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Authors: Heidi Cullinan
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had when he’d seen the Disney heroes redone, except the expression on his face now was dirtier.
Good. Walter liked to think Kelly was untutored, not a prude.
“If it helps,” Walter said, “I did have to confess to peeking at Tom in therapy. Not because I thought it was wrong to be gay, but more that I needed help parsing out what ‘real’ gay was and what was fantasy. This is what happens when you grow up with a handful of half-assed role models and a whole lot of American Family Association on the airwaves.”
He wasn’t sure how subtle that had been, but he’d wanted Kelly to get he wasn’t the only queer boy who’d needed a leg up to get through adolescence.
“Did you really cry to ‘Candle on the Water’ when you were younger?” Kelly asked eventually. “Or did you invent that to make me feel better?”
“Like a baby, all by myself in my room with a blanket around my head so I could hide quick if anyone came in the room.” The confession made him feel too exposed, so he cleared his throat and made an impatient come here motion to Kelly. “Get over here and bring my MacBook. We’ll alternate between Tom and Disney and finish off with a nice masturbation session.”
“Not together!” Despite this protest, Kelly came over to the futon all the same, and as he settled in, Walter could tell his roommate was sporting a stiffy.
Not yet, there won’t be a masturbation session together, Walter agreed, taking the laptop and surfing to an untitled piece he had bookmarked, a pencil of a nude blond man between the thighs of a booted biker. Not yet. But soon.
Chapter Six
It took almost a month for Cara and Greg to get everything out of the garage at the old apartment, but the good news for Walter was on the last run, Cara came with Greg instead of sending her dad. It was the longest stretch in two years Walter had gone without seeing her every day, and he didn’t realize how much he hated that absence until she came down the campus sidewalk toward him, arms extended.
“It’s so good to see you.” She enveloped him in a hug, then pulled back and smiled at him a little longer. Walter drank her in like water.
“You look good.” He touched the tips of her hair, which she’d cut to frame her face in a sharp bob. “Cute hair. Love the color too.”
She touched the ends, making them bounce. “I miss the length, but this looks more professional, I thought.”
“Internship going well?”
“Yeah. I think I might have a few leads on a job, but things are still in the air.” She looped her arm through his. “So. I want to see this adorable roommate.”
“He’s out at some freshman mixer. I told him it was a waste, but every now and again he has to go rub his nose in that shit and find out I’m right.”
Cara laughed. “We’ll take him to Opie’s later.” Walter opened the door to the dorm, and she wrinkled her nose. “God.”
“Smells of piss and glory, doesn’t it?” Walter held the door wide and gestured for her to pass through. “After you, madam.”
“It seems worse than when you first stayed here,” Cara said as they ascended the stairs, the cacophony of brutish men echoing around them.
“I know. I think it’s the indignity of having to return to it. Somehow that makes it smell more rank.”
“I’m so sorry the apartment thing was a mess.”
“It’s hardly your fault.”
“Still. I hate leaving you here, stuck in Porterhouse.” She touched a peeling wall and sighed. “At least you have your roommate. And of course Williams. How’s everything going with him?”
“Good. He’s obsessed about his tenure, and so is Rose Manchester and the rest of the philosophers-wannabe. Rose is the most rabid about it, though. I think she smells a Pulitzer or something.”
“No she doesn’t. She just really loves Williams, like you do.”
They entered the fourth-floor hallway, which was unfortunately pretty busy. The guys whose rooms were on either side of the center bathroom
Good. Walter liked to think Kelly was untutored, not a prude.
“If it helps,” Walter said, “I did have to confess to peeking at Tom in therapy. Not because I thought it was wrong to be gay, but more that I needed help parsing out what ‘real’ gay was and what was fantasy. This is what happens when you grow up with a handful of half-assed role models and a whole lot of American Family Association on the airwaves.”
He wasn’t sure how subtle that had been, but he’d wanted Kelly to get he wasn’t the only queer boy who’d needed a leg up to get through adolescence.
“Did you really cry to ‘Candle on the Water’ when you were younger?” Kelly asked eventually. “Or did you invent that to make me feel better?”
“Like a baby, all by myself in my room with a blanket around my head so I could hide quick if anyone came in the room.” The confession made him feel too exposed, so he cleared his throat and made an impatient come here motion to Kelly. “Get over here and bring my MacBook. We’ll alternate between Tom and Disney and finish off with a nice masturbation session.”
“Not together!” Despite this protest, Kelly came over to the futon all the same, and as he settled in, Walter could tell his roommate was sporting a stiffy.
Not yet, there won’t be a masturbation session together, Walter agreed, taking the laptop and surfing to an untitled piece he had bookmarked, a pencil of a nude blond man between the thighs of a booted biker. Not yet. But soon.
Chapter Six
It took almost a month for Cara and Greg to get everything out of the garage at the old apartment, but the good news for Walter was on the last run, Cara came with Greg instead of sending her dad. It was the longest stretch in two years Walter had gone without seeing her every day, and he didn’t realize how much he hated that absence until she came down the campus sidewalk toward him, arms extended.
“It’s so good to see you.” She enveloped him in a hug, then pulled back and smiled at him a little longer. Walter drank her in like water.
“You look good.” He touched the tips of her hair, which she’d cut to frame her face in a sharp bob. “Cute hair. Love the color too.”
She touched the ends, making them bounce. “I miss the length, but this looks more professional, I thought.”
“Internship going well?”
“Yeah. I think I might have a few leads on a job, but things are still in the air.” She looped her arm through his. “So. I want to see this adorable roommate.”
“He’s out at some freshman mixer. I told him it was a waste, but every now and again he has to go rub his nose in that shit and find out I’m right.”
Cara laughed. “We’ll take him to Opie’s later.” Walter opened the door to the dorm, and she wrinkled her nose. “God.”
“Smells of piss and glory, doesn’t it?” Walter held the door wide and gestured for her to pass through. “After you, madam.”
“It seems worse than when you first stayed here,” Cara said as they ascended the stairs, the cacophony of brutish men echoing around them.
“I know. I think it’s the indignity of having to return to it. Somehow that makes it smell more rank.”
“I’m so sorry the apartment thing was a mess.”
“It’s hardly your fault.”
“Still. I hate leaving you here, stuck in Porterhouse.” She touched a peeling wall and sighed. “At least you have your roommate. And of course Williams. How’s everything going with him?”
“Good. He’s obsessed about his tenure, and so is Rose Manchester and the rest of the philosophers-wannabe. Rose is the most rabid about it, though. I think she smells a Pulitzer or something.”
“No she doesn’t. She just really loves Williams, like you do.”
They entered the fourth-floor hallway, which was unfortunately pretty busy. The guys whose rooms were on either side of the center bathroom
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