Something Like Lightning (38 page)

“Are we waiting for someone?” Kelly asked. “You said it was just me and you.”

“It is,” Nathaniel said. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and growled. “This assignment is driving me crazy! Marcello sprung it on me yesterday, and I was up half the night trying to figure out what to do. If I spontaneously ask you to climb a tree, once you’re up there, you’re still going to look like someone who climbed a tree so he could have his photo taken.”

Kelly searched for inspiration. “I could spread myself out on the hood of your car. Or wait, maybe I should just do it instead talking about it.”

“Won’t make a difference,” Nathaniel said. “Would still come across as contrived.”

“In that case, you should drive me home so I can play video games with my brother. That’s what I’d be doing if it weren’t for this assignment.”

Nathaniel perked up. “Maybe you’ve got the right idea. Video games are boring, but what else would you do today? It’s Sunday. Church?”

“Sort of. I have a gay youth group every couple of weeks. There’s one this afternoon.”

Nathaniel shook his head. “I can’t see that being too exciting. Unless I’m wrong. I’m picturing an AA meeting except with nervous gay teenagers instead of tired old alcoholics.”

“Pretty much. You’re probably way above the age limit anyway. How old are you? Thirty?”

Nathaniel scowled. “Twenty-three. How old are you? Twelve?”

“Eighteen.”

“Great. So what else do nervous gay teenagers do for fun?”

Kelly shrugged. “Hang out with my friends, usually at their place, or in my room. Or at the mall.”

“Gosh,” Nathaniel said. “If that’s your idea of a good time, I’d hate to hear about your bad days.”

Kelly thought about it briefly. “Actually, you’re on to something. Come on.”

He got in the car, and before Nathaniel could ask where they were going, he started giving directions. Before long, they were parked outside the high school. Summer break made the place feel abandoned. Nathaniel surveyed the empty parking lot and the soulless brick building, nodding slowly. So far, so good. He had the camera out of the bag as Kelly led the way to the sports field.

They passed the track by circling around it. Kelly wouldn’t allow himself to step onto the rubbery surface anymore. He no longer considered himself worthy, treating his former arena as if it were sacred. This was slightly marred by the middle-aged guy currently using it to jog, but even he was more in touch with speed than Kelly these days.

Leading the way to the bleachers, Kelly climbed a few steps and walked down the aisle until they were exactly in the middle. This is where he always sat when feeling morose. Just being here was enough to bring him to that state. Not even the presence of a hot guy with an expensive camera helped.

“What’s the story?” Nathaniel asked.

“Same as Icarus when he flew too close to the sun. If you delight in something too much, the gods punish you for it. Icarus got his kicks flying, and I got high off running.”

“You were on the track team?”

Kelly nodded. “Fastest guy in school. I even planned on making a career of it, Olympic dream and all that. Sounds arrogant to say it now. I probably would have learned a hard lesson when meeting the pros, but I would have preferred that to this.”

“Huh.”

“That’s it?” Kelly glanced over at Nathaniel. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”

Nathaniel shrugged. “You don’t strike me as the self-pitying type.”

“I’m not,” Kelly said, returning his gaze to the track. “I used to be, but not anymore. Now I just miss it. I sit here because it’s as close as I can get. I even wondered if I should be some sort of coach, you know? Professional boxers always have an out-of-shape dude telling them how to punch. You don’t have to be the champ to make a champ.”

“Is that something you’re interested in doing?” Nathaniel asked.

Kelly shook his head. “Not really.”

He watched the middle-aged guy stumble to a stop and wipe his brow before he started up again. His posture was terrible, his clothing wrong, and his gait an absolute joke—and still Kelly envied him.

“I left the flash in the car,” Nathaniel said. “I’ll be right back.”

Kelly nodded, keeping his attention on the track and his thoughts on the past. Eventually, the middle-aged guy stopped running, cooling down by walking a lap. Then he wandered off toward the nearest houses.

The bleachers creaked as Nathaniel returned. “Got some good photos of you,” he said.

“I figured.”

“You knew?”

Kelly shrugged. “I know that a flash is near-useless in broad daylight.” He nodded at the camera. “Especially when you’re using a telephoto lens. What’s the maximum range on that thing? Three hundred millimeter?”

“Five.”

“Impressive.”

Nathaniel considered him. “It felt sleazy as hell, taking photos of you looking sad. Too exploitative.”

“I wouldn’t have brought you here if I had a problem with it. I thought we’d go to a shoe store next, followed by a dance club.” He cracked a smile, prompting Nathaniel to do the same. “For what it’s worth, I think your tree-climbing idea is cool. You’d be surprised how mobile I am when not stuck on the stupid ground. As long as you’re snapping photos of me in action, we might get something good. Besides —” Kelly flexed an arm muscle playfully. “—it’ll allow me to show off some upper-body.”

Nathaniel nodded. “Okay. Let’s give it a go.”

“Would you mind coming home with me?”

Wow! Kelly felt the photo shoot had gone well. Just not
that
well! They had driven out to a wilderness preserve where they were less likely to be interrupted and where the trees weren’t pruned, allowing them to find one with low branches. Kelly had scurried up it, having a grand ol’ time and easily forgetting the camera was there. Now they were taking a break beneath the tree, the sun high in the sky, both of them sweating. Or were they hot and bothered? Ha ha!

“Kelly?”

He blinked away the swirling fantasies. “Sorry. What did you say?”

Nathaniel got to his feet. “I need to run home. There’s someone I need to check on. That all right?”

“Yeah, perfectly.” With a little struggle, Kelly managed to get up. He refused to look at Nathaniel to avoid any offers of help. He didn’t want to appear pathetic. Once back in the car, they didn’t have far to drive. Nathaniel brought them to a fairly average apartment complex on the edge of town, which was surprising. Kelly had assumed everyone associated with Marcello was rich and gay, but now he wondered if Nathaniel was either. And who was this person he needed to check on?

“You should probably wait down here,” Nathaniel said after they had parked. “He tends to knock people over when he’s excited.”

Please let it be a dog and not a hyperactive kid or a socially awkward boyfriend. Not that Kelly had anything against children or people having relationships. It’s just that someday he wanted those things too. “If you’re going to leave me in a hot car,” he said, “be sure to crack a window.”

“I’m not that inhumane. There’s an area for grilling around the corner.” Nathaniel nodded toward the end of the building. “Should be plenty of shade. I’ll meet you soon.”

Kelly left the car and walked around the corner, finding a few picnic benches, a metal trashcan, and a cluster of trees. He stood beneath one of them and tried to look inconspicuous. A few minutes later, panting preceded Nathaniel’s reappearance. Either he was really eager to see him or...

A dog. Kelly breathed out in relief. Or a wolf, because it had a gray coat and silver eyes and was huge. The dog spotted him. They considered each other for a moment. Then it broke loose, tearing across the yard toward him. Kelly missed his running legs more than ever as he stood there helpless. He supposed he could thwack it with one of his crutches, but Nathaniel was already chasing after it with pure concern etched into his features.

Sighing, Kelly tried bracing himself as much as possible. It didn’t do much good. The dog leapt into the air, pushed him over with his front paws, and laid Kelly out flat. Then it circled him, sniffing every part of his body so quickly the dog sounded like it was hyperventilating.

“Zero!” Nathaniel was shouting. “Heel! Sit! Stop! Ugh. Fuck off, you stupid mutt!”

This got the dog’s attention. It whipped its head around and ran back toward its master.

“Sorry,” Nathaniel said, approaching with the dog in tow. “As a puppy, he was trained to sniff out drugs, but they only ended up creating a monster.”

“No problem,” Kelly said, waving away Nathaniel’s hand as he struggled to his feet. “I’d love to see him in action at an airport. That would thin the crowds.”

Once Kelly was up, he considered the dog warily, who was now panting happily and looking like he wanted to do it all over again. “What sort of breed is that anyway? Hell hound?”

“Close,” Nathaniel said with a chuckle. “Siberian Husky. The sledpulling dogs. I’m tempted to hook up Zero to my car and put it in neutral. Maybe the exercise would finally get him to chill.”

As if in response, the dog raced off, running around the park area in wide arcs that eventually returned to Nathaniel before Zero took off again.

“Usually I chase after him,” Nathaniel explained.

“By all means,” Kelly said, but Nathaniel shook his head.

“Let him do his business and blow off a little steam. Then we can escape inside to air conditioning. I’ll even cook for you.”

“Sounds promising,” Kelly said, heading for one of the benches and sitting. “Are we done working today?”

“Oh, right.” Nathaniel lifted the camera hanging from around his neck and snapped a few more photos.

Kelly raised an eyebrow. “Somehow I don’t think those are going to make an impression.”

The camera clicked again. “That one will. You look hot when you’re being snarky.”

Which was different than saying he actually was hot. Straight guys could tell if another man was good looking. Especially if they were photographers. Kelly was over waiting and hoping. He wanted to know right now.

“What’s your girlfriend going to think when she comes home to find you cooking for another woman?”

“Subtle,” Nathaniel said with a smirk. “If any girl of mine comes home, it better be a dude in drag, because I don’t swing that way.”

Thank goodness for that! “You’re probably dying to know if I’m straight or not.”

“Nope,” Nathaniel said, becoming distracted. “Zero, if you chase that squirrel, and
especially
if you eat it, I’ll wire your damn mouth shut!” “Gosh,” Kelly murmured, “you really love your dog.”

“More than anything in the world,” Nathaniel said, fixing him with a stare to prove how serious he was. “Besides, he talks back to me in his own way. If I annoy him too much, he’ll chew up one of my Blu-rays when I’m at work. Just the case though. If he didn’t love me back, he’d ruin the disc too.”

“You like movies?” Kelly asked.

“I have a dog named Zero, don’t I?”

Kelly wracked his brain, trying to catch the reference.
“Nightmare Before Christmas
?”

“Very good. And I’m not into movies. I’m into cinematography.” “There’s a difference?”

“Anyone can point a camera and start filming, just like anyone can smear paint on a canvas. But very few are capable of true art.”

Kelly’s smile was subtle. “I’m a big fan of Michael Bay myself.”

“I hate you.”

“Or M. Night Shyamalan’s later films. Those are a real treat.”

“Go away. Right now. I mean it.”

“Ah, but you promised me lunch,” Kelly said.

Nathaniel sighed dramatically. “I suppose I did. Come on, Zero. Time to open a can of dog food for our guest here.”

Kelly was curious if the apartment had a sprawling floor plan or was finely furnished. Upon entering, he saw a hall that led past a bedroom on one side and a bathroom on the other. The living room had a balcony overlooking a stretch of grass that ended in a wall of trees. To the left was a small dining area and a narrow kitchen. Aside from the huge television and surround sound system, the home seemed average. The couch—which Zero quickly hopped up on—was worn, the wooden coffee table nicked, and decoration sparse. Maybe Marcello didn’t pay well. Then again, how much did a photographer earn? One who occasionally managed charity events.

“What exactly do you do for a living?” Kelly asked.

“Whatever Marcello wants me to.” Nathaniel opened the refrigerator and bent to dig around. Then his head reappeared above the door. “Wait, that sounds perverted. I don’t mean it like that. Marcello is a very successful man who has his fingers in quite a few pies. That can get complicated, and when he needs help, he knows he can rely on me.”

“So you’re not normally a photographer.”

Nathaniel tossed a pack of ground beef on the counter before he continued digging. “Nope. I’ve got a good eye and I know my way around a camera, but Marcello has plenty of professionals working for him.”

“So how come I’m standing in your kitchen right now and not Rick’s?”

Nathaniel closed the refrigerator, hands full of produce. “I was wondering that myself. I have a few theories.”

“Such as?”

“Remember when Rick asked you to pretend he was a hot guy?” Kelly nodded. “Yeah.”

Nathaniel’s smile was slow. “With me, you don’t have to pretend.” Kelly recovered quickly. “Actually, I do.”

“What?”

“Yup. All day. I keep picturing this cute Asian guy. Short, slender, has a shy smile. So adorable!”

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. “That’s your type?”

“Oh yeah!”

“Your loss.” Nathaniel frowned. “Not that it would have mattered if I
was
your type.”

“Of course not.”

“Right.”

Kelly smiled. “Need help dicing that onion?”

“That would be great.”

They started cooking together, Nathaniel working on a salad. After confirming that they’d be having burgers with it, Kelly washed his hands and worked on making patties.

“How did you become Marcello’s right-hand man?” he asked. Amusement tugged at Nathaniel’s features. “I pulled his ass out of the fire. After that, it didn’t take him long to realize how useful I can be. Hey, make sure not to put onions in two of them. They give Zero gas.”