Playing It Out Straight

by Andrew McQuinn

  “Scotty?” I muttered as they walked up.

  “Hey Kyle! What’s up?”

  I chuckled and said, “You see it. I forgot you surfed.”

  My eyes darted crazily up and down his lean, toned body. There go my hormones again. I thought about kissing him. I couldn’t help but zone in on the beads of water, wishing I was one of them and could cling to the hairs on his chest or stomach. I reached my hand out to shake his, he took it and pulled me into him.

  “You deserve a hug, not a handshake,” Scotty said.

  AHHHH that beautiful, fantastical, heavenly sweet scent I love and craved so much. How I missed thee and still so present under the salty seawater aroma. This time around I got to live the dream and touch his bare chest. His hand rubbed my back and it relaxed me more than sleep itself. I went to pull back and he held me tighter for a moment before we parted ways.

  “Do you guys have a table for two? My friend and I are starving!”

  “Hi, I’m Laurel,” Laurel said.

  “Where are my manners, Kyle this is my bestie, Laurel.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said.

  “Nice to meet you too, I’ll show you to your seat.”

  I pointed toward a table and he passed. Since our hug I’d forgotten what it meant to breathe. I wished I could turn back time and hug him again. Instead I admired the view of his butt as I watched him walk in front of me. I nearly bumped into Laurel when we reached the table. I kept my cool and pulled out her chair.

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  “You’re welcome. Here are your menus.” I let my hands linger on the tabletop and looked from Scotty’s friend, to him. “Would you guys like to hear about our lunch special?”

  “Sure,” Scotty said.

  “Today we have a hickory-smoked burger, topped with brie cheese, avocado and baby spinach on a toasted bun. With a side of garlic rosemary and fries and, I mean garlic rosemary fries,” I stammered.

  “Well, no need to look any further, that sounds delicious. Medium rare please,” he said.

  “Okay, and for a drink?”

  “Root beer float,” he added, smiling.

  I chuckled. Fitting, I thought to myself. I turned to his friend. “And for you?”

  “I’ll take your Garden of Eden salad and the soup of the day,” she said handing me her menu, I noticed her and Scotty eye each other before she looked at me. “I’ll also take a root beer float.”

  I wrote down both orders and fumbled for their menus. Scotty steadied my hands and assisted in picking up the menus. You’re making a fool of yourself Kyle.

  “Okay thanks, Emilie will bring out your food when it’s ready.”

  “Thank you,” they said.

  My eyes were glued to him like flies to honey. Honey like the color his skin has become since I first met him… Goddamn it Kyle, get a hold of yourself. I nervously looked back at Scotty. Kiss me.

  “You’re welcome,” I said.

  I walked away, my face probably redder than a fire hydrant, and placed their order at the hot line. I managed to make it back to my host stand and leaned against it, waiting for my heartbeat to return to a normal rhythm. I quickly glanced in Scotty’s direction. He was busy talking to Laurel. I looked back out over the beach. Emilie came into view as I snuck another peak at Scotty. She nudged her way behind me and tracked my stare to him.

  “He looks familiar. Who’s he?” She asked behind a grin.

  “Scotty Val—” She interrupted by punching my shoulder. “Ow.” I groaned.

  She stood up and did a double take.

  “Wait, is that Scotty Valentin, like the—” I interrupted her this time.

  “Actor? Yes.”

  “He’s even hotter in person,” she said, turning toward him, leaning against the host stand.

  “And gay,” I murmured.

  Emilie spun around fast, hitting my shoulder again. I rubbed it.

  “Get out!” she squeaked. “You know he’s been checking you out?”

  I hesitated, dropping my pen. “Nuh uh,” I said like a brat.

  “Yes huh.” Then a smirk crept up on her pretty face as the realization hit her. “Wait a gosh darn minute, you were talking to a guy named Scotty earlier. That’s him isn’t it, the actor you like.” She grinned.

  “What’s him?” I mumbled.

  “Him.”

  “Him who?”

  “Don’t play dumb. Scotty. He’s your crush. Nice pick.”

  Before I could defend myself, she grinned and pushed off the stand. I pondered over what Emilie said. Could it be true, was he really checking me out? I looked over to Scotty just in time to see him look away. My mind wandered to things I’d rather be doing now. Time slowly passed. I showed a few more people to their seats and returned to the host stand where Scotty and his friend stood waiting for me.

  “Emilie said this is where we pay for our meal now?” Scotty said.

  I looked over his shoulder at her; she knew they paid at the table. She blew me a kiss and started clearing their dishes. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Scotty and his friend.

  “Yes, did you enjoy your meal?” I asked.

  “Very much! When do you get out of work?” Scotty asked.

  I checked my phone. “Ten minutes, give or take if you don’t mind waiting.”

  “Sure, we just have to drop our boards off and I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you here,” I said, handing him back his credit card.

  “Cool.” Scotty grinned wide.

  We said our goodbyes as I moved on to the next customers who were waiting to be seated. I sat them then met with the evening host before heading to the staff lounge to grab my skateboard. I turned in my timecard and headed down the hall toward Mr. Morison—Joe’s—office.

  “Hey Joe, I’m heading out for the afternoon.”

  “Okay, thanks for filling in Kyle.”

  “No problem,” I said, turning to leave.

  “Kyle, can I ask you something before you leave?”

  I stopped and turned back to face Joe. “Sure, what’s up?”

  “I don’t mean to be out of line asking this but,” he paused hesitating. “Who’s the guy you were talking to a little while ago?”

  “His name is Scotty, he’s just a friend, why?”

  “No reason. Have a good rest of your day off.”

  “Thanks Joe. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I replied.

  I turned back toward the hall and braced myself against the wall for a moment. I looked down the hall and into the restaurant and saw Emilie staring back at me. I sat my skateboard on the floor and pushed off with my right foot and didn’t stop until I was next to her.

  “Do I come across gay?” I asked Emilie.

  “Not really. You’re an old soul, you view the world differently, and make having a sweet, sensitive demeanor, seem easy. Why do you ask?”

  “Just wondering, I’m sorry to bail on you today.”

  “I’m wondering why you’re still standing here talking to me,” she paused to look at Scotty who stood outside. “When you have him waiting for you. Get out there. Don’t keep your man waiting,” Emilie teased, as she shooed me toward the door.

  “He’s not my man,” I replied.

  “Yet,” she added.

  Scotty grinned wide the moment I reached the entrance. He had donned a pair of white board shorts with an orange embroidered leaf pattern down one side. They fell just below his knees, and he wore one of those flowy Hawaiian shirts, which hung over his shoulders, and ruffled open in the breeze.

  “It’s a thirty-minute walk to my place if you want to walk. Unless you have plans, or something,” I said.

  “My only plan for the rest of the day is to see you. I’m in no hurry,” he replied.

  I picked up my skateboard; and we started walking down the Ocean Front Walk toward my place.

  “Can you do any tricks?” Scotty asked eyeing my board.

  “Not really, I tried doing an ollie t
his morning, but it didn’t turn out so hot.” I replied showing him the scrape on my right knee.

  “Looks painful.” He winced.

  “It’s nothing,” I shrugged. “I’m used to it. I’m kind of a klutz. Besides you must fall and pick yourself back up a few times before you learn, right?”

  Scotty laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

  “I know you just ate but are you up for pizza, I’m starving.”

  “Sure”

  Before I knew it, we had reached Oakwood Ave and were by our back gate. Scotty followed me up the granite steps and through the back door.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.”

  I sprinted up the stairs and darted sharply left and ran down the hall to my room. I threw the door open and rolled my skateboard under the bed, changed into more beach appropriate clothing, squirted some cologne on, then dashed back out slamming the door behind me. Dad stood at the top of the stairs, looking at me as I came bounding down the hall.

  “Someone’s in a hurry,” he said, stating the obvious.

  “Got caught up at work, starving.”

  “Work?”

  “Yeah Joe needed some help, a cruise ship is in today.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yeah,” I dragged out. “Scotty and I are going to get some pizza. I’ll be back later.” I turned toward the stairs.

  “Scotty’s here?” Dad asked.

  “Hi Mr. McKinley,” Scotty said from the bottom of the stairs.

  “Hey Scotty. Where are you going?”

  I shrugged and leaned against the wall. Awkward silence. Slowly I took a step down.

  “Okay see you later.”

  I turned back to Scotty and ran down the stairs. I got lost in his perfect, slightly crooked smile. He looked so casual and at ease. Time seemed to slow the moment we stood next to each other. Scotty’s eyes darted up and down, and I did the same. Every bone in my body said to place my hand behind his head and pull him in for a kiss. A chance to taste his lips or feel his touch. Instead I opened the door and stared at his butt when he walked out first.

  “Where do you want to go?” I asked.

  “Let’s head back to my car. I know a nice spot on the other side of town. It’s about an hour away from rush hour so we should go ASAP.”

  § § § §

  The parking lot was littered with a variety of cars, some with surf boards protruding out of their back seats in different angles. It’d been a while since I last saw Scotty’s Jeep, so when we started heading away from what I thought was his Jeep and toward a fancier car I was surprised. It wasn’t the kind of car I pictured him driving.

  “Where’s the Jeep?”

  “I gave it to my sister.”

  “Oh, you don’t seem like a convertible kind of guy.”

  “I’m not, it was a present from my agent. I think after he bought it his wife wouldn’t allow him to drive it, so he gave it to me. Not really the car you drive when you have kids.”

  He climbed into the driver’s seat of a brand new, bright red Viper convertible, the top was down, and his surfboard was wedged precariously behind his seat. I started to walk to the passenger door, when I noticed the color of the car changed with each step. I stopped and took a step back. First it was red then orange, and yellow before turning red again. Hot and fiery, like colors in my recurring dream. I heard Scotty giggle as I continued dancing the cha-cha.

  “What are you doing?” Scotty asked.

  “Your car, it changes color.”

  “Oh, it’s a chameleon car.”

  “Chameleon car?”

  “Well the paint is. It changes color based on the sun and angle. It can either be red, orange, yellow, or a combination of the three. That’s the only feature I picked out. I’ve always wanted the paint job.”

  “Fancy,” I said. Then I notice something sparkle in the light near his tires and saw metal spin smoothly in the wind.

  “Those would be the spinning rims or rotating rims, not sure what they’re called, just what they do.”

  I laughed. “Is there anything your car doesn’t have?” I asked getting in and buckling up. I noticed his surfboard wasn’t so precarious after all, it was strapped down.

  “Not really. A few buddies of mine build subs for cars so they hijacked it the other day and pimped it out as they like to say. They installed sub-woofers in the trunk. One said it increased the sound or something, I don’t know. I guess this upholstery is fancy so no getting sick,” he jested, playfully punching my shoulder. He revved the engine and shifted the gear into first. For some reason it turned me on to watch him do this. He looked back over to me and continued to speak, “What do you have for a car?” he asked pulling away.

  “You saw it,” I said referring to my skateboard. We lived such different lives, I had to remind myself Scotty wasn’t much older than I was.

  “So, what does this do, go from zero-to-sixty in thirty seconds flat?” I joked.

  “Want to find out?” Scotty edged.

  My heart skipped a beat as he looked over and flashed a grin.

  “Yeah and what, get arrested.”

  “I doubt that would happen.”

  “I wish I knew how to drive a standard,” I mumbled to myself as I watched Scotty change gears.

  “Standards can be fun to drive once you get the hang of it. I’ll teach you sometime.”

  “Cool,” I said. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. “You know, I’ve never ridden in a convertible before. I love it. Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see, relax and enjoy the ride.”

  We beat the rush hour by minutes. I relaxed and let the breeze cool me.

  “So…” I mumbled.

  I hoped he remembered his promise and would continue our conversation. You know, the one where I was about to come out and was interrupted by a phone call… Yeah that moment. I knew I had just as much power to start the conversation, but by this point I was relying on Scotty for guidance.

  “Yes?” Scotty dragged out.

  “Do you have your eye on anyone?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  My heart dropped. “Oh.”

  I looked away, the sudden urge to cry overpowered. There was my answer, he isn’t into me.

  “Where are we?” I asked changing the subject.

  “Nice try, just lay your head back.”

  “It’s like you’re taking me on a damn date,” I griped as I turned toward Scotty. I glanced up at him; he looked down at me.

  “Maybe I am,” he said. Instantly chills erupted inside of my stomach and traveled up my back, only to intensify more and move to my heart when I saw blush fill Scotty’s cheeks. “We’re here.”

  It’s about time.

  I peered around and saw nothing but beach and palm trees and a small grassy patch with a few picnic tables. Behind us was a cluster of buildings. The surf shop caught my eye. The bright turquoise exterior wasn’t hard to miss. Next to the shop was the pizza joint. An orange neon sign in the window blinked sporadically letting us know it was open. I reached for the handle when Scotty stopped me.

  “I hope you don’t mind, I ordered while we were at your place. They have the best pizza in town!”

  “Um, okay. What did you get?”

  “The Dude.” I looked at him like he’d just spoken Spanish. “Baby spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic olive oil, and mozzarella cheese. All fresh, organic ingredients.”

  “Organic?” I mused.

  Scotty rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right back,” he said.

  I reclined the seat back until I bumped into his surfboard. I looked out over the water, closed my eyes, and relaxed to the sound of wave’s crashing on the shore and allowed warm sun to bathe me in heat.

  Wow, I can’t believe it. “I’m really hanging out with him, now that he’s here, I can finally tell him,” I paused, realizing I was thinking out loud and smelled the ominous aroma of garlic.

  “Tell me what?” Scotty asked,
setting the pizza on the hood.

  “Nothing, where are we going to eat?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care. Want to eat on the beach? Or there’s a park down the road. It’s nice there. Whatever you want to do.”

  “I really don’t care you pick.” I knew the answer before he even said it.

  “The beach,” Scotty confirmed.

  He grabbed the pizza and walked toward the beach. I fumbled with the handle and opted to quickly jump over the passenger door and followed him to one of the picnic tables.

  “Looks like you’re capable of jumping over the door after all,” Scotty said with a wink before grabbing a slice of pizza.

  “How can you still be hungry?” I asked after his third slice.

  He shrugged. “I dunno,” he muffled through a full mouth before he swallowed. “Just am.”

  We finished off the small pizza and sat in silence watching the wave’s crash. The sun had begun its journey toward the horizon, casting a glow onto the clouds drifting above. By the height of the sun I guessed it was around four o’clock.

  Scotty was lost in the ocean and looked so serene. I gazed at him, and after a moment became lost myself. He had the most beautiful smile and set of eyes I’d ever seen. I wanted to compliment him but wondered if it would come across as me hitting on him. I couldn’t help soaking up every detail I could as though I were saving if for tonight’s dreams. He’s interested in someone else, this you know. It isn’t me or he’d have made a move already, right? Unless he’s waiting for me to come out.

  Gah, why is this so difficult?

  Ever since we first met, I longed to know what it would feel like to kiss those lips, or the look in his eyes when the sun greeted us with a brand-new day. Why was I so consumed by the idea of a first kiss?

  The longer I stared at Scotty, the more I realized he wasn’t perfect at all. No one was when you get right down to it. Perfection doesn’t exist. Not even in nature. Still there were people out there who appeared flawless. Scotty wasn’t one of those people. While he had a leading man smile, I noticed the top row of his teeth were ever-so-slightly crooked and he had a chipped tooth on the bottom row. His ears were adorably larger than most, and he was in desperate need of a haircut, but he pulled off the straggled beach bum appearance. I had to remind myself; he’s only human, besides he still had this hold on me.