String Boys Page 9

  “Of course,” Seth said, hoping Matty and Kelly would forgive him. “But Matty’s sort of an asshole. I need to apologize in advance for anything he says.”

  Amara’s face lit up. “Really?”

  He nodded, and she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Seth. You’re a good friend.”

  They sat down and started tuning their instruments, and Seth thought wryly that if only she’d given him a flower last week, he might have had her give one to Kelly on Valentine’s Day.

  He’d really love to have given Kelly a flower in front of the world.

  “REALLY?” MATTY asked as they all stood at the back of the full bus on the way home. “She has to sit with us at lunch?”

  “She’s smart,” Seth said, because he had her in English class. “And funny. And she likes Kelly’s drawings a lot.”

  Kelly grinned. “She stays!” he proclaimed. “I like this girl already.”

  Matty snorted. “Whatever. You morons eat lunch with the fat girl. Me and Isela can go eat our own lunch in the quad.”

  “She’s not fat,” Seth said, feeling a flash of anger. “She’s sweet.”

  “Are you finally dating?” Matty asked, staring at him like he’d grown another head. “And her?”

  “She’s a friend!” Seth argued. “And don’t call friends mean names!” God, it all sounded like those special programs they got in the fourth grade. “You and Isela can go sit anywhere you want, as long as you’re not mean to my other friends!”

  “Whoa, whoa—whatever, Seth. You guys give me a bad time about my girlfriend!”

  “Your girlfriend hates half the band and most of the drama club,” Kelly muttered. “And she doesn’t even know them. Seth’s girlfriend—”

  “She’s a friend!” Seth protested, only subsiding when Kelly gave him a bored look.

  “Seth’s girlfriend is nice to everybody. Isn’t she, Seth?”

  Kelly continued the pointed glare, which felt more like a pointed question by now.

  “She is,” Seth said, nodding at Kelly slightly. “She likes all those people Isela’s father tells you to hate. And she’d laugh her ass off if you tried to teach her there’s no evolution. And if you tried to teach her that a woman was less than a man, she’d laugh your ass off. She’s fierce.”

  Kelly gave a slight smile. “Good to know,” he said, his voice mild. “Shit. Goddammit, Matty, can’t you do something about him?”

  They all looked up to see—who else?—Castor Durant and his buddies, smoking cigarettes and waiting for the bus.

  Matty scowled, and for once, they were all in agreement. “Look, guys? Just don’t mention the girls, okay? I hear he’s going to the grade school and trying to get kids to follow him into his little shit pile in the store. He’s got bad things in there. Keep him away from our sisters, okay?”

  Seth and Kelly nodded. This was a common goal they could get behind.

  They filed off the bus, not pretending they didn’t see him, and not getting out of the way either. All the boys—and there were about five of them—lined up, as though making a soccer tunnel for Matty, Kelly, and Seth.

  Seth gathered his violin case close to his chest, grateful for the thousandth time for its almost crush-proof construction. The boys smelled foul, unwashed and like cigarettes and some sort of oily smoke that clung to all of them. They crashed their shoulders against Matty, Kelly, and then Seth as they streamed off the bus, muttering, “Fag. Faggot. Cocksucker,” as well as other fun epithets.

  The bus doors finally shut on them, and Matty gave a sigh of relief.

  “Well, maybe it’s a good thing you’ve got a girlfriend,” he said to Seth as they set off for home at a trot. “I am damned tired of that word.”

  “If he’s so damned tired of it,” Kelly muttered in an undertone, “why does he always fuckin’ use it?”

  Seth grimaced, but neither of them had an answer.

  Just a pressing need to get home.

  Kelly always ran upstairs to say hi to his family before he came down to visit Seth. Today, this gave Seth a little time to set up. He hadn’t lied about the flowers—flowers were so clearly a romantic thing, and something you had to display in your kitchen or on your shirt or something.

  But a little stuffed animal, that was another thing. He chose a dog because Kelly had always wanted a dog, but the fourplexes didn’t let you keep anything but cats. This one was purple and orange, because the colors were whimsical and reminded Seth of Kelly’s boundless joy, and its brown eyes were enormous.

  He set the card and the stuffed animal up on the coffee table behind him, so he was—thank God—standing in front of them when Matty burst in, Kelly at his heels.

  “Seth! Tell my stupid brother not to overreact!” Matty snarled, glaring at Kelly with such fierceness Seth would have recoiled—if he hadn’t been setting his violin on top of Kelly’s card and gift, that is.

  “Seth, please tell my brain-damaged idiot sibling that Castor Durant is a serious threat to my damned family and that my mom should know to keep the girls safe and not to let Lily and Lulu walk Agnes home like she did today. If she doesn’t know what’s out there, she doesn’t know that’s a bad move. And Dorkface here would rather our little sisters get kidnapped and beat up and hurt and shit, than admit some scumsucking slagdump called him a fag!”

  Seth was used to waiting until Kelly paused for breath.

  “Kelly’s right,” he said shortly. “Durant’s dangerous. You were the one who was afraid he’d find out who your sisters were. Tell your mother, Matty. She needs to know.”

  Matty scowled, shaking his head. “And I say she doesn’t.”

  Seth and Kelly exchanged glances. “And Kelly says she does,” Seth said, stepping into the role of equal, since Kelly seemed forever locked into “little brother” position. “Kelly can tell her, and you can pretend it has nothing to do with you.”

  “You two are so stupid!” Matty burst out. “Don’t you get it? Castor Durant’s parents are fucking bigwigs in Isela’s church! His father is co-pastor with her dad! We can’t do anything about him! If we tell my mom—”

  “You don’t have to tell her his name, you big coward!” Seth snapped. “Just tell her there’s some kids who like to mess with us and we’ve heard rumors. Jesus, Matty, your girlfriend’s church is not more important than your family!”

  Matty jerked back like Seth had slapped him hard in the face. Even Kelly was looking at him with some shock.

  “That’s a shitty thing to say!” he snapped with just enough defensiveness for Seth to know he’d hit home.

  “Then tell your mother,” Seth said, lowering his voice. “I’ll tell my dad if you want. He’ll pass it along. C’mon, Matty. I… I mean, I know I’m not… you know. Family. But they’re your sisters. I…. Maybe you gotta be all alone in the house to know why that’s important.”

  Because Seth had been.

  Those moments playing with Matty and Kelly when they were younger had meant everything to him. Running around the house playing horsy, with a little girl on his back spurring him on—those had been some of his best moments.

  Until he’d looked at Kelly sleeping, he’d thought ice cream with the Cruz family, his dad a sober, smiling presence by his side, was the best thing in the world.

  Matty snorted. “You’re so fucking pathetic. Get your own damned family. C’mon, Kelly—”

  “Uh, no, moron,” Kelly muttered. “It’s my night to stay here with Seth. He is our family, and you’re being an asshole. I’ll tell Mom if you don’t, and then she’ll want to know why it was me.”

  “Whatever.” Matty turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

  Kelly gave Seth a worried look and opened the drapes to the late afternoon sun before the windows stopped rattling.

  Seth took a big shaky breath and swallowed. “I’m sorry—” he muttered just as Kelly said, “I’m so sor—”

  They stopped and grimaced.

  “I hate t
hat he’s my brother,” Kelly said bitterly. He looked down at his feet and swallowed. “Jimmy Durreson gave Tevin Crane a fucking carnation in second period this morning. Kissed him on the cheek and asked him to the dance and everything. Dammit. I really wanted to give you a fucking flower.”

  Seth’s hands were still shaking, but he turned around and made sure his instrument was okay, and then pulled out his gift.

  “Me too,” he said softly.

  And like that, the sadness washed away. Kelly’s eyes went bright, and he took the little stuffed dog and the card with a giant smile.

  “This is the dumbest thing,” he said, kissing it on the head and rubbing it against his cheek. Seth saw movement from outside and gestured with his chin. Kelly lowered his hand and looked out the window, waving merrily to his mom and dad. Agnes ran up to Seth’s window, her customary black pigtails bobbing as she blew a bubble on the glass. Seth laughed and put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder.

  “I got something for them too,” he said, and ran to the door, grabbing the candy necklaces from the end table as he did so. “Agnes!” She stuck her head inside cheekily.

  “Did you get me candy hearts?” she lisped, her front teeth a second-grade casualty, like the teeth of every other kid in her class.

  “Of course,” he said. “Don’t I always?”

  She nodded like a bobble doll and took the necklaces from him. “Ooh… Lily and Lulu will be all excited. Their Valentine’s Day sucked. Some stupid boy said he liked Lily, but he got them mixed up.”

  Seth grimaced. It didn’t help that they both preferred jeans and flowered shirts and they traded all the time. Identical twins, except for the hair. “That’s too bad,” he said, figuring they’d put things together on their own. “Tell them I said happy Valentine’s Day, okay?”

  “Yeah. Thanks, Seth! I love you!”

  Seth flicked one of her ponytails. “Love you back. Go kill someone in the arena, okay?”

  She laughed. “I don’t even know what that means! I’m playing soccer.” And then she ran to where her mother waited patiently by the car.

  “We have ice cream cake,” Linda Cruz called. “Come up with Kelly. Bring your dad.”

  Seth nodded and waved and then closed the door. As he watched the car drive away, he started to close the curtains with the pulley and was unsurprised when Kelly’s arms wrapped around his waist.

  “Mm.” Seth closed his eyes and savored Kelly’s warmth at his back.

  “Your card was cute,” Kelly said softly, standing on tiptoe to whisper in Seth’s ear. “And I’m keeping it forever.”

  Two kittens, draped over each other, surrounded with sparkling hearts and music notes that were superimposed on the picture. The inside had been blank, so Seth had written, “You’re my favorite song.”

  “Good,” Seth whispered, turning in his arms. He hadn’t closed that final two-inch gap between the curtains, but he figured it was good enough.

  “You lied to Matty, though,” Kelly said, brushing their lips together softly.

  “How?”

  “You’re our family. If Isela’s gonna be family after Matty knocks her up, then you’re our family already.”

  Seth’s chuckle sounded strained as he remembered sex ed classes and all those surreptitiously watched videos. “You gonna knock me up?” he teased.

  Kelly’s eyes went to half-mast, and he raised his chin. Seth lowered his head so Kelly could whisper in his ear, “Only if that happens when I touch your dick.”

  Seth grunted, his words a touch on their own. His mouth crashed down on Kelly’s with a hunger he’d never had for food, and Kelly responded just as hard.

  It was like they’d been practicing dancing at slow speed for nearly three months, and now they were going at triple time.

  But it was okay now, because they knew the steps.

  Kelly’s hands fumbled with Seth’s shirt and sweatshirt, and he pulled them over Seth’s head and dropped them on the floor while Seth fiddled with Kelly’s jeans. His button fly was super stubborn, and after three or four tries, he gave a growl and yanked all the buttons open.

  Kelly laughed softly and put his hand on Seth’s. “It’s full in there,” he said, giving a geeky little laugh. “Careful.”

  Seth buried his face against Kelly’s shoulder and groaned. “I want to touch all of your skin,” he confessed raggedly. “How do we do that?”

  Kelly stepped back and yanked off both his shirts, his shoulders and torso gleaming softly brown in the low light from the lamp. They were both shirtless then, and Kelly’s jeans were halfway to his knees. He wore boxer briefs, Seth realized, licking his mouth and trying to get some moisture in there.

  Tented boxer briefs.

  They both locked eyes, and Kelly gave him a quick smile. “I want to kiss all your skin too, mijo,” he said, and Seth recognized the endearment.

  He didn’t have a good one for Kelly, but he could be brave.

  “On three?” He bit his lip, and Kelly nodded, counting first.

  “One….” Kelly slid his thumbs under his waistband.

  “Two….” Seth unbuttoned his fly.

  “Three!” They both said in tandem, and Seth shucked everything, jeans, underwear, even his socks by mistake. For a moment, they were both too busy kicking their shoes off so their jeans wouldn’t get stuck to see what they’d revealed.

  He looked up in time to see Kelly, standing on one foot while he crossed the other over his knee and yanked on his socks, and for a moment, the comedy gave him room to breathe.

  Then the socks were gone, and there were two boys, naked, in Seth’s living room. Seth reached out to touch Kelly’s bare arm, running his fingertips down the bicep carefully, and Kelly shuddered.

  “C’mere,” he ordered. “Let’s just….”

  Naked body to naked body, they held each other, and Kelly’s skin felt like satin, but warm, living and perfect, and Seth nibbled under Kelly’s jaw, near his earlobe, so he could taste Kelly’s sweat.

  Kelly didn’t disappoint.

  As Seth toyed with his earlobe and skated tender fingertips across his hip bones, Kelly moaned softly and pushed at Seth’s shoulders until Seth turned and moved to the couch.

  Kelly grinned at him. “You’re too tall. Let me sit on your lap.”

  Naked.

  Seth’s knees buckled. The couch—still the worn denim from his childhood—felt nubbly under his bare ass.

  “Grab a T-shirt,” he muttered, and Kelly threw him the one on top—Kelly’s, black with a retro band on the front. Seth sat up quickly and laid it out to sit on. When he was back, he saw Kelly’s grin had only widened, showing off the dimples on his cheeks that Seth loved so much.

  “What?”

  Kelly shook his head, moving forward and putting one knee on the couch and then the other as he straddled Seth’s thighs.

  Oh God.

  Kelly sat down, his bare flesh pressed against Seth’s, and Seth was right there, looking at it.

  “I want to touch,” Seth rasped, even before he knew his brain could make words.

  “It’s all hard.” Kelly rocked his hips forward, and his… his… dick, cock, prick thrust out, begging for Seth’s touch.

  He started gently. With his fingertips, he traced the length, the bell—Kelly wasn’t circumcised, so pulling the hood back to reveal the head was like a magic trick.

  Surprise!

  A penis, with a purple head wet and shiny and waiting for Seth’s fingers to skate over the sensitive face of the thing.

  Kelly whimpered and Seth did it again, watching as fluid welled up out of the slit in the top. More magic. Curious, Seth touched his fingers to his mouth, then closed his eyes and sucked.

  Kelly whimpered again.

  “You want…?” Seth’s voice caught. “You want me to do that to you?”

  In response, Kelly rocked forward, and for a delirious moment, their dicks, cocks, pricks rubbed together, and Seth’s eyes rolled back in his head.

  Th
e skin was so soft. So very, very soft.

  Then he realized Kelly had put hands on Seth’s shoulders and was pushing up on his knees.

  And it got closer, sticking out starkly in its thatch of silky hair. Seth leaned his head forward just as Kelly thrust toward his lips. Seth opened his mouth, and it should have been a comedy of errors right there, Kelly’s prick bobbing around, getting caught on his teeth, and then they’d laugh about it and go back to pushing at each other’s groins through their jeans.

  But it wasn’t.

  The head slid right past Seth’s lips, and he covered his teeth and closed his mouth, making a tight seal, and sucked.

  Kelly cried out, right there, and came.

  For a moment, Seth panicked. Come. He’s coming in my mouth! Then he remembered that he liked the taste, and there wasn’t that much, and he swallowed and slurped and made sure his mouth was wet. Kelly was still hard, so Seth pressed forward until he could feel the head in the back of his throat, and Kelly convulsed completely, cradling Seth’s head in his hands and crying out as Seth swallowed the last burst of come.

  With a little sound of repletion, Kelly sank down, sitting in his lap for real and laying his head against Seth’s shoulder.

  The puddle of come Seth had shot when Kelly was in his mouth cooled on Seth’s abdomen, and Kelly ran his finger through it fitfully.

  “You came too,” he murmured.

  “I dreamed about doing that,” Seth confessed.

  “You enjoyed it?” Kelly sounded uncertain.

  Seth smiled, closing his eyes. “I could do that all the time,” he confessed.

  Kelly lifted his fingers to his mouth and tasted, wrinkling his nose. “It’s….”

  “It’s better hot,” Seth told him, and Kelly laughed softly before taking his mouth.

  No more words. Just kissing. Kissing and touching. Hands over skin again. They both grew hard, and for an amazing moment, all Seth could think about was stroking Kelly off in his palm. It fit! Fat and thick, it was made for Seth’s strong, callused fingers wrapping around it and squeezing, but then… oh then… Kelly did the same to him.