Caught Page 2

  He sits with his arms draped over the seat in front of him, his head hanging between them. His forehead rests against the seat’s pleather backing, his cap pushed up now as he stares at the floor. Over the raucous sounds of the exiting team, he’s overly aware of the sound of his own steady breath.

  After the bus stops shaking under dozens of trampling sneakers, Robby gathers himself together and stands again. He stares straight ahead, not noticing anyone else on the bus. Now that he’s gotten away with the ChapStick—no one but Mike found out—he’s more nervous than ever. What if Mike says something? Or the store has cameras, and footage of him pocketing the crap shows up on the news? What will his mother say?

  With a heavy conscience, he moves into the aisle and is surprised when Mike stands up from his own seat a few rows ahead of Robby. “Hey,” Mike says, stepping out in front of him to block the aisle.

  Robby glances around Mike—they’re alone on the bus. “Hey yourself.”

  Mike digs the ChapStick from the pocket of his pants and holds it up for Robby to see. “Lose this?”

  Dull anger burns Robby’s face. “Just drop it, will you?” He shoves past Mike, heading for the open door of the bus.

  But Mike catches his arm, spinning him around. His hand rests on Robby’s elbow, sending shivers down Robby’s spine.

  Robby hates the way his body responds—this is Mike, damn it. They were friends once. I wish still were, Robby thinks, shrugging Mike’s hand away. Before he can stifle it, another thought follows immediately on the heels of that. I wish we were more.

  “Look,” Robby says, taking a deep breath to calm the hormones racing through him at Mike’s nearness. “I’m sorry, okay? It’s not mine—“

  “You took it, didn’t you?” Mike wants to know.

  Robby shakes his head in disgust, then realizes he can’t lie any longer. He doesn’t want to. Plucking the ChapStick from Mike’s fingers, he growls, “I took it, yes. There, you happy now? I took it. Call the police.”

  He turns away, sure Mike hates him. He expects to hear his teammate crow at any moment, raise the alarm, tell everyone within earshot Robby Brown’s a goddamn thief.

  The last thing he’s ready for is the soft question. “Why’d you do it?”

  Robby stops in mid-step and leans heavily on the seats on either side of the aisle. His reply is just as soft. “I don’t know.”

  Mike must have heard him, because he comes up behind Robby, standing so close, there’s barely any space between one boy and the next. Robby stares at the floor and tries to ignore the sudden excitement coursing through his body. Taking the ChapStick had been a thrill, but it hadn’t felt anything near like what Mike did to him just by standing so close.

  God, what can he say? A million things race through Robby’s mind, a million answers and none of them the right one. None of them sound true. He knows he can’t lie to Mike again. He admitted he stole the ChapStick…but does he have the courage to tell his friend why?

  “Because,” he starts, then he swallows hard against the tightening in his throat. “I wanted you to see me.”

  “What the hell’s that mean?” Mike’s voice is laced with confusion. Robby swears he can feel the shape Mike’s words make on the nape of his neck.

  “I wanted you to talk to me,” Robby says. It sounds stupid but it’s the truth. “I don’t know. I wanted you to say something to me, okay? And I wasn’t even thinking when I took it. I don’t know what I thought would happen. I saw you there in the aisle and I couldn’t think of anything to say to get you to notice me, so I thought maybe if I did something, you’d have to come over. And you did.”

  So see? he adds silently. It worked. Just not quite the way I had hoped.

  When Mike doesn’t speak, Robby sighs. “You never talk to me anymore. We used to be friends. What happened to that?”

  Still no answer.

  Robby turns and finds Mike impossibly close. “You know what happened,” Mike murmurs. He can’t quite meet Robby’s eyes. “You hear what the other guys say about me.”

  Robby knows. He’s heard the words fag and queer coughed into fists in the locker room whenever Mike heads for the shower. The only reason Robby’s never said anything about it is because he doesn’t want those same labels applied to him, either.

  No matter how true they are.

  Here, in the quiet bus, alone with Mike, Robby can admit to more than taking that ChapStick from the store. In a voice barely audible over distant shouts from the baseball diamond, he whispers, “You’re not the only one.”

  Now Mike looks at him. His eyes widen, his mouth open, his breath hitched. In shock, perhaps, or maybe something else. Hope. “You mean…you too?”

  Robby barely shrugs, but it’s enough of an answer to bring the color rushing back into Mike’s face. His lips curve into a knowing grin. “So you’re saying you stole ChapStick just to get my attention? What a way to pick up a guy. You could’ve just said hi.”

  Robby laughs. “It sort of worked, though, didn’t it?”

  For a long heartbeat, neither says anything. Then Robby leans closer, his nose brushing alongside Mike’s. “Don’t move,” he whispers. “I want to get this right.”

  He hears Mike catch his breath, then his lips cover Mike’s in a gentle kiss. He reaches up with one hand, touching over Mike’s close curls as his tongue slips into Mike’s mouth.

  When they pull away, breathless, Robby cups the back of Mike’s head to keep him close. Robby rests his forehead against Mike’s. This close, his friend’s eyes are mesmerizing. “Can I steal another kiss?”

  Pressing his mouth to Mike’s, Robby doesn’t care if he gets caught.

  THE END

  ABOUT J. TOMAS

  J. Tomas is an author of gay YA romance who lives in Richmond, Virginia, with two very spoiled cats. She publishes adult gay fiction under a pseudonym. Her first novel, Without Sin, is now available in print and e-book formats. More information can be found online at j-tomas.net.

  ABOUT QUEERTEEN PRESS

  Queerteen Press is the young adult imprint of JMS Books LLC, a small press specializing in queer fiction, non-fiction, and poetry owned and operated by author J.M. Snyder. Visit us at queerteen-press.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!

 

 

  J. Tomas, Caught

 

 

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