Wes and Toren (21 page)

154

J. M. Colail

“You wish you were still in college, don’t you?” I asked, after listening to Mom’s suggestions. She was outgoing and popular; she liked to be involved in everything.

“Maybe, a little bit,” she agreed. “College was just so much fun!

Your dad and I went to the same school and he was on the newspaper too. I had the time of my life then, so it’s all happy memories for me.

And now, my little boy is all grown up and going off to college! I can’t help but be excited for you.”

I laughed and Mom patted my head. It was getting close to six and Wesley would be coming home soon. I stood up and Mom followed me to the kitchen, where I took the salmon filets and fresh broccoli from the refrigerator. Mom kept talking as I pulled out a box of rice from the pantry and measured two cups into a saucepan.

“Oh baby, you don’t know how much I’ve missed your cooking,”

Mom said, watching as I cut up the broccoli. “Well, you too. I guess I’ve missed you too,” she corrected with a laugh. “Wes doesn’t know how good he has it…eating like a king every day!”

“Yeah, he actually does. And he appreciates it,” I teased, giving Mom a broccoli stalk to nibble on.

“Oh yeah, I was thinking, you should join the…. What do they call it? It’s letters, but…um, I don’t know, it’s like a ‘gay club’ or something.”

I stopped and looked up at Mom. Her eyes narrowed, as if she was trying to remember something. “The
gay club
?” I asked, trying to keep a deadpan expression. “You want me to join the
gay club
?” I said, unable to keep my laughter in any longer.

“Well, no, I mean…. You know what I mean!” Mom shouted over my laughter. She shook her head and smiled. “Okay, so it’s not the ‘gay club,’ but what is it called? It’s letters.”

“LGBC?”

“Yeah!” Mom said, her face brightening with recognition. “What’s it mean again?”

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“Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community,” I answered, still chuckling.

“Yeah, that’s it. Well, I’m sure there’s something like that on campus and you should join.”

“I’ll think about it,” I answered, mixing lemon rind, garlic, and dill in a bowl with olive oil. I brushed the filets with the mixture and put them in the oven to bake. I turned on the heat under the rice and put the broccoli in the large saucepot to steam.

Wesley came home at six. He looked cute, as usual, and he greeted me with a simple kiss. Mom watched with a smile on her face and I blushed; I couldn’t help myself. It really felt like we were married and I giggled timidly.

“Ms. Grey, it’s nice to see you.”

“What’d you just call me?”

Wesley glanced at me and then smiled awkwardly at Mom. “M—

Ms. Grey?”

“No no no. Not Ms. Grey. Never Ms. Grey. It’s Amanda. Got it?”

Wesley smiled and laughed with relief. “All right, got it.”

“No, come on. Say it with me, Ah-man-dah,” Mom said slowly.

Wesley nodded with a grin. “All right, all right…Amanda.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard,” Mom said, folding her arms on her chest.

“Dinner’ll be ready in about ten,” I said, looking over my shoulder as I stirred the rice.

Wesley went to wash up and change his clothes while I fixed three plates. I set them down at the table, but we ended up eating on the sofa in front of the TV. Wesley told us about work; a girl had ripped off her back bumper backing over a concrete parking berm by getting stuck, and then flooring it to get unstuck. Then he asked how my orientation went.

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“It was boring, but it was okay. I got all my classes scheduled though. I can’t believe school starts a week from today,” I said, picking at the broccoli. I had steamed it too long.

“What classes are you taking?” Wesley asked. I didn’t think he even noticed that the broccoli was mushy.

I counted off my fingers. “History 105, Psych 101, Bio 103, English Comp, and….” I glanced at Mom and she was trying to remember my fifth class too. “Oh yeah, Pre-Calc. Which I’m gonna need your help with.”

“Cool. Are you excited?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am. I’m a little nervous too, but more excited. Oh, and, my mom thinks I should join the ‘gay club’.”

Wesley looked up at me and I grinned then glanced at Mom.

“The what?” Wesley asked.

“You know, the gay club,” I said, erupting into laughter.

“Oh, shut up!” Mom teased. “I couldn’t remember LGBC and now Toren won’t let me live it down.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. Her body trembled with laughter but no sound came out.

We finished eating and sat and talked and watched TV for a little while. Mom decided to leave around eight. I took her on a final tour of the apartment, showing her the improvements we had made since she was last there. She gave me a long hug at the door and her eyes began to tear up.

“Baby, I can’t tell you how much I miss you already. You’re just growing up so fast,” she said, wiping at her eyes. I hugged her again and she told me that I would always be her little boy. I knew Wesley was going to tease me about it too.

“Thanks for going to orientation with me. Sorry you had to skip work,” I said, letting her go. She sniffled and smiled at me.

“My little boy is a college man now.” She looked at Wesley and wiggled her finger at him. “Get over here,” she said and threw her arms around his shoulders.

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“Thanks for coming…Amanda,” Wesley said and grinned.

Mom looked at him and smiled. Then she left and Wesley and I watched her walk out to her car. I shut the door and Wesley grinned at me.

“Your mom is so cool,” he said, then went to the kitchen and started washing the dishes.

I smiled proudly. Mom really was amazing. I followed Wesley into the kitchen, turned the water off, and pressed myself against his warm body. I kissed him and grabbed the top of his shorts.

“Leave the dishes for tomorrow.”

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J. M. Colail

“WE’RE going to spend the entire day playing video games,” Wesley announced, sitting up in bed. He looked over at me and grinned. It was finally Monday and Wesley’s first day off in a long time. He was exhausted and deserved a day idly spent playing video games.

“You can spend half the day playing video games. Remember?

Alycia and Mike are coming over tonight,” I said, rolling to my side and propping my head up on my hand.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. What time are they coming over?” He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. He wiggled down under the sheet and kissed the tip of my nose. His chin was coarse with stubble and I liked the way it felt against my cheek. He looked good with a clean-shaven face, but he was cute with stubble too. I touched his cheek, tickling my fingers with his prickly whiskers.

“What?” I asked, blushing lightly. I forgot he asked me a question.

“Heh. What time are they coming over?”

“About seven. Speaking of which, I gotta run to the store,” I said, flipping the sheet off and sitting up.

Wesley hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me back down.

He kissed me warmly and pinched my nipple playfully. I started to protest, but I knew it was pointless. It was impossible to stop him once he got started. I turned over and took his face in my hands. I lapped at his lips, stopping briefly to kiss him, and reached for the tube of lotion on the nightstand. I dribbled some on my fingers and began to frig Wesley Wes & Toren

159

with one hand and slid my other hand between my thighs. Wesley looked at me, seeing that I was preparing myself for him, and stiffened even more in my hand. I smiled and sucked his bottom lip. I loved that I could turn him on like that.

“Okay, you’re gonna have to hurry up,” Wesley whispered slowly.

I climbed onto his lap, with my back to him, and he eased his way inside. I rocked against him as he slid his hand around my hip and pulled on me quickly. I threw my head back, shuddering with the unstoppable flow of pleasure. He pressed his lips against the nape of my neck and discovered an entirely new erogenous zone. He pushed up and forward as I bounced on his lap and then without warning, he came hard into me and I came into his hand.

Wesley panted in my ear and I leaned back against him. “Sorry that was so quick,” he said. “I couldn’t help myself. You should come with a warning label: May cause one to…cum faster than expected.”

“Heh heh, where would I put a label like that?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. Wesley poked my forehead with his finger and grinned. I slid off his lap to the edge of the bed and pulled on my boxers.

“Wanna go to the store with me?”

“But we were gonna play video games today,” he whined.

“We’ll play video games all day tomorrow.”

“You’re screwing up my schedule! Today we play video games and tomorrow we fuck all day. I had it all planned out!”

“If you don’t go to the store with me, I may not be open tomorrow,” I countered, standing up and crossing my arms with a grin on my face.

“Let me get dressed,” Wesley answered, standing up and pulling on a clean pair of boxers from the dresser.

We went to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make lasagna according to Mom’s recipe. I bought some garlic bread too. We got home and Wesley watched me make the lasagna and put it in the oven to bake.

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Wesley sat in the recliner and I sat between his knees on the floor.

We started playing video games, but I wasn’t very good. I finally talked Wesley into playing Tekken since he didn’t have any of the Zelda games. I usually played Jun, but I kept beating Wesley, so I switched to Haihachi.

“You’re really good at this. You sucked at Grand Theft,” Wesley commented, pounding on his controller.

“I like fighting games. Tekken is my favorite. The only thing Mortal Kombat has going for it is Scorpion and Subzero. Tekken is way better!”

Wesley lost again and I giggled, secretly proud of myself.

“You gotta be someone else! This sucks.”

I could tell that he was surprised that I was pretty good at video games, but frustrated that he couldn’t beat me. So I switched to the samurai guy and purposely let him win. He looked at me and frowned.

“You lost on purpose.”

“No, I didn’t. Really!”

“Liar.”

I set down my controller and crawled onto Wesley’s lap. I gave him a consolation kiss, and then went to the kitchen to check on the lasagna. I turned the oven off, leaving the lasagna in, and made a salad. I told Wesley to go take a shower and he refused, unless I agreed to join him. I shook my head and sighed, and Wesley took my hands and kissed me sweetly. I realized I could never tell him “no” and followed him into the bathroom.

Alycia came over at seven and I ran to answer the door. She smiled and walked in, and I waited leaving the door open. Then Alycia turned and smiled again.

“Mike’s not coming.”

“What? Why?” I asked, glancing outside before closing the door.

“Did he get called into work or something?”

“No. He’s just an asshole.”

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“What?”

“Hiya, Wes! How are you?” she asked, her smile back. I stood next to her and glanced at Wesley. Alycia sat down on the sofa and looked up at me.

“What happened?” I asked.

Alycia sighed and stared at her lap. “Damn it,” she said and balled her hands into fists. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. Mike didn’t want to come because…he didn’t think it was right.” Wesley and I exchanged glances.

“He said it was unnatural for two boys to be in love,” she clarified, looking up at me hesitantly. “God. I told him that once he saw you together, he’d see how natural it was. But, he said that he didn’t agree with it, so he didn’t want to be around it.”

I looked at Wesley and then sat down next to Alycia. It was surprising; Mike never acted strange around me or avoided me before.

“The thing is, he never said a word about it before today! And, I mean, I talked to him about you guys all the time and he never said anything! Let alone how it must make you guys feel, he…. It was like he didn’t care how I felt either. Did he really think that I’d just say okay?

That it wouldn’t bother me? I mean, if he doesn’t think it’s right, does he think there’s something wrong with me because I do? And he never said anything before! I had no idea he felt that way!”

“Alycia,” I said softly, touching her arm.

“I’m sorry, Tor.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.”

“It’s just that he never told me. And what am I supposed to do? I don’t wanna be with a person who thinks that way. If he wants me, he has to accept all of me, including my family. If I stay with him, is he going to avoid you guys? I don’t want that. My family is more important to me, and if he rejects them, then he’s rejecting me too.”

My stomach twisted and my chest tightened. I rubbed Alycia’s back and stared at the floor. I couldn’t look at Wesley.

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“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just dump all this on you,” she said quietly, her brows furrowed. “I just didn’t know what to do.”