until you have an emotional connection with somebody.”
Lance slapped the back of his hand against Jeremy’s chest. “See. I told you.”
Jeremy rubbed his palm over where he’d been hit. “So fucked up.”
“No, it’s not,” Lance insisted. He turned his gaze back on Travis. “I really care about Jeremy, and he’s my best friend, but I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him. And he got all tangled up because I told him that, and he was saying some bullshit about us not being able to be friends anymore, and I think that’s crap. It does suck that he wants me that way and I don’t, but that’s not going to change.”
Travis was grinning now. He was no longer quite sure why he was in this conversation because his nephew and friend were pretty much right on track. “Yes, no, maybe. Sometimes the way we feel does change, but the two big things I see here—if you want me to tell you what I think’s most important?”
Jeremy nodded rapidly.
Travis stepped forward and met Jeremy’s gaze square on. “The cool thing about being demi-sexual? I mean, sex can be a lot of fun, but for most of us, it’s more than just fun with somebody you care about. Which means when you do find somebody, and things work out to the place that you end up having sex, it’s going to be way better than the average guy’s first time. Or second, or the rest of it.”
Both the boys stopped.
“I never thought about that,” Lance admitted. He raised a brow. “Good for you, J.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. Then he looked back at Travis. “And what’s the second thing?”
Travis kept his body language casual. “It’s not fucked up for you and Lance to stay good friends. Truth is, most of us become attracted to someone inappropriate at different points in our lives. You just need to deal with it, Jeremy.”
He seemed to have shocked them again.
“But it’s not Jeremy’s fault that he feels like that.” Lance was frowning now.
“Nope. But it’s also not your responsibility to do anything about how he feels.” Travis went for the killing blow, considering he knew Lance had been seeing the same girl for the last three years. “You ever get turned on when Kim’s not around? You know, watching a show or while chatting with some other girl in your class?”
His nephew’s face went beet red, and he stumbled for a moment, mouth opening and closing until he straightened up. “I’ve never done anything about it, but yeah. It’s happened.”
“Of course you didn’t do anything about it, because you respect Kim, and the other bits are just physical reaction. It would be wrong for you to act on it, just like it would be wrong for Jeremy to hit on you when you’re with someone else. Plus, you’ve said you weren’t interested. So that’s it.” Travis slipped his hands in his pockets. “But there’s no reason why you guys can’t be friends.”
“That’s what I told you, dumbass,” Lance said sternly to Jeremy.
“Of course, that means you need to be a little smarter about not being a tease, Lance,” Travis finished.
His nephew blinked in surprise. “Tease?”
“If one of those girls that you accidentally got turned on around kept doing stuff even though she realized it was driving you wild, what would you do?”
“Walk away.” Lance said it instantly. “My dad says it’s not the girl’s fault if what she’s wearing or how she’s acting makes me hot. I’m responsible for me.”
“Right. So dealing with how he feels is going to be up to Jeremy, but as a friend, you need to not act like a dick and make things tougher for him. If he needs to walk away so he can be respectful of what you want, then you need to let him.”
Lance looked a whole lot more miserable than he had a few minutes earlier. He glanced over at Jeremy. “Well, shit. This is more complicated than I thought.”
His friend shrugged. “Fucking sucks. Don’t worry, I think we can figure it out.” He glanced up at Travis. “You know, that made a lot of sense. That whole comparing it to Lance not getting to fool around with all the girls that he’s ever had a hard-on for. That makes it relatable. Because there’s been a lot of them.”
“You’re such a jerk,” Lance complained, but he was smiling again.
“Thanks, Travis,” Jeremy held up a fist, and Travis bumped his knuckles before reaching over and grabbing his nephew