Cold Skin, Warm Heart

Sitting on the cracked sidewalk, Jessie stretched his long thin legs out. Cringing when he heard his bones pop, he grimaced. He flicked his brown locks out of his face and dug his hand through his tight pants. He quickly grabbed his cell phone and flipped it open. He was met with his usual wallpaper of his boyfriend, Robert. Sighing when he saw that he had no missed messages, voicemails, or even phone calls, Jessie smoothed out any creases in his tight acid washed skinny jeans.

Looking around at his local surrounding, Jessie smiled. He was sitting on the sidewalk of the park. It wasn’t just any park, it was his and Robert’s special place. It was the place where they had met and neither of them could forget it.

Night had fallen and there was still no sign of Robert. Frowning, Jessie strained his eyes in the darkness. His face instantly broke into a wide grin and became jubilant. Walking toward him was his boyfriend, Robert. Trying to not seem like he had been waiting for awhile, Robert casually stretched his arms.

Robert took a seat next to Jessie on the hard ground. He planted a quick kiss on Jessie’s cheek before pulling away and smiling. Jessie turned crimson and shyly laughed. “You’re finally here.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Robert said, looking deep into Jessie’s brown eyes.

Jessie continued the stare that Robert started, not daring to break it. He wrapped his thin hand around Robert’s much larger and stronger hand. Tightening his grip, Jessie felt amazed by the connection they had without saying a single world.

“Oh Jessie,” Robert muttered. He removed his hand from his boyfriends. He moved it to Jessie’s fair skinned cheek and gave it a slight pinch. “Are you cold, baby? Your face is cold.” His voice was warm and it gave Jessie an odd sensation inside his stomach. “Well you have to be cold out here. Seriously Jessie, who wears short sleeves outside during the middle of winter?”

Flashing a mild grin, Jessie nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “Well I didn’t what the temperature was going to be tonight.”

Robert hastily tugged his black hoodie off and passed it to Jessie. “Put that on,” he commanded softly. “You’re going to freeze if you don’t.”

Alarmed, Jessie quickly pushed it back into Robert’s hands. “You’re crazy Robert. I appreciate it and everything, but I don’t want you to get sick or anything.”

Shaking his head, he softly laughed. “No Jessie, no baby. You take it. If you don’t, I’m going to force it on you whether or not you like it. No boyfriend of mine is going to get frostbite.”

Mumbling to himself feebly, Jessie threw the hoodie over him. Not trying to show how much warmer he instantly became or let Robert get the satisfaction of knowing that he was right, Jessie wore a blank look on his face. It didn’t last very long though. As soon as he saw the happy look on Robert’s face he smiled. “Happy much? Now you’re the one who’s going to freeze.”

“You’ve got that wrong Jessie,” he said tenderly. “I’m not going to get cold. Just seeing you and being with you warms my heart to no degree.”