Just Making Out Read online

  “You are more than worth it. Besides, I love a party. Now, you make yourself at home. I have to get back to my oven. Supper will be ready shortly.”

  Brendan, Nathan, and Casper were already there. This was no surprise because this was their home. Brandon and Jon yelled ‘hey’ from the living room. I lingered in the kitchen because I caught sight of Casey through the window. In moments, she was walking through the back door with Sandy, her girlfriend.

  “I thought I said no presents,” I said as Casey hugged me. Both she and Casey were holding gifts.

  “You’re not my boss,” Casey said with a grin.

  “Heaven help anyone who tries to boss you around. Hey, Sandy.”

  “Hi, Shawn!”

  Sandy gave me a hug, too. I liked Sandy, mainly because she made Casey so happy.

  Everyone was present, with the notable exception of Tristan. Unpleasant thoughts of Tristan skipping out on my party began to creep into my head, but then Tristan walked through the back door. He was wearing the brown-suede duster he wore the first time I saw him. He looked both studious and beautiful with his long dark hair and small, round eyeglasses. He grinned when he spotted me.

  “Happy Birthday, Shawn.”

  “I’m glad you could come.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  The sound of Tristan’s voice just about made me melt—and I thought Tim had it bad for Dane!

  Casey gave me a look that said, ‘See, I told you that you were being stupid.’ She was right. Just because Tristan wanted to be friends first didn’t mean he’d never be my boyfriend. Damn, how I wished we could start dating right now! I didn’t want to wait. Tristan was the boy I wanted. I knew what my birthday wish would be.

  In only a few minutes, Ardelene called us into the kitchen to eat. It was going to be a tight squeeze, even with the extra leaves in the table and an additional table added to one end. Jack came in at the last minute. He’d no doubt been out in the barn doing some chore or another. Dave, Nathan’s eleven-year-old brother, came downstairs just after Jack joined us.

  Okay, all the names might be confusing if you’re not familiar with the Selbys, so let me stop and explain. There’s Jack Selby. He’s seventy-something, I think. He owns the Selby Farm. Several years back, his nephew Ethan came to live with him because his parents had been killed in an accident. Later on, Nathan and his little brother, Dave, started living on the farm, too, because of troubles at home. Nathan has also been Ethan’s boyfriend now for quite a while. With me, so far? Later, Brendan and Casper came to the farm from down in Kentucky. They were runaways. They are also boyfriends. They started working for Jack and have lived with the Selbys ever since. Casper’s grandmother, Ardelene, came to check on Casper once she found out where he was. She never left and ended up marrying Jack. Most recently, Jack and Ardelene have taken legal custody of Nathan and Dave. So, Ethan is Jack’s nephew, Casper is Ardelene’s grandson, and Nathan and Dave are the adopted sons of Jack and Ardelene—close enough, anyway. That almost makes Ethan and Nathan related, but not quite. That would sure be weird, since they are boyfriends. Confusing, huh? The rest of us are just friends of the Selbys, so there’s no need to worry about us.

  All of us, related and not, sat down to eat. Ardelene fixed lasagna, with cooked apples and garlic toast, which was one of my favorite meals. Her lasagna was even homemade, with an unbelievable amount of gooey cheese! Tim and I were mostly existing on cereal and ramen noodles, so the home-cooked meal tasted extra good!

  I’m not ashamed to say I stuffed myself. I wanted to save room for cake and ice cream, but I couldn’t make myself quit eating. It was my birthday, after all, the first one to be properly celebrated since Mom left.

  Luckily, there was a break between supper and the cake and ice cream. When the supper dishes were cleared away, gifts began to appear on the kitchen table.

  “You guys didn’t need to get me anything,” I said. To be honest, I was feeling overwhelmed.

  “What’s a birthday without presents?” Jon said, as if that explained everything.

  “Well, thanks!” I said.

  “Here, open mine first,” Tim said.

  Tim handed me an envelope. Inside were three certificates for cleaning the bathroom. There were another three certificates for taking out the trash. I looked up at Tim.

  “Sorry. I didn’t have any money for a real present.”

  “Are you kidding? There is nothing you could have bought me better than this! And, if you think I’ll forget about these and not use them, you are out of your mind.”

  “Drat!” Tim said. “There goes that plan.” He grinned.

  “Thanks, Tim.”

  “Mine next,” Casey said as she pushed a big box toward me.

  I tore away the blue-and-white-striped paper and opened the box. Inside were a skillet and pots and pans.

  “I scoured the resale shops for the best I could find,” Casey said.

  “Thank you!” I said. “We’ve been using one saucepan to cook everything.”

  Ethan and Nathan presented me with a gift next. It was in a rather large box, too. I opened it to find a set of pastel dishes in blue, yellow, green, and pink.

  “Casey said you needed dishes. She helped us pick them out,” Ethan said.

  “Yeah. We hit the resale shops hard,” Casey said.

  “This is great!” I said. “Tim and I have been using two cracked bowls, three old plates, and a couple of mugs. Our place has a dishwasher, but we have almost nothing to wash.”

  “Yeah,” Tim said. “We’re down to sharing a glass. We had a couple, but I broke one.”

  Casper smiled.

  “This is from Brendan and me.”

  I opened a slightly smaller box to find lots of glasses.

  “Hey, look Tim,” I said, holding one up. “We don’t have to share anymore.”

  The theme of gifts to use in the loft continued. I received some much needed towels, washcloths, dishtowels, and dishcloths as well as some silverware and some wooden spoons.

  Tristan handed me a large rectangular package. I didn’t have a clue as to what was inside, although if I had any sense at all, I would have figured it out. I tore away the purple-and-silver wrapping paper to find a beautiful painting of Café Moffatt that showed Tim and me hanging out the upper windows smiling and waving. Everyone oohed and aahed over it.

  “Tristan, I don’t know what to say. It’s incredible!”

  “I thought you could use it to decorate your living room. Or, if you don’t like it, your bathroom.” He grinned.

  “Not like it? Are you kidding?”

  Everyone had to get a good look at the painting. Tristan was truly talented. There was no doubt it was Tim and me in the windows. He even captured the mischievous look that Tim often gets.

  “Our present is upstairs,” Jack said. “We had to put it in one of the spare bedrooms.”

  We all followed Jack up the stairs. He opened the door, and my breath caught in my throat.

  “Casey said you didn’t have a kitchen table or chairs,” Jack said. “Ardelene and I found these at an auction.”

  “I don’t know what to say. This is too much. Thank you!”

  The table and chairs looked new. They were all painted white, except the top of the table was natural wood. It was beautiful.

  “Time for cake and ice cream, I think,” Ardelene said.

  Everyone went back downstairs. I really was overwhelmed. I’d been having a really hard time getting the things Tim and I needed for our place. I’d just started working part-time at both Café Moffatt and Ofarim’s. So far, all my earnings had gone for food, electricity, and other necessities. There just wasn’t money for things like dishes and furniture. Now, we suddenly had most of what we needed. Yes!

  Casey covered my eyes while Ardelene brought out the cake. When Casey finally let me look, I gasped. My birthday cake was shaped like an oversized football. I don’t mean it was a flat cake with a football drawn on it. It was actually shaped
like a football. Seventeen candles burned above the laces.

  “Make a wish,” Nathan said.

  “Yeah, maybe to become quarterback this fall,” Brendan said.

  That would’ve been a good wish, but I already knew what I was going to wish for. I glanced at Tristan for a moment before I drew in a big breath and blew out all the candles.

  Dane

  “Mom, when can we move into the new place? I feel as if I’m living in a shoebox.”

  “Be patient, dear. Just a few more days.”

  “How long can it take to turn on the electricity and water?”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

  “Can I go over and study at Tim’s then?”

  “Will Shawn be there?”

  “Why does Shawn have to be there? I’m going to study with Tim.”

  “You need a chaperone.”

  “Mom, this is the twentieth century. We aren’t living back in the olden days.”

  “If you want to go, call. I want to talk to Shawn to make sure he’s there.”

  “It’s a Friday. Shawn doesn’t work on Fridays.”

  “Call.”

  I gave up and called. Tim answered. He was all for me coming over, of course. It took him only a few moments to put Shawn on.

  “Here he is,” I said, handing the phone to Mom.

  “Hi, Shawn. Are you up for babysitting? Dane is pestering me to study with Tim.”

  “Mom!”

  I could hear a laugh on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t tell what Shawn said after that.

  “If Dane becomes an annoyance, send him home. I’m sure you’ve ot a lot of work to do.”

  Annoyance? Me?

  Mom finished up her conversation with Shawn.

  “You are in luck. Shawn will be there this evening. I want you home no later than ten.”

  “Mom!”

  “Ten is late enough. I’m sure Shawn has things to do. Remember, he has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders right now.”

  “How about eleven?”

  “Ten, or you can stay home.”

  “Ten sounds great! See you later.”

  Mom presented her cheek, and I dutifully kissed it. I put on my coat and toboggan and walked toward Tim’s and Shawn’s place.

  Parents could be such a pain! Mine really weren’t that bad, though. My parents had actually moved so I could go to a different school. There was some serious trouble back in Marmont when word got out I was queer. I became a punching bag for former friends and enemies alike.

  I don’t see why I needed a chaperone. Mom was no doubt worried Tim and I would get it on. She was right to worry, too! We were going to get it on—as often as possible. No one could watch Tim and me all the time. We were going to do it one way or another, so why make things difficult? Did my parents really believe they could keep me under surveillance twenty-four hours a day? I think they knew they couldn’t. They just wanted to make themselves feel better and assure themselves they were fulfilling their parental duties.

  I’d only been over to Tim’s and Shawn’s a couple of times so far. Both times, Shawn made us keep Tim’s bedroom door open. He’d changed from my once-upon-a-time lover to my “parent.” I guess I should explain that. I knew Shawn before I knew his brother. Shawn saved my life once, in fact. We also messed around once when he came to visit me in Marmont. That was what was so bizarre about him being my chaperone. He was now in charge of keeping Tim and me from doing what he once did with me. I thought maybe he’d just look the other way, but nooooooooooo. He wouldn’t let us do more than make out. Mom would probably freak if she knew he let us do that. We actually did a little more than that, but we had to sneak it in. The world was against us having fun, but the world was going down!

  I still almost couldn’t believe I was living in Verona. Maybe wishes do come true sometimes. As bad as things had been at the end back in Marmont, the pain and suffering was worth it, because it brought me here. Tim, Shawn, Ethan, Nathan, Brendan, and Casper were real friends. They weren’t at all like the guys back in Marmont whom I thought were my friends. I didn’t have to walk the halls of VHS in fear like I did in my old school. Sure, there was danger, but not like in Marmont. I couldn’t believe how many out gay boys there were here! Best of all, of course, was Tim! He was so sexy and such a great kisser. I loved the way his sexy body felt in my arms.

  I walked up Main Street and entered the door just to the right of Café Moffatt. I climbed the stairs and knocked on the door at the top.

  “Come on in,” a voice called. I was confused. It sounded like Ethan.

  I was right. There was no sign of Tim, but Shawn, Ethan, and Brendan were moving furniture around in the living room.

  “Hey, what are you guys doing here?” I asked.

  “Delivering the kitchen table and chairs,” Ethan said.

  “I think over by front windows,” Shawn said. “There’s a lot of light there and a good view.”

  The three set the table in place.

  “Now all we have to do is organize the rest of the furniture,” Shawn said. “Hey, Dane, could you and Tim bring up the chairs?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “He’s back in his bedroom.”

  I walked down the hallway to Tim’s bedroom. The door was open. Tim was just pulling on a shirt. I caught a quick glimpse of his sexy abs. Dating a football player had its perks.

  “Oh, baby, leave it off,” I said.

  Tim grinned. He hugged me and kissed me on the lips. I hugged him back tight.

  “Shawn wants us to bring up the kitchen chairs,” I said.

  “He thinks I’m his slave boy,” Tim said.

  “I thought you were my slave boy.”

  “Mmm. Hold onto that thought.”

  “Maybe Ethan and Brendan will keep Shawn distracted and we can have a little…quality time,” I said.

  “Let’s hope so. I could use some…quality time.”

  “I’ve been needing it all day.”

  Tim kissed me again, and we walked out into the hall and to the living room. Shawn and Brendan were in the process of moving the couch.

  “So where are these chairs you want us to bring up?” Tim asked.

  “In the truck,” Ethan said. “It’s just up the street.”

  Tim and I walked downstairs. It didn’t take us long to spot Ethan’s ancient, green Ford pickup. Tim and I both grabbed two chairs and carried them back up to the loft. We had a bit of trouble coming up the stairs because we had to walk sideways. Carrying one chair at a time would’ve been wiser.

  “Thanks, guys,” Shawn said as we placed the chairs around the table.

  “Looks good,” I said.

  “Yeah. I’m thrilled with all my birthday presents. You guys are the best. It was such a pain trying to get by with one glass, one pan, and very few dishes.”

  “Maybe you should have another birthday,” I said.

  Shawn laughed.

  “If you need money, I can help you out,” Brendan said.

  “Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but we’ll get by. I really want to make it on my own. I’ve got to if Tim and I are going to stay together. A social worker will be checking on us every two weeks, so I have to stay on top of things.”

  “A social worker?” I asked.

  “Yeah. There was some talk about putting Tim and me in foster homes, but I was able to convince the social worker I could make it on my own. She’s actually really nice. She was impressed with our loft and that I found two part-time jobs so quickly.”

  “If things get tight, don’t forget we’re here for you,” Brendan said.

  “Thanks. I’ll remember that, but I’m determined to make this work.”

  “Hey, we really need to go,” Ethan said.

  I glanced at Tim. There went our chance of keeping Shawn distracted.

  “Going out, huh?” Shawn asked.

  “Yeah, we’re all going to catch a movie at the Paramount. You guys want to come?”
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  “We’d rather stay here,” Tim said, grinning.

  “I’ve got a lot to get done,” Shawn said. “This is one of my few nights off.”

  Shawn seemed kind of sad, but I wasn’t sure why.

  “Well, we’ll see you Monday at school at the latest,” Ethan said.

  “Bye, guys. Thanks for bringing the table and chairs over.”

  Soon it was just the three of us in the loft.

  “I guess we’d better get to studying,” I said.

  Tim and I headed for his bedroom.

  “Leave the door open,” Shawn said.

  “Shawn…”

  “Don’t ‘Shawn’ me.”

  Tim looked more than a little pissed. He turned back toward Shawn.

  “Why do you have to act so different now? You’re my brother, not my father. You weren’t like this when we were living at home. Back then, you wouldn’t have cared what Dane and I did.”

  “I’m different because things are different. You know that. I’m responsible for you now. I’m trying not to butt in, but I can’t just let you run wild. Do you want to end up in a foster home?”

  “No. I still don’t see why I have to leave my door open. What’s wrong with Dane and me having sex?”

  I suddenly felt as if I shouldn’t be there. This was a family argument.

  “Um, should I go?” I asked.

  “No. It’s okay, Dane,” Shawn said. “I think maybe the three of us should sit down and talk about this.”

  “Or you could just let us do what we want,” Tim said.

  “Not a chance.”

  Tim shot Shawn a rather nasty look. The three of us sat down at the newly arrived kitchen table.

  “So, why can’t you just let Dane and me have sex when we want?” Tim asked. That’s one thing I liked about Tim: he wasn’t shy.

  Instead of answering Tim, Shawn looked at me.

  “Would your parents let the two of you have sex at your house?” he asked.

  “No way. They’d freak if we even made out.”

  “What does that have to do with it?” Tim asked. “Those are Dane’s parents. Like I said, you’re not my dad.”

  “No. I’m not your dad. I am responsible for you, though. That puts me in about the same position. Tim, I truly don’t want to stick my nose in your private life. I really don’t. What you’ve got to understand is that I have responsibilities.”