Coda 02 -A to Z

you.”

    He was quiet for a minute, and then, in barely a whisper, he asked, “Why, Zach?”
    “Because.” It was all so clear now. I knew exactly what to say. “Because I’m crazy about you, Ang.” It was almost like I punched him. He sucked in his breath and closed his eyes. I could actually see him shaking. “I want you to move here with me. More than anything. And I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out. But I know now, I want us to be together.” I hooked a finger in one of his belt loops, and he let me pull him closer. “Please tell me you’ll stay, Angelo. You’re all I want. I’ve never wanted anything in my life the way I want you.”
    He opened his eyes, and there was so much hope shining in them, it took my breath away. “You think I’m just waitin’ for you to decide you want me, Zach?”
    “No.”
And suddenly, he smiled. “Yes.”
And before I could say anything else, he kissed me.
    His lips were soft and warm. He tasted like Dr Pepper. His arms were tight around my neck. I put my arms around him and felt his thin body trembling, felt his ribs through his threadbare shirt.
    It was incredible, just feeling him against me like that, like we were meant to be that way. Like it was fate.
    I was dying to touch him more. To get rid of our clothes and touch his skin and kiss him everywhere. I pulled his shirt up, ran one hand up his bare spine, and felt him shiver. I wanted him so much at that moment, I wasn’t even sure I could wait to get to the motel.
    Suddenly he stepped back and broke our kiss. His eyes were bright, and his lips were moist, and he smiled and said, “Been wantin’ to do that a long time.”
    “I’m glad you finally did.” I tried to pull him closer again, but he stepped back, away from me.

    He shook his head, still smiling, still shaking a little. “They’re waitin’ for us.”

    I groaned. “You’re killing me. You have no idea what you’ve been doing to me all day.”

    His smile got brighter. “I guess not.” He turned and headed for the door. “Come on.”
    We went back to the motel and showered. Not together, to my dismay. I didn’t want to go out to dinner. All I wanted to do was feel him and taste him and make love to him. He didn’t seem to notice. He acted like nothing had changed, and I almost started to wonder if I had dreamed the whole thing.
    We drove over to Matt and Jared’s. Matt was in the shower. Jared let us in.
    “You want anything to drink?” he asked as I sat on the couch. “Wine would be great.”
    He laughed. “I should have been more specific. You want a beer or a Dr Pepper? Because that’s all we have.”
    I shook my head, but Angelo said, “I’ll take a beer.” He followed Jared into the kitchen. It was one of those open-floor-plan homes, so it was just a matter of going around the counter to get to the fridge. But when they got there, Angelo put his arm around Jared’s shoulder, and they put their heads together for a minute. Then Jared laughed and handed him a beer, and they headed down the hall together. Matt came out of the shower just then, wearing nothing but a towel and looking amazing. He watched them walk past him into the bedroom. He turned to me and raised his eyebrow. I shrugged at him. But only a few seconds later, they came back out, and Angelo slammed his beer while Matt got dressed, and then we went out for dinner.
    They took us to a pizza joint. We were just sitting down when a man walked past us, muttering just loud enough that we all heard the word “fags.”
    “Don’t worry about him,” Jared said. “Most of the town is fine. Gerri’s just an asshole.”

    “Hey, Ram, doesn’t this cafeteria have a no-fags-allowed policy?” Angelo suddenly asked.

    To my surprise, Matt replied, “They seem to have an opendoor policy on assholes, though, don’t they?”
    They grinned at each other like Cheshire cats. Jared looked baffled. I was relieved to see that for once there was somebody further behind than me.
    “Did you tell him yet?” Jared asked Angelo, when our pizza came.
    Angelo shook his head, and I said, “What?”
Angelo turned red, but Jared said, “Tell him. It’s a good idea.”
    He turned toward me, took a deep breath, and started talking. “I was thinkin’, it’s not just movie rentals they’re missin’ here. There’s also no theater. And there’s plenty of room. You could rent the movies in the front, and you could set up a theater in the back. Not like a regular