Something Like Spring (13 page)

“Am I moving too fast for you?”

“I don’t know,” Jason answered.

“You don’t— Oh!” Caesar chuckled, but it didn’t sound cruel. “First time?”

“Nah, I’ve been with tons of guys,” he lied. It was clear Caesar didn’t believe him, so he added, “I just don’t put out on the first date. Or before the first date.”

“Minigolf doesn’t count?”

“Nope.”

“Go-karts?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“I took you out to dinner and a movie. What about that?”

Jason looked at him incredulously. “Lunch at the mall doesn’t count.”

Caesar still had bedroom eyes. “Very well. Tomorrow, after my wrestling meet, I’m taking you on a date. And no hot caseworkers or annoying parents will stand in my way. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Good. Now you should probably go back to your room.”

“Why?”

Caesar pointed at his crotch. “So I can take care of this.”

Jason allowed his eyes to flick downward at the tenting fabric. “Oh wow!” he said without thinking.

Caesar smirked. “Oh wow yourself.”

Jason glanced down at his own crotch, then grabbed his guitar in panic. As he stood and headed for the door, he held the instrument in front of him like a shield. Hormones flooding his system, he almost turned around, threw aside the guitar, and gave into what his body wanted. Luckily—or perhaps not—enough nervousness remained to see him to the hallway. As he shut the door behind him, he tried not to imagine what was happening in his absence. At least, not until he was safely shut in his own room. Once there, he spent the next half hour imagining all sorts of things.

“Going on a date, huh?”

Jason tore his attention from the padded mat where Caesar had a guy pinned on his back. He was surprised. Not because Steph was here. That happened often enough. But he didn’t expect her to know about the date tonight.

“Caesar told you about that?”

Steph nodded, rolling her eyes and clapping at the scene below, meaning Caesar must have won. “There isn’t much I don’t know about him. I’ve known he was bi since the first time he flirted with my older brother. But I thought you were straight.”

Jason blinked. “Even though I’m sitting right here every Tuesday and Thursday?”

“Well, when you put it like that.” Steph laughed. “Unlike Caesar, you aren’t the most forthcoming guy. You’re kind of mysterious.”

“Yeah, I do that on purpose,” Jason joked. “So, uh, you don’t seem upset.”

“About you two hitting it off?” Steph shrugged and exhaled. “I figured Caesar would find some other girl eventually. That you’re definitely not a girl makes it easier somehow. Besides, maybe now I’ll finally move on.”

Jason gave a sympathetic smile. “So any tips? Anything I should know?”

“About Caesar?” Steph smiled slyly. “Trust me, he’ll tell you everything you need to know. Just try to keep up with him.”

Jason wasn’t sure what that meant, but seeing as the wrestling meet was coming to an end, he was on the verge of finding out.

* * * * *

“A picnic?” Jason asked.

“Yup!” Caesar walked around to the passenger door of the car and opened it for him. “We’ve already covered all the typical dates: movies, minigolf, shopping… A picnic is next on the list.”

“But it’s nighttime.”

Caesar glanced around and nodded. “I can see that. Let’s go. I wanna get started.”

Their destination wasn’t far. Caesar drove them to a public park that included a playground, a generic sports field, and farther back, a duck pond surrounded by trees. Caesar grabbed some loaded plastic bags from the trunk after tossing a blanket over his shoulder.

“I can carry something too,” Jason said, closing the trunk for him.

“Nah, that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me. Or very ladylike of you.”

“If you think I’m the girl in this relationship,” Jason said, “you’re sadly mistaken.”

“You speak from experience?”

“No, but…”

Caesar shot him a grin as they headed across mowed grass. “Tell you what. We’ll wrestle. Whoever ends up on top gets to
be
the top.”

“I might leave you wrestling yourself again tonight.”

Caesar groaned. “What’s the point of this picnic if you’re not going to put out?”

“To feed me. I’m starving.”

When they reached the edge of the pond, Jason grabbed the blanket from Caesar, kicking away a few rocks and sticks before he spread it out on the ground. He plopped down cross-legged on one corner, salivating as Caesar did the same and started unpacking the bags.

“We’ve got potato salad. Fruit salad. Real salad.” Each item he pulled out was in a plastic container, straight from the grocery store deli. “Loaf of bread. Disposable forks. And of course, something to drink.”

From out of the last bag a six-pack appeared. Even in the limited light, Jason could see silvery print on the cans and a swooping font that spelled out a few words, one of them magical. “Beer?”

“Yup.” Caesar yanked one free from the plastic rings and handed it to him. “You drink, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” As of this moment, at least. “Where did you get this?”

“I popped over to the grocery store during lunch.”

“But how’d you get the beer?”

Caesar cracked open his can and smiled. “I have my ways.”

Meaning he probably strolled into the liquor store oozing confidence and walked out with whatever he wanted. No doubt his life always worked that way. Jason opened his can, foam splattering his hand, and held up the beer when Caesar raised his in toast. “What are we drinking to?”

“To tonight,” Caesar said, a wicked gleam in his eye. “By which I mean
later
tonight.”

Yeah, that confidence probably got him everywhere. Jason was tempted to play hard to get, just to deny him something. Then again, the way Caesar opened the potato salad, dunked in a finger, and licked it clean gave Jason other ideas. Assuming he didn’t get freaked out again. He brought the can of beer back to his lips, chugging down as much as he could tolerate. Did people really like drinking this stuff?

“You better eat something too,” Caesar said. “I want you loosened up, not blitzed.”

“I told you, I’m not the girl.”

“That’s not what I meant by loose!” Caesar said, tossing a slice of bread at him.

Jason deflected it and smiled, reaching for a fork and the fruit salad.

Caesar considered him as he speared and ate a few chunks of watermelon. “You don’t have to do anything tonight,” he said. “I’m just teasing. Take your time.”

Jason glanced up, feeling a mixture of relief that it didn’t have to happen and panic that it might not. He just wanted to get it over with so it wouldn’t be such a big deal anymore. Being experienced like Caesar must be nice. “When was your first time?”

“You mean with a girl?”

Jason shrugged in response.

“I was fourteen.”

Fourteen. Jeez! That meant Jason was already years behind him in experience. “What was it like?”

Caesar thought about it over a bite of potato salad. “Lame. Some older girl I met at a party. I don’t even remember her name. We went up to her room, and I was desperate to get laid at the time, so, uh, it didn’t last very long.” He chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway, I wasn’t very impressed. It felt good, but not much more than jacking off did. The next time…
that
was really something.”

Jason felt more intrigued than jealous, so he motioned for Caesar to continue.

“The second time was with Steph. We were together for about a year and she was still a virgin. To her it was a really big deal. She used to talk about saving herself for marriage, but eventually she said she didn’t want to wait. Her parents were out of town, and we tried to make it special. We had this silly rule about keeping the lights off the entire night, even during dinner. She cooked for me, which was nice, and I did dishes.”

“In the dark?” Jason asked.

“We had candles. We lit every single one we could find until the house glowed. Anyway, the time finally came time and Steph got super scared. When I put my arm around her, she was shaking. I ended up holding her the entire night, telling her—” Caesar swallowed. “I told her how I felt about her. My body was dying for action, but I ignored all that as best I could. The sun was coming up when she finally calmed down. She was ready, and I found that I was too, which I hadn’t been the first time. Not emotionally. And it was amazing. That night with her was special.”

Once again, Jason wished he could trade places with Steph. He was beginning to worry less about his sexual performance and more about competing with her emotionally. How could he ever take her place? He mulled over the details, finding himself at a loss for words. What could anyone say after hearing a story like that? Luckily, the silence was filled for him.

Quack!

He glanced over to find a duck nipping at the bread slice Caesar had thrown at him. The duck quacked happily between bites, or maybe it was trying to scare them off. Either way, this attracted the attention of more ducks, who waddled over from the pond toward them.

“Aren’t picnics normally ruined by ants?” Jason said. “I didn’t expect an attack by sea.”

“Better give in to their demands,” Caesar said, reaching for the loaf of bread.

Between bites of salad and swigs of beer, they slowly doled out portions of bread to the ducks. A particularly greedy one spent most of its time trying to chase away the others, not getting very much bread in the process, while another felt brave enough to walk onto their blanket, earning itself the biggest share of the loaf. Even once the bread was gone, the duck continued to walk around them in circles, casting a hopeful eye in their direction. Jason kept turning his head to follow its orbit, laughing more than once.

“You can’t take it home,” Caesar said.

“Why not? Your parents like strays.”

“Hm. Good point. I’m taking the greedy duck with us too. I’ll name it Peter.”

Jason grimaced. “I don’t think he’s happy about us hanging out. This morning was tense!”

Caesar rolled his eyes. “He’s never happy. I used to think it was his situation, but you seem fine.”

“Meaning?” Jason asked.

“That you’re happy.”

Jason shook his head. “I’ve got my demons too, believe me.”

“What’s it like?” Caesar asked. “Not having parents, I mean. I can’t even imagine.”

“You never asked any of the other kids?”

“Just one guy,” Caesar admitted.

“What did he say?”

“He told me to go fuck myself. I figured I might have more luck with you.”

Jason thought about it. “Cast your mind back to all those times you had the flu, or got in a fight with another kid while out playing. Think about the times you got in trouble at school, or nights when thunder woke you up and scared the hell out of you. What did you want in each of those situations?”

Caesar answered instantly. “My mom. Except when I got in trouble at school. My dad was always better for that because he thought it was funny.”

Jason nodded. “Now remember all those times you were barfing up your guts or scared in the middle of the night, and imagine not having your mom and dad there.”

Caesar considered this and swallowed. “Is that how you always feel?”

“No. Not every day. Like anything in life, you get used to your situation. I’ve been on my own long enough that it’s not as upsetting anymore. But there will always be days when I want that safe feeling again, when I wish my mom was there to pick me up when I fall and scrape my knee. Sometimes I still wish I could go home.”

Caesar studied him in the limited light. “I know you hate it when I say I’m sorry, so I won’t, but I hope you know what my silence really means.”

Jason smiled. “Okay.”

“Only two more beers left. Want one?”

“Why not?”

Caesar was holding out a can when a light swept across the park, causing them both to freeze.

“What was that?” Jason whispered.

Caesar’s attention was on the parking lot. “That would be the police. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He stood, grabbing the remaining beer and empty cans. “Uh, better eat some more fruit salad. Seriously.”

Jason stared after him as Caesar ran toward the trees. Turning his attention to the parking lot, he saw two flashlights sweeping back and forth across the grass. One rose to blind him briefly, so he grabbed the fruit salad and took a few bites, hoping it would make him appear natural. At least, as natural as a night picnic could appear. He felt slightly better when Caesar rushed back and took his place on the blanket again. After a moment’s thought, Caesar grabbed the fruit salad from Jason and tipped the container to his lips, slurping down the excess juice. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Let me do the talking,” Caesar whispered as the lights drew near. Already they could hear the crackle of a police radio.

“Police,” a female voice announced, the flashlight momentarily illuminating a badge set against blue fabric before moving back to their faces. The other beam of light was examining their picnic. “What are you boys doing here?”

“Celebrating,” Caesar said, smiling like the officers were welcome to join them. “We had a great meet tonight.”

“Meet?” asked a male voice.

“Wrestling meet,” Caesar explained. “I’m the captain of the team, and if you don’t mind me bragging, I was pinning them like an entomologist tonight.”

The flashlight started sweeping toward Jason, before it seemed to hesitate and returned to Caesar. “Pinning them like a what?”

“An insect collector,” Caesar explained. “Just a little wrestling humor.”

The flashlight moved to Jason’s face.

“And you?”

“I’m one of the butterflies he pinned.”

“And now you’re having a picnic,” the female officer said, not sounding convinced.

The flashlight remained on Jason, and he made sure to look as indignant as he felt. Of course they were having a picnic! Did they suspect all this was a cover for something illegal? They hadn’t done anything wrong!

“Have you been drinking?” asked the male voice.

Oh. Right. Jason’s brain felt like it had gone for a swim and forgotten to bring a towel. “Uh…”