Free Going the Distance by John Goode Page B

and looked over at him. “If you want to make out, take her behind a backstop or to your car, man. No one came to school to see you try to swallow your girl’s tongue.” Cody blushed, and Tina shrank away, like she suddenly realized where she and Cody were and what they were doing.
    Tommy shot a stare over at me. “And if you’re about to start… don’t.” Carol inched away from me slowly as Tommy went on, “I’m not sure what the fuck is going on, but it isn’t happening at this table.” Tina stood up and said something quietly to Cody before walking off.
    “See you after school?” Carol asked me as she stood herself. I nodded absently as she leaned down and pecked my cheek. She walked away, leaving Cody and me staring angrily at each other.
    “Look, girls, if you two are going to fight? Just fucking fight and get it over with,” Tommy said, going back to his lunch. “But get it over with by Friday, because if you two fuck up the game, I will personally take you both out back and beat you to death.” We both looked at him, and he nodded at us. “I will fucking beat you to death. That’s a promise.”
    Cody and I looked at each other and then down at our shoes underneath the table.
    “Get out of here and make up,” Tommy ordered. We looked at him in shock, and he nodded. “No joke, get lost.”
    We both stood up slowly, waiting for him to say it was a joke or something, but he was deadly serious. We walked away from the table in confusion, neither one of us knowing what to say. We silently made our way to the gym, which was thankfully empty this time of the day. A ball was jammed between the rim and backboard, and Cody looked up at it and then to me.
    “Well, there’s no way I can reach it,” he said with half a grin.
    I jumped up and pulled it down. The sound of it hitting the boards as I bounce-passed it to him echoed around us. He dribbled the ball a few times and then fell back and attempted a three-pointer. The ball bounced off the rim and began to wobble away from the basket before I leapt up and tipped it in. I passed the ball to him, and he checked it back to me as I leaned in and began to press toward the other basket. He instantly saw the seriousness in my face and moved to intercept me with both hands out in defense.
    In that moment everything else faded away in our life, and we were caught in the game. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t jealous, I wasn’t sad. I was playing basketball, so everything was perfect. I surged forward as he moved with me, trying to corral me in. “Don’t make me go through you,” I said, grinning at him.
    “Bring it, son,” he answered with a grin of his own.
    I faked to the left and then instantly peeled off to the right before he’d realized I was no longer there. I pumped three more steps, setting up for my jump… and suddenly Cody was there in front of me before I could check my forward momentum. We collapsed into each other instantly, his arms moving around me as the ball went flying away from us. We landed with an audible thud as gravity took hold of us, yanked us out of the sky, and we hit the floor solidly. We skidded a couple of inches and burst out laughing. I was very aware I was lying on top of him, and that his arms were still around my waist. I looked down at him and felt the smile slipping off my lips.
    “I’m sorry,” I said quietly, not sure what I was apologizing for, but I did know I was indeed apologetic.
    “Me too,” he murmured as my face moved down to his.
    “Come over after your date?” he asked against my lips.
    I nodded as I eased my tongue slowly between his lips. I was amazed to feel his tongue slip past mine.
    It was a quick kiss, but what it lacked in length, it made up for in passion. He stared up at me with a huge smile. “Fag.”
    I ground my crotch against his. It was blatantly obvious we were both hard. “Queer.”
    We both laughed again as I carefully lifted myself off him. I held my hand out and pulled him to his