Page 86 of Something Like Summer
The boy band reject wasalready walking away when Ben saw that the note was addressed toJace. His name was surrounded by hand-drawn hearts. Underneaththese was a long series of X’s and O’s followed by the nameAaron.
“Hey!” Ben called afterhim.
“Oh,” Aaron said when heturned around. “Are you Jace’s roommate or something?”
“I’m his boyfriend,” Benchallenged.
“Yeah, right,” Aaronlaughed. “’fraid I beat you to that one! Make sure he gets thatnote, ‘kay?”
Aaron turned and walkedaway. Ben felt like grabbing him by his over-styled hair anddragging him back for some answers, but he figured the note wouldtell him all he needed to know. He tore it off the door and wentinside, ignoring Samson’s purrs of greeting.
The note was written inpurple ink in a handwriting that was annoyingly loopy and feminine.It read:
Surprise! Bet you didn’t expect tosee me so soon, huh? My parents sprung for a ticket. Guess I shouldhave called ahead to tell you I was cumming. At least I hope I willbe. How about a rerun of what we did in your hotel? Then again,maybe not. I’m still sore! Just in case you forgot mynumber-
Ben glanced at the numberto confirm that it was a cell phone from a different area code.Blood boiling, he let the note fall to the ground and ran outsideto chase after Aaron. He circled the block to no avail. When hecame back, Jace was struggling to get the key into the door, armsloaded with bags of groceries.
“Hey!” he said happilywhen he saw Ben. “You ready for dinner?”
“A note just came foryou,” Ben said, trying to keep his face impassive.
“A note?”
Ben gestured for him to goinside. Once they were in the apartment, he swept the note off thefloor 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 hehad the best poker face in the world.
“Is this some sort ofjoke?” Jace asked.
“Come on. Where were youlast week?”
“A lot of places,” Jacereplied.
“IncludingBoston?”
“Yeah. So?” Finallyrecognition dawned on Jace’s face. “You think-- No, this isn’t fromthat kid. I haven’t talked to him since.”
“Since what, exactly?” Bendemanded, wondering how many boy-toys Jace had scattered across theU.S. Like a sailor pulling into port, he probably had one waitingfor him in every state.
“You know the story.Nothing happened. This is--” Jace gestured with the note. “I don’tknow what this is.”
“It’s perfectly clear whatit is,” Ben shouted. “Or is there another gay guy next door namedJace, 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 cheatedon you.”
“Then how do you explainit?”
Jace shrugged andconsidered the question for a moment. “If I had to guess, I expectTim thought this might--”
“Tim? Get a grip, Jace!He’s not Moriarty! I saw the guy who put this on the door, and itsure as hell wasn’t Tim.”
Jace’s jaw clenched, hispatience 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 Benover the edge. Their words became more heated and ugly with everysentence. Blinded by rage, one of them screamed it was over.Afterwards it was too hard to remember who.
Ben ended up back at theduplex after driving recklessly through town. What he needed was totalk to Allison. Unfortunately she wasn’t home. He waited for twohours, pacing the house and trying to make sense of his thoughtswhen the painting caught his eye. Two hearts, overlapping in aswarm of fiery colors.
Why the hell not? He wouldgo 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 bysorrow. They hadn’t really broken up, had they?
Tim’s car was in thedriveway of his house, but so was another he didn’t recognize. Benthought of Aaron, certain that he was here and conspiring with Timover their next move. He pounded on the door. Tim answered almostimmediately, looking surprised but happy.
