would look better if he were wearing only the apron. I sighed with a grin; Wesley’s fantasies were starting to affect my own.
I turned on the TV and waited. There was a loud crash followed by a string of cuss words. I got up and asked if he needed help, but he adamantly denied it. A couple minutes later, Wesley made his appearance with two plates, two forks, and a large, proud grin.
“I know it’s not much, but I can’t really make anything better, unless I had meat and a grill,” he prefaced and handed me a plate and a fork before sitting down beside me.
There was a stack of pancakes on the plate and on the top one, “LOVE YOU” was spelled out with chocolate chips. I smiled and looked at Wesley. He blushed and watched me eagerly.
“This is so sweet!” I said, leaning over and pecking Wesley’s cheek. He smiled proudly and waited for me to take the first bite. “Yummy!”
We finished dinner and flipped through channels on the TV. I stretched my legs out and leaned into Wesley. He put his arm around my shoulders and I felt so happy that I could burst.
“I guess Alycia really broke up with Mike,” I said, looking down at my lap. “I talked to my mom this morning. I still can’t quite believe it. They were together more than a year. Since Alycia was a sophomore,” I said, wringing my hands.
“That’s too bad,” Wesley answered. Then he laughed. “Well, at least Jeremy’ll be happy to hear it. He’s crushing on your sister pretty bad.”
“Still, I can’t believe they broke up. I can’t help but feel bad about it.”
Wesley stared at me a moment. “You’re not feeling guilty, are you? ’Cause it’s not your fault. Even if we weren’t gay, your sister’s not the type who would want to be with someone who thought that way. It was probably gonna happen sooner or later, so it’s better she found out sooner rather than later.” He put the remote down in his lap and tapped my leg. “Okay?”
“Yeah, I know. But still, I can’t help but feel a little bit guilty.”
“Well, don’t. It’s not your fault and I’m sure Alycia put a lot of thought into it. So don’t worry about it, okay?”
I sighed and nodded. “Okay.” Wesley always made me feel better, but did I do the same for him? I fidgeted my hands in my lap and swallowed hard. “Um, have you talked to your parents since you moved out?”
“No. Why should I? My mom’ll start in on me about ‘how could I do this to them?’ and that they didn’t ‘raise me to be like this’ and my dad’ll just say that he doesn’t want a fag for a son. So, no. I don’t wanna hear it,” he said, making my stomach drop. He flipped the channel on the TV.
“But you don’t know that for sure,” I said. “You should talk to them, just to let them know you’re all right.”
“Forget it. I left my phone number and address when I moved out. If they wanna talk, they can call me.”
I sighed and Wesley rubbed my shoulder. He looked at me with furrowed brows. “You’re not saying this because of what happened with Alycia, are you?”
“No.” He could read me
