In the Blaze of His Hungers Read Online Free PDF

shuffles his feet and looks at the floor, not having to fake his embarrassment, “a… a fuck-buddy. I guess.”
    “You had sex ?” Pete says in a loud stage whisper. At least three heads swivel to stare at them from the other lockers.
    “ Shh! Keep it down, will ya?”
    “You. Got laid. You got laid.”
    “Hey! I can so get laid! And technically, I’ve had sex before. Oral s ex.”
    “Yeah, while you were stinking drunk and didn’t know a hawk from a handsaw.”
    “Quit quoting Shakespeare. It’s creeping me out.”
    “You’re just jealous because I’m smarter than you are.”
    “And you’re just jealous because I’m doing the nasty and you aren’t.”
    “I’m not jealous; I’m smug by association. My best bud’s getting it on the regular, which means so can I.”
    “I have no idea how that logic even works.”
    “It works like this. Does that ‘buddy’ of yours have a hot sister?”
    “No.” Not that Ryan knows of, since he knows next to nothing about Javier. Also, wouldn’t that mean Pete sleeping with his aunt? Gross.
    “What about a hot female friend? Cousin? Classmate? Acquaintance?”
    “I dunno.”
    “Then find out . For my sake.”
    “I don’t see why I have to disturb the delicate balance of my non-relationship just to find you a girl.”
    “You wound me! You slay me! Are we not friends? Did we not swear a blood oath to be as brothers for the rest of our lives?”
    “That was fake Halloween blood, Pete. And we were ten.”
    “The blood may have been fake, but our loyalty was real. Or so I thought. Woe is me, for here I am, betrayed by my bosom friend!”
    “Bosom… what? Since when are you an eighteenth-century girl?”
    “Since you callously broke my trust. Pardon me while I go and weep into my daintily embroidered handkerchief.”
    “No wonder people mistake you for the gay one.”
    “No wonder people mistake you for the heartless monster.”
    “They do not.”
    “Well, they should .” Pete sniffs theatrically. “But because I still pray for your salvation, I’ll let you go on any future assignations with Mister Mysterious, no questions asked. So long as you promise to scope out his female relatives.”
    “Even his grandma?”
    “His young and fulsome relatives, you asshole.”
    “Young and fulsome. Gotcha.”
    Pete leans close. “Who is he?”
    “You just said ‘no questions asked’.”
    “I was hoping you’d answer them anyway.”
    “I would if I was dating someone, okay? But I, I can’t – there’s nothing to tell.”
    “Not yet.”
    “Not ever .” Ryan can’t see himself – or anyone else – having a committed relationship with Javier “Love ’Em and Leave ’Em” Ferrera. Even if Javier is ridiculously good at sex.
    “Why? Isn’t this guy dating material? Are you doing a mafioso, or something? A drug peddler? An ex-con? Do I need to be concerned about your health and safety, Ryan?”
    “And now you sound like my dad. Cut it out.”
    “Hey, it’s only ’cause care about you.”
    “I know,” Ryan sighs, feeling like a heel, like he is betraying Pete. Which he is. “I know.”
    * * *
    Turns out, talking to Pete isn’t anywhere near as awkward as talking to Pete’s mom. She’s the only other person Ryan has met that has slept with Javier; not only that, but she was married to him, until they separated for reasons unknown. All Ryan recollects – from old conversations with Pete – is that they divorced officially a few years into their separation, the divorce papers exchanged via post. Javier hadn’t even been decent enough to meet his wife prior to divorcing her. He’d just… stayed gone.
    Before letting Ryan go on his ‘assignation’ (he has no clue where Pete gets his vocabulary), Pete insists on taking Ryan home and sharing his mom’s freshly baked cookies. Like Ryan’s dad, Pete’s mom has exhausting working hours; she’s a nurse at the local hospital. But on the days she gets off work early, she tends to bake her