It suddenly becomes very cold.
All those things happen when it gets cold.
The clichés.
The hair raising up off of the skin.
The goose bumps.
And the less clichéd.
The hardened nipples.
The retracting penis.
“It’s getting cold.”
“Yes”, he lies, “I hadn’t noticed.”
Why lie?
They both think this at the same time.
She pities his faux-macho.
And he pities something worse. Not the label, but himself.
