AfterMARK, Part 5

“A Certain Masculine Intrigue”

“Think of it as your own personal Brokeback Mountain…” Cole teased.

I really wasn’t sure what to think and for that reason my face was bright red. Cole laughed for a while at my expense. It wasn’t so much the fact that I’d met another boy that week. It was the fact that he was a sort of anti-stereotype stereotype.

“So this cowboy… where did you meet? You know I’ve got best friend privileges to all of the details.”

“Okay. You know I’ve been somewhat of a gym bunny lately. For three months, I’ve managed to faithfully go and keep off that weight. I go, I jump on the elliptical for an hour or so.”

“Right. And that’s where you get a lot of your reading done.”

“Precisely. I might check out a guy or two, but I have my textbooks there to study. Well, this afternoon, as I was getting into the locker room, I set my books down and changed.”

“Ooh!” he poked, slightly melodically.

“Hey. I’m not even to the good part…. Anyways, I turn around and this guy is checking out my books—naturally Mark Doty and Lucille Clifton are on the top. I’d noticed this guy before and he’s got a certain masculine intrigue about him.”

“How so?”

“I’m not sure how to describe it. Has anyone ever caught your eye but you never figured out quite why? That’s how it is. Sure he’s good looking and has personality, but there’s something more to it and I figured it out today.”

“I see. So you were in the locker room…”

“Yeah. We were in the locker room and he leans over to me and says, ‘I guess you like poetry.’ and of course the answer in fewer words was a definite yes.

“I couldn’t believe where this was going. Despite being a total amateur my nostrils picked up on the faint scent of flirting in the air. He’s hitting on me? He’s hitting on me!… kept rolling through my head as the conversation shifted to something way more obvious.”

“Like what? Project Runway?”

“No. He started telling me what a big fan he was of Oscar Wilde and commenting on the rumors of his torrid affair with Walt Whitman on a visit to the states. In the moment, the thought of two great literary minds in passionate embrace was enough to make my pulse race.

“ ‘It was nice chatting with you,’ he said, on the way to the parking lot. ‘We’ll have to talk more later.’

“He left it at that and I went off to do my work out.”

“That was a lame story. I thought it actually went somewhere or had a date or something.”

“It doesn’t end there. Just as I was reaching the climax in my workout, I looked up to see his face strewn with dimples. His hair was military short and he was in a pair of track pants and a tank top.”

“ ‘I have something for you,’ he said, placing a book on top of the others I’d brought: The Complete Short Stories of Oscar Wilde.

“ ‘Thank you,’ I said. It was the only thing I could think of at the time. ‘How do I get this back to you? And what’s your name again?’ ”

I was shocked, delighted, and slightly weirded out over his response:

“ ‘My number’s on the inside front cover…. And my name? Call me Mark.’ ”

End, Part 5