"I kind of feel sorry for her, you know? Can you imagine growing up with the wrong body parts? It's hard enough with the right body parts." Was Jason becoming more understanding-or at least less freaked out-than he'd been at the sanctuary? Maybe he hadn't felt as overwhelmed by one teen tranny as he'd been by the throng of older gender-bender Faeries. Or maybe he realy was becoming more accepting.

In any case, Kyle rested easier now. He leaned across the pilow, kissing Jason tenderly on the lips. Jason kissed him back and slid a hand beneath the elastic of Kyle's underwear.

"Hey," Kyle whispered nervously. "What if someone walks in?"

"Everyone's asleep," Jason whispered back, pressing against Kyle.

"They won't be for long." Kyle giggled as the couch squeaked and creaked beneath them.

"Crap," Jason muttered. "Let's get on the floor."

Kyle thought surely Jason was joking, but Jason puled him by the hand as the couch squealed louder than ever.

The two boys crawled off the mattress and lay on the hard floor, softened only by a rug. The circumstances weren't the greatest, but after three nights spent lying beside Jason in unrequited anguish, Kyle wasn't about to complain.

The next morning sunshine sliced through the window shutters as Kyle woke. To his amazement, Nelson's voice carried from the kitchen, chattering and laughing with BJ and her friends. Had Nelson actualy gotten up before Kyle and Jason?

On the couch beside Kyle, Jason lay snoring softly. Kyle gazed at him, recaling their rug romance of several hours earlier. And he couldn't stop grinning, even when he walked into the kitchen for breakfast.

After beignets and coffee came good-byes. Nelson gave BJ an Elvis key chain he'd bought at Graceland and BJ's eyes teared up. She gave Nelson, Jason, and Kyle each a hug. And to Kyle it no longer seemed the least bit odd that she was realy biologicaly male. She was their friend; that was al that mattered.

Kyle guided them onto I-10 and Jason drove down the elevated highway over the bayou.

"You two sure are smiley today." Nelson gave them a devilish grin. "Did you finaly bone last night?" Jason flashed a red-faced glance in the rearview at Kyle.

"None of your business," Kyle told Nelson.

"You did, didn't you?" Nelson gave Jason a playful nudge on the shoulder. "I'm so jealous. I hate you both. I wish we could've stayed longer in that bar. Al those men! What a waste."

At the bar Kyle had watched Nelson revel in the attention from guys. Fortunately the bartenders hadn't served Nelson any alcohol, and BJ had kept him focused.

For Kyle, the bar experience had been a little unnerving because of al the guys staring at him, and even more stared at Jason. And at the same time it had given Kyle a rush to watch how Jason turned heads-and to put his arm around Jason, letting everyone know this guy was his.

"I want to go out again tonight," Nelson said, running his hands over his hairless bare legs. "As a boy this time. It's my turn to get laid." Kyle stared out the window at the cypress trees, half-wishing Nelson would get laid so he'd shut up about it, but also worried. More than anything he wished Nelson could find someone good for him.

For lunch they stopped at a "Gator-to-Go" place where Nelson bought aligator-on-a-stick, Kyle got a burger, and Jason got chicken, though it al tasted nearly the same.

After lunch Nelson took the wheel, and when they crossed into Texas, he beeped the horn and shouted, "Woo-hoo!" East Texas passed by the window, uneventful and hot. The sun stil shone brightly when they arrived in Austin and checked into the Lone Star Campground. After the boys unloaded the car, Jason grabbed his basketbal to go practice. "Come partner with me," he told Kyle.

Kyle hesitated, stil tired from the night before and also the drive, but then he decided maybe the exercise would help wake him up. Besides, how could he turn down Jason's suggestion to "partner" with him?

The word echoed in Kyle's ears as he rebounded and passed for Jason, watching him run in, gather up the rebound, and go up strong for the put-back. He loved being with Jason, watching him.

They practiced for over an hour before returning to the campsite, where Nelson was waking from a snooze. They al showered at the bathhouse, then they bought hot dogs and chips at the camp store. While griling the dogs, Nelson said, "I want to go dancing." Especialy after basketbal practice, the last thing Kyle wanted to do was dance. "I'm beat," he said, serving himself a wiener. "Can't we just relax for one night?"

"No way!" Nelson protested. "This is our vacation! I don't want to spend it sleeping." Kyle chewed his hot dog, debating. He could tel by Nelson's insistence that it was probably pointless to try to keep him from going out. Maybe he should just let him go by himself. But that worried him. Who would Nelson end up meeting? What little drama would he get into next?

Nevertheless, it would give Kyle and Jason time alone-and their sleeping bags would be a lot more comfortable than the floor of the New Orleans house had been.

However, just then Jason announced, "I want to go too."

"Aren't you tired?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, but we might never be here again. I want to see where we are."

Kyle grabbed a handful of chips, feeling outnumbered, and chewed on them, trying to decide what to do.

"Or," Nelson proposed, slathering his hot dog with mustard, "if you don't want to go, then Jason and I wil go alone." Jason flinched as if startled by the idea of going alone with Nelson. He turned to Kyle, his brown eyes beseeching. "Come on, Kyle. Come with us." Though he realy didn't want to, Kyle agreed. After dinner, the boys dressed to go out.

At the camp office a beefy registration guy was reading a colege textbook. Nelson asked, "You know where we can find a dance club?"

"There's lots of places around Sixth Street," the guy replied.

"Isn't he delicious?" Nelson commented, returning to the car.

Kyle unfolded his map, searching for Sixth Street. Then he guided them on a quick tour of the city, past the university's tower and the pink granite capitol.

"I love it!" Nelson observed. "This butch cowboy state has a pink capitol!"

Then they headed to Sixth Street, an area lined with neon signs, nightclubs, and people spiling onto the sidewalk. At a stoplight three teenage girls-a black chick, a blonde, and a brunette-waited at the crosswalk. The black girl pointed at the boys' car and waved, so Nelson roled down the window to hear her yel, "I like y'al's rainbow flag!"

"Thanks!" Nelson shouted back. "Where's a good club to go to?"

"We're going to Score!" The blonde chick grinned as though fuly aware of her double meaning.

"That's the name of the club," explained the brunette, pointing down the street.

"It's eighteen and over," added the black girl.

The stoplight had changed to green and a car beeped behind them.

"Meet us there!" The blonde smiled again, and it seemed to Kyle like she was smiling especialy at Jason, in more than just a friendly way.

As Nelson proceeded down the street to search for parking, he proclaimed, "They're family!" That was one of Nelson's code terms for "gay."

"No way!" Jason exclaimed. "Realy?" He gazed over his shoulder back toward the girls and asked Kyle, "You think they are?"

"I hope so," Kyle said.

Outside Score, a line of older teens and twenty-somethings stretched from the door.

"We're over here," the black girl caled. She introduced herself as Keesha and the brunette as Evie. The blonde was Leah. With her Texas drawl she pronounced it "Lay-ya."

"I sawya'l's license plate," she told Jason. "Ya'l sure came a long way from Virginia." She smiled like she was checking Jason out.

"We're driving cross-country." Jason unabashedly smiled back.

The girls said they were sophomores at UT, originaly from Dalas.

"So is this place gay?" Nelson asked, scoping out the line.

"Mixed." Evie giggled, darting her eyes at Keesha.

"Are you gay?" Nelson folowed up.

"Heteroflexible." Keesha laughed, draping her arm around Evie.

Kyle had never heard that term before. Did it mean the same as "bi"?

"I like that," Jason said, laughing too as they shuffled along the line toward the door.

"At first," Keesha explained, "I thought kissing a girl would be nasty."

"But then she met me," Evie interjected.

"And I totaly flip-flopped!" Keesha continued. "You see, girls understand how girls think. So they can be there for you emotionaly."

"My mom thinks I seem happier with girls," Evie added. "She says I'm better off." Leah suddenly spoke up: "Wel, I'm definitely straight."

"Oh, yeah?" Keesha teased. "What about you and Alyson last year?"

"That was an exception." Leah grinned and turned to Jason. "What about y'al?"

Even though they were in public, Kyle quickly took hold of Jason's hand. "Jason and I are boyfriends." He hoped that would put to rest any designs Leah might have, but Jason slipped his hand out of Kyle's. Kyle wasn't sure if he did that because they were in public, but he saw Leah notice it.

"Wel, I'm a hundred percent queer!" Nelson jumped in, obviously feeling left out of the conversation.

When they finaly reached the club entrance, a bouncer with a snake tattoo told them, "There's a five-dolar cover." Kyle hadn't planned on that. It worried him to spend money they hadn't budgeted.

Inside, the music blared so loudly you could hardly talk. Evie led their group through wal-to-wal bodies onto the packed dance floor, where they al jumped and jostled together til Nelson started dancing with some cute tan-skinned guy.

Kyle had hoped to be able to dance at least somewhat alone with Jason, like they had at prom. But the place was way too hot and crowded, with everyone bumping into everyone. So he kept getting pushed away from Jason.

"I'm going to take a break outside," he finaly shouted over the music to Jason. "Want to come?" Jason glanced at Leah and the other girls. "I want to dance some more," he yeled back to Kyle. "I realy like this music. Hey, can I have some money?"

"We don't have much," Kyle shouted, but gave him a ten anyway. Then he got his hand stamped and walked outside. He wandered down Sixth Street, past the other clubs, wishing he and Jason had stayed at the campground.

When he got back to Score, he found out he had to wait in line again.

"Why?" he argued with the bouncer. "I got my hand stamped."

"Yeah, but it's too crowded inside. You've got to wait til someone leaves."

Kyle folded his arms and waited, thinking about Jason.

When at last he got in, a slow song was playing, and Leah was pressed against Jason, slow-dancing.

"Hey!" Nelson appeared beside Kyle, holding the tanskinned boy's hand. "This is Arturo," Nelson shouted over the music. "I asked him to come back to camp with us."

Kyle smiled faintly at Arturo, who smiled back eagerly. He looked nice enough, but Kyle leaned into Nelson's ear and yeled, "Where's he going to sleep? The tent barely fits three."

Nelson gave a shrug. "He can sleep in the car with me."

"Nelson, that's crazy."

"What else can I do? He lives in a dorm, with a 'phobe roommate." He grinned at Arturo and told Kyle, "Isn't he a total lust-magnet? We've been making out.

Awesome kisser! And I so need to get laid."

"Whatever," Kyle said, less concerned about Nelson getting laid than he was about Leah hanging al over his boyfriend.

"I'm going to go find my friends," Arturo told Nelson. "Let me know what you guys decide." Nelson watched him walk away. "See what you did?" he told Kyle.

"I didn't do anything!" Kyle shouted over the music. Then he glanced back toward the dance floor, totaly unprepared for what he saw: Was Jason kissing Leah?

chapter 23.

Jason hadn't meant to let Leah kiss him. It just ... happened.

When Kyle had said he was going outside, Jason merely planned to keep dancing. He liked the music the DJ was playing-mostly house. And he liked this club a lot more than that bar in New Orleans.

For one thing, the crowd was a lot closer to his age. He'd felt like a kid among al the older guys at the Rendezvous. The way they kept checking him out, darting their eyes between Kyle and him had given Jason the creeps.

And he liked the fact that Score had a mixed crowd of gays and straights. You couldn't easily tel who was what. Jason felt more comfortable that way. Plus, after spending five days cooped up in a car with two guys, he was enjoying the female company of Leah and the other girls. He'd liked BJ, too, but that was different, more complex. This was simpler.

He thought it was interesting what Keesha and Evie had said about being "heteroflexible." He could identify with that. He liked watching them dance together. And when they started making out during one song, right there in the middle of the dance floor, it totaly turned him on.

"You like that?" Leah shouted over the music to Jason.

He felt the blood rush into his face, embarrassed that she'd caught him staring. He wasn't sure exactly what she was asking, but he nodded. "Yeah." Keesha finaly puled out of her lip-lock with Evie, giggling because of al the boys staring at them. Evie asked Jason and Leah, "Y'al want to get something to drink?"

Keesha led the way through the crowd, holding Evie's hand. In turn, Evie held Leah's hand. And when Leah reached for Jason's hand, he took it without a second thought.

He'd realized earlier Leah was checking him out from the way she let her blue eyes linger on him. He didn't mind; he was flattered. He thought she was cute too.

But even though she was blonde, she wasn't realy his type. For one thing, he didn't like how strong she came on. And for another thing, she wasn't Kyle. Even though Kyle wasn't blond, he was Jason's boyfriend, and Jason had no desire to change that.

Nevertheless, at the bar Jason bought al the girls soft drinks with the ten dolars Kyle had given him.

"You're a great dancer!" Leah shouted, leaning toward Jason's ear, so that her breasts brushed his arm.