Hobbled by John Inman

he didn’t hear it. Or at least Danny thought Luke was acting like he didn’t hear it. What the hell was going on here?
    “Good pizza,” Luke said, and Danny lost his train of thought. Luke’s two knees relaxed around his own, but Danny could still feel the pressure of them. Could still feel the hair on Luke’s legs scraping against the hair on his own. Lord, that felt good.
    Two minutes later, they had resumed stuffing themselves, and one would think there had never been any testosterone in the room at all. Danny was almost relieved. Well, no, he wasn’t.
    Suddenly, the house began to shake, and what sounded like a herd of buffalo came stampeding down the staircase, across the foyer, and through the living room. Something crashed to the floor just outside the kitchen door, and Danny was pretty sure it was the crappy ceramic statue his dad loved so much of the fat little Buddha holding his hands above his head. Damn. His dad would have a fit.
    On the heels of the crashing Buddha, Frederick came flying through the kitchen door like he had been shot from a cannon. His hair was all puffed up, making him the size of three Fredericks instead of one. Granger flew through the door right behind him, snapping, snarling, and obviously having the time of his life. His front end looked positively homicidal, but his tail end was wagging happily, making him look schizophrenic as hell. Or at least of two minds concerning his current enterprise of tormenting the cat.
    The cat wasn’t of two minds at all. He hated every minute of it. And where the hell did this goddamn dog come from anyway?
    Neither Danny nor Luke moved as the two creatures thundered past. They simply sat there, chewing, as the battle went screaming by.
    No doubt about it, Granger, schizo or not, seemed to be winning. Frederick was in full retreat.
    Forty toenails clattered across the kitchen floor as the animals hurled themselves across the room and flung themselves through the back door, hissing, spitting, growling, and snapping. As soon as they were gone, Luke and Danny calmly resumed eating as if nothing had happened.
    “So do you have a car?” Luke asked, when the racket of Granger and Frederick’s epic battle had faded in the distance.
    Danny nodded. Again he blushed. “Yeah. A Gremlin. Don’t ask.”
    Luke laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed. I’ve got a Pinto. Neither one of us is exactly driving Motor Trend’s Car of the Year. My dad bought me mine. You?”
    “Yeah. But it’s off limits right now.”
    “Because of the thing?” Luke asked, indicating the ankle monitor blinking green at their feet.
    “Yeah,” Danny said. “Because of the thing.”
    Luke gave a commiserating nod. “My car’s back in Tucson. Dad’s going to tow it out with him when he comes. Right now all I have to drive is that gigantic fucking truck in the driveway. Imagine going out for hamburgers in that thing. Probably won’t even fit in a drive-thru lane.”
    “So what are you going to do for two weeks then? Just hang around the house? Arrange the furniture? Do inappropriate shit in your room?”
    And they both laughed. But while they were laughing, Luke gave Danny another long, searing look. There was a happy sparkle in his eyes. The two little commas at the corners of his mouth were bigger now, more like parentheses. Deep ones. He was grinning. “Probably,” he said. “since there’s nothing I like better than doing inappropriate shit in my room.”
    “Me, too,” Danny said, before he could stop himself. There was no doubt in his mind they were both talking about the same thing. Spanking the monkey.
    And Danny’s dick gave another lurch.
    They stared at each other for a second, both seeming to know exactly what the other was thinking. But reality intervened.
    Looking reluctant, but determined, Luke pushed his plate away. “I’m stuffed. Listen, my dad’s supposed to be calling me pretty soon, so if you don’t mind I think I’ll scoot off home. I wonder if I