Hobbled by John Inman

Then he said it again. “Wow.”
    Still massaging the little piggy, Luke leaned forward and gazed deep into Danny’s eyes. “You aren’t homophobic, are you?”
    “Who, me?” God, Luke’s eyes were blue. Oh, wait. What was he talking about? Danny did a rewind on the last few seconds and tried to forget about Luke’s eyes and catch up on the conversation.
    Luke laughed. “Well, you looked a little stunned there for a second. I thought maybe—”
    “No, I—wait. Your dad must already know the two of them are right for each other or he wouldn’t have packed up and moved here. By the way, where’d you move from?”
    “Tucson.”
    “That’s weird. My dad goes to Tucson a lot on business. He’s there now, as a matter of fact.”
    “Small world.”
    “So where’s your mom?”
    “She died,” Luke said. “Long time ago. I was little.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry. My mom lives in Indiana. She’s a bitch.”
    “Oh,” Luke said. “ I’m sorry.”
    “So you’re still living with your dad, then,” Danny said. “Me, too. At least until I get on my feet.”
    “You mean both feet,” Luke said, patting Danny’s cast.
    And Danny laughed. “Yeah. Both feet.”
    “It’s pretty much the same story with me. Pop and I are close. He didn’t want to move away from Tucson unless I came, too. I think he felt like he would be abandoning me if he did, although I am old enough to take care of myself.”
    “Of course you are,” Danny said. “So am I, for that matter. So how old are you, if you don’t mind my asking.”
    “I’ll be twenty.” Luke said.
    “Oh.” He was older than Danny thought.
    Luke plucked at Danny’s toe, as if to say “gotcha.” “In a year and a half, that is.”
    Danny blinked. Then he got the joke. For some reason, Danny felt immense relief knowing the guy wasn’t actually older, although he wasn’t really sure why he felt that way. Maybe Danny simply felt safer knowing he and Luke were on a more even footing age wise. “Oh! Well, that’s cool. So am I. I’ll be twenty in a year and a half, too.”
    “Well, aren’t we a pair.” Luke grinned, and Danny grinned right back.
    Luke moved along to the second toe. Figured he would spread around the happiness, Danny supposed. And if that was really what he was doing, then he was succeeding admirably. Danny was happy as a clam. Oddly enough, Luke seemed to be enjoying it too.
    They fell into a companionable silence, with Danny staring at Luke as if he simply couldn’t get enough, and Luke staring back at Danny through his bigass glasses with a gentle smile on his face. And when their eyes seemed to be a little too hooked into each other, Luke gazed about the room.
    His eyes fell on a picture hanging on the wall by the window. It was a blown-up snapshot of Danny with his dad’s arm draped across his shoulder. They were standing in front of the polar bear tank at the San Diego Zoo. A polar bear was grinning behind them like it knew it was having its picture taken.
    Luke laughed. “Cute bear. Is that your dad?”
    Danny followed Luke’s eyes to see what he was looking at. “Oh. Yeah. That’s us at the zoo last summer.”
    “Wow,” Luke said. “Your dad is hot.”
    “I’m sorry. What?”
    “No, really,” Luke said. “Look at him. He’s really hot.”
    “Shut up!”
    Luke laughed. He reached out and tucked his finger under Danny’s chin. Then he tilted Danny’s head until he was sure Danny was staring at the same picture he was. “Your dad looks like an actor or a model or something. Don’t tell me you never noticed it before.”
    And now, truly looking at the picture for maybe the very first time in his life, Danny realized Luke was right. His dad really was a hottie.
    “Gee. I honest-to-God never knew.”
    Luke giggled. “I’ll bet.”
    Danny was getting a little embarrassed talking about his dad like this, so to change the subject, sort of, he asked, “What does your dad look like?”
    Luke shrugged. “Looks like me, I