Page 8 of Phoenix

There was nothing funny about the situation so Jule shouldn’t have laughed but he did anyway. “You’re insane.”

“I’m horny.” He put the Band-Aid on Jule and then looked at him appraisingly. “You ever had someone suck you off?”

“You don’t think I’d have told you if I had?” Jule felt himself getting angry again. “Fuck you for that too, by the way. I can’t believe you kept that from me.”

Tor gripped his hand and pulled him up. “Wasn’t sure how you’d act if you found out.”

“I’d act like a sane person and tell you to stay away from predators.” Tor walked out of the bathroom and Jule followed him. “I can make a list of good advice like that if you need it. Don’t take candy from strangers. Don’t get into the back of a white windowless van.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Tor said, chuckling. He bumped his shoulder against Jule. “You never told me why you came back.”

“My mom went out of town.”

“Cool.” Tor walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. Jule lay beside him, both of them on their backs, crowded together on the twin mattress like usual. “How long?”

“Not sure. Few days. A week maybe. She’ll text at some point.”

Tor nodded.

“So,” Jule said.

Tor turned onto his side and looked at him.

Jule mirrored his position. “You’re gay?”

“Probably.”

He considered that. “How do you know?”

“Because I liked getting my dick sucked by Cody and I made sure not to look at Josie while he was doing it because that would have killed my boner.”

“Josie’s the wife?”

“Uh huh,” Tor said.

“I can’t believe you’ve been having some kind of weird three-way thing with a grown married couple.”

“I can’t believe you tried to kill a guy in front of a witness in an open door where anyone could have walked by.”

“He deserved it.” Jule grinned. “Hey, maybe I knocked some of his teeth out. That should help him give better blow jobs next time, right?”

Tor snorted. “I won’t get to find out because no way is he going to come anywhere near me after that stunt you pulled.”

“Good.” They lay together in silence, and Jule took in Tor’s face. His round cheeks had thinned out over the years, and his jawline was more visible. His eyelashes were fair but long, his eyebrows the same dusty color. They framed his eyes, which were still that sparkling blue. Tor was beautiful. He had buzzed off most of his hair so there was only a thin layer of the dirty blond showing. Jule ran his palm over the soft strands. “Tori?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you do anything else with that guy?”

“No.”

“Did you kiss him?”

Tor shook his head.

“Have you kissed anyone?”

“No.”