After Ricky pulled out and removed the condom, he loped to the bathroom in his bare feet and left Elroy in the middle of the bed. Elroy glanced at the clock and saw it was almost four in the morning. If he left now he wouldn’t get back to Boston until daylight. He had to admit the thought of falling asleep in handsome Ricky’s arms made him smile. There was something about the combination they created that felt dirty and raw and exciting in a way Elroy didn’t experience often. It wasn’t love; he knew it wouldn’t lead to anything of great significance. But it wasn’t a bad thing either.
So he climbed out of bed and joined Ricky in the bathroom. He found him standing at the sink, brushing his teeth. He wrapped his arms around Ricky’s waist and waited for him to finish.
When Ricky glanced into the cloudy bathroom mirror at Elroy’s reflection he said, “You can stay all night if you want. I don’t have to be out of the room until noon tomorrow.”
Elroy knew he wasn’t asking because he wanted to get to know him better. Ricky wanted the same thing Elroy wanted: more sex in the morning. Tonight, at this particular time in his life, it was fine with Elroy. This was the first time he’d remained out all night since he’d been roommates with Kyle and he couldn’t wait to see the look on Kyle’s face when he walked into their room tomorrow afternoon wearing the same clothes he’d worn the day before.
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning Elroy, pretending to be Mike, climbed on top of Ricky and straddled his waist. There was no foreplay this time. Elroy grabbed a condom from the nightstand, covered Ricky, and rode it for the next half hour. They came within seconds of each other, with Ricky shouting the name Mike aloud.
After that, they fell asleep for two more hours. When they woke up again and saw it was after eleven o’clock, they jumped into the shower and Elroy gave Ricky a blow job that caused Ricky’s knees to bend.
When Ricky checked out of the bed-and-breakfast, he walked Elroy to the street and said, “I had fun.” Then he put his arms around him and kissed him in front of two middle-aged women in plaid flannel shirts walking a large gray poodle.
This kiss shocked Elroy because it wasn’t just a simple kiss goodbye. This was the kind of kiss where two people can’t get enough of each other. When it was over, Elroy stepped back and asked, “Are we going to keep in touch?” He hesitated for a moment before he asked this question. He knew this was when men like them typically parted in different directions without looking back. Though he had no strong emotional connection to Ricky, the sexual energy they shared was far too exciting to ignore.
Ricky rubbed his jaw and looked down at the sidewalk. “Do you want to?”
Elroy shrugged and said, “I don’t see how it can hurt.”
So they exchanged phone numbers and went in different directions. Elroy normally would have given out a fake phone number to a man he’d just met in a bar. This time he decided to take a chance and give out his real number. The sex they’d shared had been so intense he wanted to know there might be more in the future. He suspected Ricky was married, either to a man or a woman, and it occurred to him that Ricky might have given him a fake phone number just to get rid of him. Elroy had experienced this before with other men. It was how he’d learned how to do it. So he decided to play it safe and not call Ricky first. He would let Ricky take control of this situation, and if Ricky wanted to see him again he would have to make the first phone call.
When Elroy returned to his room at Harvard, he found Kyle in bed reading a math book. It was late afternoon and he hadn’t eaten anything all day and his stomach was rumbling.
Kyle looked up from his book and said, “So, there you are. I almost started to worry.”
Elroy plopped into his back and asked, “Did you miss me?” He didn’t ask about the party. It still bothered him he hadn’t been invited and he didn’t want to know the details.
Kyle glanced down at his book and rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t sleep, eat, or think straight the entire time you were gone. You’re all I think about every waking moment of the day.”
Elroy ignored his sarcasm. “I think I’m in lust.”
“You’re in love.”
“Not in love,” Elroy said. “I’m in lust with a guy I met in Provincetown last night.”
Kyle set the book down this time and sat up in bed. “You went all the way to P’town last night?”
Elroy shrugged. “It’s not that far. And I needed to do something different. Turns out I made a good choice, too. I met a guy who knows how to rock the world. I’m not kidding, man. If you saw what this guy did to me you’d drop dead.”
If Elroy had been paying attention to Kyle’s serious expression he would have seen Kyle turn away and make a face. But Elroy never paid attention to anyone’s feelings. He continued to talk about the sexual energy and how Ricky had done things to him no one had ever done.
At one point, right before Elroy started to talk about the way Ricky had fucked him, Kyle lifted both arms and said, “I don’t want to hear any more. Too much information. I don’t need graphic details, thank you.”
Elroy sat up in his bed and smiled. He wanted Kyle to know all about the passionate night he’d spent with Ricky. But he didn’t want to piss him off totally. “I’m just not sure I’m going to see him again.”
“I’m in shock,” Kyle said. “It sounds like you two were made for each other. You can spend the rest of your lives having unemotional sex, living from moment to moment as if nothing else matters but getting off.”
That time Elroy was paying attention to what Kyle said. He detected either sarcasm or bitterness in his tone and he wasn’t sure why. “Don’t give me attitude, buddy. You’ve had plenty of chances to be with me and you’ve turned me down.”
When Elroy said this, Kyle jumped out of bed and threw a pillow at him. “Don’t give me your arrogant bullshit, Elroy. And don’t be such a smug asshole. You know damn well how I feel about having sex with people I don’t love. I need emotion, not one-night stands. And I have no regrets about anything I’ve said to you.”
His voice sounded a little shaky, and Elroy didn’t want to freak him out too much. So he got out of bed and said, “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starved.” He felt bad now. Kyle was standing near the window with a serious expression that made him look adorable. Elroy had to stop doing this. The amusement he found in Kyle’s distress had become addictive.