“Yeah, I’ve never tried. They, um, intrigue me. Some guys look hot in them.”
“Hot?” His eyebrows raise. “Okay then. Something for everyone I suppose.”
“Right.” I clear my throat. “So, um, are you, um, LGBTQ?”
He scoffs. “I thought that was obvious. You asked if Aiden was my boyfriend.”
“My bad. I shouldn’t assume.”
He smiles. “I am. The G, as you said.”
“A lot of people here are?”
“Almost everyone to my knowledge. It’s not a requirement to work here, of course, but we attract a queer crowd. Most people know Richard is gay, and a lot of people like working in a place owned by an LGBTQ person.”
That explains why my father plopped me here then.
“It’s awesome. It’s nice not to worry about how people will react when they know.”
Jeremiah nods. “I agree. Have you had trouble with that in the past?”
I shrug, not interested in pulling back the curtain on my life. “Not as much as some. I’ve been pretty lucky.”
“Me too. At least in that area.”
His delivery leaves me wanting to know more. Is there a reason Jeremiah is so stoic and his brother so protective?
“Do you want to go downstairs and tour the building?” he asks.
“That’s your morning ritual?”
He nods, his face softening once again. Man, I could get addicted to being the one to cause that. “I trust everyone who works here, but there’s something comforting about it to me. Might be weird, but…” His words trail off.
“Not weird. Let’s go.”
As we leave the office, I let him walk in front of me while I not so subtly check out his ass. His pants are a little too loose in the butt, but I can make out the pert bottom underneath. He’s wearing a cream sweater today, which looks surprisingly good on his pale skin. Jeremiah is, in a word, breathtaking.
And given the circumstances of how we know each other, I don’t stand a chance with him.
Chapter 4
Jeremiah
As the show on Jupiter comes to an end, and the lights in the auditorium slowly come up, I clear my throat, ready to impart everything I know about Jupiter to this room of fifth graders.
“All right, kids. Let’s start with any questions that you have?”
It’s quiet for a few minutes as the students glance at each other. Their teacher nudges a few of them. I glance at Gabriel standing off to the side of the stage. He shrugs.
Finally, one of the kids, a chubby guy with red hair who reminds me of one of my good friends when I was his age, raises his hand.
“Yes?”
“Um, hi.” His voice is shaky. “Do you think someday we’ll be able to travel to Jupiter?”
“Oh, sure. I think someday we’ll travel anywhere we want to go, but it’s a long time from now. Does anyone remember how far away Jupiter is from Earth?”
A few hands go up but, ultimately, several of them just blurt it out.
“That’s right,” I say, quieting them. “Five hundred and eight million miles. The moon, for example, is only two hundred thirty-eight thousand miles. You can imagine it’s going to take a lot more technology to get to Jupiter.”
“Can humans live there?” another kid asks.
“No. It doesn’t have oxygen, so we couldn’t naturally live there. It’s also very hot and there are a lot of storms.”
“If you could go to any planet, which one would you pick?” a girl in the front asks.
“Well, I am especially fond of Jupiter, but I also think it would be amazing to stand on Saturn and see the rings as they orbited around me.”
“Would you go to the sun,” one kid asks, snickering as he does.
“You’d blow up if you went to the sun. Everybody knows that,” another kid says, pushing the first kid’s arm.
“Yeah, well, I’m gonna live on Mars someday.” He turns to me. “Would you live on Mars?”
I exhale, measuring my answer. I get passionate about this topic, but this is a good age to plant this knowledge seed.
“I’ll be honest, kids. I love space. I think it’s very cool, but I really like the planet we already live on. Instead of spending billions of dollars to convert Mars to a habitable planet, we could spend a lot less to take care of this one, so we don’t have to move to Mars.”
“How?” the girl up front asks.
“We can do a lot to halt climate change. That would help. We can recycle, be careful with water, and take care of what we have.”
The science teacher, Mrs. Miller, nods and smiles at me.
“Okay, a couple more questions.”
“Why isn’t he talking?” another kid asks, pointing at Gabriel.
I glance at him. “Um, well, he’s learning too.”
“What’s your favorite planet?” the kid persists.
“Oh, um.” Gabriel looks uncomfortable. “Pluto.”
“Pluto’s not a planet,” the kid retorts with a sassy tone.
“Yeah, I know. It’s a dwarf planet. I like it because at one point it was equal to the other planets. It had planet respect.”
Some of the kids chuckle while I wait to see where he’s going with this.
“Then, one day, someone decides, nah, not a planet. A dwarf planet. We’ll let you hang out here, like a moon or something, but you’ll never be one of them.”
The kids are watching him, looking slightly confused.
“I guess I relate to Pluto. I like underdogs. Someday, Pluto might be a big deal again. You never know.”
My brow creases as the analogy becomes clear. He thinks he’s Pluto and going to take over and become a full-blown planet again? Not on my watch.
“You know what, kids, this is a great opportunity to quiz Gabriel on everything he’s learned since he’s been working here. Like more about Pluto and the other planets.”
Gabriel gives me a slightly panicked look. “Uh, no, I don’t think that’s—”
“How far is Pluto from the sun?” a kid yells.
“Is it cold there? It looks cold,” another calls out.
“What about Uranus,” a kid questions, giggling as several others join him.
“Does Pluto have gravity?” a kid asks.
“What about moons? Does Pluto have moons? We have a moon, but just one. I wonder if people on Pluto can see us on Earth?”
The kids shout out several questions all at once, until the room erupts in chaos. I stand back watching Gabriel panic. Am I being an asshole right now? Yes, yes, I am. But Pluto is not being promoted to a planet as long as I have air left in my lungs. The teacher looks distressed, and I decide I better jump in before it all goes to shit, but just before I say something, Gabriel raises his hands.
“Kids.”
Everyone stops.
“This is awesome that you have so many questions. Being curious about learning is one of the best traits you can have in life. I’m really proud of all of you for wanting to learn.”
I gaze at him like he just turned green.
“Like Jeremiah said, I’m pretty new here, and still curious about learning too, but we should all stay focused on Jupiter. Your class project is coming up, and you don’t want to get your facts jumbled with Pluto, do you?”