“Yeah?”
“It was like flying.”
“So why do you sound sad?”
’Cause you’re not here, Adam thought. “No one else wants to run. I talked to the coach. He encouraged me to stay on the football team but says there probably won’t be enough guys signing up in the spring for a whole track team. Means I go back to mostly warming the bench for football.”
“That sucks. You’re not going to stop running, though, right?”
Adam thought about it for a minute and realized that for all his undecided wishy-washiness, running was something he did really like. Too bad there wasn’t anything he could do with it long term. “I guess I could get up early and run.”
“You could train for a marathon. Get sponsors, pick a cause. It would give you a reason. Something to motivate you.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Adam wished Ru were there so he could kiss him and stare into those pretty blue eyes. “How was your day?”
Ru laughed lightly, but it was strained. “Okay. Busy mostly. Did some work, studied a little, took a nap since I’m off on time zones again. My boss gave me a bit of tough love, so that was hard.”
“Aw.”
“I miss you.”
“Yeah?” Adam asked and got up from the bed to begin very nosily taking off his clothes. Ru sucked in a deep breath. “You hear that?”
“That was your shirt.”
“Mhmm. And this?” Adam unzipped his pants.
“Christ.”
“Nah ah. I’m Jewish. Try again.”
Ru’s laugh was more real this time as Adam slid his pants off. “You’re incredible.”
“’Cause I strip over the phone for you? I don’t think you’d be as impressed to see it in person. I’m not much of a dancer, though I do the white-boy wiggle.” Adam shook his hips around to an imagined generic beat. “You’d so be laughing your butt off right now.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible to be this crazy about you, Adam. Do you get that? I’ve known you for less than a week, and I’m obsessed with you. I want to know everything about you. I want to watch you run. I want to sleep in your bed wrapped around you. I want to watch you do your cute little dance, and kiss your amazing lips until the world stops moving. That is not normal.”
“Hmm. You say all that like it’s a bad thing. But I sort of like it. Well, not sorta. I really do like when you say nice things to me. No one has ever even looked at me before. And you’re so beautiful. Like some sort of celebrity or something. Too pretty to be real?” Adam said thinking about Ru’s face. Ru was oddly silent. Adam kept going, “I just keep thinking you’re going to wake up soon and realize you can do so much better than the blond Jewish boy from Minnesota.”
“I’m into you. I’ll be in late Saturday night. Will you wait up for me?”
“I can get one of my folks to pick you up at the airport.”
“I have a driver for that. It’s you I want to see. Will your parents get mad if I come by late?”
After the discussion this morning, Adam was pretty sure they were just going to embarrass him. “They offered to buy me condoms. And my mom is researching gay sex, probably as we speak.”
“You told them?”
“That I’m gay, yeah. It just sort of came out this morning at breakfast. My mom was asking if I had a girlfriend and I said no, and then if I had a boyfriend and I said maybe. I mean, are you and me...? I mean...” Was it too much to ask for so soon?
“I’d like that.”
“Being my boyfriend, you mean?”
“Yes.”
His whole world snapped together in a moment of instant harmony. Ru liked him, he really liked him. Adam was suddenly giddy enough to jump up and clap as he did another little hip jiggle. “Woo- hoo.” He swayed around the room like a maniac.
