Something Like Summer (36 page)

“
I’ve made my choice,” Ben
said, reaching over to take Jace’s hand.

“
Good.” Jace flipped the
turn signal and took the exit ramp for Austin. “Now there’s one
final thing we both have to face.”

“
What’s that?”

“
How to apologize to
Allison. We left her at the park.”

Ben groaned. With all that
had happened, he’d completely forgotten about her. Earning back
Jace’s trust and saying good-bye to Tim no longer seemed such a
daunting task compared to the hurricane of anger he’d face when she
found her way home.

__________

Chapter 24

How did someone go about
deliberately ending a friendship? Television dramas were full of
breakups, but those usually involved moments of high passion.
Breaking up with a friend was more subtle and calculated. Were
there any guidelines to be followed? Was breaking up in person
required? Or did one friend simply stop calling the other and let
the bond gradually deteriorate into nothing?

Ben had no choices
remaining. He had already called Tim, telling him that they needed
to talk. In retrospect, he probably should have been more specific.
What if Tim was getting his hopes up? Ben had considered meeting
him in public, but worried that one of them might cry, which would
be embarrassing.

Instead he was on his way
to Tim’s house, trying to decide if he should stop to grab some
drinks somewhere. Getting drunk with Tim wasn’t advisable, but a
beer could help make this talk easier on both of them. Even better,
Ben could have an alcohol-free beer and leave a six-pack for Tim to
nurse his wounds with.

He pulled into a strip mall
and parked in front of one of the small liquor stores that were
often found nestled up against major grocery chains. An unexpected
sight attracted his attention on his way into the store. In the
parking lot sat a large blue van with both of its rear doors open.
A baby gate stretched across the opening, rattling occasionally as
something tried to escape. A disheveled woman adjusted the gate
before replacing a fallen sign that read “Free Puppies.” Memories
of Wilford prompted Ben to investigate.

“
Looking for a puppy?” the
woman asked as he approached.

“
Not really, but I sure
miss having one,” Ben answered. He looked over the gate to see only
one puppy left, its tiny body a fat sausage decked out in a fur
coat two sizes too large. The dog stopped romping around to
consider him with a smooshed face. “Is it supposed to look that
way?”

The woman snorted. “Totally
normal for a bulldog. They only get uglier when they’re older, but
you’ll have fallen in love by then.”

“
He is sort of cute,” Ben
admitted as he watched the puppy try to scale the gate. When it
failed it crouched and barked instead.

“
She, actually. This one’s
a girl. Do you have a home big enough for a dog?”

“
Well no, but--”
Everything clicked into place. “My friend has a huge house and he
lives there all alone. I think a dog would be perfect for
him.”

The woman clapped her hands
together, her eyes filled with desperate relief before becoming
shrewd. “Now, the dog is free, but I’m asking a twenty dollar
donation. Completely optional, but all proceeds go toward getting
mama-dog spayed.”

The woman took Ben’s money,
as well as any contact information she could shake out of him. She
was obviously concerned about the puppy’s welfare, but Ben was sure
they were both making the right decision. After she handed the
puppy over to him, its surprisingly powerful legs treaded air as it
strained to lick his face. Then it peed down the front of his
shirt. Ben laughed and brought it to his car.

Driving the rest of the way
to Tim’s house was a small nightmare, the puppy bouncing around the
car like a rubber ball. Tim met him in the driveway, his jaw
dropping when a puppy jumped out of the car.

“
You got a dog?” he
asked.

“
No,
you
got a dog,” Ben
corrected.

It took a few moments of
explaining, but Tim quickly took to the idea. “I don’t have
anything a dog needs. We’ve got to go shopping! Let’s
go!”

“
What, now?”

This wasn’t exactly what
Ben had planned, but what could he do? Was he really supposed to
drop off the puppy and say a quick good-bye? So after borrowing a
clean shirt, he was dragged off to a pet megamart with Tim and the
puppy, who had been dubbed Chinchilla. Tim filled a shopping cart
to the brim with more toys and food than most dogs needed in a
lifetime. He ordered a dog house that would be delivered the next
day and signed up for training classes. Chinchilla was going to
live a good life.

Once they were back at
Tim’s—and now Chinchilla’s—home, Ben almost forgot the real reason
he was there. They sat on the floor together, trying out different
toys and laughing as Chinchilla made a fool of herself. She tore
around the house, barking and making messes. Already the house felt
more alive.

“
This was a nice
surprise,” Tim said eventually. “I thought you were coming over to
tell me that Jace wants my head on a platter.”

“
No.” The smile faded from
Ben’s face. “He was very understanding about everything, but there
is something we need to talk about.”

“
Oh yeah?”

“
I can’t handle this,” Ben
blurted out. “My feelings for you, I mean. They never went
away--”

“
That’s a good thing,” Tim
interrupted.

“
No, it’s not. I love
Jace. I’ve been with him for over two years, and I plan on staying
with him.”

Tim reached out and grabbed
his arm, as if he were afraid Ben would try to flee. “I can give
you everything he can,” he promised. “More even.”

Ben knew arguing would be
fruitless. “I’m with Jace,” he said. “And that’s how it’s going to
stay.”

“
Okay,” Tim said,
releasing his arm. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be
friends.”

“
Yeah, it does, Tim,
because that’s not how I see you.”

“
That’s not how I see you
either, so why fight it?”

“
Because I love Jace, and
I’ve already hurt him more than I ever should have.”

“
And you don’t love me?”
Tim challenged. “I know you do, because I feel the same
way.”

Ben struggled to remember
if Tim had ever said “I love you” when they were younger. Was he
even saying it now, or just implying that he did?

“
I have to go.” Ben stood.
“I don’t think we should see each other. For a while at
least.”

“
Benjamin, wait!” Tim
called after him.

He ran for the car, and as
he pulled away, he saw Tim holding Chinchilla back so she wouldn’t
run into the street. Tim looked hurt, but at least Ben knew that he
would no longer be alone.

* * * * *

Whatever academic gods were
out there received multiple daily prayers from Ben, mostly as pleas
to help him complete his finals and put formal education behind
him. Other times he thanked them for providing limitless
distraction during a difficult situation. The first time he had
said good-bye to Tim had been against his will. Now it was his own
doing, but he still couldn’t say this was what he
wanted.

Scholarly pressure
accelerated time until two months had gone by, and even though Ben
thought of Tim every single day, his relationship with Jace was
back on track. Some weeks they barely managed to see each other,
but when they did their relationship was just as loving and
intimate as before. If Jace harbored a grudge, he didn’t show
it.

After a late study session
in the library one evening, Ben had decided to go home, a term that
now referred to Jace’s apartment. He had barely stayed a night at
his duplex in the last month. Normally Allison wouldn’t tolerate
such a thing, but she was busy with her own finals. When Ben leapt
up the stairs to the apartment, he saw someone tacking a note to
the door.

The stranger turned when he
heard Ben approaching, eyes and mouth wide in surprise. With
eyeliner, base, and powder on his young face, he was only a
microphone away from being in a boy band. Surprise became
disinterest before the stranger turned away, evidently feeling
Ben’s presence was of no consequence.

The boy band reject was
already walking away when Ben saw that the note was addressed to
Jace. His name was surrounded by hand-drawn hearts. Underneath
these was a long series of X’s and O’s followed by the name
Aaron.

“
Hey!” Ben called after
him.

“
Oh,” Aaron said when he
turned around. “Are you Jace’s roommate or something?”

“
I’m his boyfriend,” Ben
challenged.

“
Yeah, right,” Aaron
laughed. “’fraid I beat you to that one! Make sure he gets that
note, ‘kay?”

Aaron turned and walked
away. Ben felt like grabbing him by his over-styled hair and
dragging him back for some answers, but he figured the note would
tell him all he needed to know. He tore it off the door and went
inside, ignoring Samson’s purrs of greeting.

The note was written in
purple ink in a handwriting that was annoyingly loopy and feminine.
It read:

Surprise! Bet you didn’t expect to
see me so soon, huh? My parents sprung for a ticket. Guess I should
have called ahead to tell you I was cumming. At least I hope I will
be. How about a rerun of what we did in your hotel? Then again,
maybe not. I’m still sore! Just in case you forgot my
number-

Ben glanced at the number
to confirm that it was a cell phone from a different area code.
Blood boiling, he let the note fall to the ground and ran outside
to chase after Aaron. He circled the block to no avail. When he
came back, Jace was struggling to get the key into the door, arms
loaded with bags of groceries.

“
Hey!” he said happily
when he saw Ben. “You ready for dinner?”

“
A note just came for
you,” Ben said, trying to keep his face impassive.

“
A note?”

Ben gestured for him to go
inside. Once they were in the apartment, he swept the note off the
floor and handed it to Jace. Ben searched his face as he read it.
Jace looked puzzled, as if he didn’t understand, but Ben knew he
had the best poker face in the world.

“
Is this some sort of
joke?” Jace asked.

“
Come on. Where were you
last week?”

“
A lot of places,” Jace
replied.

“
Including
Boston?”

“
Yeah. So?” Finally
recognition dawned on Jace’s face. “You think-- No, this isn’t from
that kid. I haven’t talked to him since.”

“
Since what, exactly?” Ben
demanded, wondering how many boy-toys Jace had scattered across the
U.S. Like a sailor pulling into port, he probably had one waiting
for him in every state.

“
You know the story.
Nothing happened. This is--” Jace gestured with the note. “I don’t
know what this is.”

“
It’s perfectly clear what
it is,” Ben shouted. “Or is there another gay guy next door named
Jace, and Aaron just happened to pick the wrong door?”

Jace set down the note,
took a deep breath, and looked Ben in the eye. “I’ve never cheated
on you.”

“
Then how do you explain
it?”

Jace shrugged and
considered the question for a moment. “If I had to guess, I expect
Tim thought this might--”

“
Tim? Get a grip, Jace!
He’s not Moriarty! I saw the guy who put this on the door, and it
sure as hell wasn’t Tim.”

Jace’s jaw clenched, his
patience finally nearing its end. “I don’t know what’s going on,
but if anyone deserves to be under suspicion, it’s you!”

That was enough to send Ben
over the edge. Their words became more heated and ugly with every
sentence. Blinded by rage, one of them screamed it was over.
Afterwards it was too hard to remember who.

Ben ended up back at the
duplex after driving recklessly through town. What he needed was to
talk to Allison. Unfortunately she wasn’t home. He waited for two
hours, pacing the house and trying to make sense of his thoughts
when the painting caught his eye. Two hearts, overlapping in a
swarm of fiery colors.

Why the hell not? He would
go see Tim. He could confront him, even. Maybe Jace was right.
Maybe this was some crackpot scheme to get them to split up. If so,
it had apparently worked. Some of the anger ebbed away, replaced by
sorrow. They hadn’t really broken up, had they?

Tim’s car was in the
driveway of his house, but so was another he didn’t recognize. Ben
thought of Aaron, certain that he was here and conspiring with Tim
over their next move. He pounded on the door. Tim answered almost
immediately, looking surprised but happy.

“
Benjamin!”

“
Who’s here?” Ben growled,
feeling like an over-possessive husband.

“
Just someone from
school,” Tim said.