Dreamspinner Press Years One & Two Greatest Hits

by J. M. Colail

  “He punched you?” I asked. I turned his face to the side and saw the red mark left by his father’s fist. “Are you okay? How could he? I’m so sorry!”

  “It’s okay. I’ll be all right,” he reassured me, brushing the hair from my eyes with a gentle smile on his face. “It was the first time my dad ever hit me,” he added, looking down, his smile gone. “So, I left right after that. I didn’t know what to do, so I went to get a bite to eat and then….”

  “Why didn’t you call me or come over?”

  “It was early and I didn’t want to bother you. Plus I knew you had to work today.”

  “So? You still should’ve….”

  “I know. I’m sorry. But after that, I started looking for an apartment. I went to a lot of places, but I found one I liked, and I actually signed a lease. I can move in this weekend.”

  I stared at Wesley with wide eyes. His own place? “But how can you afford it?”

  “Well, I’m working full-time and I’ve actually been saving up for this for a while. I’ve got enough for the security deposit and a few months rent, but, Toren.” He paused and looked at me for a long moment. “Toren, I want you to think about this carefully and I don’t need an answer right now. I just want you to really think about it. I… I want us to live together. I want you to move in with me.”

  I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? It wasn’t that I didn’t want to live with him; it just seemed like it was too soon. Everything was happening so fast. I loved him, I didn’t have any doubt about that, but we’d only been going out for a few months. I didn’t say anything.

  Wesley watched my reaction and he seemed a little disappointed. “So, just think about it, okay?”

  I nodded my head and Wesley touched my face with his fingertips. I took a deep breath and Wesley kissed me gently. He stared into my eyes and for some reason, my tears began to collect again. He wiped them away with his thumb and then tilted my chin up.

  “Let’s go to bed,” he whispered.

  I closed my eyes and blushed. “Wesley.”

  “We don’t have to do it. I just wanna be close to you. I wanna hold you in my arms right now.” He buried his face in my chest and he was breathing hard. He wasn’t crying, but he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I know that sounded lame, but that’s all I want right now. I just want to be as close to you as I can.”

  I held his head to my chest. That was all I wanted too. I stood up and held my hand out to him. I led him to my room and we lay in my bed, pressed close, with all our clothes on. We didn’t talk; we just felt each other’s warmth and closeness. We stayed there until Alycia came home around nine-thirty. We told her what happened as I made a late dinner for the three of us.

  “Do you have a place to stay ’til you can move in?” Alycia asked. Wesley shook his head as he slurped up a strand of spaghetti. “Oh, why don’t you stay here ’til then? I’m sure Mom won’t mind.”

  I called Mom at work and asked if Wesley could sleep over. She said it was okay and I laid out a comforter and pillows on the floor. My bed was too small, but we could sleep next to each other on the floor. I told him that my mom checked in on me each night when she got home and I made him promise that we would innocently sleep side-by-side. Wesley grudgingly agreed and after Mom checked in on us, he pulled me into his arms, our bodies tangled, and we fell asleep again.

  Chapter 20

  I WOKE with Wesley’s lips pressed against mine. I blinked groggily and smiled. I really liked waking up to Wesley. He was leaning down over me, wearing the T-shirt and shorts he wore yesterday. He had some coarse whiskers on his chin and he kissed me again, tickling my cheek.

  “I gotta go to work, but I’ll be back around six tonight,” he whispered.

  “You’re leaving already? Did you eat breakfast?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. Wesley shook his head. “I’ll make you something,” I said, sitting up.

  Wesley pushed me back down with his lips. “Nah, I gotta get going. Besides, it’s your day off, so sleep in,” he said, sitting back on his heels.

  “Okay,” I agreed easily. “Have a good day.”

  “I will. I love you,” he said, standing up.

  “I love you too,” I answered, turning to my side and falling asleep.

  When I woke up again, it was after eleven. I yawned loudly and looked around my room, up at my bed, then at the T-shirt Wesley borrowed. I remembered waking up when he left, but my mind was fuzzy.

  Mom was making breakfast in her pajamas. I poured her a cup of coffee and told her to sit down while I put on the apron that was still hanging in the pantry. Mom kissed my forehead and sat down at the kitchen table, resting her head in her hands. She had bags under her eyes and her skin was pale. She looked as exhausted as I felt. I set down a plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs in front of her and returned to the kitchen to fix my own.

  “How’s Wes doing?” she asked, after a long, loud yawn. “Did he have work today?”

  “Yeah. He’s doing okay, I think. Actually, I’m not sure. His dad kicked him out of the house yesterday.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous!” Mom said, furrowing her eyebrows in disbelief.

  “Well, he found an apartment. He signed the lease yesterday. So, I guess he’s kinda okay with it. He said he’d been saving up money to move out for a long time,” I explained, sitting down next to Mom at the kitchen table. It was kinda funny; we never ate at the table except at holidays. “I’m not sure if everything has really sunk in yet, though. He’s really angry with his parents, but he didn’t really get along with them anyway.”

  Mom studied my face quietly for a moment. “He’s probably putting on the tough act for you,” she said.

  She was right. He kept telling me that it would be okay. He was comforting me. But his parents threw him out; they abandoned him. He needed someone to tell him that it would be okay. I felt terribly guilty. He needed me to be strong for him and I was selfishly concerned with my own fears.

  “When’s he moving in?”

  “This weekend. But, he doesn’t have a place to stay ’til then, so… is it okay if he stays here?”

  “Of course. He’s welcome here.” Mom said. Her motherly instinct asserted itself, taking Wesley in as one of her own. “Still, I can’t believe his parents threw him out. That’s just…. It doesn’t make any sense!”

  I smiled. Mom was defensive for Wesley. It made me feel good that he was so easily accepted into our family. Even if his parents did turn their backs on him, he had somewhere he could come home to.

  Alycia woke up just as Mom left for work. Alycia kissed Mom good-bye, then sat down on the sofa and turned the TV on.

  “Tor, make me some breakfast,” she ordered with a raspy voice.

  “Sorry, too late,” I said. The dishes were done and the pans were clean. “Besides, it’s after lunch. Have a bowl of cereal or wait for dinner.”

  Alycia grunted in response and switched channels. She always had trouble waking up and wasn’t the most pleasant person in the morning. She was bossy and loud, but kind and caring. It was easy to forget that she was my little sister. She seemed so mature and knowledgeable about some things that I just didn’t have a clue about. I was lucky to have her, even if she was a slave driver.

  “Hey, Alycia? Can I talk to you?”

  “Oh my God, you’re pregnant,” she mocked, feigning astonishment and glancing at me over her shoulder.

  I rolled my eyes and sat down on the couch. “C’mon, I’m being serious.”

  “All right, all right,” she conceded, turning toward me and resting her arm on the top of the sofa. I swallowed hard and she looked at me with upturned brows. “Is something wrong? Are you all right?”

  “Oh, yeah. Everything’s okay,” I reassured her. “It’s just that Wesley asked me to move in with him.”

  Alycia stared at me, as if waiting for something more. She held her hands up, palms open. “And? What, you need help moving in?”

  “No. I…. Well
, don’t you think it’s kinda soon? I mean, we’ve only been going out about four months and the apartment is only one bedroom, so don’t you think people’ll think it’s strange? For two guys to be living in a one-bedroom apartment? It’s not that….”

  “So that’s what this is all about,” Alycia said, shaking her head. “I thought you came out already. It’s not living with Wes; it’s what people think about it. Didn’t we go over this before? Tor, who gives a damn what other people think? The question is: do you want to live with him?”

  I looked at the floor and squeezed my hands together. Was she right? Is that why I felt so nervous?

  “Okay, let’s figure this out,” Alycia continued, placing her hands on her knees and looking at me with a serious expression. “You like being with Wes, don’t you?” I nodded. “And you like having dinner with him and watching TV and doing stuff together, right?” I nodded again. “You like waking up with him in the morning, don’t you?” I blushed, but nodded. “And you love him, right?”

  “With all my heart.”

  “Then, you’ve already got your answer,” Alycia said conclusively with a smile on her face. “Besides, you have to think about Wes. This isn’t a choice for him. He has to do this because of his stupid parents. And even though he acts tough, he’s probably scared. He needs you, by his side, reminding him why he’s doing this and why everything’ll be okay.”

  She was right. Of course, she was right. I’d been worried about what other people would think and if we were moving too fast, when Wesley’s whole world was just turned upside-down. I was embarrassed by how selfish I was being.

  “So, you need help packing?” she asked, grinning.

  “Yeah, I guess I do,” I said, leaning forward and hugging her. She was my little sister and she knew more about life than I did.

  “But, you still have one more obstacle,” she said ominously. “Trying to convince Mom.”

  I DECIDED to make something special for dinner and I ran to the store to buy some salmon filets. I placed them in a two-hour marinade and went to my room. I looked around and decided that I needed to take everything with me. Except my bed. But Wesley only had a single bed too. Maybe I would have to take my bed. But would there be enough room? The apartment was just down the street, a block or two away, but I didn’t know anyone who lived there, so I didn’t have any idea how big the rooms were.

  As I looked around my room, I realized how much stuff we would need to buy. There was an old sofa and two end tables in the storage unit in the basement that Mom saved for me, so that was a start. But, we would need a kitchen table, chairs, pots and pans, dishes…. There was so much. I had about seven hundred dollars in my bank account, but that wouldn’t be enough for all the stuff we needed. I was working full-time now, but I would have to cut my hours when school started. How was this going to work out?

  Wesley came back a little after six. He knocked before he let himself in and I ran out to greet him, drying my hands on a dishcloth. He was wearing his navy work shirt and pants, streaked with grease, and he had his book bag over his shoulder. He looked really cute in his work clothes. There was just something about a man in uniform that turned me on. But, it wasn’t really a uniform. Maybe it was the grease-monkey look? Then again, it was probably just Wesley.

  “Hi! Welcome back! You know, you didn’t have to knock,” I said, smiling shyly.

  Wesley stood just inside the door, smiling and blushing lightly. “I kinda felt like I should.”

  “Don’t be silly. Did you have a good day? Oh, dinner’ll be ready in about half an hour,” I said, walking toward him, but he still stood just inside the door with a silly grin on his face. I stopped and felt my cheeks redden under his gaze. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “No, nothing. This is just… really nice,” he said, scratching the back of his head and looking down and to the side.

  “Well, get used to it,” Alycia said, walking out of her room carrying a full laundry basket.

  “What?” Wesley asked with raised eyebrows, looking at Alycia, then at me. “Is she serious?”

  “Yeah,” I murmured, nodding my head timidly.

  “That means…. Really?” A smile brightened his face and he exhaled like he had been holding his breath. “I can’t believe it,” he said, dropping his book bag and walking toward me. “I’m so happy.”

  “Hey, don’t get all lovey-dovey yet, you two. You still have to convince Mom,” Alycia warned, then looked Wesley up and down. “I’m gonna do some wash. Want me to throw those in?” she asked, looking at his grease-stained clothes.

  “Yeah, if you don’t mind,” he agreed, picking up his book bag.

  “Well? What are you waiting for?” Alycia asked playfully.

  I knew the look on Wesley’s face and my cheeks flared.

  “Oh, sorry,” he answered, accepting the challenge. He pulled his shirt forward over his head and dropped it in the laundry basket. He then took off his pants and dropped them on top. “Thanks,” he said with a voice certain of victory.

  Wesley stood at the door, wearing his boxers, white socks, and a grin. Alycia and I both blushed, Wesley chuckled, and then Alycia glanced at me, laughed, and went on her way to the laundry room. Wesley picked up his book bag again and started down the hall to my room.

  “I can’t believe you did that!” I shouted, chasing after him.

  In my room, Wesley turned to me and drew the waistband of his boxers away from his stomach. “Don’t worry, this is just for you.” Then he stepped close and wrapped his arms around me. “Is it true? Are you really gonna move in with me?”

  I brought my hands around his back and brushed my fingertips over his shoulder blades. “I love you. So I wanna live with you.”

  Wesley hugged me tight and kissed me deeply. My knees felt weak and my body responded to his closeness. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm myself, but Wesley already had his hand down my pants. I bit my lip as I clung to him.

  “No, Wesley. Don’t. Alycia is….” Wesley leaned hard into me and I felt him against my lower belly. He moved his hand slowly and thumbed the tip expertly, quickly melting my resistance.

  “You already got pre-cum. Wanna do it?” he asked, slowing his hand and nibbling my lower lip. The sensation rippled through my body and it was hard to say no.

  “Wesley, we can’t. Just this.” I pulled his waistband away and took him in my hand. “Kiss me,” I whispered, hoping his lips could stifle the moan in my throat.

  Wesley came before me, just by a few seconds, and my confidence swelled. We had done stuff like this plenty of times, and even though I knew the sounds of Wesley’s pleasure, I always felt a little nervous that I wasn’t doing it right or good enough. But the proof was on my T-shirt and I smiled triumphantly at him.

  “Oh man, now I gotta change my shirt,” I said, holding the hem out. In the back of my mind, I was embarrassed because Alycia would know we did something because I had to change my clothes.

  “Sorry,” Wesley breathed heavily, satisfactorily. He put his book bag on the bed and pulled out a pair of shorts and a shirt. “I went home before work,” he said, stepping into the shorts. “I just hoped that my parents both left for work before I got there, and fortunately, they did. Oh, and don’t worry about helping me move my stuff. I know you probably don’t wanna go to my house, and honestly, I don’t know what my parents would do. I’ll get a buddy of mine to help me out.”

  “Oh, okay,” I answered. I hadn’t actually thought about it, but I was glad that Wesley did. I didn’t know what to do about his parents. Just thinking about it made me nervous. Wesley was watching me and I smiled shyly. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, stepping close again. “But, just so you’re warned…. You’re gonna get fucked raw that first night.”

  I blushed, but Wesley had this uncanny ability to bring out the salacious devil in me. “Promise?”

  Chapter 21

  I WOKE up around eleven and I sat in bed, going over w
hat I was going to say to Mom. Wesley left for work early and Alycia worked the morning shift. I got out of bed, poured a bowl of cereal, and waited for Mom to get up.

  I put the TV on and I rehearsed the conversation with Mom again. She had been so understanding and supportive, but I was nervous about this. Moving in with Wesley was a huge step forward in our relationship.

  Mom got up around noon, yawning as she poured a cup of coffee. I put my cereal bowl and spoon in the sink and leaned against the counter.

  “Want some breakfast?” I asked.

  “No, I’ll just have some cereal or something,” she said, sipping her coffee and looking in the pantry.

  “It’s no problem. I can make pancakes again, or maybe French toast?”

  “It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m fine,” she answered, walking into the living room. She fell back on the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment.

  I sat down beside her and handed her the remote. She put on one of the news stations and we sat silently for a couple minutes. My hands were clammy and my heart was beating furiously.

  “Mom? I, um, I want to move in with Wesley.”

  Mom looked at me over the rim of her coffee cup. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

  “I… don’t know. Both, I guess.” I couldn’t look at her though I felt her staring at me.

  “I knew this was coming,” she said quietly, as if to herself. She set her mug down on the coffee table.

  “We figured it all out. Even though I can only work part-time when I’m in school, we can still make it. I’ve got about seven hundred dollars saved up and Wesley is working full-time, so….”

  “But, doesn’t it seem… a little too soon?” she asked, folding her hands in her lap.

  “I know, but it’s okay,” I countered unsuccessfully. She was right. It did seem too soon, but I knew I wanted to live with him.