I finished my banana, put on my running shoes, then headed for the elevator. Harrison was off today as well, so we’d pushed back our morning jog. The only reason I knew his schedule was because we texted now. That was a thing I did with the guy I would be sometimes fucking. I thought it was important we didn’t do it too often—just when we really needed to get off. Also, had I really never texted with a guy I was sleeping with, other than to make arrangements for sex?
My life sounded way more slutty than it was, or than I wished I’d let it be.
When I got to our meeting spot, Harrison was already there. He turned and grinned like he’d somehow known I was approaching. “Good morning.”
It was only the second time we were meeting since he’d brought me my gift and fucked my brains out, but it was still different seeing him again after we’d made the decision we had. If Harrison noticed, which I was pretty sure he did, he kept himself from mentioning it. It was things like that I liked about him the most.
“Morning.”
He nodded toward the sidewalk, and we began our jog. We didn’t talk much as we went. In the beginning we would, sometimes more out of discomfort, I thought, than anything else, but running and talking wasn’t easy, so I was glad that wasn’t a game we’d continued to play. When we had time, we’d speak for a while afterward, though, stretching and talking.
We went until sweat stung my eyes, my muscles burning in the best way. I always felt so accomplished after I jogged, like my body was reborn each and every time.
“How are you spending your day off?” Harrison asked, wiping his brow.
“I have some things I still need to get. At least one bookcase, which I’m hoping to find at a secondhand shop. The older ones are sturdier. If not, I’ll grab a cheap one at a department store. I’d love to get some clothes too, but we’ll see.” I didn’t let myself get embarrassed that these things were harder for me than they’d be for him. I knew I had nothing to be ashamed of, but it was still difficult to talk about it. Life was just fucking hard sometimes. I believed Harrison got that, even though our situations were different.
“How are you going to get the bookshelf out to the school?”
That was something I’d been struggling with. “I’m not sure. I might just go the department-store route. Then at least it’s in a box, so that will make it easier to transport.” One of the secondhand stores delivered, but there was a fee for that, which I was hoping to get around.
Harrison sighed. “What are we going to do with you, Mr. Wescott?”
Well…I could think of a few things, one being his mouth on my cock. “What did I do now?”
“It’s okay to ask for a favor.”
“I know that.” I just didn’t like to. “Plus, you don’t even drive a truck.”
“No, but I do have car dealerships and access to trucks.”
Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about that. “You can’t want to go through all that trouble.”
Harrison rolled his eyes, wrapped an arm around me, and tugged me along. We were both slick with sweat, the slight tinge of salty skin lingering in the air around us.
“What are we doing?” I asked him.
“We’re going home to get cleaned up, and then you’re taking me shopping with you. I love thrift stores. Oh, and antiques.”
“Maybe because you are one?” I teased rather than focusing on the fact that this man who had a whole hell of a lot of money liked to go thrift-store shopping. Everything about him made me want to know more—strictly on a friendship level, of course.
“Ha-ha.”
“I’m kidding, and you have to have better things to do with your day than shopping with me.”
“I like spending time with friends.”
“You want to help me out.” Which was cool and all, but I didn’t want to be someone’s burden.
“Sometimes I feel like you’re the older, grumpy one in this friendship. Yes, I like helping people I care about, but no, that’s not why I’m doing this. It sounds fun, and if you don’t keep me busy, I’ll end up at work or bugging a buddy of mine and keeping him away from his husband.”
“Ross has always known you’re bi?” I found myself asking. He’d clearly been raised around queer people. I envied him that.
“Yes. I never hid it from him. It was important to me that he see and know people from every walk of life. That’s the world we live in, and I wanted him to experience it that way. I’ve always gravitated toward queer people, though. I don’t lean more in any particular direction, men or women, when it comes to who I sleep with, but most of my friends are queer.”
I nodded, thinking about how different of an upbringing he’d given Ross, compared to mine.
“What about you? Your family, I mean?”
“Well, I didn’t grow up like Ross. I remember knowing at a young age that I was supposed to like girls, that boys grew up and married girls, and that one day that’s what I was supposed to do, but I didn’t feel it. The whole thing was confusing to me. We lived in a rural community, and you know how that can be. I never heard anything positive about being gay when I was young. It was what boys called other boys they didn’t like. As I got older, probably fourteen or so, I admitted to myself I was gay. I was scared to death of my parents finding out. I knew deep down that Mom would be okay, that she’d love me regardless, but it’s still scary as hell to open yourself up that way.”
“And your dad?”
“Who the fuck knows? I mean, I couldn’t say whether he’d care, but then, he didn’t care about us regardless, so what was new?”
“I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is.” We continued walking toward Ross’s place. “Anyway, Mom found out by accident. I was seventeen. I didn’t have a cell, and we only had one computer in the house. We didn’t always have the internet hooked up, but when we did, I took advantage.”
Harrison chuckled. “As we all do.”
“Obviously. So, one day Mom got home earlier than she was supposed to. I clicked out of the porn real quick but forgot to erase the history. She never got online, so I have no idea why she did then or how she even brought it up. She’s so bad at electronics that it had to be some kind of mistake. Anyway, two guys, of course. She came into my room that night, hugged me, told me she loved me and she always would, no matter what, and that if I ever had anything to tell her, I didn’t have to worry because she would always be there. I just…fuck, I just broke down crying. It was so freeing.”
“Your mom sounds great.”
I smiled. “She is. The best.” I loved her and Molly more than anything in the world…and I missed them. I needed to go visit, but I didn’t want the extra miles on my car before the school year started.
When Harrison stopped walking, I realized we were in front of the building.
“Thank you,” Harrison said.
“For what?”
“Sharing that with me. I know it’s not something you do easily.”
My heart went a little crazy, beating on my chest wall like it wanted to burst free. No, no I didn’t share things about myself easily, and…I couldn’t believe I just had. That I hadn’t even realized I was doing it either. He asked, and I’d just…spoken.