A Thin Line Between Love & Hate (Love Conquers All series) ORIGINAL VERSION

Chapter 26: "Divine Understanding"

Brandon stared at him, numb. He blinked. It took a moment for him to find his voice. "What..." he shook his head, confused. "What do you mean something happened between you and Uriah?" He frowned and squeezed his eyes shut then looked at James. "Uriah?"

James nodded.

"What happened?" Brandon remained in mild shock, though James had yet to give up any details. If Uriah had threatened him in some way, James would have just come out with it and told Brandon—he wouldn't be nervous and fidgety. This had the feel of something more...personal. Intimate? Brandon couldn't wrap his mind around that. Not when it came to Uriah Waylon. Elijah? Possibly. But Uriah?

James looked like he was about to hop out of the car and start pacing again. He remained seated, though his foot continued to tap anxiously against the floorboard. He gestured with his hand, started to speak, faltered, then began again. "Okay. It's like this. You know how my last class of the day is Phys-ed?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Mr. Bannon asked me if I would mind gathering up the basket balls from the gym, so I said okay. I wasn't in any hurry. I knew you would be hanging out with Josh, doing your project stuff." He exhaled hard and slid his hand through his hair. He looked out the front windshield, eyes distant as he continued in a low, blank tone. "Everyone was gone when I got to the locker room..."

• • •

James dropped the bag of basket balls by the teacher's small office then walked over to his locker. He stripped out of his gym clothes, dropped them on the bench in the center of the narrow aisle, then grabbed a towel on his way to the shower. He left the towel on a hook near the shower entrance and crossed the damp, concrete floor and cranked on one of the multiple shower heads. He closed his eyes as he stepped beneath the steaming spray and his mind immediately backtracked to earlier that afternoon and the lunch courtyard.

A small smile crept across his lips as he recalled Uriah's fierce glare when James had winked at him. For the sheer thrill of it, he'd been telling himself since lunchtime that Uriah had reacted that way because, deep down, he actually thought James was cute and just didn't want to admit it. Of course, James didn't really believe that. It was fun to fantasize about Uriah switching "teams" and James teaching him how to be open and proud, but it was just "fantasy", nothing more. Even with all his playful banter about praying the guy gay, James was grounded in reality. He joked about his attraction to Uriah, but what he hadn't yet admitted to anyone—even Brandon—was that he truly, honestly "liked" the guy, despite his blatant hatred for homosexuals. It wasn't his style to be attracted to straight guys. He might find them good-looking, but his appreciation of their looks had never developed beyond appreciation.

Until Uriah Waylon came to school. James had no idea why it was different with Uriah—he didn't seriously think the guy had "gay tendencies", he just liked to kid around about it. But the attraction was real. Which totally sucked. It was entirely futile to fall for a straight guy, and much more so—a Waylon. At least Brandon had a shot with Josh. James wasn't so lucky.

"Stop torturing yourself," he mumbled and grabbed the soap. He washed his upper body then bent over to do his legs—when he sensed he was no longer alone. He froze for a moment, palms clamped against his left calf, the bar of soap pinned between hand and leg. Feeling extremely "exposed" in that position, he quickly straightened, his head snapping around. For a static moment, he thought he must have slipped and cracked his head and was now caught in some surreal dream as Uriah Waylon stared back at him from shower doorway.

Feeling more exposed than ever standing there in his birthday suit, James swallowed with effort, frozen in place. Was the guy so mad about that afternoon that he sought him out to beat him up? James was no match for Uriah, he knew that much.