Chapter 6
Adonis
Most colleges don’t have varsity figure skating teams. Students who skate thus join club teams that compete in intercollegiate conferences; athletes also have the freedom to compete in national and international, non-scholastic competitions.
One of those competitions is the International Skating Union Challengers Series, the first of which is the Cranberry Cup, an event conveniently held in Boston that year.
Adonis wondered if the convenience of his being so close to Boston wasn’t the reason HPD had picked him to compete for the US in the challenger event.
There were several events held over a long weekend. Adonis competed in Men’s Singles: short program and free skate. The winner in each category (Men’s Singles, Ice Dance, Pairs, etc.) was determined by their scores across all events.
He cursed when he was in the locker room afterwards, even though there was a bronze medal in his pocket. He had placed third overall, and that wasn’t good enough for Anamária. Therefore, it wasn’t good enough for him.
She wanted to talk when they left on the last day of the competition, but he brushed her off. They could talk later, he said.
“Adonis, wait,” she said. It was dark out. She had driven him to the Skating Club. How would he get home? He needed her to drive him, she insisted. He told her he had plans with a friend and he needed to clear his head.
“You need to review your free skate,” Anamária said. Her sunglasses were on her head, holding back her dark hair.
“Not tonight, Mom,” Adonis said, exhausted. “I know it wasn’t good enough. I need a break, okay?”
Anamária looked like she was going to say something else, but Adonis was already summoning an Uber on his phone.
——
Guy Tierney’s apartment in the South End wasn’t big, but it was comfortable.
Guy had a good eye for interior design and knew how to stretch his salary as a consultant.
He had decorated the walls with queer art; the bookshelves and tables held vintage coffee-table books and novels, and green plants spilled over the windowsills.
The apartment had become a second home for Adonis during his college years. When he needed an escape from college life, he drove into the city to crash on Guy’s couch. Or, more often, in his bed.
They were friends and occasional lovers, but had no loyalty to each other. Adonis rotated through a wide roster of sexual partners, often juggling more than one at once, and Guy was similar.
Friends and lovers, but never romantic. Neither of them wanted that with the other. What they had was convenient and fun, and meaningful in its own way.
When Guy finished fucking Adonis that night, Adonis collapsed on Guy’s linen duvet and drank from Guy’s water bottle.
“I needed that,” Adonis said. He wiped at the sweat on his face.
Guy propped himself up next to Adonis. They were both still naked. “What’s going on?” Guy asked.
“What do you mean?” Adonis passed him the water bottle.
“You text me out of the blue that you’re coming over,” Guy said. “I know you had some competition this weekend. So, what happened? Did you blow it?”
“No. I placed third.”
Guy laughed. “That’s not bad at all.”
“No, but it’s not first.”
“You sound like Anamária,” Guy said.
“Rude.”
Guy trailed a light finger along the skin of Adonis’s thigh. “You’re being a perfectionist. Take the win. Let yourself be happy.”
“I’ll try. But it’s hard. Don’t make a joke about being hard.”
“I won’t,” Guy said. He shifted so that he was lying on his back, one arm folded back so that his hand was beneath his head. He held out his other arm, and Adonis cuddled into his side, draping one leg over Guy’s.
“I’m glad you texted,” Guy said, gently playing with Adonis’s hair.
“Yeah?”
“I was hoping we could talk, actually.”
“That sounds bad.”
“It’s not bad. Remember Jason?”
“Which one.”
Guy snorted. “Jason Tripper. I think you met him at the Halloween party last year.”
Adonis thought for a second. “Right. He said he was dressed as a dinosaur, but it was really just a thong and faux crocodile sneakers.”
“Yes, him.” Guy cleared his throat. “I think we’re dating.”
“You think?” Adonis said.
“Well, we haven’t labeled it yet. It started with hooking up, which we did for a while. But, recently, we’ve started hanging out and, like, going out for dinner, and he’s spending the night more and more, or I’m spending the night there.”
“I thought I saw two toothbrushes in the bathroom.”
“You did. That’s his.”
Adonis rubbed Guy’s side. “That’s really sweet. Are you happy?”
“You know, I think I am. I don’t think I’m ready to settle down and put up a picket fence or anything, but he makes me happy.”
“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” Adonis asked. He had a feeling there was more.
There was.
“He didn’t ask this of me,” Guy prefaced, “But I think I want to be monogamous with him.”
Adonis nodded slowly, processing this information. “Okay.” His longstanding friends-with-benefits situation with Guy had lasted through
two of Guy’s previous relationships, neither of which had been monogamous. He’d never taken Guy to be the sort of person who wanted a closed relationship. But Adonis wasn’t going to judge the choice.
“If that’s what you want,” he said, “then that’s good. I’m assuming that means no more sex for us.”
“No more sex for us,” Guy confirmed. “Jason knows about us, and he didn’t have a problem with it. Like I said, he didn’t ask me to be monogamous. It’s just something I realized I wanted.”
Adonis sat up enough so that he could meet Guy’s gaze. There was a happy, sleepy smile on Guy’s face.
“I’m glad,” he said. “You deserve someone who makes you happy.”
Guy reached up and brushed a hand along Adonis’s chin. “You do, too. You know that, right?”
“I don’t have time to date,” Adonis said with a little laugh.
“You never know what’ll come your way. Hell, I didn’t think the dinosaur twink who threw up in Catrina’s Louboutins would become my boyfriend someday.”
“When you put it that way…”
Guy smiled. “I’d love it if you joined him and me for dinner sometime.”
“I’d like that, too.”
“You can stay on the couch tonight, if you’d like,” Guy said.
Though Adonis knew better than to be sad, there was a small part of him that hurt at the offer of the couch.
Not so long ago, he would’ve spent the night in Guy’s bed, no questions asked.
Even though he was not in love with Guy, never had been, and never would be, it had been comforting knowing that Guy was there.
A dependable physical presence. A friend who could meet a variety of his needs.
And now that friendship was changing. Not gone, but changing.
“That’s okay,” Adonis said. He sat up fully. “I should probably head back to campus.”
“Let me pay for your Uber, at least.”
“I won’t say no to that.”
Guy sat up beside him. “Hey,” he said, gently catching Adonis’s wrist. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I promise.”
Guy leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Adonis’s cheek, just beside his lips. Even though only moments ago, they had fucked aggressively on that very bed, and the fact that they were still completely naked, the kiss was chaste. Sexuality can contain multitudes, Adonis thought.
“I love you, you know that, right?” Guy said.
Adonis squeezed Guy’s hand. “I love you, too.”
After he showered, he got into the Uber that Guy had paid for and headed back to campus. The entire ride, all he could think about was what Guy had said: you’ll never know what’ll come your way.
And then, completely out of the blue, another memory. Bash’s words in the locker room when they ran into each other the other day: I hope I see you again.
When the car dropped him off outside his campus apartment, a curious feeling Adonis hadn’t felt before was growing inside him. It still hadn’t left when he fell asleep.