Free Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan Page B

beautiful.’ ”
    “That’s just the way Simon talks.”
    “I’m just making an observation.”
    “Riiiiiiiight.”
    “Don’t dismiss me like that.”
    “Do we really have to have this conversation again?”
    “Why don’t you tell me,
beautiful
?”
    “He’s just a flirty friend. We both have flirty friends.”
    “Yeah, but mine are
female
.”
    “Clark? Clark is female?”
    “Clark isn’t flirty. He’s too scientific to be flirty.”
    “He thinks lab partners should have full marriage rights.”
    “The only thing Clark has ever called beautiful in his life is an algebraic equation.”
    “Oh, but he’d love to see how his
x
corresponds to your y.”
    “Wait—how is this about Clark? I seem to recall it’s about Simon.”
    “Simon is harmless.”
    “Simon is calling you beautiful and sending you a link to two guys kissing.”
    “Really? Of all the places to go, you’re going to go
there
?”
    They are a bit too loud. They don’t notice the bookseller behind the counter, smiling. He knows firsthand that every relationship falls into this groove at some point.
    Neil doesn’t really think Peter is cheating on him. He doesn’t think Peter would ever cheat on him. That’s not what this is about. It’s about Neil’s fear that Peter will
want
to cheaton him, that he will someday realize there’s someone better out there.
    Peter is young enough to not really understand this. He thinks Neil is being foolish, slightly paranoid. He has done nothing wrong, and resents being attacked, anyway.
    “Look,” he says, “I think we need to step away for a sec. I’m going to go down the street and get coffee. Do you want anything?”
    Neil shakes his head.
    “Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Which is hopefully the amount of time it will take for you to realize that even if a million other guys say ‘Hey, beautiful’ to me, it doesn’t change what we are, not one little bit.”
    “A million? Who said anything about
a million
?”
    “There happen to be a lot of people who use ‘Hey, beautiful’ as a greeting when I am involved.”
    “Well, you are beautiful. I grant you that. It must be the
hey
I object to. It’s so
common
. For horses, really. And you are so uncommonly, unhorsily beautiful.”
    Peter realizes this last twist in the conversation means things with Neil are curving back into being better, but now that he’s mentioned coffee, he wants it. So he heads out, gets an iced latte, drinks it in a few gulps (too many damn ice cubes), then heads back to the bookstore. He finds Neil still in the YA section, his arms full of books.
    “Wow,” Peter says. “Are they putting you on bed rest or something?”
    Neil puts the books on a table and shushes Peter with a finger to his lips.
    Then he picks up the first book and holds it so Peter can read the title.
          
I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This
     
    Peter quiets. Watches as Neil holds up the books one by one.
          
Just Listen
          
Stay
          
You’re the One That I Want
          
So Much Closer
          
Where I Want to Be
          
The Difference Between You and Me
          
Positively
          
Matched
          
Perfect
          
Wonder
          
You Are Here
          
Where I Belong
          
I’ll Be There
          
Along for the Ride
          
The Future of Us
          
Real Live Boyfriends
          
Keep Holding On
     
    When Neil is through, Peter smiles and holds up his hand, gesturing Neil to wait there, to not say a word. He picks out two books from the YA section, then runs to the fiction section for a third. He is still smiling when he returns to Neil and shows his selections one by one.
          
Take a Bow
          
A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You
          
Keep Holding On
     
    Peter makes a stack of his books and takes a picture of the spines, to send to Neil. Neil then does the same for Peter. They put a few of the