Something Like Winter (14 page)

“
Hey!” Ben said, sounding
more upbeat than negative. “Uh, come on in!”

Tim could hear numerous
voices elsewhere in the house. He wasn’t ready for this. “That’s
okay. I just wanted to bring this by.”

Ben looked down at the
present. Tim felt what the paper concealed must be obvious,
considering the long thin shape.

“
Oh, hi!” Mrs. Bentley
appeared behind Ben, beaming at Tim like she always did. “I was
wondering when you would show up! Come on in and grab some
cake.”

“
No really, I—”

Mrs. Bentley waved a hand
dismissively. “Come on, don’t let Wilford get out the door, or
we’ll never see him again.”

Tim slinked inside, nearly
jumping when the door shut behind him. He needed to chill, and
quick.

“
Time to meet the family,”
Ben said with a nervous chuckle. “The extended version.”

“
Great.” Tim smiled at him,
trying to put an apology into it. As always, Ben seemed to
understand. They stood there, eyeing each other like years had
passed instead of a week. He could almost imagine them going up to
Ben’s room, but Tim was led to the heart of the party—where about
ten thousand relatives waited for them.

Well, not that many, but
they certainly made Tim’s family seem small. He shook a lot of
hands, missed almost all the names, and suffered a few old lady
hugs. Then someone tall, dark, and gorgeous hopped in front of
Tim’s path like a ninja.

“
Allison,” she said by way
of introduction, smiling broadly at him.

There was no mistaking that
look. She knew everything, absolutely everything, he and Ben had
been up to. Tim took her hand and gave her his best smile, which
only made her grin grow wider.

“
Up close, I can see why
Ben puts up with you,” she said playfully.

“
Don’t worry,” Tim said.
“Once the looks go, I’ll be ancient history and he’ll be all yours
again.”

“
I’d rather you stick
around,” Allison replied. “I’ve had my hands full with the boy for
far too long. The break has been nice.”

“
I’m standing right here,”
Ben said testily.

Tim and Allison laughed.
Maybe everything was going to be okay.

“
Wait, everyone!” Mrs.
Bentley declared. “We have one more present before we light
candles.”

“
No, you can open it
later,” Tim said, his panic rising again as everyone focused on
him. “Really!”

Ben snatched the present
from his hands, and Tim’s world receded to the shreds of wrapping
paper that were flung into the air, revealing his art. Then he
could only focus on Ben’s face. Tim was proud of the painting. It
wasn’t his usual style, but he felt the blizzard of colors showed
passion, the overlapping hearts in the center evoking the right
emotion without being too hokey.

Ben seemed lost for words,
so his mother spoke for him.

“
Isn’t that gorgeous? Did
you paint it yourself?”

Tim’s instinct was to lie,
but Ben was smiling. Maybe he understood what Tim was trying to
say. He was opening his mouth to take credit when Karen, Ben’s
sister, spoke first.

“
It looks like someone
barfed up paint on a canvas.”

“
We should have cut your
tongue out at birth,” Mr. Bentley scolded.

Tim’s stomach sank. This is
why he didn’t tell anyone about his paintings. All of them, even
the ones that didn’t turn out well, were close to his heart. Having
one out in the open was like having a dagger pressed against his
bare chest. Anyone could nudge him and drive the blade in, which
Ben’s sister had done.

“
It’s just something I
found somewhere,” Tim said lamely. “You don’t have to keep it if
you don’t want.”

Ben’s eyes, more watery
than normal, turned toward him. “I love it!”

Mrs. Bentley looked between
them, seeing it all with a mother’s insight, and heroically called
attention away from them.

“
Okay, everyone! Time for
cake!” That did the trick. The relatives hustled away, eager to get
a slice. Ben went to claim the first piece, setting aside the
painting for now. Tim was tempted to steal it back and smuggle it
home. Instead he retreated to the back of the crowd.

“
Sorry about Karen,”
Allison said, joining him. “She’s one of the most miserable people
on the planet. I don’t see how she and Ben can possibly be related,
but Ben got all the charm.”

“
The looks, too,” Tim said,
glaring in Karen’s direction as she joined the others in
singing
Happy Birthday.

“
Anyway, he likes the
painting,” Allison said. “A lot.”

If anyone would know, she
would, so Tim felt a little better. “Thanks.”

“
No problem. Just a
second,” Allison stepped forward and started singing, just as the
birthday song was winding down. She sang an extra verse on her own,
her voice like honey. Tim could see why they were best friends. He
hoped being able to sing wasn’t a prerequisite of their clique. If
so, Tim was screwed.

Ben continued to be held
prisoner by his family, each relative eager to have a word with
him, so Tim stood back and watched. Part of him was envious that so
much love was showered on Ben, but there was no one in the world
more deserving. Tim could see Ben had a similar effect on everyone
around him. That inner light, the fearless pride inside him—who
wouldn’t want to be near that?

Allison dove into the fray
and returned with two slices of cake. Tim accepted one of the paper
plates gratefully.

“
Ben said you weren’t
coming,” she remarked.

“
To be honest, I wasn’t
sure I was still invited.”

Allison smiled slyly.
“Either way, I think you’re out of the dog house now. Showing up
like that was smooth. I’m going to be hearing about it for
weeks.”

“
Oh? Does he talk about me
a lot?”

Her expression turned coy.
“Occasionally.” Allison toyed with her cake, mashing the frosting
around in a way that made Tim think of paint. “Just try not to
break his heart. You being here today speaks volumes. I’m not going
to give you a tired speech about how if you hurt him, I’ll make you
regret it. I think you’ve already figured out that losing Ben is
much worse than anything I could do to you.”

“
Yeah,” Tim said, his voice
sounding hoarse.

“
Good. Don’t look so down,
because he’s heading this way with his happy face on.”

“
Hi,” Ben said to him, like
they had only just met. “I was thinking we’d hit a haunted house or
two. Maybe Ronnie could come along.”

“
Ronnie?” Tim
asked.

“
My boyfriend,” Allison
explained before addressing Ben. “Sure. I’ll give him a
call.”

She walked away to do just
that, Tim’s nerves acting up again. “Does Ronnie go to our school?”
he asked.

“
Yup.” Ben’s smile faltered
a little. “Is that okay?”

“
Yeah. Totally.”

Tim wanted to be more open
with Ben, but school wasn’t part of that plan. He trusted Allison,
since she was Ben’s best friend, but he didn’t know anything about
this Ronnie guy. Tim needed time alone with Ben to explain where he
was coming from, to tell him how important their secret was, but
not so soon after getting back in Ben’s good graces. Like it or
not, he’d have to risk an evening out.

Tim didn’t have much to
worry about. Ronnie turned out to be pretty cool. He was into
sports, which gave them common ground. Tim spent a lot of the drive
down to Houston talking to him, feeling unsure what to say to Ben
in front of others. The line for the haunted house was long and
full of people their age, but Ronnie was still chatting him up.
Even if Bryce or Darryl happened to see him now, it wouldn’t be
obvious he was hanging out with Ben.

The haunted house itself
wasn’t as cool as the ones back in Kansas, but it had all the basic
requirements. Some rooms had cheap animatronic monsters; others had
costumed actors who did their best to scare them. The
chainsaw-wielding guy at the end could already be heard, but first
they had a pitch-dark maze to navigate. Tim grabbed Ben, pulling
him down a corridor and whispering the words he had been dying to
tell him.

“
I broke up with
her.”

“
With Krista?” Ben’s voice
was so hopeful that Tim chuckled.

“
Yeah. You were right. It’s
you I like and it’s you I want.”

He pressed himself against
Ben, found his lips in the dark, and kissed him. Soundtracks of
creaking boards and howling monsters serenaded them, the smell of
smoke machines in the air. Tim couldn’t think of a stranger place
to get so turned on, but he could have taken Ben right then and
there. Unfortunately, a group of girls bumped into them and
shrieked. Why was the universe always throwing women at
him?

Tim shouted, causing
another round of shrieks that sent them away. Then he took Ben’s
hand and led him out of the maze.

* * * * *

The candles were lit one by
one, the Zippo lighter singeing Tim’s fingers as the last wick
sputtered to life. He turned around. His room looked good in
candlelight, especially with Ben in his bed. This was another
birthday gift. Tim had given Ben a house key and asked him to sneak
in. Having come close to losing him, Tim now needed more than just
the weekend nights they shared in Ben’s room.

Of course that meant one
more calculated risk. Tim waited farther down the hall, watching
Ben creep into his room like a thief. Tim’s parents were out of
town for the weekend, but they wouldn’t have heard a thing. Even if
they did, they so rarely paid attention.

And now Ben was in his bed,
curled up on his side and grinning. “So I hear you’re officially
single,” he said. “Does this mean you’re back on the
prowl?”

“
I never stop prowling.”
Tim flicked the Zippo shut, growling like a tiger.

“
I see. At the ripe old age
of seventeen, don’t you think it’s time you settled down with
someone special?”

“
Meaning?” Tim
inquired.

“
I want to be your
boyfriend.”

“
Jesus, Benjamin! You don’t
let up do you?” It took all of Tim’s effort not to smile. Why not
make it official? But he didn’t plan on making it easy. “It’s not
enough that you make me dump my girlfriend?”

“
If she was good enough for
you to date, then I am twice as qualified.” Ben smirked and then
sang, “Anything a girl can do, I can do better.”

“
Off hand, I can think of a
few things that you can’t!”

“
Well, anyway. What do you
think?” Ben’s expression became vulnerable. “Seriously.”

“
I think I want a test
drive before I buy the car.” Tim pounced on him, and after some
wrestling around, shrieking and laughing, their touches became
intimate. They didn’t get much sleep that night.

The next morning, Tim had
the talk with Ben, hoping he had given enough to get something
back. He had just returned from the bathroom when he noticed Ben
was awake. After a little banter, Tim decided now was as good a
time as any.

“
My parents can’t know
about this. No one at school either.”

Ben didn’t hold back. “So
just like things were before?”

“
Not like before. No
Krista, no other girls, and definitely no other guys. Just me and
you. I want it to stay that way.”

Ben didn’t look convinced,
but Tim hoped some part of him understood. He was protecting what
they had. The doors to Tim’s heart were open now. He would be Ben’s
boyfriend, be loyal, do everything he could to make him happy—but
Tim would never let others get near what they had.

Chapter Nine

“
Trouble at home,
Tim?”

Stacy Shelly sat down at
the lunch table across from him. When Tim had broken up with Krista
on Friday, he hadn’t imagined what the following week would be
like. Parties would be easy, since they could mingle on opposite
sides of the room, but school was tricky. He and Krista shared a
class together and had long ago swapped seat assignments to sit
next to each other. And then there was lunch. Tim didn’t know how
he was supposed to handle that, so he sat alone at a different
table. Until Stacy found him.

“
What’s wrong?” she
continued. “Daddy sleeps around? Mommy drinks too much?”

Tim glared at her. “I broke
up with your best friend, and now I’m on your shit list? Is that
how it’s going to be?”

Stacy pursed her lips.
“Well, I did have to listen to her cry all weekend. You owe me for
that. No, what really bothers me is the transparently fake
reason.”

Tim kept quiet.

“‘
Trouble at home.’” Stacy
laughed. “Has anyone broken up over a bad home life? Ever? Come on!
Krista may be stupid, but give me some credit.”

“
You don’t know what you’re
talking about,” Tim said. “You don’t know a thing about
me.”