Ben sat down next to him on the couch. “I did think you might be going to… whereverit is you go to.” His eyes gleamed. “Still not gonna tell me?”
“Nope.” Tommy picked up a cushion and threw it at Ben, who dodged it. “Besides, I don’t think it matters anymore, ’cause I messed up.” One whole week of thinking about how Mike’s mouth had felt against his and Tommy’d had enough.
“Oh God, what have you done?” Ben stared at him.
“I kissed a guy, all right?” Tommy replied defensively.
Ben beamed at him. “But that’s great! Isn’t it?”
“Woulda been great if he’d liked it, I s’pose, but—” Tommy sighed heavily. “—I don’t think that was the case.”
Ben frowned. “Okay, change of plan.” He got up and disappeared through the door that led to the main part of the house. Tommy grabbed the cushion he’d flung and hugged it close. He’d had such a good time on Monday, right up to the point where he’d thrown his good sense to the wind and kissed Mike. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time….
Ben crouched down next to him and held out a bottle. “Surprise!”
Tommy peered at it. “Peach schnapps? Where’d you get that?” Ben sat on the floor next to the couch and put the bottle on the little coffee table in front of it, along with a couple of shot glasses. “An’ have you forgotten I don’t drink?”
“It was left over from the ’rents’ party,” Ben explained, “and there’s so much liquor upstairs, they’ll never miss it.”
“They will if I tell them.”
Tommy gave a start at the sound of Bethany’s voice. She stood at the foot of the couch, grinning and holding a third shot glass.
“I saw you take something from Dad’s liquor cabinet, and I figured you were up to something.”
Ben scowled. “Get lost.”
Bethany’s face fell, and Tommy’s heart went out to her. He got on well with Bethany.
“Aw, don’t be like that, Ben. She can stay, can’t she?” Bethany was doing an awful good impression of a puppy dog, gazing pleadingly at her brother.
Ben rolled his eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake.” He speared her with an intense glance. “As long as you promise not to tell Mom or Dad.”
She grinned. “If you’re willing to share, my lips are sealed.” She plonked herself down on the couch next to Tommy and held out her glass. “Fill ’er up.”
Ben muttered under his breath but unscrewed the cap and poured her a glassful before filling his and Tommy’s.
He handed Tommy the shot glass. “Here you go. And yeah, I know you don’t drink, but there’s a first time for everything.” He winked. “Andthisis that time.”
Tommy huffed in resignation and took the proffered glass, sniffing at its contents.
Ben laughed. “Oh, drink it. You’re not a churchgoing choir boy anymore.”
That made him chuckle. “Trust me. I was never in the choir. My singin’ sounds like a cat bein’ strangled.” He watched Ben and Bethany toss theirs back in one gulp.Oh, what the hell.Tommy drank the shot in one go and then coughed when it hit the back of his throat. When he’d recovered, he licked his lips. “Hey, that’s not bad.” It made his belly warm.
“Kinda sweet, huh?” Ben refilled his glass and then the remaining two. “It tastes great over ice too.” He leaned back against the couch, glass in hand. “So, you gonna tell me about this guy of yours?”
“You’ve got a guy?” Bethany bounced on her seat cushion. “Way to go, Tommy!”
“He’snotmy guy,” Tommy insisted.
Ben waggled his eyebrows. “But you’d like him to be, right?” He peered at Tommy’s glass and gave him a stern glance. “You’re not drinking enough.”
“Pushy, pushy.” Tommy drank the second shot, only this time he didn’t knock it back so fast. “That really is nice, y’know.” Right then he was feeling warm and muzzy, and it felt good, like he was somehow disconnected from himself.
“Tell me about this guy,” Bethany demanded, her eyes shining. “What’s he like?”
“Well,” Tommy began slowly, “he’s older ’n me.”
