Cody
“Is that extra caramel on there, too? Ughhhh, you bastard!” Emily was on a diet and under the false impression that I should support her by joining in on her masochistic plight and deny myself one of the few joys of my life.
I sipped my caramel mocha Frappuccino®, moaning excessively. Emily blew absently on her Zen™ Brewed Tea staring daggers at me over the rim of her cup.
“What? It’s not my fault you’re on a diet. Again.”
“Yes! Yes it is. Since you told me about you and,” Em leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. “Aiden.” She looked to her left and then right before continuing. “I’ve been binge eating. I ate a whole bag of those new potato chips; the ones that taste like cheesy garlic bread. A whole bag! In one sitting.”
“Those are good.”
“That’s not the point, I….” She leaned in again, checking to make sure the coast was still clear. Never mind we were sitting in the corner by ourselves. “I still don’t get how it happened.”
“I told you. We were hanging out and he said he wanted to kiss me.”
“Were you wrestling?”
I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my frap. “What! Why would you ask that?”
“Well wrestling is kinda homoerotic.” She drew figure 8s on the table with her finger and said in a sing-songy voice. “ I mean I hear that’s kinda hot. One thing leads to another.”
“God. That is so cliché. That’s like me asking if you had a pillow fight in your negligee at your last slumber party.” I shook my head, stirring the whipped cream into the rest of my frap.
“So you had a slumber party? I didn’t know guys even had slumber parties? Course it does sound awfully gay, a guy slumber party. I mean…”
“Em. Em.” I held a hand up in her face. “Shush and drink your tea.
Emily was beautiful, she was sexy, she was funny, and I loved her to death, but she was not the sharpest crayon in the box. Despite the deep chocolate locks that crowned her head, I had the sneaking suspicion Emily had been a string of natural blonds in her previous lives.
She looked at me suspiciously. “I know what you’re thinking.”
I nudged my Frappuccino®, across the table in her direction. “I’m thinking…you need a sip of my frap before you go on a tea induced killing spree.”
Em grabbed and drank greedily. “Oh my gosh this is so good.”
I reached for it but she leaned out of my reach and drank more frantically.
“I said a sip!”
Emily started choking; her eyes growing huge as she stared over my shoulder.
“What?”
I looked back and saw Aiden standing in the entrance. I looked back at Em who was smiling really big, still drinking.
“Oh My God.” I mouthed the words silently.
It had been almost a week since we’d seen each other. I refused to call him, as much as I wanted to and when I saw his name on the caller ID, the one time he called, I ignored it.
“Hi Em. Can I borrow Cody for a minute.”
Emily grinned real big, took a final big sip of my drink until the straw made that grating sound. “Sure.” She picked up her hot tea again and took a cautious sip. “Mmm. It’s just right now.”
I stood up and followed Aiden back outside to his car. I loved his car; a red MINI Cooper convertible. He opened the passenger door and motioned for me to get in. It was dark inside with the tinted windows. I watched him walk around the front of the car, then get in.
“Your brother told me where you were.” He settled into his seat. He nodded in the direction of Starbucks. “You told her?”
I nodded hesitantly then hurriedly said. “She won’t tell anybody. I just... I had to tell someone. I’m sorry Aiden.”
Aiden shook his head. “It’s okay. If she tells anyone though, we’re through.”
I nodded. I started shivering. I’d forgotten how cold it was outside, but the cold wasn’t the only thing affecting me. I wanted to ask him what he meant by ‘we’re through.’
Aiden started the ignition and turned the heater on full blast. “D’you tell anyone else.” I could hear the anxiety in his voice.
“No. No one else. I swear.”
He nodded in response and relaxed back in his seat. “Shit!”
“What’s wrong Aiden?” I reached over and touched his arm.
He twitched under my touch.
“Nothing. I just…we shouldn’t have done it.”
He was all kinds of screwed up. “Aiden. It was just a kiss, remember? Just a kiss.”
“Two. It was two kisses. And I touched...” He squeezed his eyes closed as if it was too much to accept.
“Aiden. Seriously. It’s not that big of a deal. We’re the only ones that know and I swear, I swear, Emily won’t tell a soul.”
Aiden shook his head and wiped at his eyes.
“Hey.” I took his hand. “Aiden. Seriously. Are you okay? You’re kinda scaring me.”
He pulled his hand free and took a few short quick breaths. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I shouldn’t have come.” He looked at me and smiled, though his eyes were distant and afraid. “Seriously. I just needed to make sure you weren’t going to tell anyone.” He looked back over at Starbucks. “Anyone else.”
I reddened. I knew I shouldn’t have told Emily, but like I told Aiden, I had to tell someone. He took another deep breath. “Okay.” He stared straight ahead. I guess that was my cue to leave. I reached for the handle.
“Beaumont?”
“Huh? I looked back at him.
“Please. Don’t tell anyone. Not even Emily.”
“But I already…”
His lips were warm, his nose a little cold as he pulled me by my jacket into another kiss. He kissed me hard then pushed me away. He reached across my lap and opened my door.
“Okay.” We both said in unison.