21. Small Discoveries

Anthony sped down the road, humming to the radio and treating the wheel like a drum kit. Brandon marveled at his business-as-usual demeanor. A pair a sweatpants and fresh socks from his camera bag and he was good to go. If Brandon hadn’t been so exhausted from his recent exertions, he would be admiring the…

14. Gay Apparel

Christmas had come and gone. Brandon had not seen Anthony since the day of paint fiasco, and he attempted to throw himself into festivities rather than dwell on the lack of communication. After all, what was their relationship, actually? To Brandon it might be a confusing tangle of friendship, longing, and lust, but it seemed…

10. Lawrence

When Brandon was seven, his parents bought a plot of wooded land fifteen minutes from their small house with the intention of building on it. Two years of plans, dreams, contractor meetings, and permit filing later, they began to the process of removing trees and breaking ground. Brandon was fairly uninterested in the process itself,…

9. Upcycling

Brandon let the garbage bag of shoes sit in the back of his SUV for three days. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t pulled it out or looked inside. Perhaps he was still feeling strange about his last encounter with Anthony, about sliding his fingers into his shoe while he was still wearing the damned…

8. Stretching Too Far

Anthony was cleaning out. Brandon had no idea what precipitated the move, but he wasn’t terribly crestfallen to find out that they would not be seeking YouTube material that weekend when he discovered he would be helping in this venture instead. Brandon and Anthony’s relationship, it seemed, was less and less based on the mudding…

7. The Joyland Man

Brandon trudged to the kitchen, coffee pot in his hand. He was not a morning person, but longer video calls with clients had been forcing him to show up the gallery earlier just to get his presentations organized for the day. In his bleariness, he did not take notice of the box truck emblazoned with…

6. Iron & Suede

When Brandon was in his final year of high school, he had spent an evening a week or so before Christmas caroling with friends in a nearby neighborhoods. This was a typical pastime—while most of his peers attended dances or football games, Brandon and a small circle with similar, narrow interests, participated in drama club…

5. Happy Hour

Brandon pushed through the front doors of the furniture gallery into the hot, dusty afternoon. There weren’t a lot of warm days left like this, he thought as he shielded his eyes against the slanting autumn sun. Across the lot, he saw Anthony, leaning against his car, cell phone to his ear. Damn, he looked…