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Marcus: Hey, kid. What are you doing today? Want to spend the day with me and Kai?
Any other time I would’ve jumped at the opportunity, but today I was too interested in spending the day here and then with Spencer.
Me: Nah, I’m good. I’ll see you tomorrow. Spend time with your boy.
I wasn’t surprised when my phone rang. I answered with, “I’m fine.”
“Where are you? With a guy?”
“No…well, yes. I came to the LGBTQ center with Spencer. He’s doing some work, and I’m gonna hang before we find something to do later.”
He let out a low growl, which made me chuckle. “What in the hell is up with this? He’s been a dick to you for months. I don’t like you spending time with him. I feel like he’s up to no good.”
If only Marcus knew the truth. “I’ll be fine, Daddy Marcus. He apologized for that.”
“And that makes it okay?”
I sighed because he wouldn’t get it. His worry came from a good place. Marcus had been trying to take care of me since we first met. That worked for both of us, but I didn’t want it to come between me and Spencer.
“I’ll explain it all to you tomorrow.”
“Okay…I just don’t want you to try to make this guy like you only so you can prove him wrong about the shit he said. You don’t have to prove him wrong. He was wrong, and I’ll tell him that next time I see him.”
“Simmer down, big guy,” I joked.
“See you tomorrow. Love you, kid.”
“I love you too.” I ended the call.
When I got to the library, I didn’t see Jini, so I decided to browse and wait to see if she showed up. There weren’t very many people in there. A skinny kid who looked about fifteen, wearing black-framed glasses beneath a mop of messy hair, sat in a chair, reading a book. The kid peeked over their book at me and said, “You’re Spencer’s friend from the party.”
“I am. Were you there?” I glanced at the pronouns pin on his shirt. He/him.
“No, but everyone is talking about the guy Spencer was with because he hasn’t brought a guy here since DJ, who was a dick and none of us liked him.”
My chest puffed out a little. I liked the idea of them not liking Spencer’s ex and that he hadn’t brought anyone here but me.
“You also do the podcast.”
“Yeah, but it’s not kid friendly.”
“I’m eighteen.”
“Well, still. I’m Corbin, by the way.”
“No shit.”
He was kind of a brat.
“What’cha reading?”
“Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan. I also have a book of poetry by Federico Garcia Lorca.”
“What’s the first one about?” I took the chair beside him. “And holy fuck. I would have loved to read a book called Two Boys Kissing when I was eighteen. Shit. I’m probably not supposed to say fuck.”
He laughed, but then tried to frown like he hadn’t wanted to.
“Can we forget I said that?”
He rolled his eyes, but I could see the small smile on his lips. “It’s narrated by a group of queer men who died from AIDS in the 1980s. The men tell stories about queer teens today—what they observe now, through the prism of their own knowledge and experience of having lived during their time. It’s incredible. I’ve read it four times.”
“Wow…that sounds really fucking cool.”
“You said fuck again.”
“So did you,” I countered.
“Yes, but I wasn’t nervous about doing it.”
I chuckled. This kid was awesome. “What’s your name?”
“Gael,” he answered, and then… “Wanna read it?”
“I don’t want to take a book you’re reading.”
“Like I said, I’ve read it four times. It’s okay if you don’t want to. People say shit they don’t mean all the time.”
“No, I do mean it,” I rushed out because it really did sound interesting.
Gael handed me the book. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d read a novel, but I would this one, not just because I wanted to, but because I didn’t want to let Gael down. Something about the kid told me he was lonely. He couldn’t look more different from how I did at his age, but I felt the same sadness in him I’d carried, and damned if I didn’t want to do something about it.
CHAPTER TEN
Spencer
I’d spent two and a half hours taking care of loose ends that had cropped up this week. Corbin hadn’t popped into my office at all, which had surprised me, especially after I learned that Jini wasn’t even in today.
The second I turned into the library, I heard him chuckle. My gaze snapped up to see Corbin in one chair, Gael in another, both with their heads thrown back and laughing.
I’d never heard Gael laugh so passionately, so open and honest, and Corbin spent two hours with him, and this was the result? He really was The Charmer.
But then all I could do was smile because Gael was laughing, and Corbin was laughing, and I wanted that so much for both of them. They hadn’t seen me yet, so I stood there watching them chat. Corbin had a book on the arm of the chair, and Gael had one on the side table. I loved reading and wished I had more time for it. Did Corbin read? If so, what kind of books did he like? There was so much I wanted to know about him, and that truth made my pulse speed up. This friendship had come on swiftly, unexpectedly, but in no time at all, I realized how much I wanted it.
