“Well, I mean, we used to be just fine. Back in high school, he spent a lot of time with me on the baseball field or throwing a lacrosse ball around. After I came out, all that stopped.”
The waitress brought their food. They broke their handholding as she put the plates down in front of them. Theo tried to regain some of his composure by smiling and joking with the waitress who seemed to laugh at all of his stupid jokes while she smoothed her pulled-back hair. He wasn’t one to go on about his problems to anybody, much less a guy he had just met—and had some really good sex with. The conversation he and Elliot were having wasn’t the kind of thing he brought up during a one-night stand.
“I never had to tell my parents,” Elliot said after the waitress left them alone again.
“So you haven't told them?” Theo squirted a burping bottle of ketchup onto his plate for his French fries.
“Oh, they know. To them, it was a celebration.” Elliot chewed on his fries.
“Lucky you.” Theo took a bite of burger.
“It's kind of embarrassing,” Elliot said
After he chewed, Theo said, “I wasn't embarrassed when I came out. It happened in high school and completely random.”
“How was it random? Did someone find out?”
Theo shook his head. He smiled a little as he thought about it. “No, I blurted it out in the middle of a crowded hallway when I basically confessed my love for my best friend.”
“Hmm.” Elliot ate more is food.
“Yeah, we'd been pretty much trading blow jobs our entire junior year.”
“I see.”
“I took that to mean we were meant to be together. Forever. Me and Ryan Seward. Destiny, I thought.” Theo popped a fry into his mouth. “He didn't see it that way.” He thought back to that day and Ryan Seward standing at his locker in the middle of a crowded high-school hallway. Even after Ryan told him to ‘fuck off,’ Theo still begged for their after-school get togethers. Even back then, he had a knack for staying with guys who treated him like shit.
Elliot sighed and shook his head. “I can’t even imagine being out in high school. High school was a pit for me.”
“I dealt with it okay,” Theo said. “School wasn't bad. When it got back home to my parents, that's when it got bad.”
“I'm sorry,” Elliot said, and when Theo met his gaze, he could see that Elliot meant it.
“I think you would have done fine if you'd come out then,” Theo said. “You have more strength than I think you realize.”
“Says they guy who just met me.” Elliot snickered.
“And I can see it already. That should tell you something.” Theo gave him an appreciative look. “I think if you took a risk every once in a while and met somebody new, more people would tell you that.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not one for taking risks.”
“I think that’s what we’re supposed to do. That’s part of why we’re put on this earth.”
“To risk everything?”
“To challenge ourselves.” But as he said it, he realized that he wasn’t doing that. Not even a little bit. Maybe Elliot was right, maybe it all was easier said than done. He turned his attention to his burger, and he took a big bite.
“I risked a lot tonight,” Elliot said. He wasn’t eating. He was looking out the window of the diner. “By letting you come to my apartment and doing what we did.”
“That’s just fun.”
“For you, maybe. For me,” he laughed, but it wasn’t all happiness, “it’s pretty fucking monumental.”
“Do you regret it?”
Now Elliot looked to Theo. “Not even a little bit.”
Theo considered this as he chewed. He swallowed then nodded and laid his hand on top to Elliot’s. “Good. Because neither do I.”
There was laughter coming from the table with the four guys. Theo saw them and the way they were acting, and he was almost certain now that they were stragglers from some bar up in Boystown. Elliot’s building wasn’t all that far. Halsted was only a couple streets over, and these guys clearly had stumbled their way here from one of the many gay bars on that street. The other guy that Theo could see was a dark-haired guy that, he had to admit, he probably would have picked up under different circumstances. It was his oval face, strong chin and high cheekbones, that Theo kept seeing peer over at them. Another of their group had glitter on his cheek. Then there was whispered laughter.
“What’s going on?” Elliot asked.
“Just some assholes, I think,” Theo said.
But Elliot kept glancing in their direction now.
“It doesn’t make sense,” one of the guys said loud enough for them all to hear, followed by more laughter.
The third guy, the one with his back to Theo turned to look over his shoulder. He had a light beard.
“Is there a problem?” Theo asked him.
“No. Not really,” the guy said, and his friends busted up in laughter. But he turned around again. “Actually, we were just wondering how much you cost?” More laughter. Another guy gave beard a laughing push.
Theo squinted at him. “Excuse me?”
“What’s your price?” Beard turned more to face them. “I mean, clearly you’re a rent boy. Otherwise, what are you doing with that guy?” He pointed at Elliot.
Theo stood up in one quick movement. He puffed his chest out and flexed his biceps by clenching his fist. “What did you say?”
“Theo, don’t,” Elliot said.
“No, fuck this guy,” Theo said. He stared down at the group of guys. The bearded guy had gone pale. He hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from Theo, and Theo could tell it gave him the upper hand. He lifted his fist. “You need to apologize,” he said.
“For what?” glitter boy said.
“For what your asshole friend said to my boyfriend.” Theo surprised even himself when he said it. Boyfriend was the word he’d used, and a word that he hadn’t said since Reid broke up with him. It caused him to falter for just a second.
The attractive guy stood up, and Theo stared him down. The guy stared back. Theo outweighed him, he guessed, by about twenty-five pounds, a testament to the hours that he spent working out and running.
“Theo, it’s okay,” Elliot said behind him. He was standing now too.
“No,” Theo said, still staring at the guy standing. “It’s not okay, and this little bearded fuck is going to apologize to you.” He pointed to the bearded guy who had turned around and hunkered down to the table.
The waitress came out from around the counter. “I will call the police,” she said.
“You want to go?” Theo said to the standing guy. He was ready to knock this fucker out. Maybe he would’ve fucked him if the situation was different, but right then, smashing his face would be just as satisfying.
“I’m sorry,” the bearded guy said. “Kurt, sit down.”
Theo glared at him. “Yeah, Kurt. Sit the fuck down.” He took a step closer.
Then there was a hand on his shoulder. It was Elliot, standing close to him. “Come on. Let’s pay and get out of here,” he said.
“Listen to your boyfriend,” Kurt said.
He was going to hit him. Elliot was quick, though, and he held Theo’s arm. But Kurt flinched anyway, arms up, guarding his face. Clearly, he was the type of guy who was all gym and no beef to back it up.
“I have the phone,” the waitress said.
“We’re leaving,” Elliot said. “Theo. Let’s. Go.”
Kurt stared up at Theo, eyes wide. Theo glared back, jaw clamped tight. Elliot pulled at Theo again, and this time, Theo let himself be pulled. Kurt sat back down.
It took them a couple more minutes to settle the bill, Elliot paying and keeping himself between Theo and the table of the four guys. Those four guys, however, wanted nothing more to do with it. They huddled close to one another, whispering, and Theo wanted to go over there and smack down every one of them.
But Elliot gave him a pull on his arm after he fini
shed paying, and Theo made a point to put his arm over Elliot’s shoulders and even lean over to give him a kiss on the cheek as they walked toward the door. Elliot wasn’t blushing when he did it.
He was actually smiling.
Chapter Twelve
Elliot
They walked on the street. When Elliot asked if Theo wanted to go back upstairs to his place, Theo suggested they go on a walk. At first, they walked in silence. Elliot watched Theo. He breathed heavily still, and Elliot wasn’t sure what to do with that, so he kept quiet.
But he couldn’t help what went on inside. The tape kept replaying over and over in his mind: “For what your asshole friend said to my boyfriend.” The word he used, a simple word that even Elliot had said in his mind plenty of times, usually in some masturbation fantasy. Or in questions of if he would ever have one.
The word that Theo had used. Boyfriend. A word that he used in reference to Elliot. To him.
Was that even possible? He’d only just met Theo. Sure, they’d had sex. Twice now and all in this same night. And there was the promise of more later if they actually did end up going back to Elliot’s place.
But they had to, right? Theo still had stuff up there—namely, his underwear.
That sent him on another wild tangent, the realization that Theo was standing next to him wearing nothing beneath his blue jeans.
But boyfriend?
Elliot had to work up the courage. He worked it around in his mouth like spit until he finally gathered up enough of it to speak: “What did—”
“I’m sorry,” Theo said. He cut Elliot off.
“For what?”
“I was an ass back there.”
Elliot reached out on instinct and took Theo’s hand. “No, you weren’t.” It was only after he said it he realized he was holding Theo’s hand. He also realized he was holding it and Theo wasn’t pulling his hand away, which could mean that maybe there was something to what Theo said. “No, you weren’t an asshole.”
“They just pissed me off,” Theo said. He looked over at Elliot as they walked. “I don’t usually act like that.”
“Well, in your defense, the guy did pretty much call you a hooker.” Elliot let loose a small laugh. When he looked back at Theo, though, he realized Theo wasn’t sharing in the same kind of laughter. He smiled, but he didn’t make eye contact. “I mean, anybody would take offense to that, right? That’s what I mean,” Elliot said. “If somebody called me a hooker, I would get mad too.”
Theo shook his head. “It’s not me,” Theo said. “I don’t usually react that way.”
Elliot kept a finger hooked into Theo’s fingers. “If it makes you feel any better, I thought it was kind of flattering.”
Theo looked at him with a strange grin.
“Nobody’s ever stood up for me, not like that.”
The words seemed to work through Theo’s expression until the twinkle Elliot had come to recognize just in their one night together returned to Theo’s eyes. “Well, they should stand up for you.”
“You did,” Elliot said.
Theo’s expression grew pensive. “I guess I did. But I don’t want you to think I’m some hot head. I’m not.”
“I didn’t think it even for a second,” Elliot said, quickly. There were people still out on the street, even at this late hour, and Elliot realized he should be conscious of how he and Theo walked close and how they were still holding hands. Where they were, it was a relatively safe neighborhood, but it was still Chicago. It had always been his fear, living in the city, that he would be attacked by someone trying to rob him, or worse. He feared getting beaten up for being gay. Yet he had Theo next to him, and Theo was someone who wasn’t afraid to stand up and face danger. Theo made him feel safe, and somehow that was enough to put aside those usual feelings of self-consciousness, of his embarrassment at being noticed.
He moved his hand to grip tighter onto Theo’s hand, and he stepped closer to him as they walked. When Elliot smiled up at Theo, Theo returned the smile to him, and something funny shifted and flared to life in his chest, a heart palpitation that caught his breath. A warmth spread through him.
“So you care about how I see you?” Elliot said.
“Of course I do,” Theo said.
Elliot smiled and bowed his head. Heat rose to his cheeks, but it wasn’t the usual kind he was used to. It wasn’t the heat of embarrassment. It was a flush of excitement. “I guess, you know, I should ask.” Then he stopped.
Theo turned to him as they walked. “What?”
“Well, you said ‘boyfriend’ back there.”
Theo watched him, and Elliot returned his gaze. “Oh.” A small smile spread on Theo’s face. “Yeah, I guess I did,” he said. He raked a hand through his hair. “I didn’t like them talking bad about you. I wanted them to know you were with me. I mean, I don’t want—”
Elliot spoke fast. “It’s okay. I’m not weird like that, or anything. I’m not turning this night into something that it’s not. So if you didn’t mean it like that, I mean, it’s cool, and—”
Theo stopped walking, and he pulled Elliot close. “Shut up,” Theo said. He wasn’t mean about it. There was nothing mean about the expression on his face. What Elliot saw there was warmth, Theo’s passion.
Elliot was in Theo’s embrace. Theo’s strong arms were around him. “Okay.”
“Right now, I’m with you,” Theo said. “Tonight, I am with you.”
Elliot swallowed. “And tomorrow?”
“We’ll get there, and we’ll see.”
“You’re not going to hurt my feelings if this is all there is.” Elliot tried to make it sound real as he said it, but there was a part of him that wanted tomorrow and that wanted the next day, the next month, and on.
He was a guy who refused to get his hopes up. He didn’t want to let himself get sucked into this moment. If he hoped, it would only lead to pain.
“We’ll just focus on right now,” Theo said. “And tomorrow, we’ll focus on tomorrow. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Theo kissed him, and Elliot let himself be kissed.
Someone on the street, though, driving by, cat called and whistled. It wasn’t mean. It was just people being people. But it caused Theo to turn and look and break the kiss, and Elliot let himself believe he was being protective again. He was fine with that, and he felt safe. Then they walked on.
They ended up at the mouth of an alleyway, and Elliot, Theo’s hand still in his, decided to be bold. He gripped Theo’s hand tighter and stopped walking so Theo was forced to stop too.
“What?”
“I have an idea,” Elliot said. He gave Theo’s hand a tug and led him deeper into the alley.
“What’s going on?” Theo said with a smile.
When they were out of the orange halo cast on the ground from the streetlights out on the sidewalk, Elliot moved in closer to him. “I want to kiss you again.” He brushed up close to Theo, and he lifted his lips up to touch his, and he kissed him. Theo kissed back, and he muttered something or moaned in pleasure. Elliot’s hands moved up to Theo’s back, the furrow in the small of his back where his spine was, shaped into a channel by the hard, cut muscles of his back. His hands were beneath Theo’s shirt and touching his skin, and he loved that he could touch his skin.
Love.
The word came to him unbidden.
Again, he told himself it was too soon, it was impossible to fall in love so quickly. He didn’t believe love could happen in a night. That kind of thing didn’t happen in the real world. Especially not to guys like him, the old, familiar refrain. What he felt right now was driven by the pull of passion and nothing more. If Elliot was anything, he was a realist.
But if he gained one belief tonight, after everything he’d experienced already, he let himself believe he could find more of that same kind of happiness, that same kind of pleasure, even if it was fleeting and for only tonight. And Theo was a willing partner.
Elliot worked his hands bene
ath the waistband of Theo’s pants, and he thrilled at the idea of Theo wearing nothing beneath. He free-balled it, and for some reason, it turned Elliot on all the more. It was like a secret shared, something no one else but he and Theo knew in that moment. People saw Theo and looked at him, but Elliot was the one who shared this level of understanding with Theo. An intimacy of knowledge.
He reached down deeper, still kissing Theo, and he kneaded the mounds of Theo’s ass. Such a perfect ass it was too. Theo did the same with him, touching the places beneath his clothing where so few had touched before. This was exciting. They were making out in public, in a place where anybody could walk up at any moment and see them. It caused Elliot’s cock to strain against the fabric of his jeans, and he reached around to the front of Theo’s pants to tug at the button. And just like that, Theo’s cock sprang out from hiding, touching against Elliot’s hand as he took Theo’s shaft in his palm and stroked.
“Wait,” Theo said. He pulled away.
Elliot looked at him, startled. “What’s wrong?”
Theo put his hands on Elliot’s shoulders. He squeezed them. Elliot was sure this was going to end up as some kind of rejection, that Theo had finally come to his senses, and he was about to dump him here in the alleyway. As much as he believed himself the realist, this wasn’t something Elliot was prepared for, and he didn’t want to experience it, not so soon after the pleasure he experienced already. “I don’t want to do this here,” Theo said.
“Am I doing something wrong?”
Theo’s forehead wrinkled, and he shook his head. “No. No, not at all.” He rubbed Elliot’s arms, kneaded the flesh of his shoulders. Theo kissed him. “You’re better than this. I think you deserve more,” Theo said.
Elliot’s confusion morphed into an odd smile on his face. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re not the type of guy who has sex in alleyways.”
Elliot closed the distance between them with a hint of swagger. “Maybe I could be.”
“No.” Theo was definite. “You’re not. The type of guy who sucks dick in an alley isn’t someone who believes in himself.” Theo smiled in a lopsided way, the corner of one mouth turned up, and he put his arm around Elliot. “You need to believe in yourself, and sex in an alley isn’t the way to do it.”
You May Have Met Him Page 12
