By: Lara
SEVEN
I
gotta be your razor when you shave
I
wanna be the one that makes you misbehave
“Okay.
One…two…three…” Joey and Justin tossed their water balloons and took off
running.
“Kirkpatrick!”
JC spluttered, sitting up on his deck chair. “I was sleeping, you prick!”
Seventeen-year-old
Justin hid his giggles in his hand. “He always thinks it’s Chris!”
“Number
one rule, my man.” Joey threw his arm around Justin’s shoulders. “If at all
possible, frame someone else.”
“Right,”
Justin said. Justin loved hanging out with Joey. Joey was 21, pretty much a
grownup, but he was still cool. He was full of ideas for pranks and practical
jokes, and innocent Lance or oblivious JC were usually the targets.
“I’m
gonna get a shower now. You can hang out if you want.” Joey unlocked the door
to the room he was sharing with JC. Justin frowned. Joey, JC and Chris were
going out, which meant that Justin and Lance would be left at the hotel again.
“I
guess,” Justin pouted, flopping onto the bed. Joey grinned.
“Poor
baby. Tell you what. Tomorrow night I’ll grab some stuff, and we can party
together, okay?”
“Really?”
Justin asked. Joey nodded.
“Sure.
Just make sure we’re rooming together in…where are we going?” Joey undressed
and Justin tried not to watch.
“Columbus,”
Justin answered.
“It’s
a date,” Joey promised as he went into the bathroom.
“I wish,” Justin muttered, picking at the
bedspread. He wasn’t sure exactly when his feelings for Joey had changed, but
it was really confusing. He still had fun with Joey, but Justin now found
himself dreaming about Joey at night, and missing him when they weren’t
together. He frowned. Joey was the one he came to with all his problems, and
this was one problem that he couldn’t talk to him about.
Joey
took a quick shower, then started to trim his goatee. He wore a towel around
his waist, and Justin tried not to think about what was underneath. Joey had opened the door to the bathroom, and
he asked Justin, “So, you start shaving yet, Junior?”
“Fuck
you,” Justin snapped, rubbing his baby-smooth chin.
Joey
laughed. “I’ll take that as a no.” Justin watched Joey’s neck arch and sighed.
“Well,
I’ll let you get ready.” Justin headed for the door.
“Wait.”
Joey came out. “Are you okay, Justin?”
“Fine.
Have a nice time.” Justin left and went to the room he was sharing with Lance.
Joey
kept his word and showed up at their room the next night with two six-packs of
beer. Justin hadn’t eaten dinner, and it only took a few beers to make him
giggle. “I wish I was grownup like you,” Justin said, crawling onto Joey’s lap
as he sat on the bed.
“Trust
me, Justin…you’re already a lot more grown up than I was at your age.”
“Really?”
Justin asked, running his finger along Joey’s chin.
“Yep.”
Joey shifted a bit, getting more comfortable.
“So,
you think I’m a man…not a boy anymore, right?” Justin asked bravely.
“Sure,”
Joey said, amused. He was shocked when Justin pulled his head down for a quick
kiss. “Whoa! What was that?”
“I’ve
wanted to do that FOREVER,” Justin said happily. Joey shoved Justin aside and
stood.
“You’re
drunk.” Joey began to pace. “No…well…probably…but I…I really like you, Joe.”
“I
like you, too, Justin,” Joey said weakly.
“You
DO?” Justin exclaimed.
“No.
I mean, oh fuck.” Joey grabbed his toiletry bag. “I’m gonna go crash with
Chris, okay? Sleep this off.” Joey hurried out of the room.
“But…”
Justin began, watching the door close. He sighed and opened another beer. He
didn’t want it to get warm.
“Oh,
God…my head…” Justin groaned as he arrived at breakfast. “Coffee…dry toast,” he
told the waiter.
“Party
hard, did we?” Chris asked with a smirk.
“Fuck
off,” Justin snapped. “Where’s Joey?”
“He
was still sleeping when I came down,” Chris said. “I was kinda shocked to find
him knocking on my door at one in the morning, though. Did you two have a fight
or something?”
“No…I
don’t think so,” Justin said, trying to remember.
“There
he is,” Lance said. Justin took one
look at Joey and remembered EVERYTHING.
“Oh,
fuck.” He buried his face in his arms.
Justin
was packing his bags when someone knocked on his door. “I know, JC! I’m
hurrying!”
“It’s
not JC,” Joey said. “Open up, Justin. We need to talk.”
“Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Justin opened the door. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Joey came in and shut the door.
“Um,
I’m packing.” Justin went back to his suitcase.
“What
happened last night, Justin?”
“I
drank too much,” Justin said, not able to meet Joey’s brown gaze. “I said and
did some dumb stuff.”
“Oh,
so you didn’t mean any of it?” Joey leaned against the door.
“Of
course not.” Justin snapped his suitcase closed.
“Oh, I see. Okay, then.” Joey’s tone lacked any
emotion.
“You
didn’t…like it or anything, did you?” Justin asked timidly.
“Maybe,”
Joey replied softly.
“Joey,
please don’t joke around with me about this,” Justin said. “It’s no joke.”
“I’m
dead serious,” Joey said. “I’ve watched you grow up, watched you become this
amazing person…and I could only be your friend.”
Justin
sat down hard. “You mean…you want more.”
“You’re
seventeen, Justin. I’m twenty-one. I didn’t want to take advantage of you. I
know you’re no virgin, but this is very different.”
“Joey,
I’m in love with you.” Justin blushed. “I mean, well, lately, you’re all I
think about. It’s been driving me crazy.”
Joey
sat down next to him. “Have you ever kissed a guy?” Justin shook his head. Joey
lightly kissed him.
“Your
goatee tickles,” Justin said, smiling.
“Justin,
I don’t want to rush this. I still can’t believe you want ME.”
“Oh,
I do!” Justin promised.
“The
others are waiting. We need to get moving.” Joey stood. “We’ll talk more
later.”
“Okay,”
Justin said, a little disappointed. Joey grabbed him, gave him a hard,
passionate kiss, and suddenly Justin wasn’t so disappointed anymore.
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