Prep School Obsession should be ready for print in a few weeks! Until then, sink into this excerpt from Chapter Six, featuring everyone's favorite pairing, Jack and Larsen...
Chapter Six
Jack knocked softly on the door. Larsen answered. He was dressed nicely, not in a suit and tie, but in clean jeans and a button down shirt. Jack thought he could smell a whiff of sweet cologne.
“I got your message,” Jack began.
“Come inside.”
“Is it true about Edgar? Did he…”
“I don’t want to talk about Edgar. If you want to know about what he did, you can ask him yourself. I want to talk about you and me.”
“Any reason we can’t talk out here? I don’t want to spend any more time in your presence than absolutely necessary.”
“Those are some tough words, Jack.”
“I mean it.”
“Yeah, right.” Larsen chuckled affectionately. “Get in here.”
Larsen grabbed Jack’s shirt and pulled him into the apartment.
“Seriously, Larsen, can’t you just tell me why you asked me to come all the way out here?” Jack asked as Larsen led him down the stairs into the basement. “What are you trying to…”
Jack shut up as they reached the bottom of the stairs and he saw Larsen’s workout room transformed, lit with candles. Slow jazz came from an old record player. A table with two chairs waited invitingly with a bottle of wine. Jack stood in awe for a moment before he regained his composure.
“You having company later?” Jack asked.
“I’m having company now.” Larsen pulled out one of the chairs and offered him a seat.
“Wait. Wait. Hold on. You invited me here to hang out with you and drink wine?”
“I bought a movie at the thrift store for us to watch. Your favorite. Brigadoon.” Larsen went over to the TV stand and held up a worn DVD case emblazoned with the familiar image of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse dancing together.
“Don’t Brigadoon me!” The idea of Larsen actually sitting down and watching an old musical about a magical Scottish highland village seemed laughable. On the other hand, it was a very sweet gesture.
“I was just hoping that we could sit down and have a nice evening together.”
“Like a date?”
“A date?”
“Yeah, you know. You and me together. A little wine, a little music. Brigadoon. That sounds suspicious and totally unlike you.”
“You want this to be a date?”
“Of course I do, you jerk,” Jack sighed in exasperation. “But, never in my wildest crazed imagination did I think I’d ever be having date with you. It’s a bit surreal.”
“Can’t you just enjoy it?”
“Maybe I can’t.” A flash of memory came to Jack of prom night, of his own declaration and Larsen’s rejection. He could not face that pain a second time. “Knowing that at some point you’re going to cut and run.”
“Run where? This is my house.”
“You know what I mean!”
“Jack, you’re the one who ran away last night. But before that, you said some things. You said that you…”
“I know what I said,” Jack did not want to hear his own words from Larsen’s lips, not now. “Tell me something. Do you want this to be a date?”
“I don’t know what I want.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t think you’ll ever know. First you want Gabrielle, then me, then the next thing I know you’re with Toby!”
“I was never with Toby,” Larsen quickly clarified, too quickly for Jack’s comfort. “Nothing happened.”
“Oh really? That’s not what I heard.”
“Did you ever think to ask me?”
“Why?” The image in Jack’s mind of Larsen and Toby together, kissing, maybe doing more than kissing, was unbearable. He could admit that to himself now. “I’d rather not know the details.”
“Don’t give me that. It’s always this way with you, like I’m the bad guy here, like you weren’t hooking up with Edgar every chance you could get your hands on him!”
“I wanted you and you weren’t there!”
“I’m here now, Jack!”
“So what now? You think we can just go and have a date like some normal everyday couple? You think we can hold hands at school and you can act like I’m your goddamn girlfriend? Things aren’t like that!”
“Because we’re guys?”
“Because you’re you! You’ve been pretending to be somebody else for so long that you’re not even a real person anymore. So don’t go blaming your failures on wanting to be with a guy. You couldn’t make things work with anyone. That’s who you are!”
“Shut up, Jack.”
“Don’t you tell me to…”
Larsen cut Jack off with an unexpected and passionate kiss. Jack struggled to squirm away, but could not escape Larsen’s strong arms. Larsen pinned him against the wall and the kiss grew more intense, their bodies grinding against each other. Jack stopped struggling and gave in to his desire for Larsen. He returned Larsen’s kiss with all the fervor he had once denied. He could never deny again the power of his love for Larsen. This love was his whole life and had been for a long time. They broke apart from the ecstatic contact, both gasping for air.
“You’re so in love.” Larsen grinned. “It’s really cute.”
“I can’t help it.” Jack knew he was blushing. “You’re not very fair.”
“You still love me.”
“You love me?”
“What do you think?”
“Can we just rewind and pretend the whole fight thing didn’t happen?”
“If you play your cards right.”
“Well, it’d be a shame to waste the wine…and I don’t think you’ve seen Brigadoon.”
“I can’t believe this,” Larsen marveled. “You and me on a date. This is too weird.”
“It’s a good weird?” Jack asked hopefully.
As if in answer, Larsen leaned in to kiss Jack again, but his phone buzzed with a new text message.
“Oh my God,” Larsen murmured as he read the message.
Jack knew it must be something truly terrible. Larsen did not believe in God.
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