Chapter Seventeen
The next three weeks were a whirlwind. Adam quickly became the go-to guy for other students who had questions on something in one of his classes. He spoke up, turned in his homework early, even had people waiting to study with him for final period. Bas protested only a little, until one of the jocks had tried to get up when he sat down, and Adam gave the guy the stink eye until he sat back down.
People were talking to Adam in the hallways, like everyone suddenly knew who he was and wanted to be his friend. He smiled and waved, eager to get on to his next class and then to the final bell, when he could race to the parking lot and find Ru.
He was always there in that same dark town car. They had a few dinners at Dimitri’s and a few movies. Ru worked out each night while Adam ran. He had great upper-body strength, and he was improving his running skills. After a week, Ru could run for almost an hour without his legs quaking. Adam worked out with Ru, lifting weights like he had never done before. He’d taken weight training and yoga classes, but nothing interested him as much as running. Ru, however, seemed to feel more at ease when he was lifting.
Ru left town only once during that time, gone for just a day and a half before returning. And each weekend he stayed at Adam’s place. Friday he showed up with his bag and guitar and didn’t leave until late Sunday night.
They spent a lot of those nights kissing and touching. Adam knew Ru was probably used to going a lot further than he’d gotten, but he felt no pressure from Ru. They both touched each other, exploring in ways that blew Adam’s mind. One night they were locked in a deep embrace, and Adam felt pretty good with the pressure of Ru’s thigh against his groin.
He didn’t realize he was moving his hips until his whole world seemed to erupt in an embarrassing rush of liquid, heat, and pleasure. Adam ripped himself away and rushed into the bathroom, shocked and a little scared. Sure, he knew the basics but never had expected it to be so sudden, good, or embarrassing. His boxers were a mess. All his clean clothes were in the other room with Ru. And Adam was too mortified to open the door. Ru probably thought he was such a kid.
“Adam?” Ru called softly through the door. “It’s okay.”
No, it really wasn’t.His heart pounded hard enough to hurt, and he felt like an idiot.
“Adam, baby, let me in please. Let’s talk about this. I promise it’s okay.” When he didn’t say anything or open the door, Ru continued, “Do you want me to get your dad?”
“No. God, no!”
“Okay, okay. It’s okay. I’ve got a clean pair of boxers here. If you open the door a little, I can give them to you.”
Adam unlocked the door, and opened it a crack, staying behind it. He snatched the boxers from Ru’s hand and quickly closed the door, locking it. He took a fast shower, which eased some of the shakiness. When he finally returned to the bedroom, he was sure his face still burned with embarrassment, but Ru lay on his bed, looking casual, like it was no big deal.
“First time?” Ru asked gently.
Adam nodded, feeling like such a kid. “I know most guys have magazines and stuff. They talk about it in the locker room, but I just never...”
Ru got up from the bed and wrapped his arms around Adam, hugging him tightly. “It’s okay. And you know I’m not going to push you. What happened, well, it happens sometimes, even to guys who do it on their own all the time. You know it’s okay, right? Did it feel good?”
“Yeah.”Really, really good. “But I didn’t mean to.”
Ru kissed, peppering his face and hair with the soft brush of his lips. “Come lay down with me. It’s okay. I’m just gonna hold you.”
They got back on the bed, and Adam let himself relax into Ru’s arms.
“It’s okay to feel good sometimes, you know?”
“Dad says it should be about who it’s with and not what I’m doing.”
“I agree. Are you okay with that happening with me?”
“Yeah.” Adam ran his fingers down Ru’s arm. He had really nice arms. “Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t just me. You know, if it was, like, mutual.” He flushed again. “Maybe if I hadn’t pulled away.”Should he touch Ru? Make him feel good too?
“We have plenty of time for that. I’m not going anywhere.”
They had several other almost encounters, but Ru often scaled them back while they were both panting and practically begging for more. Adam was feeling more confident about it and not as embarrassed. He wished he had someone to talk to about it that wasn’t Ru or his dad, but didn’t trust anyone at school enough to share his little secret.
Halloween came and went, with Ru and Adam dressing up as vampires and handing out candy at Adam’s house. Adam’s mom made a huge dinner of eggplant parmesan, which had made Ru cringe until Adam goaded him into trying it. When Ru had asked for a second helping, Adam hid a smile. He had a feeling Ru’s experience with food that wasn’t takeout was limited. Whenever they sat down with snacks, Adam had veggies, and Ru just sort of looked green until they’d found a dip he’d liked, which really was just hummus. Everything in Adam’s house was homemade, from the pizza dough to the chicken nuggets.
Sometimes Ru would comment on how he had to be packing on the pounds with all the good food he ate. Adam couldn’t see it. In fact, with all of their working out, Ru seemed to be toning up. And Adam was already crazy about Ru’s arms and shoulders. The man could have been on display for having such a fine physique.
When Ru let out the occasional snarky comment about his weight or his looks, Adam brushed it off, ignoring it instead of acknowledging it. His mom said that the only way for Ru to feel better about himself was to begin seeing himself as he was and not what he thought other people saw. So Adam pointed things out, like the definition in Ru’s arms or the firmness of his cute butt, which made Ru blush every time.
He hoped it was working. Though he noticed that on Halloween, Ru didn’t have a single piece of candy. He did, however, share a caramel apple with Adam. The sticky sweetness had made for interesting kisses, which made Adam smile just at the memory.
The Tuesday of the second week of November, Nate appeared in Adam’s study hour, bringing his brain to a screaming halt. Homecoming was that Friday, and Nate so needed to be on the field practicing. “What are you doing here?” Adam asked him as the footballer dropped into the chair beside him.
