Page 51 of Ancient History

“I was just admiring all the places you’ve been.” I nodded at the postcards. “Your passport has been getting lots of action.”

“Not quite.” Amos swung into the room and admired the postcards next to me. “This is a vision cork board of all the places I want to visit one day. I never got the chance to study abroad in college, and my family only ever wanted to go to amusement parks for vacation. Which, don’t get me wrong, amusement parks slap. But there’s a big ass world out there beyond roller coasters.”

“Well, your parents can enjoy all the roller coasters they want in New Orleans.”

“How’d you know they’re down there?”

“You told me, Mr. Brightside.” It was yet another instance of him and his family being on two different planets. I felt bad that his family kinda sucked, but Amos was too good of a person to write them off.

I gulped back the heat climbing up my neck. I could feel the way his light arm hairs danced on the pads of my fingers, our bodies dangerously close.

“I’ve been saving up for a big vacation, which you’ll soon discover is hard on a teacher’s salary.”

“Where do you want to go most?”

“Rome.” He tapped the postcard of the colosseum without a moment’s hesitation. “I want to see where it all began.”

“Didn’t it all begin in, like, Mesopotamia?” Huh, maybe I did remember some things from class.

“True. But I loved studying the Roman Empire. It’s my favorite unit to teach.”

“Were all the Roman guys gay for each other? They invented bathhouses.”

“They were morefluidwith their sexuality. And bathhouses were used for bathing.”

“And a quick handy.” I smirked, happily throwing a wrench in his glowing historical image of ancient Rome. I’d seen the statues of naked boys playing and hot guys with chiseled six-packs. The Romans invented Instagays. “You should teach your students about how our ancestors were super horny.”

“I’m sure the school board would love that.”

“We know that the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, but how did those guys celebrate hmm? A little slap and tickle.”

“Slap and tickle.” He snorted, his laugh the most beautiful sound in the world. Maybe next to his moans. “How did you remember when the Magna Carta was signed?”

“No idea. I don’t know what it is, but I know it was signed in 1215.” It was one of those random facts that stuck in my brain and would probably be there until I died.

“I want to see the ruins.” A wistful smile flitted on his lips. I was grateful for the left turn away from sex talk. All the talk of horny ancestors wasn’t helping me keep things under control. “People think that the Roman Empire was this long-standing civilization, but it was only in existence for about 1,000 years. And of those thousand years, it was only in power for about four hundred.”

“That sounds like a long time to me.”

“In the grand scheme of world history, it isn’t. But isn’t it crazy that there are still remnants of ancient markets and coliseums? That we can imagine what random Romans were doing thousands of years ago. They went to the market, they lived in apartments, they watched a gladiatorial battle, which is similar to watching a football game. Not much has changed.” He smiled at the postcard, his eyes wild in thought, the academic side of him unleashed. “Sorry.”

“What for?”

“Historical tangent over.”

“I like it.” I could listen to him talk about history all day. It was intoxicating to watch someone be passionate.

I pushed back a stray curl of his hair, tempting fate.

“I hope you get to go to Rome.”

“That’s the plan for my thirtieth birthday.”

Amos sure knew how to plan for things. He was the more organized of us two. He had a plan for everything.

I took a seat on the edge of his bed, my hands stretched out over the soft, navy blue comforter.

“Do you ever wonder what the last ten years would’ve been like if…” The truth got caught in my throat, but I pushed through. “If we had gone to prom together?”

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