Elijah’s grin was pornographic. Shep jumped as Elijah’s shoe rubbed against his calf. “Am I turning you on?”
“Always,” Shep promised.
Elijah’s laugh sounded breathless. He dropped his foot as the server brought their drinks, all but slamming them down on the table. Shep scanned the room once more, relieved to see that nobody paid them any attention. A man lit up a cigarette at the bar and the bartender slid an ashtray towards them. “They let people smoke inside?”
Elijah laughed. “Wow, you had just enough disdain in your voice to sound like a true Californian.” He paused, a wrinkle furrowing his brow. “Wait? I haven’t seen you smoke in… weeks.”
Shep shrugged. “I stopped.”
Elijah’s mouth dropped open. “What do you mean you stopped? Just like that? Why?”
“You didn’t like it. You said I smelled like an ashtray.”
Elijah’s expression seemed almost bashful. “Well, you did. I’m not upset that you stopped. But… how did you stop? I know you aren’t using like patches or anything. I’ve done a very thorough exploration of your body.”
Shep snickered. “I just did. I didn’t need to smoke. It was just something I did overseas because most of the guys over there smoked too. It was a way of… passing as one of them.”
Elijah shook his head. “That’s… That’s crazy. I’m glad though. It was bad for you.”
Shep glanced down at the sugary beverage sitting in front of Elijah. “Sugar’s bad for you.”
Elijah gave a delighted laugh. “Aren’t I entitled to one cheat day in my sad, sugarless existence?”
“Fine. Just one though. I want to keep you around.”
Elijah flushed, his gaze dropping to their joined fingers, squeezing once before their server returned. “Do you know what you want? I don’t have all day?”
They ate their lunch, chatting about everything and nothing, before Shep paid the check and allowed Elijah to drag them out into the street, hand in hand. It was no longer raining, but the air had teeth, just cool enough for Elijah to tuck himself under Shep’s arm. They wandered, Elijah pulling him into shop after shop. Vintage clothing boutiques, a music store that still sold vinyl. Elijah insisted on buying Shep a copy of Nirvana’sNevermindand Shep let him because it seemed to make him happy. As the sun sank into the sky, they stopped at a Cantina that didn’t seem as concerned about Elijah’s age. He quickly made friends with the couple beside them, a girl with bubblegum pink hair and her brunette girlfriend.
“You look just like Elijah Dunne,” the pink-haired girl said, her words slurred. “But you’re cuter.”
Elijah clinked his shot glass to hers and they both downed a shot the color of antifreeze. “Why thank you,” he said, throwing a wink over his shoulder to Shep who stood beside Elijah’s barstool, his chest to Elijah’s back.
“But his boyfriend… wha’s his name? Billy? Bobby? Robby?” Bubblegum girl asked. It gave Shep an odd thrill to know the girl couldn’t remember Robby’s name.
The brunette seemed to have better recall. “Robby. He’s dreamy. It’s too bad he’s a PK. My little sister wanted to bang him so bad when he was on that show… that kid’s show? What was it called?” the brunette asked.
Elijah stiffened, but Shep leaned forward. “PK?”
The brunette girl gave a solemn nod. “PK. Preacher’s kid. Usually those kids are wild but not Robby. His family are like weird militant bible-beaters. It’s why he has like nine siblings. They were all trying to be actors, but only Robby seemed to have that star quality. His parents had him sign a purity contract, and he even wore a fucking purity ring. How creepy is that?”
“He took it off when he started dating Elijah Dunne though. Not that I blame him,” her girlfriend said, clinking her glass with the new shot sitting before Elijah.
“He took it off before then,” Elijah stated, sucking in a breath as the two girls examined him with suspicious eyes. “I mean, I read an article where he took it off after he came out and his dad flipped on him. Maybe his dad took it back? That would be sad.”
“Aww,” the two girls said in tandem before looking at each other and giggling.
“I think we should go,” Shep said. The booze had loosened Elijah’s tongue just a bit too much.
“Okay, Sam.” Elijah hopped from his barstool as Shep settled the tab, dropping some money on the table.
“Bye, girls,” Shep said.
Elijah wiggled his fingers at them in a sloppy attempt at a wave.
“Bye Sam. Bye Rabbit,” they said in chorus as the two stepped back out onto the street.
The air outside was brisk. There wasn’t asingle cloud in the inky black sky. Just a smattering of stars and a moon bright enough to see by even without the lights that dotted the streets. “You ready to go home, rabbit?”
