The Lure of Port Stephen

by Sydney Blackburn

  Raj waited for a minute to make sure Wayne was done. The older man growled something inarticulate and stalked away toward the water.

  “Are you okay, Raj?”

  “Yeah, think so. Thanks, Wanda.”

  “Can you walk?”

  He sighed. “I’m good.” He jerked his head in the general direction of the water and winced. “Is he…?”

  “Oh, he’ll be fine. You boys just knocked him for a loop.”

  Raj grunted.

  Raj was nowhere to be seen when Robbie came out. His father was staring at the creek, back to him, arms crossed.

  “Your father just needs some time. If he was a little more observant, this wouldn’t have come as such a shock to him.”

  “Observant?”

  “Well, asking the ‘If I was gay’ question on the boat had me connecting the dots, but it does seem kind of obvious in hindsight. You and Raj, I mean. Right from the day you met, you kept looking at each other so intensely, when you thought no one was looking. I just didn’t…” Her voice was low, and she shrugged. “It just didn’t register. We see what we expect to see.”

  “You really think he doesn’t hate me?”

  “Really.” She gave him a quick hug. Then she frowned at him. “Was this what you and Raj fought about two weeks ago? Oh!” She clearly remembered the condoms and lube remark. “And he still forgave you?”

  Robbie’s face heated up. “I don’t know what he sees in me.”

  “You have your moments. Go take care of him.”

  Robbie dropped his duffel on Raj’s deck and tapped hesitantly on the screen door. Raj pushed it open and sat on the stoop, a ziplock baggie of what looked like frozen peas held to his face.

  Robbie knelt and gave him an awkward hug. “I am so sorry. I’m such a—”

  Raj stopped his words by turning his head and pressing his lips to Robbie’s. It was a tender, gentle kiss but enough to make Robbie’s chest tighten.

  “You don’t have to let me stay,” he said, sliding his fingers over Raj’s other cheek. “I’m such a coward.”

  Raj’s smile was a bit crooked, but he said, “Are you kidding? I’ve been wanting to openly brag about banging you.”

  “Banging?”

  “You know,” Raj said, his eyelids falling half closed. “What we did last Sunday?”

  Cheeks flushed, Robbie turned to the electric cooler and pulled out a bottle of water, handing it to Raj. They hadn’t had penetrative, or what Raj referred to as “porn movie” sex yet. Robbie found he was a lot more hesitant to go that far when sober, and Raj never pressured him, just teased his ass with slippery fingers as if getting him used to the idea. Annoyingly, the lack of pressure from Raj would sometimes have him worrying that maybe Raj didn’t want to, after all.

  “So I’m just a notch on your bedpost, hmm?” He smiled, teasing, but anxiety knotted his stomach. He could only be glad he’d finally told his father. He hoped Raj understood that by introducing him to his parents that way, he wasn’t just coming out—he was sincerely introducing his boyfriend to his parents.

  “Don’t be silly. Notches are for one-night stands. You’re soon to become a three-night stand with hopefully more to follow. Also—my boyfriend.”

  “Even though my father just decked you.”

  Raj grinned. “Not dating him.” He reached behind him and thrust a familiar-sized plastic box into Robbie’s hand. “You left this here,” he added casually.

  Raj supposed he shouldn’t be surprised when he saw Wayne and Wanda’s truck pull into the site on Tuesday night. Wayne was alone. He wondered if he was going to be aggressively encouraged to go back to Toronto.

  He stayed in his chair, sunglasses on, beer in hand, watching nothing in particular.

  “Hey. Mind if I join you?”

  Raj turned towards him. “Depends. I have a lousy dental plan.”

  Wayne was already wincing at the dark-purple bruising on Raj’s face. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to duck?”

  “I was distracted,” he murmured.

  “Had your tongue down my son’s throat,” Wayne grumbled, but he sat and twisted the cap off his beer. “Look I’m sorry I— It would have been different if, like, maybe I’d known at least that you were gay.”

  Raj wisely refrained from mentioning what else he’d had down Robbie’s throat, though it was loud in his head. Instead, he cut his eyes to Wayne and said, “You know a lot of straight guys who would wear a T-shirt that says ‘swallows’?”

  “You’re from Toronto,” Wayne said in exasperation, as if that was an explanation.

  Raj choked and coughed on his beer, leaning forward as the cough became a laugh. When he could talk again, he said, “Since you’re not beating the shit out of me, I assume you’re here to give me the ‘If you hurt him, I’ll kill you’ speech. And to make sure I don’t get him pregnant.” Raj snickered.

  “Look,” Wayne said irritably. “I just took an online crash course on this gay stuff the past two nights, okay? So yeah, I’m doing it wrong; I get it. I thought I was all tolerant and shit, and it turns out, without even trying, I’ve been a dick to my son. No wonder he didn’t want to tell me. And yeah, if you were his girlfriend, instead of his…his boyfriend, I probably wouldn’t be having this talk, but—”

  “It’s okay,” Raj said, holding up a hand as if to stop the flow of words. “My dad is probably going to have the same talk with Robbie. We are our father’s daughters.” He smirked.

  Wayne groaned and leaned forward to put his head in his hands. “Robbie would kill me if he knew I was here.”

  “Have you talked to him…?”

  “Not yet.” He took a deep breath and sighed it out. “I’ll call him tonight. I know what he’s worried about, but first I had to—” He looked up, eyes narrow. “You’re not just toying with him?”

  “I don’t take my toys to meet my parents.” And it was only as Raj said it that he realized that in over a year with Dan, he’d never once thought of taking the cheating bastard to meet his parents. But he’d known Robbie all of six weeks and most definitely wanted his parents’ approval. He was far more invested in this relationship than he really should be.

  Robbie’s phone wolf-whistled at him. It was an annoying ringtone, but it had still amused him to use it for Raj. Every text from Raj was Raj whistling appreciatively at him. Idiot.

  He brushed his fingers across the screen.

  [So. What r u wearing?]

  Robbie grinned. [Clothes] he typed. [At dealership.]

  It whistled again.

  [Won’t send dick pic then.]

  Robbie didn’t need a picture; just the words had him imagining Raj’s dick. He shook his head. He was there to see about leasing a car.

  Between Raj telling him the benefits of leasing over buying, and the luxury he’d experienced while driving a new rental car each weekend, he thought a lease might get him into that ‘something reliable’ vehicle he’d been promising his mother he’d get. He hadn’t been to Brantford to see her since he’d left that last Friday of April, though they talked on the phone a lot.

  Until he’d told her about Raj, she hadn’t asked him when he was coming to visit, only if he’d found a car. Now she nagged him at least once a week; mostly by asking, “When am I going to meet him?”

  He’d been at Ceylon just over three months, which meant he was qualified for benefits, among other things. He knew he had a good credit rating, but he was also young and only employed for a few months.

  The salesman was off crunching numbers and calling the credit companies. The car he’d chosen wasn’t what most guys his age would have wanted; it was what his friends would call a girl’s car, small and, he hated to say, cute. But it was also cheap, and he knew from his weekend rentals that it would sip gas.

  Pondering the details ensured he would be able to talk to the salesman without a Raj-inspired woody, and he sent Raj a reply.

  [l8r, pls]

  “Well, Mr. Wales, everything looks good. We�
�ll need to confirm your employment, but it looks like you may have your own little Versa.”

  Robbie managed not to flinch at the word little. Another nice thing about a lease was that, when it was up, if his situation had improved, he could lease something slightly more dignified. For now, practicality trumped style. “Thank you,” he said, and his phone whistled in appreciation.

  Robbie’s cheeks reddened, but the salesman only grinned.

  Chapter Nine

  Robbie opened the door of his apartment warily. But true to his word, his father stood there with bags of Chinese takeout. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” He stepped back to allow his father through.

  “Nice place.”

  Robbie shrugged. His apartment was small, and it was in an older building. The appliances in the galley kitchen were new, though, and everything worked like it should.

  “I’m sorry I hit your, um, Raj.” He wasn’t looking at Robbie, just pulling out containers of hot food and placing them on the small dining table.

  “My Raj. I like that. I’ll get some plates.”

  “Anyway, I had a whole list of reasons why I lost it, but they seem pretty stupid. So I guess I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry and that I’m still…adjusting my world view. But you’re my son. And as long as you’re happy, then I’m happy. Because I love you.”

  Robbie set the plates down and leaned on the table with both hands. Relief trembled through him. “You’re not gonna hit him again?”

  “No,” his father replied in a small voice.

  Robbie took a deep breath and rounded the table to hug his father. “I was scared.”

  “I know, and I know I didn’t make it easy to believe otherwise.”

  “I can still come down to Port Stephen? Even if I’m sleeping in Raj’s trailer?”

  “You don’t need my permission, and I don’t need to know what goes on in there.” His father looked at his food.

  “I had no intention of telling you. Gay or straight, it’s none of your business.”

  “You’re right. And there’s no way you have a chance to win our derby if you don’t come to the port, so…”

  “And you’ll apologize to Raj?”

  His father’s face reddened in embarrassment. “Yeah. I kind of did, but I’ll do it again.”

  On Thursday night, Robbie pulled out the shiny glass lure Raj had given him so offhandedly. He’d never hidden the fact that he loved the pretty lures, even if he’d never used them. His tackle box was, at least to his eyes, a work of art. This was a Rapala lure that would work better in Georgian Bay than here. Raj would’ve known that. He’d gotten this lure for Robbie because he knew Robbie liked shiny lures.

  After a few minutes admiring it, he opened his tackle box and took out his needle-nose pliers, a swivel snap, and a rainbow-coloured Mylar cord from a fly-tying class.

  In less than twenty minutes, he had removed the hooks and turned the lure into a large pendant necklace. It was, he had to admit, somewhat garish. Definitely one of a kind. He smiled and fastened it round his neck.

  One of the things Raj liked about Lake Erie was the ability to run the throttle flat out. On days like today, his boat bounced across the troughs of the deep, rolling swells and threatened to rip the wheel from his hand. He’d tried to be cautious, remembering how the bent trim plate had wrested control from him, but it was too much fun.

  Robbie was on the bow, holding the rail in a death grip but grinning hugely as the wind swept his hair. Fearless. Drops of water caught the sun, adding a sparkle to his hair and skin. Beautiful.

  As he steered out towards the area with the greatest concentration of boats—a sure sign of where the perch must be—he brought the boat’s speed down. Robbie waved from the bow at a couple of other boats, waiting until they were stopped to leave the bow.

  Raj pushed open the middle part of the windscreen for Robbie and went to drop anchor. “Feeling like a cork out here.” The waves were deep and slow, not cresting, but the boat suddenly fell into a trough, leaving Raj’s stomach at the top. He grasped the side of the boat until it caught up.

  Robbie stripped off his shirt and jumped over the side. “I’d say ‘Come on in; the water’s fine,’ but—”

  A wave broke over his head. Raj grinned at the sputtering Robbie and lowered the small ladder off his transom. “Not so fine, hmm?”

  Robbie climbed out, clumsy from the deep rocking of the boat but confident. He pushed his hair back and returned the grin. “S’posed to prevent seasickness.”

  Raj settled onto one of the pedestal chairs and began rigging his line. “Jumping into the lake? I thought that was just something people said to find out how gullible you are.” He winked at Robbie. “Might try it after I get a line in.” Raj scooped a small net of minnows from the bucket. He stole a glance at Robbie and was startled to see the lure he’d given him was on a bright rainbow cord around Robbie’s neck. He smiled.

  “Stop looking at my nips, you perv.”

  The icy water had indeed puckered Robbie’s nipples, but he hadn’t noticed. You keep telling yourself that.

  But he was allowed to notice, now, wasn’t he? “Stop pointing them at me then. Never going to get any fishing done if you keep distracting me like that,” he said, casting his line. He set the bail and put the rod in the holder.

  Robbie grinned and pulled on his shirt. “You don’t fish your limit, right?”

  Raj shook off his disappointment. “Catch and release isn’t as much fun for me, and there’s only so much perch I can eat.” As it was, he gave away a lot to his coworkers. Or had. “Besides, living out here, I’ve only got the small trailer freezer.”

  “I’ve got a small chest freezer in my apartment,” Robbie said, hooking his minnows with careless precision. “If you want, I can take some of your catch Sunday night?”

  At first, Raj thought Robbie was leading up to an invitation to his apartment. He ignored a deeper flicker of disappointment. Silly, under the circumstances. “Thanks. We’ll see how the fish are biting.”

  “Sure,” Robbie agreed cheerfully.

  Raj’s rod bent and he braced himself to reel in. He had a fish on—a very small one—and amended his sentence. “That is, if any decent-sized fish are biting.”

  Robbie laughed. “Good thing Dad didn’t see that, or he’d be making jokes about your little one.”

  “Not so sure your dad is ready to make dick jokes around me.” Raj pulled his hook and tossed the baby perch back. He reset his hook and line, the deep rocking of the boat making it take a little longer than usual. He stepped over the transom and sat abruptly, drawing a snicker from Robbie.

  “City boy.”

  Raj looked back at him and grinned. “Testing your theory.” He pulled his shirt over his head, not bothering to attempt seductive in the rolling boat. He pushed his shorts down and noticed Robbie’s rod was bowing. Turning, he found Robbie was staring at him, licking his lips.

  Raj winked and rolled forward off the stern with the next wave.

  The water was shockingly cold. The morning’s marine report said the water was twenty Celsius, but it was a damn cold twenty degrees. He let himself get a feel for the waves, floating with them for a minute or two, before grabbing hold of the boat and pulling himself aboard.

  “It’s brisk,” he said.

  Robbie had pulled off a perch but now he set his hook on the rod. “Let’s go out a little farther,” he said, waving to the horizon where water met sky.

  “Isn’t it a little soon to decide we’re not having much luck?”

  Robbie turned around and grinned at Raj. “Maybe. But if you anchor out another forty metres, you will definitely get lucky.”

  The sound of a boat close by startled Robbie awake, and he leaned across Raj’s warm body to peer out the window. “Fucker,” he swore.

  Raj stirred and ran his hand possessively across Robbie’s hip and leg. “Hmm?”

  “Dad and Wanda are going out without me.” He ignored Raj’s c
aresses and jumped out of bed, pulling on his shorts and barging out the front door. “Hey!” he yelled.

  “You snooze, you lose,” his father called back with a smirk. He gave a big jaunty wave as his boat moved leisurely down the creek towards the lake.

  “Fucker,” he repeated under his breath. He opened the door to Raj’s trailer but just sat on the step for a minute, watching the boat disappear around the bend. He was going to lose their competition because his father was cheating.

  “What’s wrong, lover?”

  Robbie turned to look and instantly forgot about his father and fishing. Raj was nude, and only Robbie being in the doorway kept anyone passing by from seeing him. He knew Raj was deliberately teasing him, but it thrilled him to also know that it was his hot stare that sent the blood rushing to Raj’s cock.

  “Fuck,” he muttered and twisted around completely as Raj closed the space between them. He leaned forward and kissed the head of Raj’s cock, which twitched up to bump his nose. He smiled up into Raj’s desire-darkened eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  Raj drove into St. Albans on Friday afternoon to pick up Robbie at the Ceylon plant where he worked. It was a huge building, but then, Robbie had said they made parts for just about every automotive maker in both the US and Asia. He drove around to the back, where Robbie had said to meet him, and spotted him easily. His sandy-brown hair was in disarray, and he had a duffel bag at his feet. Robbie was chatting with coworkers, he assumed, some still in uniform.

  They made eye contact, Robbie smiling broadly. Raj got out to open the back of the Jeep and make sure the fishing rods hadn’t shifted. Once Robbie’s bag was in there, they wouldn’t move.

  “Hey.”

  Raj looked up. He wasn’t sure if he could kiss him or not, but then Robbie was in his arms and kissing him. Raj savoured the kiss, cupping Robbie’s head as he returned it. Robbie surprised him constantly, and he liked it.