Free Sweaters & Cigarettes by Mika Fox Page A

it.
    "Well, you're friends, right?"
Riley says, plainly.
    The question is simple, innocent, but it
still makes Theo stiffen. After a moment, though, he reanimates and continues
to stir the bacon.
    "What are you talking about?" he
asks, hoping that he sounds convincing.
    "You and that guy," Riley
explains. "Max, or whatever. You're friends, aren't you?"
    Theo hesitates. He's racking his brain to
figure out when, where and how, exactly, Riley might have come to that conclusion.
Not even his friends seem to know that he and Max hang out.
    And if nothing else, he can't help but
react at the word friends . Are he and Max friends? Even disregarding the
whole physical part of their relationship, which actually came first, Theo has
started to feel like they're a whole lot more than just friends, at this point,
even the benefits-kind. But he doesn't know. He doesn't know what Max thinks.
    "Dammit, Davis. I actually kinda like
you."
    The words still echo in his mind. He can't
really shake them, and he can't shake the feeling of that kiss Max gave him,
just moments later. Because friends don't do that, right? Maybe making out,
hooking up, sure... But holding hands? Hanging out like they've been doing
lately, saying stuff like that, and kissing like they actually care about each
other?
    As far as Theo knows, friends don't do
that. But again, who knows what Max thinks.
    Theo flips the bacon in the frying pan,
clearing his throat slightly.
    "Yeah, maybe," he finally says,
unsure what to reply. "What makes you say that?"
    "Nothing," Riley says, and Theo
knows he's shrugging, even with his back turned. "You just seem to like
him, that's all."
    Theo nearly drops the spatula, but saves
it in the last second.
    "You okay?" Riley sounds
concerned, but knowing, in that annoying, precocious way of his.
    "Yeah," Theo says, turning off
the stove and taking out a pair of plates. "Yeah, I'm fine."
    He divides the eggs and the bacon between
the two plates (with a couple of extra slices for his brother, out of habit),
and gets out two forks, before setting the food down on the table. Riley looks
up at him as he sits down opposite him.
    "It's okay, you know," he
suddenly says, but Theo doesn't look at him. Instead, he starts spearing some
bacon on his fork.
    "What is?" he asks, a bit too
casually.
    "That you like him." Riley
sounds calm and completely certain, and Theo slowly glances up at him. His hair
is darker than Theo's, and a little bit longer, his eyes hazel, rather than
green. Looks-wise, he takes after their father more than their mother, but
although Riley still has some childlike features, being in his early teens, he
does bear some resemblance to his big brother, and Theo guesses that the two of
them will look more alike when he's older. "I can tell."
    Theo doesn't confirm nor deny, suddenly
very uncomfortable. But Riley notices how he wants to know how Riley can
tell, even if he's not saying anything.
    "You've been smiling a lot,
lately," he says. "And you haven't been home as much, you've been
going out more."
    Riley digs into his bacon, looking down.
    "And it started when you met
him."
    Theo swallows hard. He hasn't even spoken
to Max in front of other people, at school. How the hell does Riley know?
    "How―" he starts, but
Riley cuts him off.
    "You're my big brother, Theo,"
he says simply. "I've seen the way you look at him, at school. And I've
seen the way he looks at you."
    He puts some bacon in his mouth and looks
at his brother.
    "I don't know if anyone else can
tell," he says, with his mouth full. "But I can. And you like
him."
    Theo doesn't say anything for several
seconds. Somehow, he's worried that Riley will react the way his friends would,
the way most people would, at him liking a guy like Max. But he doesn't.
Instead, Riley just half-smiles at him, like the happiest, most supportive
little brother in the world, who seems so much older than fourteen. And Theo
exhales slowly.
    "Don't tell mom and dad, okay?"
he says, his voice