“Are you saying our sex life isn’t phenomenal?” David tried his best to keep from smiling, but he just couldn’t put Jerry through any more torture.
“No, I… you’re a real bastard, you know that?” Jerry pushed himself up off the mat and rolled it up. “I thought you were really mad at me there for a minute.”
“Jerry, baby,” David cooed as he came over and snapped the elastic of Jerry’s only pair of sweatpants—the ones he wore for everything and that had a nice random pattern of holes, paint spatter and grease stains. “Have I ever been mad at you?”
“Actually,” Jerry began, holding up his finger as if to contradict his husband. “No,” he said finally with a little frown.
“You’ve been such a good sport about my midlife crisis, that I’m going to take you out for a special treat. Right now.” David put his mat in the big wooden closet-type holder at the back of the room and then shoved his feet into his Birkenstocks and waited for Jerry to put his socks and shoes back on. “You have really sexy feet, Jerrod McKenzie.”
Jerry looked up with something akin to horror. “You say that about all my body parts. You’re just in love with me, that’s why you think I have a sexy everything.”
“Well, you got me there,” David said, leaning in for a kiss. David noticed Jerry flush a little, but placed a quick kiss on his lips. “Don’t worry, Lenore told me that most of the guys who come here are gay.”
“I wasn’t worried,” Jerry said, waving the concern away with a quick flick of his wrist.
“Liar,” David said, laughing. He walked with him out to Jerry’s truck and stopped at the driver’s side. “Seriously, Jerry. Thank you for putting up with this. I could tell you didn’t enjoy that.”
“You know what?” Jerry said. “Fuck everybody if they want to stare,” he said as he wrapped his arms around David and kissed him rather passionately. “It wasn’t fun being a human origami, but I enjoyed watching you releasing some stress.”
“And you enjoyed teasing me and pushing me over and—”
“I will not lie to you,” Jerry said, grinning. “I did enjoy that a great deal.”
“Good.” David stole one more kiss and then walked around to the passenger side of the pickup. “Now, where do you want to go for ice cream?”
“Ice cream?” Jerry got into the driver’s seat and started the truck. “I thought you said I was getting a special treat?”
“You are,” David said seriously, wondering if Jerry was truly upset about going out for ice cream. “I thought we could go for a real date and get some ice cream.”
“We have ice cream all the time,” Jerry protested, but with a smile on his face. “What if I want something other than ice cream?”
“You get that all the time too,” David laughed, shaking his head.
“I wasn’t talking about that either,” Jerry said as he pulled the truck into reverse and backed out of the parking lot. “Just wait ’til we get home, I’ll show you what I was talking about.”
Twenty minutes later, Jerry and David were sitting in the bathtub, David reclining so that his back was resting on Jerry’s chest. Jerry had a washcloth and was dragging it gently across David’s chest and belly. David was about to fall asleep if he didn’t do something. He got up and turned himself around, pulling Jerry toward the center of the tub and placing his legs over Jerry’s longer ones, their cocks touching as David grabbed the washcloth from Jerry and returned the favor, caressing his back and chest and abs with the warm, soapy water.
“I must admit,” David said softly. “Your idea of a treat is much better than mine.”
Jerry just smiled and leaned in for a kiss, not saying anything. He pulled David to him as the younger man washed his back.
“I feel so decadent,” David said, his lips brushing softly against Jerry’s clean shoulder. “It’s not even five yet, and I haven’t done anything about dinner.”
“That’s why I told William to go and pick up something from the grocery store. A couple of chickens and some potato salad and some stuff to make a salad, maybe some fresh buns. I left it up to him.” David pulled back and looked at him, flabbergasted. “I know you’re going to see your mother again later on, and I wanted to get you as relaxed as possible.” Jerry stroked up and down David’s back causing a shiver. Jerry smiled when David leaned into him. “Is William going this time?”
“He said he’d like to go back, but I don’t think he gave me a definite answer.”
“Would you like some company, then?”
“What?” David wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “You want to meet my mother?”
“Of course.”
Jerry seemed to have a look of surprise on his face. David had always assumed that his mother would have to come here, as Niels had had to do. Jerry had already made it clear that he would not tolerate any stupidity from any member of David’s family. If they didn’t behave, and they were in his house, Jerry could quite easily kick them to the curb.
“Okay,” David said, his smile growing as the idea seemed to gather more and more merit. “Sure. We’ll stay just long enough for you two to meet each other and to have some chitchat and then we’ll leave.” David was already choreographing the entire visit, right down to the most opportune time to leave, which was usually when his mother started asking questions about family names and backgrounds. “But if she’s in a pissy mood, I’ll warn you right now, your charms will not work on her.”
“Is that a challenge?” Jerry pulled David closer to his body again, reaching down to grab both of their cocks in his hand.
“No!” David almost felt as if he were yelling. “If she’s pissy, we’ll get out of there as quickly as possible. She’s impossible when she’s civil. When she’s being difficult, she makes an aging, self-obsessed actress seem like a playful little kitty.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jerry said, his hand pumping over both of their cocks. “Right now, I’ve got something else in mind.” He leaned forward as David opened his mouth, prepared to remind Jerry that he had not mentioned this as part of his idea of a special treat, and locked their lips together. David closed his eyes, quite convinced that he’d never felt so relaxed in his life.
Chapter 13
WILLIAM was trying to keep himself busy, looking after his horse, washing and cleaning his car, and getting ready for his final year of high school. One of the advantages of having David as a father was that, during their stay in Italy, William was able to get a lot of work done and take advanced placement courses in most of his subjects. He would graduate a full year early. It had seemed like a great idea at the time, but then he’d met Anne, and he realized that even though the two of them were the same age, he would graduate a year ahead of Anne. Cory had told William that it didn’t mean their relationship had to end; it would just make it more difficult, but not impossible. But William had already devised a plan. He would work with the veterinarian for a year and gain some real-life experience, which could only make him do better when he was ready to head to Ontario with Anne and go to veterinarian school.
But since their indiscretion, William wasn’t sure that any of that would happen now. He was clinging to the encouraging words that Jerry and David had given him after taking Anne back to her parents, but his optimism faded a little every day he didn’t hear anything. He’d already asked his dads a couple of times if they’d spoken to either of Anne’s parents, but they hadn’t. And so, William kept himself busy with chores and tasks around the house to keep himself from losing hope completely.
He was in the midst of grooming Mountain Lion when Cory whistled from the house, which was Cory’s way of looking for him. Billie’s ears perked up at the whistle, and she dropped the brush in her mouth. William smiled at Billie and scratched behind her ears, laughing when she licked at his wrist and forearm. “Let’s go see what Cory wants, hey?”
William walked out and stood at the entrance of the barn, waving to Cory, who was making his way over. He couldn’t help but
smile when he saw the grin on his brother’s face. Cory got that look whenever he had a surprise for William. Like the time, when William was in ninth grade and was starting to realize that he liked girls instead of boys—William had been crushed to think that he wouldn’t be just like his dads—and Cory had sat him down on his bed and presented him with a spiral-bound notebook. So You’re Not Gay! was the title. Cory had written a list of one-hundred-and-one reasons to see being heterosexual as a positive thing, and included some fictitious testimonials of “recovering” heterosexuals, men who had tried to deny it and ended up embracing it and learning to love themselves.
“Hey, bro!” Cory came up and put his arm around William. There was a good five inches difference in their heights still, which made William sure that he would always feel like that little eleven-year-old boy who’d developed a serious case of hero-worship for Cory.
“Know that look, bro,” William said, elbowing his brother in the ribs. “Spill.”
“Tara wants to go see that new Harry Potter film tonight, and we were wondering if you wanted to come with,” Cory said as he patted William’s belly. “My treat.”
“Nah,” William said, shaking his head. “I don’t feel like going out.”
“And you never will if you keep moping around here all the time.”
“Thanks, but no,” William said and headed back to Mountain Lion’s stall, Billie walking ahead of him.
“Billiam,” Cory said, and William recognized the tone. He got back into the stall with Mountain Lion and picked up the rubber curry, brushing in circular motions to dislodge all the dirt he could. Cory came up and stood just outside of the stall, squatting down to give Billie some of his attention. “I know what it feels like to think that you’ll never see her again, and I know that nothing I say can make it better, but I do know that worrying about it will consume you if you let it.”
“I know,” William said as his brushing slowed, his mind thinking about Anne and whether or not he’d ever see her again. “I miss her, Cory.”
Cory stood and entered the stall and hugged William. “I know you do, buddy. And I know she misses you, but you can’t stop living just because you’re apart right now.” Cory pulled away, but kept his hands on William’s shoulders. “I mean, at the very worst, you’ll have to wait until you’re eighteen and she’s eighteen.” William looked down and he felt Cory’s hand under his chin, lifting his head back up. “But I think you know it won’t come to that, right?”
“I don’t know anything, Cory.” William leaned against the slats of the stall, shaking his head. “All I know is that nothing’s the same without her.”
“Okay,” Cory said, shrugging his shoulders. “Well, I guess that’s one way to go. Just stay here on the ranch and feel sorry for yourself.”
“What else can I do?” William didn’t understand this sudden shift in Cory’s words.
“William,” Cory said, and William knew something was up. Cory only ever called him William when he was pissed, or losing his patience. “You know I’ve never felt sorry for myself. Even with all the shit that my dad was putting me through and when all the kids were teasing me and bullying me because my dad was a drug dealer, I never quit. I never quit because I knew things would get better. And when they didn’t get better on Monday, I waited until Tuesday. And when Tuesday was worse than Monday, I would tell myself that things would turn around on Wednesday. And my father beat the crap out of me on Wednesday, I kept telling myself to wait one more day, just one more day.” Cory walked back to his brother and embraced him. “And if I’d given up on Friday, like I’d wanted, I never would have been playing my guitar in front of that bank. I never would have heard you calling my name. And I never would have been taken in by David and Jerry, the best parents on the planet. And I would never have had a brother like you, the best brother in the whole universe.”
William felt the tears forming in his eyes. He remembered that weekend of Jerry’s art show, when David and William had found Cory busking on the street in Edmonton, and how he’d never known what Cory was going through at the time. It wasn’t until years later that he’d learned the truth about Cory. And learning the truth had only made him love Cory even more. Not in all the time that Cory had been helping William with soccer or their little graphic novels had Cory ever lost his temper or yelled at William or made him feel anything but special. “I’m sorry, Cory,” William said through his tears. “It just hurts.”
“I know, Billiam,” Cory said, pulling William to him again. “But if you don’t see or hear from Anne today, then think about tomorrow, or the next day, or the next.” Cory tilted his brother’s chin up again and smiled. “Take my word for it. If you keep waiting and keep hoping, your day will come, and it will be even better than anything you ever imagined.”
William pulled himself to Cory again. William wasn’t sure if he was crying because of how Cory felt about him and their family or if he was crying because he couldn’t stop thinking about Anne and how lonely and scared she must be. He wanted to be there to protect her, to make her laugh, just to see her smile, but he couldn’t.
He pushed himself away from Cory and dried his eyes with the sleeves of his T-shirt. “I’m sorry,” he said, hiccupping. “I guess I should go with you, then, huh?”
“Only if you want to,” Cory said nonchalantly and shrugged.
“Asshole,” William said, laughing a little, and swatting at his brother’s arm.
LENORE sat on the bench opposite Jerry, lacing up her bowling shoes. “Where’s William tonight? I thought he was coming.”
“We gave him permission to go out to the movies,” Jerry said, glancing up at David and seeing the knowing look in his husband’s eye. “Cory and Tara planned some little surprise for him.”
“Isn’t that nice?” Jerry noticed that Lenore had directed the question to her twins, who were arguing over who would be using the only fluorescent green ball. She raised her voice. “Isn’t that nice that one brother helped the other?”
Jerry saw the twins stop fighting, look over at her, and then resume fighting as if she’d presented no more of an interruption than a mosquito or a fly. Jerry watched David saunter over to the twins—they’d known David since they’d been born—and pull a coin out of his pocket. “Honestly,” David said, sounding like a schoolteacher. “Sasha, you call it in the air. Alexei, you even think about touching the coin, and I’ll come over and shave your head when you’re sleeping tonight.” David tossed the coin in the air, Sasha called heads, David caught the coin and slapped it onto the back on his hand. He pushed his hands in between the twins and revealed it.
“You suck,” Sasha said to his brother, and Jerry guessed that Alexei would be using the ball that evening.
“Wanna use mine?” Jerry held his ball out to Sasha, knowing that Sasha wouldn’t want to use it. Jerry had taken a purple ball on a dare from Lenore. How secure are you in your masculinity? She’d asked him, to which his second reply had been to choose the purple ball; his first response was to offer to switch shirts with her. But David had overheard and chastised them both for acting like infants. Jerry and Lenore had exchanged a look and then both turned to David and advanced toward him, prepared to give him a wedgie.
“No, thanks,” Sasha whined. “I’ll just go use a black one, I guess.”
“My children,” Lenore opined. “I’m so proud of them.”
“Could be worse,” Jerry observed as he finished lacing his shoes. “They could have been triplets.”
“Bite your tongue,” Lenore gasped and stood up to take a seat at the score table. “How do you keep score again?”
“I’ll do it.” Sasha was back with a black ball, and apparently, no patience for re-explaining to his mother how to keep score in bowling. “You do this every time,” Sasha grumbled.
“Sounds like someone needs some French fries or a nice glass of Coke or some cheese to go with his whine,” Lenore said as she vacated the seat. “I’m sorry, you two,” she said to Jerry an
d David. “I guess it’s a good thing William didn’t make it. These two would have made him positively miserable.”
“Hey,” Alexei groused. “There’s nothing wrong with me. It’s him,” he said, pointing to his brother. “How about best looking goes first?”
“Deal,” Jerry said and stood up to go first, ignoring the protests the twins launched.
Jerry honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d been bowling, but it was on David’s list. Plus, it did give them more time to spend with Lenore and the twins. They’d formed something of an extended family over the years. Sasha and Alexei felt as much like his kids as William and Cory did. They were really good boys… or young men… and adored their mother and father, and they were good students to boot.
He concentrated, lining up his thumb with the center pin, just like his gym teacher had taught him all those years ago. Jerry had no idea if this was even an acceptable technique, but it was the only one he knew, so that’s the one he’d use. He let his arm descend to his side, took three long strides and brought his arm forward… let go of the ball… follow through… and lean to the right. Perfect. Or it would have been if he’d knocked down more than the two pins on the right.
He waited for his ball and concentrated. See the pins. Be the ball. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t work this time either, but it was better than thinking about molesting David in the men’s room—which was where his mind usually went when he was bored.
His ball arrived and he picked it up, repeating the same steps. He stayed down in the lunge until the ball knocked off only one more pin. He stood, looked at Sasha, and tried to save face. “Hope you can count that high,” he said with a sneer. Sasha just shook his head and laughed.
“Good try, good try,” David called from his seat. “You’ll get ’em next time, tiger.” David was barely containing his laughter, so Jerry walked over and sat beside him, reaching out and putting his hand, claw-like, over his husband’s knee.
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