Eli tried to get his shirt on.
“Eli’s sporting a big purple passion mark,” Trey told her.
“What? Where?” Holly asked.
“On his chest,” Justin said.
“You guys are ridiculous,” Eli said, pulling his shirt down. “It’s nothing.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Holly asked.
“No,” Eli said. He’d just blown any chance to be with Holly now.
“A boyfriend?” Trey teased.
Eli glared at him but didn’t answer.
Mr. Marshall called them over for burgers, ending the conversation.
Trey smirked at him.
Eli just rolled his eyes and followed his other friends over to the picnic table. His cell phone rang about two hours later after they had eaten and were lounging around the pool. It was Dimitri. “Hello?”
“Hello, gorgeous. What are you doing?”
“I’m visiting a friend,” Eli replied. “His parents invited me over to a barbecue.”
“His?” Dimitri asked.
“My friend Justin.”
“Oh, the one with the skull and crossbones tattoo.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to be there long?”
“No,” Eli said, realizing that his friends were eavesdropping on his conversation.
“Is the bed set up at your new place?”
“Yes.”
“And are the parents still out of town?”
“Yes.” He smiled. Dimitri was so silly.
“I’ll meet you there around seven. I’m bringing dinner.”
“Great,” Eli said. “See you then.”
“He’s making a date,” Henry said.
Eli disconnected the call. “No, I’m joining a friend for violin practice.”
“That geek, Randall?” Trey asked.
Eli sighed. Trey leaving for the Marine Corps couldn’t have happened at a better time.
* * * *
Dimitri looked around the area as he got out of his car. Eli’s new apartment was about three blocks from the university, in a quaint, old New Orleans neighborhood. The building appeared to be a newly constructed model, surrounded by lush landscaping and crape myrtle trees. He walked up to the white, wrought iron gate and pressed the button.
“Yes?”
“It’s me, gorgeous.” Just the sound of Eli’s voice made his heart flutter.
“Apartment 3B,” Eli told him.
He heard a buzzer and then a click. Dimitri opened the gate and stepped into a courtyard. “Wow, this is nice.” He’d always wanted a garden. He remembered his grandmother having one when he was a child. He spent hours out in the yard of her Treme Street home, helping her pull weeds and water flowers. On other days, he’d mowed her lawn while she sat in a swing and watched him. His reward for doing a good job would be a glass of mint tea or a punch-flavored frozen cup. Those were some of his fondest memories, and he remembered thinking he’d love to share such experiences with his kids. Dimitri sighed. So never going to happen.
He took the elevator up to the third floor and searched for apartment 3B. He found Eli leaning in the door waiting for him, looking angelical, wearing a white T-shirt and matching shorts.
Dimitri etched the delightful sight into his memory. Being in love made even the smallest things pleasurable.
“Please remove your shoes.”
Dimitri looked down. First he noticed ten perfect toes, and then two shapely calves, followed by light crème-colored carpet. “You’ll have to hold this first,” he said, handing Eli a bag containing their dinner. He took off his shoes, stepped inside and kissed Eli. Instead of meeting the usual resistance, Eli stood still and allowed the affection.
“Hmm, you’re in a good mood.”
“You’re here,” Eli said, closing the door and leading him through the pristine apartment. For an eighteen year old, Eli really had it going on. He had a fancy car, a scholarship to a prestigious college, and a beautiful, energy-efficient, two-bedroom apartment. Am I insane?
This kid is way out of my league.
Eli led him to the kitchen and placed the food on a white marble countertop, next to bright-red, small appliances.
Dimitri opened the stainless steel refrigerator and found it stocked with food and a six-pack of his favorite beer. Touching. Eli had thought enough about him to get someone to purchase it just for him.
“Let me give you the grand tour.”
Dimitri nodded. He’d follow Eli to the end of the earth if he had to. But at the moment he enjoyed the tour of the living room with its formal French provincial furnishing. No doubt his mother had a hand in the selection. Like the kitchen, the living room had that new, never-been-used smell.
Eli’s violin rested on a stand in his den-turned-music room. On the walls were pictures of famous violinists and one of Eli and his friend Randall. Dimitri studied the picture. Both young men wore white suits and it appeared to be taken at some music hall. They looked happy together. He grimaced, not liking what he saw or the way it made him feel. Jealousy had never been his thing.
Eli led him out of the room and up the stairs, first to the guest bedroom and finally into his. Dimitri eyed the king-sized maple bed, and winked at Eli who blushed profusely. He drew his attention away from his lover to check out the matching dresser and chest of drawers.
Dimitri opened the double closet doors. Except for a couple pairs of dress pants and two suits, everything else was jeans and T-shirts.
He also had too many shoes for a young man. “I’m going to miss those preppy boy outfits,” he teased.
“I can’t go to college looking like a dweeb,” Eli said, heading toward the master bathroom.
Dimitri followed him in and stared at the bathtub big enough for two. The beige, brown, and green color scheme matched the master bedroom. Little cakes of rose-scented soap rested in a white porcelain dish on the back of the toilet seat. Dimitri spied two toothbrushes.
“You do live here alone, don’t you?”
Eli nodded. “I picked up another one just in case I got an overnight guest.”
“Ooh, I like a man with high expectations.” Dimitri eyed the tub again, noticing the bottle of lavender-scented bubble bath. “I haven’t had a bubble bath since I was a kid. Do you mind?”
“What about dinner?” Eli asked.
“I think I saw a fancy microwave in the kitchen,” Dimitri said, turning on the water and filling the tub with a capful of the lavender
