eep　cleaning；？　he　announced　with　a

sudden　surge　of　determination；　and　marched　into　the　living　room　with　the　purposeful　steps　of　a

military　general。

Dan　in　the　army？　Don？t　ask；　don？t　tell！

？Be　my　guest；？　Vanessa　retorted　as　she　threw　another　huge　stack　of　newspapers　into　the

recycling　bin。　？As　far　as　I？m　concerned；　it？s　a　lost　cause。？　Earlier　that　summer；　her　older　sister

Ruby　had　returned　from　Europe　with　her　new　Czech　boyfriend；　Piotr；　in　tow　and　had　proceeded　to

kick　Vanessa　out　of　the　cozy　Williamsburg　apartment　they？d　shared　for　the　last　three　years。

Thanks；　sis！　Since　then；　Vanessa　had　been　living　in　Dan？s　sister　Jenny？s　room　while　Jenny　was　at

art　school　in　Prague　for　the　summer。　Since　Dan　was　heading　to　Evergreen　College　in　Washington

State　in　less　than　two　weeks　and　Jenny　would　be　off　to　boarding　school　in　upstate　New　York；　it

looked　like　Vanessa　would　be　keeping　her　room　in　the　Humphreys？　apartment　when　she　started

NYU？after　all；　somebody　had　to　keep　Rufus；　Dan　and　Jenny？s　lesser…known　Beat　poet　editor

father；　pany。　So　she？d　decided　to　spend　the　weekend　redecorating　the　totally　dismal　pad。　And

really；　what　better　way　to　try　out　Dan？s　newQueer　Eye　decorating　skills？　If　he　even　had　any。　He

was　so　fresh　out　of　the　closet　it　was　hard　for　her　to　believe　it　was　really　true。　But　maybe　that？s

because　she　didn？twant　it　to　be　true。

Didn？t　she？

Dan　closed　his　eyes；　remembering　the　feel　of　Greg？s　lips　on　his；　his　scratchy　blond　chin　stubble

scraping　against　Dan？s　jaw。　The　more　he　went　over　it　in　his　mind；　Dan　wasn？t　even　sure　how　he

felt　about　the　kiss　anymore？or　about　Greg？except　that　he　was　pretty　sure　he　didn？t　really　have　any