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He could only manage to say, “It’s beautiful.”

Jeremy reached over and took Craig’s hand. “We’ll have to come back here in the summer.” Craig took in a sharp breath, but managed to remain quiet, keeping his hand in Jeremy’s. The touch sent electricity up his arm from the point of contact. His thoughts innocent, yet intensely intimate; sitting together, holding hands, enjoying a warm summer evening, talking about glimmering green flashes of light.

Rational thought told him they were two friends spending time together. Hell, he’d fallen asleep in the same bed with Janet tons of times in college after a party or when they travelled during breaks, and never once questioned if it meant anything more than needing sleep. Why should this be any different? Jeremy was a friend sharing something he enjoyed. A touch which sent tingling waves through his body didn’t mean Jeremy had intended anything more than a friendly gesture by taking his hand.

The reasoning made him laugh out loud, causing Jeremy to turn his head. Quickly recovering, Craig squeezed Jeremy’s hand, blurting out the first excuse that came to his mind for his outburst. “I’m picturing myself being attacked by a swarm of twinkling green-assed bugs.” Lame. The truth was he was completely smitten. He knew what he wanted. He wanted to remain sitting in a park, discussing the most romantic image he had ever heard described, with a man who understood him better than any other in the world. If he could freeze time, he would.

Jeremy chuckled, squeezing his hand back. “You’re a goof.” After a few minutes, he removed his hand from Craig’s. The cold shock of air hitting the spot where they had 85

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been touching sent shivers through him. “Maybe we should head back. Robert will be getting home soon.”

“You’re probably right.” Jeremy stood up. Let’s head back towards your place. I can catch a bus uptown and you can continue to the West Village. Craig followed Jeremy and they walked in silence once again for a few minutes. When they finally reached Third Avenue, Jeremy leaned against the bus stop sign and glanced at Craig. “I enjoyed tonight. I’m glad we got together.”

“Me too. We didn’t talk about your condo though.” Craig shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He didn’t want this evening to end, but too many mixed signals between the two of them had confused him and he needed time to sort through his thoughts. To fixate on the possibility of anything happening between the two of them wouldn’t do him any good. Jeremy had a boyfriend and he shouldn’t want to come between two happy people.

“I wondered if you ever allow classes to come to your business for a field trip.” The question cut through Craig’s thoughts, bringing his attention back to Jeremy.

Craig stared at him. “You mean like a field trip for your kids?”

Jeremy nodded. “Yes. You know. That thing when you take kids someplace so they can learn something?” Jeremy’s tone made fun of him and Craig laughed, needing a break from the tension building up inside him. He then stopped joking, his earnest desire to give his students a rich experience clearly evident. “I’m trying to incorporate a visual and artistic aspect to the work I’m doing with my kids. Writing stories is important in second grade and, although a lot of kids are making good progress, some kids need to the use of pictures to help them think through what they want to write.

Since your work is a way to tell a story without using words, I think my students who struggle with words and language would become highly motivated.”

Craig loved his job, but had never considered the work as educational. The fact Jeremy believed he had something to teach filled him with pride. Whether the pride came from being able to share his work or Jeremy’s attention didn’t matter, he wouldn’t deny Jeremy any request. “Of course you can bring your class for a field trip. We have tons of extra laptops sitting around. The kids could even do some of their own designs if they wanted to.”

Jeremy’s eyes lit up. Their amber hue caught the orange glow of the setting sun, causing them to appear rich and vibrant. “Really? I mean, you don’t need to check with your boss or anything?”

Craig laughed. “No. I told you, I started the business with four other friends from college. Although Janet is our office manager, she isn’t our boss. She takes on a smaller project load and focuses more on the finances, drums up new business, and deals with the companies we contract with for the work we can’t do in the office. I’ll tell her as courtesy a few days in advance. You tell me when and it’s a go.”

Jeremy beamed, filling Craig with pride. “Fantastic. Thank you so much.” He leaned in and hugged Craig tightly, planting a kiss on his cheek. Craig’s entire body 86

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reacted as if on instinct. His heart rate increased, heat flooded to his neck and cheeks, his palms broke out in a sweat, and his penis lengthened inside his pants, Everything about Jeremy stimulated physical reactions from him. “This is exciting. I’m so glad we’re hanging out again.”

Craig hugged Jeremy back, trying to keep a safe distance away so his erection wouldn’t brush against him. Thinking about the two of them seemed bad enough, but Craig could keep his thoughts to himself. Allowing his hard-on to press against Jeremy would be more difficult to explain without embarrassment and awkwardness.

Craig’s head spun with confusion as they headed to the bus stop. All evening Jeremy seemed to flirt with him which didn’t make sense. Had that just been normal playfulness or was there more to it?. Craig figured he must be reading into things and kicked himself. You’re glad he’s back in your life. Don’t harp on the feelings you used to have.

Give it some time and your obsession will pass. The words made sense, but Craig didn’t believe them.

He waited with Jeremy until the bus showed up. He asked questions about his students and his coworkers to keep him talking and concentrate on controlling his rising libido.

When Jeremy got on the bus, Craig waved. When the bus was a safe distance away, he dug into his pants and readjusted his member which had become tangled in his underwear. If he wasn’t careful, spending time with Jeremy could become a problem.

* * * * *

As Jeremy viewed the storefronts passing by the bus window, the images began to blur. He closed his eyes, and then opened them again, shaking his head. Every time he closed his eyes, an image of Craig smiling at him entered his mind. He had sent tons of signals—tousling with Craig in the kitchen, holding his hand in the park, kissing him goodbye. He had sent them intentionally, hoping to get a read on Craig, to see if he would react at all. If he had, Jeremy couldn’t tell.

Guilt filled him. Even though he had done nothing wrong, his feelings for Craig ran deeper than they should. Seeing Craig reminded him of who he used to be, someone Andrew wouldn’t understand, and someone he wanted to be again. He had to be careful. If he wasn’t, he might do something he would really regret.

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Chapter Ten

A week later, Craig ran about Spectacular Designs, preparing for Jeremy’s class.

Everything had to be perfect. Ever since the day at the park, he’d made special efforts to calm himself down and settle into a safe friendship with Jeremy, but he couldn’t help wanting to make this presentation extra special. It was the one way he could show Jeremy how much he cared for him and not be so obvious.

Janet came into Craig’s office, interrupting his thoughts. “Are you ready for the kids?” Janet fidgeted with her bracelet, a sign of her nervousness.

“I think so.” Craig walked into the technology room where they kept the workstations and printers. “I need to wheel out the laptops so the kids can experiment with the design programs when I finish showing them what we do.”

She turned her bracelet again with a flash of pink-painted nails. “I still don’t understand why you agreed to let a bunch of seven-year-old kids come here. I’m concerned about our equipment. What if one of the kids has an accident?”

Craig burst out laughing, but regained control of himself when Janet’s expression became sour. “Uh, Janet, I think kids are potty trained at like two or three.”

“Well, how the hell would I know? I don’t have any kids.” She glanced around at the technology surrounding her.

“The way you’re acting right now, I’d think this hardware is your child and you are worrying the big mean second graders are going to bully your wittle baby.” Craig smirked at his own cleverness. The smile was wiped off his face by a slap to the back of his head. “Ouch. What the fuck?”

Janet smiled sweetly. “Language, dear. I wouldn’t want my wittle baby to learn such bad words at such a tender age. Make sure the kids don’t break anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.” He barely finished his sentence when Jeremy showed up with his class and the room filled with the excited murmurings of twenty second grade children. With a leap of his heart, Craig turned to Jeremy whose dark head of hair was wind-blown, giving him a disheveled appearance.

As the two men locked eyes, Jeremy smiled, but there was a hint of nervousness behind his gaze as well. Jeremy had always been the one in control, the one who had a handle on any situation. To see a flaw, a minor chink in his air of confidence, made him human and even more lovable…if that was possible. “You’re here,” he said to Jeremy.

”Awesome!”

Jeremy gathered his students around him. “Boys and girls, I want you to meet Craig. He is one of my friends and works here at Spectacular Designs. Today we are going to learn how he makes the pictures for the people who hire him and how he prints those pictures.”

The kids oohed and aahed and Craig couldn’t help but chuckle.

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Janet, who had moments earlier held a scowl on her face, melted at the sight of the kids. “I’ll run out and get some cookies,” she said. Craig looked at her as if she had lost her mind. She threw up her hands. “What? You didn’t tell me they were going to be so cute.”

Jeremy gathered the kids around Craig and addressed the class. “Okay, before we start, I want to ask if anyone here knows what I do for work.”

Several kids raised their hands. Jeremy helped by calling on students for him.

“Sean, do you have an answer for Craig?”

He faced Craig and puffed out his chest. “You make pictures for people.”

“Right. Very good Sean.” Craig said. “And, kids, why do I make these pictures for people?”

“Bernice, you raised your hand and remained quiet,” Jeremy said,” Bernice’s eyes widened and a smile crossed her face. “You make the pictures because people pay you to make them.” She quickly dropped her glance to her feet, flushing madly.

Another kid raised his hand. Craig pointed towards him. “What’s your name?”

“Nick?” His voice sounded more like a question than an answer.

“Hi Nick. What did you want to say?”

Nick sat taller, smiling widely at Craig, his chubby cheeks lifting and his blue eyes twinkling with excitement. Craig had a sudden urge to walk over to the kid and ruffle his dark hair, but managed to suppress himself. “You make pictures so people can put them outside and get other people to buy their things.”

Craig nodded his head approvingly. “Good.” He glanced at Jeremy, sure he had prepared the children before they arrived. Jeremy smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“Now, the name of my job is a bit complicated. I’m what you call a graphic designer.

That’s a big fancy name for someone who draws pictures using a computer.”

The kids began to giggle. Another girl raised her hand and Craig motioned for her to speak. “How can you draw pictures with a computer?” she asked. “You need to use crayons or magic markers.”

Craig laughed. I don’t remember being this innocent. “Well, you’re right. I don’t actually pick up a computer and draw with it, but special programs are in the computer, which help me draw pictures.”

Jeremy piped in. “We use computer programs at school. Like when you read those books on the classroom computer, you’re using a program with stories in it.” The kids nodded their heads and a new round of oohes and aahes filled the room.

Craig spent the next few minutes walking the kids around Spectacular Designs, showing them the computers and the printing machines. Finally, he sat them down in the audio-visual room where he had attached a computer to the LCD projector.

“The first thing I do is ask my client, the person who is paying me to draw for them, what they want the picture to be. So, what should I draw?” Several students raised their hands and began to describe Jeremy—dark hair, tall and smiling. Then one girl called 89

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him pretty before burying her face in her hands giggling. Craig decided the little girl was one of Jeremy’s brighter students.

A warm twinge of affection for Jeremy filled him. He enjoyed the fact the kids wanted him to draw a picture of their teacher. He followed the students’ instructions and when he finished, had drawn a picture of Jeremy sitting in front of the class reading a picture book. The kids started talking all at once to one another.

Craig surveyed his work and realized he had embellished certain features. He’d made Jeremy’s shoulders broader, his bottom lip a bit poutier, more kissable, and his legs and arms longer and more graceful. He glanced at Jeremy who also stared at his drawing, a hint of pink on his face. He turned to face Craig and they locked eyes, before Jeremy lowered his head to face the floor.