“D’you use it?”
Mike nodded. “The house was built in the forties, and it stays pretty warm throughout winter. But I do love a good fire on a cold night.”
Tommy smiled. “Always did love a fire.” He sniffed the air. “Something sure smells good.”
“We’re having coq au vin for dinner, so I hope you like chicken.”
Tommy’s eyes lit up, which Mike took for a yes.
“I have some red wine opened in the kitchen. Would you like a glass before dinner? Or do you still not drink?”
Tommy chuckled. “I kinda fell off that bandwagon the Friday before I asked you to have breakfast with me.”
Mike widened his eyes, and Tommy flushed.
“Ben—my roommate—and his sister got me drinkin’ peach schnapps.”
That flush crept higher, to the tips of his ears, and Mike thought it adorable.
“Let’s just say my tongue gets loose when I drink an’ leave it at that.”
Mike laughed. “I bet you were cute when you were drunk.”
Tommy stared at him.
“What?”
Tommy smiled. “Hell, only my momma’s ever called me cute. Oh, an’ Kevin at Woofs.”
Then that shy smile faltered, and Mike didn’t need to guess why. The memory of what had taken place over the winter break must’ve still been pretty raw.
He clapped his hands together. “So is that a yes on the wine?”
“Sure.” Tommy shrugged. “I don’t know a lot about wine.”
“You’ll like this.” Mike walked out of the living room into the kitchen, where the bottle of merlot stood on the countertop. He poured out two glasses and carried them through into the living room.
Tommy took a glass and sipped from it. He gave an appreciative nod. “Tastes good.” He put the glass down on the tiny square table in from of him and drew in a deep breath.
Mike sat next to him. “You okay?” He set down his own glass and relaxed against the cushions, hoping Tommy would follow suit.
Tommy scraped his hand through his short hair and then rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. “This is harder than I thought it’d be,” he said quietly. He laced his fingers together, eyes focused on the woven rug beneath the table.
Shit. Mike leaned over and stroked Tommy’s back, keeping the movement slow. “You change your mind?” Not that Mike gave a flying fuck if he had. What was more important was that Tommy was okay.
Tommy inclined his head, his eyes large and round. “This… this is a huge deal for me, Mike.” A tremor rippled through him.
Mike kept up the slow rubbing. “Listen, we don’t have to do anything. You’re here to have dinner, right?” He let his fingers travel up and down Tommy’s spine, trying to ease the tension.
Tommy shook his head. “I… I want this, okay? Really, I do. It’s just that—” He inhaled deeply. “—all my life my parents taught me that sex only had one place, and that was in marriage. That sex outside of marriage was plain wrong. I listened in church when they preached against immorality an’ the ‘pleasures of the flesh.’”
Mike listened in silence. He’d already worked out what it must’ve been like, growing up in Tommy’s family.
“Then I get to college, an’ everything changes.” Tommy looked him in the eye. “I don’t know if I can make you understand, but I’ll try. It’s like….” He closed his eyes. “Everything my life was based upon—the rules, the teachin’s, how people are s’posed to behave—it all got stripped away, little by little.” Tommy opened his eyes and looked at Mike. “I’ve spent more ’n a year an’ a half in the real world, an’ it’ssodifferent, Mike. I watch television, for one thing.”
Mike stared at him. “You didn’t watch TV at home?”
Tommy smiled. “Sure, we had one, but my parents got to choose what we watched. An’ there was no cable. But the stuff I see on TV is….” He shook his head once more, his expression bewildered. Then his eyes widened. “An’ then there’s sex. Mike, people’re havin’ sexeverywhere!”
