“Who took his cock out first?”
“Matt!”
“Don’t be a prude, El. Who took his cock out first?”
“He did,” Ellis mumbled. He did feel better talking to Matt, but he could have done without the third-grade interrogation.
“And he was looking at you?”
“Yeah, the entire time.”
“You were looking at him?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you like him?”
“What?” Ellis yelled. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“El, it’s me. Matt. Your best friend. Of course I know you like him. You’ve been talking about him for days.”
“That’s not true.” Except it was.
“What did we talk about the last time I called?”
“Dale,” Ellis grumbled. “But it was only to tell you who I’d been partnered with!”
“Okay, so who did you talk about in your last e-mail and in the ones before that?”
“Dale.” Ellis didn’t want to admit it, but if he couldn’t tell Matt, who could he tell? “Fine. I might like him. Maybe.”
“Good boy. Now what are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do about it, Matt?” Ellis sighed. “He has a girlfriend, and it’s not like he declared eternal love to me.”
“No, but he did jack off looking at you. That’s a big indication he likes your body, at least.”
“I don’t know.”
“Trust me, El.”
“Still, what do I do tomorrow? It’s going to be weird as heck.”
“Act normally, as if nothing happened. If he does like you, maybe it’ll spur him to do something about it, and if he doesn’t, at least you guys won’t be too awkward. You have to work together after all.”
Ellis wished it would be that simple, but he doubted so.
Chapter Six
ELLIS TURNED to look at the honking car and smiled when he saw who was driving. It stopped next to the curb, and he quickly climbed in. He fastened the belt before turning toward Seth. “My savior.”
Seth snorted. “Savior, my ass. You were nearly there anyway.”
“Ah, but you saved me from completely freezing my ass off.”
“No talking about asses unless they belong to females. But then I guess you wouldn’t know anything about those.”
“Hey, I can appreciate a good ass as much as the next straight guy!”
An image of the last female butt Ellis had seen flashed in his mind, and he pushed it away resolutely. He’d been avoiding Dale for the past two weeks, and Dale hadn’t tried very hard to talk to him, though Ellis had caught him staring more than once. They were going to have to start talking again soon if they wanted to continue their project, and Ellis both anticipated and dreaded that moment.
He hoped they could forget what had happened that day, because he didn’t want to lose Dale’s friendship over something so stupid. Ellis couldn’t help himself, though—he blushed every single time he caught Dale looking at him.
He knew he was the one keeping Dale at a distance, but he was still trying to deal with the impossible feelings he had for Dale, and imagining him jacking off every time he looked at him wasn’t helping.
Ellis had been surprised Seth stuck by him even when it became obvious something had happened between Ellis and Dale. Ellis asked him why, and Seth pointed out Dale wasn’t his boss and he could become friends with whomever he wanted. They’d been together a lot since then, and their friendship had an easy banter Ellis usually only enjoyed with Matt.
“I’m still here, you know,” Seth said as he snapped his fingers in front of Ellis’s face.
Ellis stuck his tongue out at him. “I know. How could I forget about you?”
“Aaah, I knew my manly charm had snagged you.”
“Oh, yeah. It definitely was your manly charm.”
They both laughed, and Seth turned left to enter the school’s parking lot. He found an empty space as quickly as he could, considering most students were just arriving, and parked.
Ellis unbuckled his belt and was about to get out when a hand on his arm stopped him.
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Dale?”
“Probably not.”
Seth arched a brow. “I can’t imagine what could put a wedge between you two, at least not such a big one.”
Ellis felt himself blush and shook his arm free. “Believe me, you don’t want to know.”
He climbed out of Seth’s car and met him in front of it. He immediately realized he’d said too much—Seth was looking at him with speculation in his eyes, and since the guy wasn’t stupid by any means, Ellis knew he’d probably figure something out by the end of the day.
“Look, nothing happened. We had a fight over the English assignment.”
“And that’s why you haven’t been talking to him for two weeks?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not stupid, El, but if you don’t want to tell me, I won’t push.” Ellis smiled in thanks, but Seth wasn’t done talking. “I think I’ll go bug Dale instead. He seems to be about ready to spill your big secret.”
“No, no! You can’t do that!”
“Try to stop me, shorty.” With that Seth hurried away. Ellis hesitated for a few seconds, then swore and followed him. He had to make his way through the throngs of students heading to their lockers or their first class, and he wasn’t even sure where Seth was going. At least the guy was tall enough Ellis could see him from afar.
Ellis gulped when he saw Seth standing in front of Dale and talking to him. Ellis paused. He was torn between the need to stop Seth and the need to stay as far away from Dale as he could. The first one won.
He strode toward the two men, his eyes on Seth. “It’s not your business, Seth.”
Seth gave him a wicked smile. “I know, but you can’t blame me for wanting to find out. I have to say, it wasn’t what I’d imagined.”
Ellis gaped at Dale. “You told him?”
“I told him you came by my house and that you were uncomfortable because I put that movie on, so you left.”
“You….”
“Really, what were you thinking, Dale? It’s obvious he wouldn’t want to see straight porn. It would be like you watching gay porn with him.”
A few heads turned their way, and Ellis looked down to avoid crossing glances with any of the other students. He was embarrassed enough as it was.
“Maybe you should do it.”
Ellis’s head snapped to Seth. “What should he do?”
“Go home with you and watch gay porn.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I think his mom dropped him when he was a kid,” Dale piped in, earning himself a glare from his best friend.
“She didn’t, and I’m perfectly sane. Seriously, maybe that’ll help you guys get over whatever is bugging you. The two of you will be embarrassed in the same way, so you’ll be able to put this stupid thing behind you. I’m kind of sick of having to choose between you two.”
“You should stick with Dale, then. I’m sorry I got between the two of you.”
“Don’t be stupid, El. The point is that I don’t want to have to choose, so you guys go and watch that movie, then kiss and make up. Or maybe skip the kiss, but at least make up, please.”
“I don’t see how watching porn with Dale would help. It’s what put us in this position in the first place.”
“Exactly! So to undo it, you have to do it again!”
Ellis frowned. “That’s… I don’t even know what kind of reasoning that is.”
“Hush. Dale, you’re free this afternoon?”
Dale shook his head. “I have a date with Steph.”
Ellis looked down to avoid showing Dale exactly what he thought of that. He was jealous, and he had no right to be.
“Fine, tomorrow, then? I know for sure Stephanie is going out with Libby tomorrow afternoon.”
“Are y
ou stalking us or something?” Dale asked.
“Nope, I just have to sit next to Libby in Spanish. I don’t think that girl even breathes when she talks. So, you’re gonna do it tomorrow?”
Ellis blushed at the double meaning, and Seth grinned at him. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Look, I’m sure Dale has something better to do than—”
“I’ll come.”
Ellis gaped at Dale. “What?”
“I’ll come. After school.”
“But why? You know we don’t need to do this. We can forget about everything.”
“I know, but that’s what we said, remember?”
How could Ellis forget that conversation since it had led to this? He nodded and carefully avoided Seth’s curious eyes. “It doesn’t mean you have to do it. Things are already awkward enough as it is.”
“Maybe Seth is right. It would be the first time he is, of course, but you never know.”
“Hey!” Seth punched Dale’s shoulder, then grabbed Ellis’s arm and tugged. “We have to go to math. See you later, and you’ll definitely see Ellis tomorrow afternoon.”
Ellis gave Dale a last hopeless glance before Seth could drag him away. He wanted to insist on knowing what the heck Dale had been thinking when he’d accepted, but it looked like he’d find out soon enough.
“SO.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you really going to come tomorrow?”
Dale looked at Ellis over their notebooks and smirked. “Oh, yeah.”
Ellis caught the double meaning and resisted the urge to hit Dale. “I meant are you going to come over to my house?”
“Sure. We shook hands, right?”
“It didn’t mean anything!” Ellis tried to keep his voice low. It wouldn’t do for their entire English class to find out what had happened between them.
“Of course it does. It’s an honor thing.”
“It’s not like we’re talking a business contract here, Dale. We don’t have to do this, not again.”
The stubborn look on Dale’s face was enough to tell Ellis he wouldn’t win that one. “Dammit, Dale! I don’t want it to happen again!”
“Fine, we’ll just watch the movie, then.”
“You’re not listening to me. I don’t even want to watch the movie. I don’t want you to start ignoring me again.”
Dale splayed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “I was ignoring you? Are you serious? I wasn’t the one doing the ignoring bit, Ellis. That was you. You didn’t even look at me for days; you ran when I tried to talk to you. You don’t want to do this? Fine, but don’t try to blame our fallout on me.”
Ellis gulped. He knew Dale was right, at least in part. “I….”
Dale waited and nodded when Ellis couldn’t continue. He leaned back in his seat and looked around. “That’s what I thought.”
“It was just weird, okay?” Ellis hissed.
“It doesn’t have to be.” Dale leaned forward again. “I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting that to happen and it was kind of awkward afterward, but it’s been two weeks, Ellis. The awkwardness is long gone. You’re the one making this weird. Don’t make a mountain out of it. It’s not like we fucked or anything.”
Ellis blushed. “Shhh! Do you want everyone to hear you?”
Dale grinned. “So, what do you say? Are you going to chicken out of it?”
“I don’t think Seth would let me. He’ll probably ask for details or something.”
“You could always tell him you were sick. You still have a good thirty hours to manage it.”
Ellis snorted. “He wouldn’t care. He’d probably say the only things I need to do this are my eyes, so if I can keep them open, I’m good to go.”
“You’re probably right,” Dale said with a chuckle. “You already know him pretty well.”
“Yeah, well. He kind of grew on me over the past couple of weeks.” Ellis grabbed his pen and doodled along the open page of his notebook. “What if I freak out again?”
“Why’d you freak out in the first place?”
“I don’t know.” Oh, Ellis knew very well why he had. He just couldn’t tell Dale it’s because I have a hopeless crush on you.
“You never did it before?”
“Why, you did?”
“Yeah, a few times, when we were younger and had sleepovers, stuff like that. It’s not a big deal… usually.” Dale gave Ellis a pointed stare to make the fact that it had been his fault sink in a bit more.
“It wasn’t a big deal with Matt, but it’s not the same thing with you. He’s my best friend, you’re… you.”
“Oh, that clarifies everything, thank you so much.”
Ellis slapped Dale’s arm. “Shut up. I just don’t want things to be weird again, that’s it.”
“Okay, fine. No one said we had to watch gay porn. We’ll go over to your house, watch a normal movie without any sex in it, and lie our asses off to Seth when he asks for juicy details.”
“You think you can find a movie without any kind of sex?”
“Yeah, a cartoon.”
Ellis laughed. “Some cartoons have sex.”
“What have you been watching?”
“How is the project going?”
Ellis jumped in his seat. He hadn’t noticed Mr. Shea coming closer. “It’s going well.”
Ellis had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to be doing. They hadn’t even started working yet, and since they hadn’t talked for the past two weeks, their project was a lot further behind what it should have been. Still, they had a pretty good outline, so if Mr. Shea wanted to see something, they wouldn’t be empty-handed.
“What topic did you choose?”
“The one about the same-sex couples and their rights for prom, sir,” Dale said, looking smug. Ellis supposed he was proud of being so open-minded, and he was probably right to be.
Mr. Shea gave the two of them a strange look and smiled. “Really? That’s great. I didn’t actually expect anyone to pick it, so I’m eager to hear what you two have to say. Is one of you really against the same-sex couples’ equal rights?”
“No, but we already decided I was going to be the one doing that part,” Dale said. “It didn’t seem right to have Ellis do it.”
Ellis kicked Dale under the table. The idiot had outed him to their English teacher!
“Oh?” Mr. Shea asked, but he didn’t ask why, so Ellis relaxed a bit and prayed Dale would keep his big mouth shut for the rest of the class. “I can understand that, Ellis.”
Ellis’s eyes widened. Had Mr. Shea really implied what Ellis thought he’d implied?
“Well, back to work.” The teacher turned around and said louder, “I expect a complete outline of the arguments from both your sides on my desk by the end of next week.”
Ellis looked at Dale. “Do you think…?”
“What, that he’s gay? You didn’t know?”
“What? Of course I didn’t!”
Dale smirked. “You’re seriously out of the loop, El. Mr. Shea never made the fact he was gay a secret. He just doesn’t flaunt it.”
“Seriously?” Dale nodded. “And no one had anything to say about it? Everyone is fine with him teaching us?”
“There were a few grumbles when he first started teaching, but it’s not like this is a Catholic school. Teachers can’t be discriminated against for that.”
“Can’t being the word that usually causes problems.”
“Yeah, well. I don’t think he’s had too many problems, or he wouldn’t be here.”
Ellis was floored. He’d never thought about any teacher’s sexuality before, and that was how he wanted to continue, at least for most of them. Not that he was thinking about his English teacher that way, of course, but knowing he was gay and that he probably knew what Ellis was going through, knowing he’d probably been through the same stuff when he was younger, made Ellis feel better. He knew he had someone he could talk to if he needed it, someone who would understand him, an
d that was great.
“So. Project.”
Ellis turned his attention back to Dale. “Yeah, project. We lost a lot of time, so we need to get to work.”
“Speak for yourself. I worked on my half while we were in the no-talk zone.”
Ellis smiled and launched himself into another bickering session with Dale. It felt good to be back to normal with him.
“MOM?”
Ellis’s mom turned away from the salad she was tossing. “Yes?”
“Can I have someone over tomorrow afternoon?”
She arched a brow. “Oh. Who do you want to have over and why?”
“Dale, my English partner. We’re going to work on the project and maybe watch a movie once we’re done.”
“Okay. Just make sure you actually do your homework before watching the movie. And no porn.”
“Mom!”
“I’ve been young before you, El. I know how things go. I remember once Roger Grant asked me to go study at his house during our final year, and we ended up—”
“Mom! I don’t want to hear that!” Ellis didn’t even want to imagine his mother doing whatever she’d been about to say. He refused to think he and his brothers were anything but the product of three Immaculate Conceptions. “Besides, Dale is a boy, Mom.”
She gave Ellis a pointed glance. “Exactly.”
Ellis chose to ignore whatever she was trying to say because it felt safer. “So can I tell Dale he can come?”
“Sure. Ask him if he wants to stay for dinner too.”
Ellis gave her a suspicious glance. “Are you going to be here?”
“Of course I am. I have the early morning shift this week, so don’t worry. Your father won’t be the one doing the cooking. I wouldn’t have invited your friend for dinner otherwise. I’m not that cruel.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Ellis’s dad protested. Both Ellis and his mother arched a brow at him and stared until he smiled deprecatingly. “Fine, maybe I am.”
Ellis smiled at his mom and left the kitchen as his dad asked, “And what exactly were you doing at Roger’s house instead of studying?”
A Good Enough Reason Page 9
