Tales of the City 05 - Significant Others

sure,” said Michael. “Not as much as I used to be, but … well, I see her off and on.” He trailed his fingers in the water.
    Thack skinned off his T-shirt. His chest was white-skinned and pink-nippled, distractingly defined. Michael caught the briefest whiff of his sweat as the T-shirt went over his head.
    “Something’s bothering Brian,” said Thack.
    “Why?”
    “Well … I think I must rub him the wrong way.”
    “No, you don’t. He likes you. He told me so.”
    “He did?”
    “Yes.”
    Thack took a sip of his Oly. “I like him too, actually. I wish there were more straight guys like him.”
    “He’s fighting with Mary Ann,” said Michael, telling a medium-sized white lie. “He gets a little weird when they fight.” That was certainly true enough. “He’s a great guy most of the time. Funny, generous …”
    “Hot,” said Thack.
    Michael felt the sting of that paper cut again. “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “You guess so?”
    “Well, I’ve known him such a long time. We’re more like brothers or something. I know he’s good-looking, but I really don’t think of him that way.”
    He was jealous, he realized suddenly. He was actually jealous of Brian.

Campfire Tales
    D RIFTING BACK INTO CONSCIOUSNESS, BRIAN STIRRED on the sofa. The corduroy gave off a faint aroma of mildew, which tingled in his nostrils. He could hear a noisy bird behind the house and Michael’s laughter down by the creek.
    He wasn’t sure whether he’d been there for thirty minutes or three hours. The headache that had nagged him on the road had subsided somewhat, but the spot in his gut was still burning. He was hot all over, in fact, and his mouth tasted foul.
    His tongue made its usual rounds, searching for raw spots that hadn’t been there earlier. Finding nothing, he propped himself up on his elbows and gazed out toward the creek. Michael and Thack were still sunning on the rocks.
    Brian found his shaving kit and dragged himself into the bathroom. He splashed water on his face, then brushed his teeth, then examined his face in the mirror. His grinding fatigue had made itself known in charcoal smudges under his eyes.
    He left the house and walked down to the creek. The guys didn’t see him approaching, so he hollered: “How ‘bout some grub, men?”
    “We gotta go shopping,” Michael answered.
    “That’s what I meant. I’ll do it. Tell me what you want.”
    Thack sat up. “Great.”
    “Take the car,” said Michael.
    “Nah,” said Brian. “I need the exercise. Whatcha want?”
    “Hot dogs,” Thack replied, “and baked beans and nachos … and stuff for a salad.”
    “And Diet Pepsi,” Michael added. “You know where the store is?”
    “Yeah,” said Brian.
    “We’ll get a fire going,” said Thack. “We thought we should cook out.”
    “Good,” said Brian.
    He left them and headed toward the Cazadero road. It was late afternoon now. Dusty shards of sunlight pierced the redwoods along the creek. As he walked, a family of quail scurried to avoid him. A blue-bellied lizard flickered like a gas flame, then dove into a mossy woodpile, extinguishing itself.
    With a mission in mind, he felt better already, picking up his pace as he passed the little green-and-white frame church that marked the edge of the village. By the time he’d reached the Cazadero General Store, he was calmer than he’d been in days.
    After assembling the food they needed (plus a Sara Lee lemon cake for dessert), he waited in a short line at the cash register. The woman in front of him—huge breasts, huge hips, startling green eyes—turned and smiled warmly.
    “Dinner?”
    He looked down at the contents of his red plastic shopping basket. “Yeah. We’re gonna cook out.”
    Her emerald eyes widened. “We?”
    “My buddies and me.”
    “Ah.” Without actually smiling, her full mouth registered amusement at some private joke. Something about her seemed familiar, but he was positive they’d never met. He would have remembered for sure.
    He looked around the store. “This place is handy. It’s got a little bit of everything.”
    “Yes,” she replied. “Doesn’t it?”
    There was flirtation in her tone, but he pretended not to notice. What was left of his libido had been beaten into cowering submission. He had never gone for such a long time without being horny.
    The woman paid for her purchases and left. As the clerk tallied his bill, Brian peered out the doorway in time to see her cop another glance in his