Raj smiled against his cheek, stroking his jaw with his long, elegant fingers. “Later,” he promised.
When he turned round, Robbie was surprised to see Chelsey, gaping like a hooked fish. “Are your friends all gay too?”
“Come round and meet them,” he said. “They’re good peeps, even if you don’t find a hookup.”
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
By nightfall on Friday, Raj found himself enjoying the party created by Robbie’s friends more than he expected. Although they were closer to Chelsey’s age than his, a lot of them had finished college and were experiencing the same responsibilities he faced—balancing a job, bills, and social life.
He noticed Chelsey cautiously navigating a world clearly unfamiliar to her, but she was under the arm of Gary, and he looked as interested in helping her understand the people-are-people concept as he did in seeing her naked. Since Chelsey had all but said she was just here to get laid, she seemed well in hand.
His attention tracked back to Robbie as Todd yelled out, “Hey, Robbie—try this!” He passed a red cup to Robbie, and Raj frowned.
“Problem?”
He looked back at Marty. “Robbie told me he gets stupid drunk on hard liquor.”
Marty laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. He can drink like almost a case of beer and hardly wobble, but give him a couple of mixed drinks and he’s stumbling and slurring and we’re all his ‘besh frens’, and he loves us.” Marty cut his eyes to Chelsey and Gary, momentarily distracting Raj. Then he gave Raj a sweet smile and said, “Excuse me a minute. So nice to meet you, by the way.”
Todd, the friend with drunken benefits, had been the only one of Robbie’s friends to not greet him with boisterous warmth, which he’d considered natural enough. He trusted Robbie, but suddenly he didn’t trust Todd at all. He mingled and tried to keep track of Robbie, who kept moving back and forth between this almost separate party and the older people around the fire. Someone had a guitar and was playing seventies rock.
Raj watched Todd mix another couple of drinks, one almost half vodka, the other barely a splash. It looked like the sloppy inability to measure of the very inebriated. He watched as Todd shoved a cup into Robbie’s hand.
Then when Todd wandered off, Raj moved to the side of his pretty drunk boyfriend. “Hey.”
Robbie looked up at him, his smile sloppy but bright. “Tall, dark. ’n’ handsome!”
Raj smiled and ruffled Robbie’s hair. “You’re a cute drunk.”
Robbie looked dismayed. “You don’t fuck drunks.”
“I don’t.”
“I di’n’t mean to get drunk.”
“You’re allowed,” Raj said, amused. “But I thought you didn’t care for hard liquor.” He indicated the red cup in Robbie’s hand.
Robbie stared at the cup. “I don’t. S’mostly cranb’ry juice, innit?”
Raj took a sip and gasped. “I think maybe some cranberry juice dripped in. Want me to get you a beer?”
Robbie’s expression brightened. “Mebbe I c’n sob’r up ’nuff so you can fuck me.”
Raj stroked his jaw and chuckled. “I think it’s a little late for that, sweetheart. Believe me, I’m looking forward to you making that offer sober.” He kissed the tip of Robbie’s nose and took the toxic drink away from him.
“I di’n’t mean it like that!” Robbie protested loudly as Raj strode down to the water’s edge and dumped the contents. Anyone who drank that was in serious risk of alcohol poisoning and not the happy-drunk kind. He fished out a couple of beers from a big stainless-steel tub full of ice and bottles and headed back to Robbie.
Only Robbie wasn’t where he’d left him. He quickly discovered Robbie was no longer amongst the partiers. And neither was Todd. With soft and wary steps, he went to the big cabin tent where a dim light showed someone inside. It could have been anyone, but then he heard voices.
“Quit it,” he heard Robbie say, irritation evident in his voice. “Have a boyfren’.”
“’S’e really yer boyfren’?”
“Mm-hmm. Raj. He’s so gor-gee-ous. Fuck off, Todd. Neve’ be drunk ’nough to fugget my ’lishus Raj.”
Raj was building up a fury, listening to what sounded an awful lot like an assault. On his Robbie. He raised his hand to push aside the tent door and heard Todd say, “’Kay, sheesh. Din’t know it wazzat ser’ous. You saidja wanted t’show me somethin’, ‘n’ I thought… Whazzat?”
“Innit beau’ful? Raj gave it to me.”
“’Sa fish?”
“Yeah,” Robbie agreed, sounding irrationally happy. “S’like, a ’sclusive fish. Me’n’Raj. ’Sclusive.”
Robbie’s ‘friend with no more benefits’ cracked up laughing. “Yer s’ weird.”
Raj wasn’t sure what to make of the exchange. It was funny and sweet that a five-dollar lure could mean so much to Robbie. “Robbie? You in there?”
“Yeah, showin’ Todd, um…”
Raj walked into the tent. Robbie was sitting on a cot, his friend was on the floor holding his ribs and rolling. “’Sclusive fish,” he sputtered.
Robbie looked up at Raj, eyes wide as he stuffed the lure into his shirt. His cheeks were flushed, though Raj couldn’t tell if it was just an effect of the booze, embarrassment over Todd’s reaction, or what.
“Robbie, can you stand up?”
“Yeah…” He got unsteadily to his feet.
Raj pulled him into his arms. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
“C’we go home?”
Raj guided Robbie out of the tent and over to his trailer, smiling and waving to everyone who looked their way that everything was okay. He tugged Robbie’s clothes off and laid him on the bed. Robbie’s eyes were already closed. Raj touched the little lure.
Robbie hadn’t made a big deal of it, hadn’t even shown Raj he’d made it into a pendant initially. Raj had seen it around Robbie’s neck when they’d gone fishing, but Robbie hadn’t mentioned it until Raj’s father had asked. Even then, he’d sounded very offhand. Raj hadn’t said anything either because he had thought he was being silly and sentimental for buying the lures in the first place.
That it meant so much to Robbie surprised him.
He took off his own clothes and curled up next to Robbie, spoon fashion. Expecting Robbie to be passed out, he was surprised when Robbie rolled and banged his head on Raj’s chin, arms seeking purchase.
“I love you,” he said, his words almost perfectly clear.
Raj took a sharp breath before remembering his conversation with Marty. Robbie had probably said that to everyone tonight.
In the morning, he woke up choking on Robbie’s morning breath. He kissed his lover’s forehead and slapped his ass. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
Robbie groaned. “Wasn’t Sleeping Beauty woken by a kiss?”
“Not with breath like yours. Go brush the dead caterpillars out of your mouth, and then come back here. I’ll keep the bed warm for you.”
When Robbie came back, his expression was troubled.
“How much do you remember of last night?”
The look he gave Raj was suddenly wary. “What did I say?”
Raj grinned. “Oh, you’ll find out, I’m sure. You want some advice, sweetheart? Don’t accept drinks you don’t want.”
“Or else what?” Robbie returned the grin.
“Or I’ll tie you to my bed.”
Robbie laughed. “That’s supposed to be a deterrent?”
Robbie let Raj cut their morning sex play short when noises suggested his friends were waking up. “If we try for more,” Raj said, “they might start knocking on the door, and then I’ll have to kill them.”
He wasn’t prepared for each and every one of them to start asking to see his ‘’sclusive fish’, and his face burned red most of the day.
Raj was no help; he just winked at him, and once said in his ear, “I have a matching one. We can take them to a jeweller, if you like.” But he was sure Raj was just teasing him like every
one else.
When Todd handed him a red cup and urged him to “Try this; it’s mostly fruit juice,” he met Raj’s eyes and deliberately took the cup. As soon as Todd’s back was turned, with equal deliberation, he turned it up to empty the contents on the ground.
Someone shouted, “Alcohol abuse!”
Robbie flipped his middle finger behind him. “So,” he said, pulling Raj’s arm around him. “Exactly how are you going to tie me to the bed? There’s no headboard or footboard or…”
Raj growled and kissed him like nobody was around. “You’re a brat.”
Robbie grinned, resisting the desire to snuggle. “Brat might be better than sweetheart.”
“What would you prefer? Cupcake?”
“Well, if we’re going to go baked goods, you can call me…” Robbie thought about Raj’s ‘porn fantasies’ and knew the perfect pastry. “Cherry turnover. But only once.”
Raj nearly did a spit take. “Maybe butter tart would be more apt.”
“Oooh, yes. I’ll be your butter tart.”
Chapter Twelve
Raj and Robbie’s second weekend in the Muskokas was quite different. For Robbie, it was a whirlwind of family members whose names he thought would be easy to remember. After all, it was only Raj’s sister and her husband and their two kids, Raj’s brother and his wife and their kid, Raj’s mother’s sister and her husband and one of their kids and two of their grandkids, and Raj’s father’s sister and brother and spouses and kids, and no wonder they needed a mansion for a cottage.
He was incredibly grateful the boathouse was a one-bedroom getaway where they could be alone, and Robbie could try once more to remember who was who and which kids belonged where.
“I’m glad I met your parents already,” he said to Raj when they had escaped to the tiny deck off the upper floor of the boathouse.
“Thought you might. Sorry about the…” Raj gestured from the chair he was slouched in. “They’re a rambunctious bunch. This is the first time I’ve brought anyone to a family celebration.”
“Oh.” It pleased him to be the first. But it was also kind of sad.
“So, um, whose birthday is it tomorrow? It’s a birthday, right?”
“Right,” Raj said, unvoiced laughter enriching his tone.
Robbie loved the sound of Raj’s laugh. He waited, but when Raj didn’t answer, he kicked his outstretched foot. He heaved a huge sigh as he realized why Raj hadn’t answered.
“It’s yours, isn’t it? Goddamn.”
Raj laughed then. “It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not. Your family is going to think I’m a terrible boyfriend.”
Raj returned the kick. “I’d like to think if I’d told you, whatever you got me for a gift wouldn’t be appropriate for my parents and nieces and nephews to see anyway.”
“Probably.” Robbie had some ideas about that. Involving a picnic table and lube. “But I would have gotten you something. Like a Frozen backpack, or Beauty and the Beast stickers.” Maybe the nieces and nephews were doing something crafty for their uncle who always watched Disney movies with them.
Raj got out of his chair and pulled Robbie to his feet. “Come inside. You can give me a blow job for my birthday. If you like.”
“I like. It’s rather brilliant. In fact, I’d like to give you several, but not at the table with your family.”
“Preferably not,” Raj said with a chuckle. “Catch me a fish, then.”
And suddenly Robbie knew exactly what to do.
August flew by. Leaves started changing, and the radio was full of back-to-school commercials. The long weekend was great, though. Raj loved that extra full day with Robbie. He knew he could drive into St. Albans during the week, or that Robbie could drive down here, but they both knew a midweek hookup would make working that much tougher to do. It would be too tempting to take advantage of being alone together, spending a whole day in bed with no social obligations.
Raj awoke before Robbie, shifting gently to get blood flowing again into one arm. Robbie’s limbs were entwined with his, his breath warm and comforting on Raj’s shoulder.
Robbie never bothered to even pretend he was staying in Wayne and Wanda’s trailer anymore; he parked close to Raj’s Jeep and brought his duffel into Raj’s trailer. And Raj had no objections. He drew his fingers across Robbie’s thigh and shivered to realize how much he liked this. How much his bed had become their bed. How much he liked Robbie on his boat, even if they didn’t get much fishing done. He smirked again.
Things at the park had been a little awkward at first, but Wayne had blustered past his own discomfort and welcomed Raj around their firepit as if nothing had changed. Eventually people stopped edging away from them and started teasing the shit out of them—like any hetero couple annoyingly given to small public displays of affection.
His smirk faded. There were only six weeks left before the season ended, and he had to go back to Toronto. It was a long drive from Toronto to St. Albans, almost three hours. Longer, if there was snow.
Robbie stirred under his gentle touch, and a soft smile curved his mouth. He’d never met anyone quite like Robbie Wales—from the way he owned the childish diminutive of his name to his fearless forwardness. Neither had spoken of what might happen at the end of the season. Maybe Robbie didn’t want it to go on. Then again, he did, and he hadn’t said anything either. And he knew that when Robbie was uncertain about a favourable outcome, he procrastinated. Like you’re doing.
If the company didn’t object to him working from ‘home’ here, with an expensive mobile Internet stick, he wondered what they might say about some place other than Toronto. Like St. Albans. Just for example.
Raj finished his lunch and put his dishes away to wash later. He flipped the laptop open and scrolled through his workload. Pretty light for a Wednesday. He could, if he wanted, log out for the day or take tomorrow off. Or maybe Friday and make a second September long weekend.
Since Labour Day, the park had grown considerably quieter. Not everyone came out weekends anymore, and during the week, it was the same dead quiet he’d experienced in May. The warm weather was holding out, with cooler nights, and although the leaves had started to change, they were still more green than red and orange.
A long weekend without a gaggle of people might be nice. He’d already booked his vacation for around Christmas with the idea of being free to spend Christmas with his family and both of Robbie’s, if things happened to go that way. His hand went to the little lure around his neck—the matching one to Robbie’s.
He smiled. Robbie had taken it from his tackle box without his noticing, because he’d never intended to use it for fishing, and made it into a matching pendant. He wanted to find a way to get Robbie’s from him and take them to a jeweller for part of his Christmas gift, but he couldn’t imagine how to do it without making Robbie feel bad for losing it. Maybe a gift certificate to a jeweller.
Lost in thought in front of the open laptop, he didn’t notice the crunch of gravel announcing a vehicle. When Robbie put his arms around him, Raj jumped and nearly toppled his folding work table.
“What are you doing here?” His voice came out angry, so he tilted his head back for a kiss.
Robbie only took a second to figure it out, kissing him with a happy humming sound. “Took a half day in honour of your birthday. Well, both our birthdays, I guess.”
Robbie’s birthday was Monday. He’d be leaving Port Stephen about noon on Sunday to go to Brantford for dinner with his mother and grandparents and assorted other family members.
“Little late for my birthday,” Raj remarked when Robbie broke the kiss.
Robbie grinned and handed him a grey plastic shopping bag. “I didn’t give you your present.”
“What…?” Condoms and lube. He looked up, but Robbie had moved to lean suggestively over the picnic table.
“Any later in the season, it’ll be too cold to be bare-ass naked out here.”
Raj stared. He had enough prese
nce of mind to log out of the company site and put his laptop away before walking towards Robbie. “You sure you want your first time to be bent over a picnic table?”
“Yeah,” Robbie said. “Because you.”
“We could be seen.”
“No kids, almost no boats, no one in the creekside trailers but you, lover.” Robbie straightened up and took the two steps to Raj. He slipped his arms around Raj’s neck and smiled up at him. “So, how do you want me? Completely naked? Jeans around my ankles?”
Raj had no trouble picturing either. “Naked,” he decided, his voice sounding strange to his own ears. He would be taking his good sweet time to make it as painless as possible. He dragged his attention away from Robbie to look at his picnic table. The tarp hanging from the awning kept it from being seen by anyone driving up from the launch, while the angle of the trailer hid it from the other direction. If he took him facing the creek, even a boat going by would be hard-pressed to say what they were doing.
“Bring your car up ahead of the Jeep.”
“You have to let me go for that,” Robbie said, desire thick as syrup weighting his voice.
“Right.” Raj let go. He hadn’t thought this would happen. While Robbie moved his car, Raj went inside to get some blankets for the picnic table. He spread them over the end closest to the trailer, making sure the lube and condoms were close by.
“So how do we this?” Robbie asked softly. “I mean, pornos aren’t exactly known for their storylines, and I don’t think I can do this if we’re pretending to play some corny—”
Raj stopped him with a kiss. “No pretending. Just me wanting you. We can do this inside.”
“Nope. Ever since you told me you fantasized this the day we met, I’ve been working up to it. I knew on your birthday I was ready; since then, I’ve just been waiting for a time we weren’t likely to get caught.”
“You are something else, Robbie Wales.” Raj gave him a soft kiss and then narrowed his eyes. “Now strip.”
“You’re hot when you’re bossy,” Robbie said with a grin, pulling off his shirt and kicking off his shoes. He shimmied his hips as he shucked his jeans. He stroked his erection, obviously aware that Raj was staring. “Want it?”
The Lure of Port Stephen Page 9