Ares and Aphrodite (April and August) (opens in new tab)

Awkward, to be developing an affection for Alvin that is not romantic nor absolutely platonic, and as a result feels abjectly transgressive. But, by God, defer your judgment of me for just one moment. Let me plead my case. Remove the cuffs from my wrists and drag me, on bloodied and knobby knees, in front of the pigs at the trough. In the long rectangle of the shaky spotlight, I say: Please, it isn’t my fault that there isn’t a good name for a relationship with a man twice my age with whom I ...