When Elroy returned to his room at Harvard, he found Kyle in bed reading a math book. It was late afternoon and he hadn't eaten anything all day and his stomach was rumbling.
Kyle looked up from his book and said, "So, there you are. I almost started to worry."
Elroy plopped into his back and asked, "Did you miss me?" He didn't ask about the party. It still bothered him he hadn't been invited and he didn't want to know the details.
Kyle glanced down at his book and rolled his eyes. "I couldn't sleep, eat, or think straight the entire time you were gone. You're all I think about every waking moment of the day."
Elroy ignored his sarcasm. "I think I'm in lust."
"You're in love."
"Not in love," Elroy said. "I'm in lust with a guy I met in Provincetown last night."
Kyle set the book down this time and sat up in bed. "You went all the way to P'town last night?"
Elroy shrugged. "It's not that far. And I needed to do something different. Turns out I made a good choice, too. I met a guy who knows how to rock the world. I'm not kidding, man. If you saw what this guy did to me you'd drop dead."
If Elroy had been paying attention to Kyle's serious expression he would have seen Kyle turn away and make a face. But Elroy never paid attention to anyone's feelings. He continued to talk about the sexual energy and how Ricky had done things to him no one had ever done.
At one point, right before Elroy started to talk about the way Ricky had fucked him, Kyle lifted both arms and said, "I don't want to hear any more. Too much information. I don't need graphic details, thank you."
Elroy sat up in his bed and smiled. He wanted Kyle to know all about the passionate night he'd spent with Ricky. But he didn't want to piss him off totally. "I'm just not sure I'm going to see him again."
"I'm in shock," Kyle said. "It sounds like you two were made for each other. You can spend the rest of your lives having unemotional sex, living from moment to moment as if nothing else matters but getting off."
That time Elroy was paying attention to what Kyle said. He detected either sarcasm or bitterness in his tone and he wasn't sure why. "Don't give me attitude, buddy. You've had plenty of chances to be with me and you've turned me down."
When Elroy said this, Kyle jumped out of bed and threw a pillow at him. "Don't give me your arrogant bullshit, Elroy. And don't be such a smug asshole. You know damn well how I feel about having sex with people I don't love. I need emotion, not one-night stands. And I have no regrets about anything I've said to you."
His voice sounded a little shaky, and Elroy didn't want to freak him out too much. So he got out of bed and said, "Let's get something to eat. I'm starved." He felt bad now. Kyle was standing near the window with a serious expression that made him look adorable. Elroy had to stop doing this. The amusement he found in Kyle's distress had become addictive.
"I'm not hungry," Kyle said.
Elroy stood up and crossed to the window. He knew how to deal with Kyle. He put his arm around him and gave him a hug. Then he kissed him on the cheek and spoke in a low, sultry voice. "You know you love me. Don't get mad. Let's get something to eat."
"I'd rather not, thank you."
It took Elroy a few more minutes to convince him to go. He had to rub his back a few times and tell him how good he looked with his new contact lenses. In less than fifteen minutes, he brought Kyle to the point where he knew he could have persuaded him to do anything. Almost anything.
* * * * When Elroy's phone rang the following Friday afternoon, he'd just come from a History of Film class, where he'd spent the entire two hours curled up on the back row, sound asleep. If he'd only been able to sleep that well at night his life would have been perfect. He was walking through Harvard Yard with Kyle, wondering what to do that weekend. He hadn't heard from Ricky and figured he'd probably never hear from him. He knew he could have called, but it would have been too painful if Ricky had given him a fake phone number.
Elroy answered and heard Ricky's voice. He grabbed Kyle's jacket and covered the phone so Ricky wouldn't hear him. "It's him, Ricky, the guy I met last weekend."
Kyle rolled his eyes and shook his head, as if he didn't care. Elroy turned and held the phone to his ear. "Hey, man." "You wanna hook up tonight, Mike?" Ricky asked. This time Elroy took control. He wanted to meet him, but not
in a grungy hotel with bath sheets and dirty towels. Even he had limits. So he thought quickly, then told Ricky to meet him at one of the finest hotels in Boston. "I'll take care of everything," Elroy said. "I'll see you in the lobby at nine o'clock tonight."