Page 13 of Strange Lad

He stares and fiddles with his thumb ring. I shift on my feet, squirming inside before plopping down into the chair beside him. “What happened, Jorge? Did you stumble on gay porn again?”

“No!” I blow out a breath. “No. That…no.”

“Well?”

“Why do you even remember that?” I ask, feeling all sorts of upsy-daisy.

“It was funny.” He shrugs.

“Unhelpful.”

“Am I meant to be helpful?”

I groan loudly and spin in the chair. It squeaks as I go round and round, refusing to ask what I want to.

After Oli left three days ago, I’ve had random boners. Often. Usually, after thinking about his mouth. My family isCatholic.My mom would die if she knew. And my dick is clearly confused, lonely, and no one has cuddled me in over a week. I can’tfunction without some sort of physical contact. And Devon is mean and doesn’t like to cuddle. I asked when I first got here. He looked at me like I was an alien. Besides, he says he’s claustrophobic.

I miss Phoenix. He’d let me spoon him.

I sigh dramatically and throw my head back. “Are buttholes all they’re chalked up to be?” I ask, staring at the ceiling.

“Buttholes,” he deadpans.

Righting my face so I can look at him, I realize he’s waiting for me to elaborate. “Yeah. That’s part of being bisexual, right?”

That makes him laugh, shake his head, and face the computer. Rude. “I’m genuinely curious,” I tell him.

“It depends on the person, man. Not everyone is into anal.”

Well, how was I supposed to know that? Phoenix is into anal. “Okay. But like, are you?”

Again, he looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “I’m not talking to you about my sexual preferences. It’s bad enough you know I’m bi.”

I pout. “Please?” Fluttering my eyelashes and giving him my best sad puppy face, he huffs and swivels to me fully.

“Why are you asking about asses, Jorge? Does some girl want it, and you’re scared to hurt her?”

Oh, that’s a great excuse. “Yes,” I say with confidence.

He rubs his tired eyes and blows out a breath. “Lube. Lots of it. Everything else is instinct.”

Well, that helps exactlyzeroof my issues.

“What do two dudes do then? If not anal?”

“You just said it was a girl. Why do you want to know about two men? Are you curious?”

“Sexually?”

He nods.

“I don’t know.” I fold my arms and shrug.

“Please don’t tell me you want to fuck Phoenix.”

“Ew!” I gag. “Never. Ew. No.”

“Michael?”

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