Page 115 of The Build-a-Boyfriend Project

Eli: i’ll tell you later

Peter: Can’t wait.

Peter: Meet at my place?

Eli stares at the messages, gnawing at his bottom lip as his heart continues to thud in his chest.

Eli: do i need a costume?

Chapter Fifteen

Caravaggio, dir. by Derek Jarman

“Come in, quick, please!” Peter rushes out of the door to the garage, propping open the front gate just enough for Eli to open it himself. Eli barely has enough time to register what’s going on before he’s being led into the building.

Then again, the answer is pretty obvious when he sees Peter dressed in a skintight Spider-Man costume with his hand cupping his crotch.

“I need your help,” he tells Eli when he finally makes it into the apartment. “Close the door.” Peter continues on to the bathroom and Eli follows after him.

“Peter . . .” Eli leans against the doorframe. “You don’t have to hide your dick; I think I can figure out what’s going on here.”

Peter eyes Eli warily before he dares to slowly remove both of his hands. Eli’s mouth goes dry at seeing just how much of Peter the costume shows off.

Not a detail left to the imagination.

“Wow, okay . . .”

“See?” Peter covers his groin again before Eli puts his hands around his wrists, pulling them away.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Peter. We’re adults here.”

Peter finally stands straight. “I thought it’d be fun, and Spider-Man seemed like an easy enough costume.”

“No, I get it.” Eli laughs to himself. “You didn’t realize that you’d need a cup? Or one of those dance belts.”

“Dance belt? What’s that?” He looks at Eli with panic and confusion. “I was told I have to dress up.”

“I don’t think it’s the end of the world if you don’t show up in a costume, Peter,” Eli teases, but the look that Peter gives him tells Eli that now isn’t the time to make fun of him.

Peter hesitates. “I just wanted to be a part of the team.”

“Okay, well . . . there’s a simple fix here.”

“Whatever it takes.”

Eli dips out of the bathroom, going to Peter’s closet where a pair of gray sweatpants is thrown over a hanger. “You don’t happen to have a green jacket, do you?”

“Green?” He hears Peter creep back into the bedroom. “I think I might have one. I haven’t worn it in a while, though . . .” Peter stretches toward the back of the closet, and Eli takes the chance to sneak a peek at just how the costume accentuates the cup of Peter’s ass.

“It won’t be entirely accurate, but it should at least help.”

“Since when does Spider-Man wear sweatpants?”

“You know, out of everything you’ve ever said to me, admitting that you’ve never seen Into the Spider-Verse might be the most egregious.”

Peter winces. “I’ll write it down.”

“It’s okay, we’ll fix it. But now you can still be Peter Parker, just a sadder . . . more desperate version.”