CHAPTER 21
Ricky fidgeted on the front porch while waiting for Diego to arrive, certain that something was wrong.
Which made him feel crazy, because from the outside, everything seemed to have gotten better.
Diego had made up with his mother. He was living at home again and no longer getting wasted.
In fact, Diego was working out more than usual, as if concerned about his health.
Ricky had delighted in watching him bench-press during his most recent visit.
And once Diego had returned the weights to the rack…
Well, that was the problem. Ricky had tried to seduce him.
Diego ended up pushing him away. “Not right now. I’m worn out.”
“I’ll do all the work,” Ricky had promised.
“I’m all sweaty.”
“So let’s take a shower together.”
“Later.”
Later never came. Neither did they. Not together.
Diego had once told Ricky that his love language was physical.
That’s what had him so worried, because two weeks had gone by.
Diego shot him down whenever Ricky tried to initiate anything.
The distance was more than sexual. He could swear his boyfriend was hiding something from him.
And everyone else. Ricky had asked around. Cameron wasn’t aware of any secrets. “He seems like his old self to me.” Omar was equally as clueless. “Hey, I’m still buzzing that we’re friends again. Now we just gotta get him and Anthony talking.”
Ricky seemed to be alone in his concern. Although today offered a glimmer of hope. Diego had asked to stop by. He’d made the move this time. That was a positive sign. Unless he had been waiting until the weekend to drop some bad news. What if he wanted to break up?
The familiar growl of an engine brought Ricky’s attention to the street. He remained where he was, observing Diego from a distance. Besides, he was certain if he ran over for a kiss, he’d get rejected again.
Diego didn’t seem to be bracing himself for a difficult conversation. If anything, he appeared eager to reach him, his pace quick.
“Hey!” he said, ruffling Ricky’s hair.
He ducked out from under the hand and wrapped himself around Diego’s torso, relieved when those big strong arms constricted around him in response.
“I need your help with something,” he heard Diego rumble.
“Anything,” Ricky promised, pulling away to show the sincerity in his eyes.
“Cool. I wanna use your computer.”
“Oh!” That was unexpected. “Sure. Let’s go!”
Ricky led him inside and up to his room. The desk was cluttered with an open desktop tower and a number of loose components, including a hard drive and a sound card.
“Is it broken or something?” Diego asked when observing the mess.
“No. This is the computer Cameron and I have been working on together, but I screwed up and got the wrong kind of motherboard. It should have been ATX instead of AT. Such an embarrassing mistake!”
“I don’t know how you can show your face in public,” Diego teased.
“Me neither. I’ll never live it down. I just hope the store will let me do an exchange.”
“I’ll buy you a new one if you can help me.”
Ricky reached beneath the desk to switch on his computer. “What do you need?”
Diego sat on the edge of the bed. “I wanna find my dad. Like, the biological one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Another surprise. Diego hadn’t said much on the matter recently, Ricky getting little more than grunts in response whenever he asked about the situation.
Diego was studying him. “Think you can help me?”
“I’ll try. Um… What do you know about him so far?”
“Just his name. Oscar Gomez.”
“Where does he live?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be here.”
That stung.
Diego must have noticed, because he added, “As in, we’d be doing something else right now.”
“Okay. Hmm…” Ricky sat in the office chair, ran his modem dialing software, and began scanning the list of bulletin boards he could connect to.
Some offered freeware downloads, others were for discussing or learning about a particular subject—an inordinate amount Star Trek themed—but none acted as a phone book.
That would be neat, especially since it wouldn’t be limited to local numbers, like the Yellow Pages.
Diego shifted on the bed behind him. “Can’t you just type ‘Where does Oscar Gomez live?’ I thought computers could do anything.”
“Only in the movies,” Ricky murmured before gnawing his bottom lip.
He didn’t want to let Diego down, but he wasn’t coming up with any ideas.
He swiveled around in the chair. “Can you tell me anything else about him? Like what university he went to. If we knew that, I could log into their system and check their records.”
Diego leveled a steely gaze at him. “My mom thinks he was a drug runner.”
“Oh.”
“Can you check police records?”
“No,” Ricky said. “Hey! I could log on to my dad’s CompuServe account and search their members. Do you think he’d be on there?”
Diego shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong guy.”
Ricky tried that, and a couple of other things that didn’t yield results. “I’m not sure where else to look,” he admitted. “Cameron has a Prodigy account. Do you think your dad is into computers at all?”
“I sincerely doubt it,” Diego replied before sighing heavily. “Thanks anyway.”
“There’s gotta be a way!” Ricky said, not willing to give up. “Um…”
“I’ve searched my dad’s—I mean, my uncle’s—office.” Diego grimaced. “God, that sounds even dumber. The office at the auto shop, I mean. I’ve gone through the old ledger, every goddamn drawer, even the dopey Rolodex thing he kept phone numbers in. Nothing.”
“Huh. Someone must know where to find him. What about your grandma? Is she the mom of your mom, or the mom of your biological father?”
Diego didn’t answer right away. His cinnamon eyes unfocused and stared at nothing until he blinked and they reoriented on him.
“Of course! I’m an idiot. My mom mentioned how Lorenzo went down to El Paso once and saw him there.
Although he could’ve just been visiting my grandma.
Maybe it was her birthday or something. Either way, I bet she’ll know where to find him. ”
Ricky grabbed the phone on his desk. “Let’s call her!”
Diego’s expression became guarded. “Nah. It’s better if I just go there. I don’t want him to know that I’m looking.”
Ricky made a face. “Why not?”
“Not everyone is happy to find out they have an illegitimate kid. He sure as hell won’t be. Trust me.”
“You don’t know that,” Ricky said.
“Come with me and find out,” Diego suggested. “Spring break is almost here. The timing is perfect.”
“You want me to go with you?”
Diego thought about it before responding. “I don’t want to get you in trouble but… Yeah. I want you there.”
His heart swelled. “I bet my parents will let me. Hold on. I’ll go find out!” Ricky sprang from the chair, but he didn’t get far.
Diego grabbed his wrist. “Hold up. It isn’t that simple.”
Ricky stared at him a second. “Yeah it is. I want to be there for you.”
A mystery lingered behind Diego’s gaze, but the hand gripping his wrist slackened. “All right.”
Ricky went downstairs and found his parents reorganizing the garage. “Hey!” he said to get their attention. “Diego is going to visit his grandma in Texas over spring break. Can I go with him?”
His father set down the cardboard box he was holding. “Well, I suppose that would be…” He looked to his wife for support.
Ami’s forehead creased. “You’re too young to take a trip on your own.”
“What? I’m sixteen!”
“Not yet, you aren’t.”
“Pretty much. I’m only two weeks away.”
His mother wasn’t moved. “We’d like you to be here, so we can celebrate that day together.”
“I’ll make sure we’re back before then.” He turned to his father. “Please?”
Ken caved. “He did fine when we sent him to stay with my parents last year.”
“That was a flight,” Ami retorted. “And once he got there, he had adult supervision.”
“What if we fly instead?” Ricky tried. “We’ll be staying with his grandma. It’s not so different really.”
Ami shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that would be appropriate.” She turned to her husband. “Imagine if we had a fifteen-year-old daughter who was asking to take a trip with her boyfriend.”
Ken blanched. “When you put it like that…”
“Oh come on!” Ricky whined. “That’s not fair!”
“Neither are double standards,” his mother retorted.
They didn’t understand. Diego had asked Ricky to go with him to El Paso once before.
He had chickened out at the last second, which nearly destroyed their relationship.
Ricky wasn’t about to let that happen again.
He felt like throwing a temper tantrum, but he wasn’t a little kid anymore. Ricky was older… and wiser.
“Fine,” he said with an eyeroll.
“Sorry, hon,” Ami cooed. “We aren’t doing this to punish you. Someday, when you have children of your own, you’ll understand.”
“I can’t wait to be in charge,” he grumbled.
Just to show there weren’t any hard feelings, he stuck around a little longer, feigning interest in a box that hadn’t been unpacked since they moved from Colorado.
“Nothing I want,” he said after inspecting the contents. “I better go tell Diego the bad news.”
He left his parents on good terms. Or so they thought. Once back in his room, he discovered Diego stretched out on the bed, a hand over his forehead, like he was troubled by something.
“My parents said I can’t go,” he reported.
“That’s all right,” Diego replied, sitting up. “Probably for the best.”
“No it isn’t. I’m going with you.”
A smile spread across his handsome face. “Tired of playing by the rules, huh?”
“Yeah.” Ricky jutted out his chin. “They don’t own me. Nobody does. Not even you.”
“You got that right.” Diego leaned forward and grabbed his hands to pull him into bed.
Ricky felt relief when their lips touched. Diego had initiated the kiss. This was his love language. They were on the right track again. Ricky would do whatever it took to keep them that way. No matter how much trouble he got into.
— — —