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feeling the rage boiling deep inside of him.
Your mom said it was an elbow, Roman says quietly.
Yeah.
That really what happened?
Lee s throat tightens. It s what I told her happened.
So what s the truth?
Doesn t matter.
Bullshit, Lee. Roman s hand is firm on his chin, and his free hand cups the
back of Lee s head. Doesn t let him look away. What happened?
Lee keeps his eyes below Roman s neck, unable to look him in the eye. If
he does, he ll crumble, and he has to be the strong one. Always has been. Got
into a fight.
With who?
Joey Trainor. He s on the varsity team.
I know who he is. Roman s voice has a dangerous edge, and it tricks Lee
into looking up. His eyes are dark with rage and with a terrible understanding
of the things Lee didn t say. He started it?
Duh. I m not stupid enough to get in his face. Joey Trainor isn t a center
for nothing. He s tall, muscular and scary, and he s got a posse of jocks who
want to be him. Lee isn t a wuss, but he s smart enough to know he can t win
in a fair fight with Joey.
Where d it happen?
Lee lets out a harsh breath. Roman isn t letting this go. Locker room,
while we were showering.
Roman s grip on his neck tightens, but instead of painful, it s reassuring.
Christ, Lee, what did he do?
Him and some of the other seniors started making fag jokes. I ignored it,
until Joey said something about you. I know he said it to get a reaction out of
me, and it worked.
What did he say?
35
A. M. Arthur
Lee pulls a cold hand from his coat pocket and wraps it tight around Roman s
hand on his neck. Said he wondered how many guys on the team you could
suck off and swallow before you barfed.
Roman flinches, but the anger in his eyes only burns brighter. He s fielded
comments and slurs almost since the start of the school year, when everything
started going badly with his dad. When rumors got around about why Mr.
Carmichael kicked him out, the teasing got worse. Lee s only felt the sting
of the rumors for the last month or so, ever since Joey decided to make him
a target too even though Lee and Roman have done everything possible to
hide the romantic angle of their relationship from others.
Lee continues, He started going on about how I must be a fag, too, since
you lived here, and did I like boys, too, or were you just a good cocksucker?
The words sting even hours later and make him hate Joey even more.
What did you say? Roman asks. His voice is quiet, as if he expect Lee to
tell him he disavowed Roman and said anything he could to appease Joey and
his goons. Even the softer edge in his expression says it s okay if Lee did that.
I told Joey that if he wanted to know if I was a fag or not, he should come
over and suck my dick for me. Lee allows a small surge of triumph for the
furious glare that had earned from Joey. His friends thought it was hilarious.
Roman s mouth twitches. I m guessing he didn t take you up on the offer?
Hell, no. He waited for me to leave the locker room afterward, then
punched me in the face. Spat on me, too.
Coward.
Yeah.
Roman leans in and kisses Lee s swollen eye. His lips are cold, and the gentle
touch feels wonderful. I m sorry he hurt you, Roman says.
It was inevitable, I guess. I mean, we can t hide this forever, Roe. And I
don t know if I want to.
It might safer if we do. We only have two more years of school, and then
we can go anywhere. We can go to a big city where no one cares. We can be
anyone we want to be.
Yeah. Lee snickers. If we survive high school.
We will. We ve got each other s back, right?
Right.
And right now, I m guessing that your back is freezing and it s time to go
home.
36
Frozen
Lee grins. You re right. But as far as Mom and Dad know, I caught an
elbow to the eye.
Promise. Now let s go.
He s stiff from sitting in the cold and doesn t protest Roman helping him
climb down. They walk home in silence, following two sets of footprints back
to the road, then the road back to the house. The winter world is blanketed in
white, peaceful and fresh, sleeping until spring brings it all back to life again.
They hold hands until the mailbox comes into view, then let go reluctantly.
In the month since their friendship turned physical, elevated to something more,
they ve hidden it carefully from Lee s parents. Not from fear of disapproval, but
of losing the autonomy his parents grant them. Knowing his lover is living in
the next bedroom might change the arrangement, and Lee can t stand that. He
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