Elroy wasn't worried about time. He knew Kyle wouldn't be home until one in the morning and he didn't rush Jeremy to the finish. He figured this one last time wouldn't hurt anyone and Kyle would never find out.
That w's why he didn't ask Jeremy to get dressed and leave right away. After Jeremy pulled out, Elroy went into the bathroom and he left Jeremy alone in his bed. Elroy glanced at the clock and saw it was only eleven and he still had two hours before Kyle would return. He knew that would be plenty of time to get all traces of Jeremy out of the room and no one would ever find out about his one last time with Jeremy. But when he looked into the bathroom mirror and realized what he'd just done, a rush of guilt passed through him in a way he'd never experienced before. All at once he thought about what Kyle would do if he knew about Jeremy and he felt like throwing up in the sink.
He knew he had to get Jeremy out of his bed and out of that room, so he wrapped a bath towel around his waist and started for the door. But at the same time he opened the bathroom door, he heard the door of their room open and the sound of people laughing. His heart began to race an; panic set in. Even though he wanted to run, he couldn't move his feet.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, he found a small group of people standing around Kyle. His heart pounded in his ears. They were all holding the same plastic recorders, an; they all had stunned expressions. One young woman had her palm pressed to her open mouth. One chubby guy had been so surprised he'd dropped his recorder next to his feet. Kyle's gaze remained fixed on Elroy's bed the entire time. He stood there motionless, gaping into his stepbrother's eyes. Although Jeremy had pulled up the covers fast enough to conceal most of his body, it was obvious he was naked.
Elroy secured the towel around his waist and said, "Why are you home so early?"
Kyle didn't look at him. He continued to stare at Jeremy. "The furnace in the house where we were supposed to have the recital broke down and I thought it would be nice to come back here and play a few songs for you. Obviously, you had more important things to do."
The other fipple flute people remained frozen, as if terrified to make a move in one direction or the other.
"It's not what you think, man," Elroy said. "I can explain."
Kyle turned and he sent Elroy a look of pure disdain. "There's no need to explain anything. I'm sorry we interrupted you."
Jeremy seemed even more stunned than Kyle. He sat there in the bed, with the covers pulled up to his chin with one hand and the other pressed to his stomach.
Kyle bent down and picked up the recorder the chubby guy had dropped. He handed it to him and said, "I'll see you next Thursday for rehearsal." Without a backward glance, he left the room and headed down the hallway.
Though Elroy ran after him, through the hall and down the stairs wearing nothing but short bath towel around his waist, he couldn't get Kyle to stop and listen. He called his namd and begged, bu; Kyle refused to acknowledge him. When they reached the bottom of the stairwell and Kyle walked out of the building into the cold, Elroy stopped and stood there with both hands pressed to the glass door. He watched Kyle walk into the dark night until he couldn't see him anymore, and then he turned around, went back to the room, and told Jeremy to leave him alone once and for all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kyle didn't return to the room until late Saturday night. Elroy had been there all that time waiting for him. He'd tried phoning but Kyle refused to answer his calls. He tried texting and received no replies. He even tried to contact him on social media, hoping he would get through to him somehow and explain everything and nothing happened.
When Kyle finally returned, he walked inside and lifted his hand. "I don't want to talk. I just want to sleep."
Elroy had been thinking about all this for almost twenty-four hours. "I have to explain. You need to know what happened." He knew he had to tell him the truth from now on.
Kyle glared at him. "I don't see how you're going to explain this. I took you home to meet my family and you wound up sleeping with my stepbrother. That's the kind of thing that speaks for itself, Elroy. You know, I knew you were no damn good all along, I just didn't think you were this bad. What's next? Are you going to sleep with my stepdad, too? I have a cousin in Connecticut. I'll give you his number."
Elroy had had enough. He punched the wall and said, "If you'd let me fucking explain you'd see it's not like that."
Kyle turned toward the door. "I can see you're not going to leave me alone. I'm getting out of here."
"No, you're not leaving until I tell you everything," Elroy said. Then he crossed to where Kyle was standing, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him down on the bed.