Page 43 of Napkins and Other Distractions
“I told him I don’t mind.”
“And do you?”
“I don’t think so,” I say, scrubbing my face.
“I get big top energy from you. I’m talking sex, not the circus.”
I open my mouth to reply, but Ruth continues, “Bottom? Verse? Wait, are you a side? That would be convenient.”
The moment the question leaves her lips, it dawns on me. I have no clue what I am.
“With Corrine, I mean, I guess a top?”
“That’s with Corrine. But actually, you totally could’ve been a bottom with her.”
“Excuse me?” I reach for the base of my neck and stumble on the track.
“She could’ve pegged you.”
“Pegged me?”
Ruth’s braids sway wildly as she shakes her head, clicking and clacking.
“Kent. Kent. Kent. You have much to learn from your Auntie Ruth.”
Tops. Bottoms. Verse. Sides. Pegging. What have I gotten myself into?
“What do you … want? When you’re with Vincent.”
“I don’t know. To look at him. Take care of him. Hold him.”
Ruth purses her lips. “Kent Lester, that might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. But sexually, when you imagine being with him, do you want to top him? Bottom for him? Both? Neither?”
My mouth goes drier than the Sahara, and I wish I’d brought my water bottle.
“I mean, I don’t know. I’ve been happy with what we’ve done. More than happy. I never really thought about it much.”
“Much?” She pokes me in the side with her elbow. “So some. This is a safe, judgment-free space,” she says, waving her hands in front of us.
“I mean, I guess, maybe both?”
“Both. That’s verse. So, you’d like to fuck him and be fucked by him?”
Thoughts of Vincent’s cock in my mouth. In my ass. Touching his ass. My cheeks flush red under my beard, and I blurt, “Ruth, we’re on school grounds.”
“Kent, it’s six thirty in the morning, and we’re on the track. The only ears that might hear us are the birds.” She points to the trees dotting the track’s edges.
“Did you know pigeons have the best hearing of any birds?”
Ruth cocks her head.
“What? You can learn a lot at the science fair.”
“Anyway.” Ruth shakes her head. “Verse.”
“I mean, I guess so.” I rub the back of my neck. “We’re only friends. We’re not doing anything. Not anymore. And he’s a side! So, I don’t think it matters.”
“Oh, it matters,” she says again, looping her hand around my arm. “You guys are totally hooking up again. Mark my words.”
