“Don’t worry about it,” he says, and he smiles. “Hey, this might be a long shot, but are you up for sneaking out of here?”
His smile makes my heart beat faster. This boy, whoever he is, has a great freaking smile. It feels almost dangerous. He should warn a guy before smiling at him like that.
“What?” I say.
He steps closer, and his shoes click on the tiles. “Look, I can tell you’d rather be somewhere else right now. And conveniently, that’s what I want, too. I know a diner down the road. If you’re game?”
I eye him warily. Who suggests something like that? Who is this guy? But he’s right. I would rather be somewhere else right now.
And fine, I’ll admit it. He’s absurdly hot.
“Sure,” I say. “Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER TWO
Jason and I are walking down a quiet alley.
It feels a little like this stretch of the city belongs to us.
I’m not sure if anyone else would want it, though. It smells like trash, and the walls are covered in graffiti. I look up. The moon’s out, and I can hear the ocean. I feel a little unsafe, but weirdly I kind of like that. At the end of the alleyway, across a road, is a diner, called Sunshine Diner. Its signage is blue neon.
I look across, at the tall hot guy keeping pace beside me. It doesn’t feel real, that I’m doing this.
“What?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“You just looked at me weird. What’s up?”
We pass by a blue dumpster.
“Nothing, dude,” I say.
He raises both eyebrows.
“Okay,” I say. “I’m just sort of pinching myself that I’m doing this. I should be back at the bar.”
“Why?”
“My dad, I guess. You know how it is.”
He must, if he was at the bar.
He stops walking, and I do as well. He turns to face me. Beside me is a metal chain-link gate, leading into a small yard. It’s overgrown. Above me, there are thick black power cables, connecting power poles that run down the alley.
I feel a little pressed in.
“Let’s make a deal,” he says. “How about we don’t talk about our families? We can just be us, not our last names. How does that sound?”
I wasn’t expecting that. It sounds amazing.
But I’m Matt Miller. All anyone really cares about is my family. I don’t recognize Jason, but I hardly pay attention when I’m forced to be at the bar. I’m guessing he’s the son of one of the families we’re allied with. Or maybe he’s one of Barbie Barker’s rent boys. He’s hot enough for it.
Wait, what if he is one of her rent boys?
I decide it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t afford it anyway. I hope he isn’t, though. For a lot of reasons.
“Sure,” I say. “Why not?”
He grins. “Sweet.”
We start walking again.
“So you like this place?” I ask, pointing at the diner. It doesn’t look like much. It puts the suss in suspect. Also, it’s right next to a gas station, which for some reason feels really damning to me. Like it’s going to be especially cheap and fast, even for a diner.
“I do.”
We reach the front door, and Jason opens it for me. A bell chimes. The place is massive, with pink booths and faded wooden paneling. At the back is a mural, sky blue, with a slightly wonky palm tree painted on it.
It’s a whole lot of why?
Jason leads me to a booth in the back and sits down. I sit opposite him. This place smells like coffee and sugar. The local hit-music station is playing on the radio.
The menu in front of me is freaking huge. I flip it over and see there are just as many options on the other side. There’s something available called the “sunrise special” that includes both eggs and pineapple. I almost gag at the thought.
The bell above the door chimes again, and two cops walk in. They sit down at the counter. The server smiles like she knows them and pours them each a mug of coffee.
Okay, so this isn’t the kind of place I’m supposed to be in.
Why am I here? What am I doing?
“Do you do this a lot?” I ask.
“Do what?”
“Ask random guys you meet in bathrooms to diners?”
He laughs. “You’re the first.”
“So why me?”
We’re interrupted by the server. The menu is so huge I haven’t even decided what I want.
“What can I get you boys?”
“Um,” I say, as I desperately scan the menu. “I…”
“Two double cheeseburgers, and two chocolate thick shakes, and a large waffle fries,” says Jason, then he looks at me. “You happy with that?”
“Um, yeah.”
The server walks away.
“You looked freaked, so I ordered for you,” he says. “Hope that’s cool.”
Weirdly, I don’t find it annoying.
“Thanks.”
So, I’m here. With this strange, attractive boy.
Because really, oh my God. This boy. He’s bananas hot. He’s got this sort of military vibe about him, with his strong jawline and short haircut, and well-built body. Also, his eyes are fascinating. At a distance, they look light brown, but up close, they’re almost green. Plus, he’s clean-shaven, and his skin is blemish-free. He’s a perfect, all-American boy.
He probably even gets along with his dad.
Anyway.
I can totally see him as one of those West Point guys whose whole life is about perfection and military service. Maybe that’s why he’s so buff.
But we met in a criminal bar, so I know if he is a soldier, he’s not a lawful one.
I wonder if he’s killed any Donovans.
I hope not. He’s way too pretty to be a killer.
“So, man,” he says. He stretches out, putting one arm on the back of the booth. “What’s your deal?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, what do you like? What are your hobbies?”
Why would he ask me to do this? What does he want from me?
“Listen,” I say. “Before you ask about my hobbies, I’m going to need a better idea of what’s going on here.”
He tilts his head to the side, and his lips twitch up a little. Oh great, I’m amusing him.
“We’re getting food,” he says.
“Yeah, but … why?”
“Why what?”
“Why’d you ask me to come here?”
“Because I thought you’d say yes.”
I feel my eyebrows narrow. It was an impulse. “That’s not an answer.”
“Sure it is,” he says. He leans forward and rests his hands on the table. “You’re here, aren’t you? Don’t overthink it. Let’s just have a good time, get to know each other a little. So … your hobbies. What do you like?”
I guess he has a point. I do tend to overthink things a lot, and it’s never worked out so great for me.
“Um.” I rack my brain. “I like movies.”
He nods. “Oh yeah, what kinds?”
“Any, really. I like superhero ones, but I’m kind of sick of them being the only ones out there.”
“Aw, man, I love superhero movies! I see them day one, every time.”
Shit, that’s cool.
“I didn’t say they were bad; I like them as much as the next guy. I just … I wish there was other stuff, too. Like, the only things with big budgets these days are those. I miss movies like Alien and Terminator or whatever.”
“So big-budget, but new?”
“Exactly!”
“That’s fair, I miss those, too. Or the thought of them. All right, you like movies, what else?”
I shrug. “I dunno, I like normal stuff. How about you?”
“Movies, TV. I read a bit, play baseball on Fridays. Oh, and I like games a lot.”
“Oh, wait, me too,” I say. “On the gaming, not the baseball, obviously.”
I gesture at my thin arms.
“Really?” he says. He looks at my body for a second. “What games do you like?”
The server returns and places the food down in front of us. It looks great. I squirt out some ketchup and try one of the waffle fries. Way good. I lift the burger and take a bite, and oh, damn.
It’s amazing.
“I like fantasy RPGs the best,” I say, still chewing. And, oh my God, this burger is officially too good for this place.
His eyes light up. “Dude, me too! Fantasy RPGs take over my life whenever I get one. This might be embarrassing to admit, but I put four hundred hours into the Skyrim remaster.”
It’s kind of alarming how cool I find that. I’m not sure everyone would think it’s cool, but I seriously think it’s amazing.
“That’s not embarrassing at all. What class do you play as?”
“I have two characters. One is a rogue; the other is a wizard. How about you?”
“I swear I’m not copying you, but I always play as one of those two.”
“Yeah, because they’re the best. Who wants to be a knight?”
“Not me, that’s for sure.”
I feel a little fluttering in my stomach. I’m sitting across from a hot guy who plays video games. Eating a great burger. This so isn’t how I was expecting the night to go.
And I wouldn’t change a single thing.
* * *
The bell chimes as the door to the diner closes behind us, and I get a waft of gasoline from the gas station. Glorious. Jason stretches, cracking his back into place. I find myself kind of marveling at the way his muscles move under his shirt.
Seriously, damn, boy.
“So where to?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“Where do you wanna go now?”
I frown. “Back to Jimmy’s?”
This was fun, but I feel a creeping dread about it. If Dad noticed I was missing, I don’t know what I’d tell him. I can’t say the truth, which is that I met a random guy in the bathroom and decided to leave with him because I thought he was gorgeous.
There are the rumors about me. I don’t know what Jason’s deal is, and what he likes, but I feel hanging out one-on-one with a boy like him might add some fuel to that particular fire. I don’t feel bad about being gay, I don’t even really care about it. It’s just what I am; boys have always done it for me. I like deep voices and short haircuts and big arms.
I especially like how boys look when they take off their shirts.
I just don’t want anyone to know yet. I suspect they’ll make a big deal out of it, which I don’t want. It’s none of their business. Me liking guys is my thing. It’s not like anyone’s trying super hard to date me, so for now, it doesn’t even matter.
“You don’t want to hit the beach or something?” he asks. “The water’s nice this time of night.”
“I can’t,” I say. “Dad will freak.”
He nods. “Fair.”
“Won’t your parents? Who are they, by the way?”
“We had a deal. No family talk tonight. Just us, being our own men, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
I get kind of a kick out of him calling me a man.
Still. I want to poke further about who this boy is, but a deal is a deal. We walk in silence, until we reach the back door of the bar.
“That was fun,” says Jason. “I get told I’m hard to read a lot, so I figured I’d just say it. I had fun.”
I nod. “I had fun, too.”
He tucks his hands into his pockets. “Maybe we could do it again sometime, then? Would you like that?”
I would. Very much. I’m not ready for this to be over. But maybe this should be a one-time thing. A welcome one, but I have a feeling hanging around Jason is a bad idea for me.
Am I being presumptuous? I don’t think this is a gay thing. It’s probably just a friend thing.
Or maybe not?
“Well, maybe next time you see me in the bathroom, you could ask,” I say.
So now I know flirting isn’t a gift of mine. Great.
He laughs. “I’ll keep an eye out. Well, I’m off. Later.”
“You’re not coming back in?”
“Nah, I’m going to head home.”
“Okay, well, nice meeting you or whatever.”
“It was nice meeting you, too, Matt. Or whatever.”
Our eye contact lasts a little too long, and then he spins and walks away. I push open the door of the bar. I laugh, at the ridiculousness of this whole thing. I start coming up with a lie I can use if anyone asks where I went.
What can I say? I wanted some air?
I go in and see Luke. He’s talking to a family friend of ours, Cassidy, giving her all his attention. She’s in a short black dress and heels with red bottoms. Her hand is on his chest, sliding through the gap in the material of his shirt. Dad is nowhere to be seen, which means he’s probably upstairs. That’s where the serious business is done.
Huh.
I don’t think anyone even noticed I left. That means I got away with it.
CHAPTER THREE
I’m laying out by our pool, lounging on a deck chair.
I haven’t stopped thinking about what happened last night.
I met Jason … whateverhislastnameis. And I know it might be stupid, because we just went to a crappy diner to get a surprisingly un-crappy burger. And shakes. And waffle fries.
But it felt kind of special to me, like we just sort of … clicked.
I don’t know.
I’ve tried to find him online, but so far, nobody I’m friends with knows anyone named Jason. Which makes me think maybe he doesn’t use social media much. He gave the impression he was a sort of busy guy, so maybe he’s got too much going on to keep up a social media presence.
Which feels like nonsense, even to me.
Hot guys like him love social media.
Where else would they post thirst traps? Why even work out if you’re not going to post shirtless photos?
I just need to look harder.
I sit up and unlock my phone. I load my cousin Ethan’s Facebook and search his friends for anyone called Jason. He has one, and my heart kind of soars, but then when I click through, I see it’s not him. Unless he looks really different in person. I …
The gate to the pool opens, and Luke steps inside. He’s holding a towel and is wearing black trunks.
He throws the towel onto the deck chair beside me and then pulls his shirt off over his head. He fixes his hair, adjusts his trunks, then thumps down. He puts his arms behind his head, stretching out.
He’s so defined; it’s so unfair. I know he works out almost every day and tracks his calories and macros, so I’d probably look more like him if I paid more attention to it. Still, it feels so damn unfair that he has a sculpted torso, complete with a defined six-pack, and I don’t.
It’s just rude.
We look so alike in every other way. We both have black hair, and both got Dad’s brown eyes and thick eyebrows. But being buff makes all his features click together in a way mine don’t. I try not to be hard on myself, but he was right about what he said last night. He is the good-looking one.
He pumps out some sunscreen from the tube I have beside me, and slaps it down onto his chest.
“Where’d you go?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“Last night, you disappeared for a while. Where’d you go?”
I don’t have a lie planned. I truly thought I’d gotten away with it. I should’ve expected Luke to notice, though.
“Oh, nowhere exciting. I was craving fries, so I went to the diner down the road.”
“By yourself?”
I shrug.
“You’re a weird dude, anyone ever tell you that?”
“You did, just now.”
He laughs. “Where was my invite? I’m bulking, you know I need all the calories I can get.”
He slaps his hard stomach. I have no idea how the whole muscle thing works, that he can e
at burgers and stuff and still look like him. It seems to go against everything I’ve been taught at school about being healthy.
“You were busy.”
“Doing what?”
I chew my nail. “You were with Cass, remember?”
“Oh yeah. I almost forgot. So many girls, so little time, you know?”
Obviously, I don’t.
“Did you two hook up?” I ask as I put my hands behind my head, so I’m mirroring him. In front of me is my pool, then a small stretch of perfectly kept lawn. Dad makes us cut it on alternating Saturdays. If I forget, Luke reminds me. It looks really short, so I guess he’s already done it this morning.
“Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you,” he says.
I roll my eyes.
“How ’bout you?” he asks.
“Are you asking if I hooked up with Cass?”
“No. Did you meet any girls?”
“What do you think? Nobody even noticed I was there.”
“God, stop being so pathetic. I’m telling you, just find a girl who gives you a happy feeling down there, then give ’em the old Miller smolder. They’ll become obsessed with you, for the night, anyway. Trust me.”
My brother, folks. I love him. But he’s such a douchebag.
“Noted,” I say.
I don’t know why I said that, because I already know it’s not really possible for a girl to give me any sort of feeling down there. Trust me, I’ve tried. I watched all sorts of videos on the internet, hoping they’d inspire some sort of reaction in me. Like I’d see one girl, the right girl, and everything would click into place. But my attention is always, always, drawn to the guys.
I’m just built that way.
I’m done with this conversation, so I turn the volume of my music up, roll over, and face the opposite direction.
* * *
It’s Monday, and I’m at school, wishing I had the powers of the Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four.
Naturally.
The main hallway is bustling, filled with people grabbing stuff from their lockers or heading to class. Guys high-five. Girls whisper things to one another. A teacher yells at a boy who is running somewhere, threatening him with detention if he doesn’t slow down.
I’m thinking about Jason again.
I’m still confused.
The Friend Scheme Page 2
