Kev took Amtrak up one weekend in March. He’d rented a car, but Will ended up doing most of the driving despite not being twenty-five. Kev had a license but he rarely drove, and didn’t think he’d been behind the wheel in at least four or five years. Will hadn’t since winter break, but that still made him a whole lot less rusty and he’d passed the driving exam less than two years earlier. Will had to take his laptop, and the weather still wasn’t great, but they stayed at a romantic little inn and spent most of the weekend in bed, exploring what Will did and didn’t like .
Will went home for Easter, and went to Kev’s for a couple of days mid-week. He figured his mom must know he was seeing someone by now, but she didn’t say anything when he left to catch the bus.
Since the first romantic weekend had gone so well they decided to try another one at the end of April, just before Will was so busy with exams and papers and final projects that it would be hopeless to try to do it. Kev had mentioned Montreal as a possibility, since Will was legal to drink in Canada and they could hit a bar or two, but it was just too long a drive for the amount of time they had, and Kev picked another nice little inn near a couple of wineries. They ate dinner in the inn’s restaurant on Friday night. The food was good, if a little fancier than Will was used to, and the cute young waiter was more than a little flirty. He was friendly to both of them but he paid a lot more attention to Will. When they went up to their room Kev said, “He’s cute.”
“He is.”
“If he’s still giving off those vibes tomorrow you could have a little fun.” Will opened his mouth to say, “No way,” but didn’t get that far before Kev continued, “Or bring him up here to play if he’s willing.”
That sounded kind of appealing. “Maybe. You’ve done that before?”
“Yeah, a few times. Never as a regular thing.”
“What’s it like?”
“Hot as hell. Lots of fun. Potentially messy. Emotionally, a little…”
“Distant?” Will supplied. He loved the connection he and Kev had when they made love. Sex without it seemed kind of beside the point.
“No, the opposite actually, sometimes almost too much. Which is one of the things that can make it a little fraught, but if everyone’s on the same page and cool with it, it can be good.”
“I’ll see how I feel about it tomorrow. In the meantime,” Will looked at Kev and grinned, “can we do that ‘topping from the bottom’ thing again?”
Will loved having Kev inside him, but he was rapidly becoming a fan of being inside Kev. Especially with Kev telling him what to do.
They didn’t go very far with the rental car the next day, because Kev was being cautious about having Will drive since he wasn’t officially on the agreement and it would probably have been complicated to get him on it. They had the same waiter, and he was even flirtier. When Kev went to the bathroom, he cleared the dishes from their entrees and left a folded paper cocktail napkin in front of Will. Inside was scrawled “Hunter” with a phone number and “Call me, you’re cute.”
Will showed it quickly to Kev when he was pretty sure Hunter wasn’t looking. Kev murmured in his ear, “After dessert I’ll go up to the room if you want to give that guy a buzz and see what he’d be up for. And I’m fine if he doesn’t want to come up and you want a little fun.”
“Well, I’ll call him. Seems kind of a pity not to with that kind of invitation.”
They ordered dessert and coffee, and when Kev went upstairs Will strolled outside and called the number on the napkin.
“Hunter’s cell phone.”
“Hi, is this Hunter? It’s Will, the guy from the table. My boyfriend and I were just having dinner.”
“Oh, it’s you, cutie-pie. Are you alone?”
“I’m outside. He went upstairs.”
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you around by the side entrance. I’ll bring a bottle of wine.”
“Sure,” said Will, kind of bemused. He called Kev, “I’m meeting him, so I’ll be a little bit.”
“Sounds good, whenever you come up.”
Will walked around to the side entrance. A few minutes later Hunter appeared. True to his word, he had a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses in hand. He looked around furtively, “I have some side work, but I didn’t get a break so we should be good for a few minutes. My car’s over here.”
Will followed him to a battered compact. Hunter hit the unlock on his keychain and they slid into the front seat. Hunter pulled a corkscrew out of his glove box and worked the cork out of the neck of the bottle. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a glass, and I noticed you didn’t have any at dinner.”
“I’m nineteen,” said Will, “so it’s going to be a couple of years.”
“I’m still twenty,” said Hunter, “they completely don’t care here. Especially since you’re a hotel guest. Is the old guy you were with a pain about that or did he at least get a bottle for the room?”
“Nah, neither of us are big drinkers.”
“Well, at least you got a couple of nice meals and a hotel room out of him.” He poured some of the wine into the glasses.
“Just a little for me.”
“Sure?”
“Yeah, I’m really not that much into it.”
“Suit yourself.” Hunter took a deep gulp out of his own glass and kissed Will, who wasn’t entirely sure what he thought of this encounter, but liked the take-charge way Hunter was pressing him into the door. Hunter put his glass in a cup holder. “How long do we have? Where does your date think you are?”
“Downstairs, meeting you,” said Will. “We have an open relationship.”
“Really?” Hunter pulled away a little. “He doesn’t think you’re bringing me upstairs, does he?”
Will was feeling a little impatient. Cute and flirty as Hunter had been before, this wasn’t how he’d envisioned things going. “If,” he emphasized the word deliberately, “you wanted to. I’m getting the impression you don’t.”
“Oh, god no. I’m sure he’s generous, but no wrinklies for me. More power to you, but I’d rather not have to close my eyes and pretend every time I give a blowjob.”
Will took a deep breath. “It’s not like that.”
Hunter looked stunned. “He turns you on? Seriously?”
“Seriously. He’s my boyfriend. We’re together because I want to be with him, not because he takes me nice places.”
Hunter shrugged and picked up his glass. “Okay. Give me a minute and I’ll blow you.”
Will sighed. “Nah. Thanks anyway.” He leaned over and gave Hunter a quick peck on the cheek, putting his glass down in the cup holder.
Kev was lying on the bed reading a magazine when Will let himself into the room. “That didn’t take long,” he said. “Guy didn’t stand you up, did he?”
“No,” said Will. “Didn’t really work out.”
“Well, I noticed you’re alone, so I’m guessing he didn’t want to come up.”
“No.”
“That’s okay. If you really want to try a threesome we can look for someone who’s into it.”
“Maybe.” He paused and blurted out, “He thought I’m here with you because you’re nice to me. Take me places, buy me stuff.”
“Oh,” said Kev thoughtfully. “Some people are going to think that. You’re a good-looking kid and you’re obviously a lot younger than I am. I don’t think that, if it’s worrying you.”
“No. A little maybe.”
“I’m not rich, but I’ve worked hard for a long time and I get to enjoy things like this hotel. I do like sharing experiences with you, but you’d be out of luck on expensive presents.”
Will laughed. “I definitely don’t want any. I feel bad because I’m not splitting the cost of this place.”
“Will, you’re a college student. It wouldn’t be fair of me to expect you to, but I’m too old to spend the weekend in the kind of places you could afford to pick up half of.”
“Yeah, I just hate the
idea of people thinking I’m with you because of what you can do for me, not because I want you.”
Kev shrugged. “Don’t let it bother you. The same people are probably thinking I’m with you because you’re cute, not because you’re smart and funny and insightful and you don’t make me feel old most of the time.”
“I don’t?”
“You don’t.” Kev folded Will into his arms and said, “I care about you very much.”
Will just let himself be held for a minute and then, “I love you.”
Kev let out a deep sigh and rocked Will in his arms, burying his nose in Will’s hair, then very quietly, “Me too, kiddo. I love you too.”
Chapter Ten
The month of May was kind of a blur, and Will didn’t see much of Kev. They managed one weekend in Kev’s apartment, eating take-out because Will was glued to his laptop. They briefly went over to Jase’s so Kev could blow out the wax six and one Jase had stuck in a bakery cake, even though Kev’s actual birthday wasn’t until Thursday. The cake was good, and Will felt sorry for Jase who had only a tiny sliver with the icing scraped off, but he was glad the man was listening to his dietary restrictions.
Jase gave Kev a couple of shirts and a gift card that Kev hid under the shirts, blushing. Will figured it could be for porn, but was more likely for sex toys. Kev claimed that his collection wasn’t really extensive, but Will had been impressed enough, and they’d had fun with some of it.
Will got him a small bottle of Lagerfeld Classic, because he needed something from a store that he’d spent actual money on. Then he handed over what he thought of as the real present, with more than a little trepidation. He didn’t always carry a sketchbook, unlike some art students he knew, but he’d brought it with him on the last weekend they’d spent together. Will had woken up first, and had spent some time sketching Kev while he slept. He’d offered to pose before, but Will had been feeling self-conscious about it. Will had felt much more relaxed with a slumbering Kev, and he’d been pretty happy with his work. He’d carefully cut the best of those sketches out of the book and matted it. He’d have framed it, but there wasn’t a frame shop convenient to his school and it would have made the thing much heavier.
Now Kev unwrapped it and said, “Kid, that’s beautiful. I know I don’t look like that, but that’s what you see?”
“Yeah,” said Will.
Jase peered over Kev’s shoulder. “You do look like that, you know. It’s a beautiful picture, Will.”
“Thanks,” said Will.
“Thank you,” said Kev, kissing him. “I’ll show the full depths of my appreciation later.”
* * * *
Will walked into the kitchen on the last Saturday in June. His mom was making coffee. He walked over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Hey mom, I’m off to the city for the weekend. I’ll be back sometime Monday.”
“You’re not working?”
“Requested off.”
“You’re staying at your friend’s?”
“Yeah, I have my phone, and you can call me if you need me. We’ll be at the parade tomorrow, so I might not hear it, but I’ll try to check.”
“Parade?” she questioned, and then obviously remembered, “Oh, that one.”
“Yeah, that one,” said Will with a sigh.
“Well, have a good time,” she said, a little too brightly.
“I will.”
He walked downtown from the Port Authority to Kev’s apartment. They were definitely not planning on any of the “official” events, but they planned to spend the day walking around downtown and get a nice dinner somewhere.
They ended up back at the apartment around ten. Kev flopped onto his couch. “I’m just catching my breath for a few minutes, and then we can go to bed, because I’m not planning on sleeping.”
“Me either.” Will hesitated for a moment and said, “I’m going for teacher certification.”
“Are you?”
“Yeah. I’d like to be in a position to get a job right out of school.” He waited another few seconds, “Maybe in the city.”
Kev straightened up and looked at him directly. “Really?”
“Yeah. I thought about transferring to Pratt if they’d take me, but that just seemed like too much, too soon.” There was no way he was trying to move in with Kev until and unless the other man invited him, and he wanted to be in a position to pay his own bills when that happened.
“Could be, although,” his face softened, “I wouldn’t object to the idea of having you around more. It probably makes more sense to do this slowly, make sure it’s what you want.”
“Yeah,” said Will. “Things change, but I think three years is plenty of time.”
“I’m not retiring at sixty-five,” said Kev, “maybe sixty-seven. More likely seventy or even after that, depending on how I’m doing. They probably won’t hire someone to replace me when I do, but I don’t think they’re in a hurry to get rid of me either. There are advantages to in-house over free-lancers.”
Will nodded. So if he still loved and wanted Kev in three years, which he thought he probably would, they’d have a few years together as equals.
“I’m almost forty-two years older than you, Will. I’d love to think that way about what we have together, but are you sure you even want to start planning in that direction?”
“Yes,” said Will. “What I want in a year or two might be different. What you want might even be different, but I’d like to think we’re going in a direction where we could have that—a commitment, a partnership, whatever you want to call it—if that’s what we still both want.”
Kev nodded slowly. “We could think that way. If and when we come to that point, there are a couple of very serious conversations that we’re going to need to have.”
“I know,” Will agreed. Kev was healthy, but Jase’s heart attack had made him very aware of his own mortality, and neither of them needed to point out that Will was probably going to outlive him by many, many years.
Kev smiled. “Let’s go to bed, kiddo.”
* * * *
They met Jase near the Flatiron building. He had brought a little folding stool because it was still hard for him to stand for that long. They walked uptown a little and found a good place to watch before the parade route filled up too much. This year Will watched the ladies on motorcycles slowly roar down Fifth as he leaned against his boyfriend’s broad chest, Kev’s arm around him.
The End
Some other titles by D.C. Williams
The Unexpected Gifts Series
Skylark
When Nick Met Michael
Acceptance
Unexpected Gifts
Closure
Another Gift
Jim Mastronelli Stories
Mistake-A Leon Story (Crossover with the Unexpected Gifts Series)
Vacancy
Closer Than Brothers/Surprised by Love
Closer than Brothers
Where Least Expected
Call it Forever
Regency Rollicks (Coming Soon from MLR Press)
A Splendid Jape
An Avoncaster Christmas
Wake and Cody
Indian Summer
A Family Christmas for Wake and Cody
End of Summer
Young Adult Titles
Boardwalk
What the Heart Wants: A Pride Story Page 5