Merry Cherry Christmas

“You sure you don’t need a doctor?” Max frowned as he twisted the cap off his bottle. His extended leg was so long—and the space between the beds so narrow—that Jeremy could have leaned forward and touched that exposed toe without hardly moving at all.

“My lower back’s sore, but I’ll ice it. My butt took most of the fall.”

“Be careful with your tailbone, though. If your ass is sore tomorrow, get it checked out.”

“Yep. Right.” Just talking about sore asses, as you do. No big deal. “Um, I’m sure it’s fine.” Jeremy gulped from his bottle and stared at Max’s toe peeking out through the red sock. Otherwise, he’d stare at Max and probably look like a total creeper.

There was an electronic ping, and Max took his phone from his pocket and groaned. “I’m definitely not going to that party. My ex is asking where I am. Like I owe him anything after he dumped me.”

Jeremy almost choked. He? Max’s ex was a he?

Max scoffed, muttering more to himself than Jeremy. “We only went out for, like, a month in September. It wasn’t serious at all. I’m too young for serious. And I was already thinking about ending it when he did, so.” He shrugged. He paused and read another message. “Now he’s acting like we had plans. What the actual fuck? No. Hell no.”

“Right. So you’re…”

Max tapped his phone. “Gay. Uh-huh.”

“Oh.” Jeremy’s head spun at the casual way Max said that. Fearless, like it was nothing.

Now Max frowned at him, still holding his phone. “What?”

“Nothing! I’m not—it’s totally okay with me. I just didn’t expect someone like you to be…” Like me.

Max arched a thick brow. “Someone like me?”

Oh God, Jeremy was screwing this up epically. This is why I don’t talk to people! He waved his hand. “You look like you’re the stereotypical captain of the football team. Or maybe soccer? Baseball? Hockey? Lacrosse? But I’m guessing football because you’re so big.” His face went hot.

Thankfully, Max laughed. “Yep, football team. The season’s over, and it’s not like we’re in the States. Not a ton of people at U of T care about football. We were two and six, so can’t blame them.”

“Right. It’s not a big deal like being captain of the hockey team.” He quickly added, “Not that it isn’t impressive! I’m not captain of anything.” Please shut up now.

Max chuckled. “It’s cool.”

Sweat prickled the back of Jeremy’s neck, and instead of shutting up, he said, “And that’s good that you’re, um, gay.” He got up and went to his desk in his corner of the room, suddenly unable to sit still although he was aching. He put down his beer and gulped from the tepid glass of water on his desk from earlier. “I mean, not good. Not that it’s bad!”

“Dude, relax. I’m not going to jump you.”

“I know!” Ugh, he didn’t want Max to think he was a homophobe. “Was one of those guys your boyfriend now?”

“Huh?” Max lifted his hips and slid his phone into his pocket. “Why would you say that?”

Jeremy tore his gaze from Max’s crotch. “You called one sweetheart or something.”

“What? We need to revisit the concussion discussion, because—oh! You mean Honey. He’s my roommate—we’ve got a basement apartment in the Annex. His real name’s Cedric, but way back during frosh week, he won a wing-eating contest. Downed fifty wings in a few minutes.”

Jeremy winced. “I feel sick just thinking about that.”

“He felt sick doing it.” Max grinned. “Hurled before he even got his dollar-store trophy. The sauce was honey garlic, and that morphed into the nickname. It’s normal to us, so I forget what it sounds like to other people.”

“Is he a football player too?”

“Yep, he was our quarterback. We’re all pretty tight.”

“And they don’t mind that you’re…” Jeremy’s heart kicked up. It was surreal to talk about it. It was surreal that he was talking to anyone! That this guy was in his room. That this gorgeous guy was like him. Aside from being a billion times more confident and good-looking. He was surely smart too if he was applying to law school. Like everyone else at school, Max seemed to have his shit together.

“That I’m queer? No, man. It’s not an issue. I’m sure there are still some ignorant assholes around, but you usually don’t have to worry about them here on campus or downtown. I’ve never had a problem.” He paused and gave Jeremy a knowing look. “If you’re nervous or curious or anything…”

Now Jeremy’s heart was pounding so hard he could hear it. “I’m not. I mean, I know I’m gay. I’m definitely gay. I’ve known for as long as I can remember. That’s not the hard part.” He forced himself to keep looking at Max. He’d actually said it out loud for the first time in months. The words floated in the air. In the world.