“Don’t you think we’ve had enough wagers?” I arch an eyebrow.
Colt shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“What did you have in mind?”
We’re already treading on dangerous ground. We’re messing around in ways we shouldn’t be, yet neither of us seem to want to stop. So, I’m more than a little curious what this wager is.
“For every shot I get under par, you let me do whatever I want to you.”
“What do I get out of that?”
“Fun. Orgasms.”
I stare at him, waiting for more. “Not enough,” I lie. It’s more than enough.
“For every shot you get under par, I’ll do whatever you want.”
I perk up. My mouth drops open. “Like kiss me?”
It’s almost unnoticeable, but he winces before he schools his features into a calm and nonchalant expression. “Sure. I’ll kiss you.”
My heart stops. As much as I want him to be my first kiss because he’s the only guy I trust, I couldn’t do that to him. He’s saving his kiss for the love of his life. I’d never take that away from him. But the fact he’s willing to give that up means more than he’ll ever know.
“You’re on.” I extend my hand and shake his.
Then I lose every hole while Colt wins every single one.
Shame that.
Now he can do what he wants.
“It’s amazing how much your concentration and ability to play mini golf improves with the promise of sex,” I say, tallying up the score card at the end of the game.
“What can I say? I’m full of focus and determination when it’s directed at something important.” Colt nudges me with his elbow.
I shake my head. Such a Colt thing to say.
We finish our day of mini golfing by taking Mr. James and Jody out to dinner.
“Sorry, the old man didn’t tell us about you until this morning, otherwise we’d have invited you out with us last night, too,” Colt apologizes to Jody, and she laughs it off.
I smile, unable to hide it. Colt’s trying his hardest to be nice and pretending to care about Jody’s feelings. Though, I’m glad she didn’t come and witness the mess last night turned into.
“It’s fine. I know what a big step it was for him to do this. And for you, too, Colt.” She places a hand on his arm and smiles at him.
Colt pulls out my seat and then bumps Mr. James out of the way to pull out Jody’s too.
Mr. James stares at him, a look of bewilderment on his face. “When the hell did you get manners?”
I raise my hand. “We’ve been practicing.”
“I tried for years to get him to be polite, or at least pretend to care, and you’ve done it in a few months. How?” Mr. James asks. He’s been trying his best to help Colt fit in, but it’s been hard.
“Blow jobs,” Colt announces, and Jody chokes on a mouthful of water, glancing between me and Colt.
Mr. James rears back. “What?”
I wave my hands frantically between us, shaking my head, but Colt stops me, grabbing my hand and bringing it to rest on his lap.
“Jesus, Dad. Not Emerson.” He squeezes my hand tighter and slides it up his thigh to the bulge between his legs, and I catch the word he hasn’t said; ‘Yet,’ before I yank my hand away. There’s a time and place for everything. Sitting across from his dad in a busy restaurant is not the place to get touchy.
Mr. James sighs in relief, his shoulders relaxing as he leans back in his chair and chances a wary glance at Jody. Judging by her expression, she’s all too aware of Colt and his...open-ness, or lack of filter now because she turns to the waiter who’s appeared at the table and, with a smirk, orders a bottle of wine. Can’t blame her, really.
If I didn’t hate alcohol, I’d be drunk ninety percent of the time living with Colt.
“But Em promised me blow jobs if I learned to be polite, nice, and showed respect.”
Mr. James coughs and chokes, glaring at me. I shake my head, reassuring him I wouldn’t give his son a blow job for saying please and thank you.
“Sorry, she promised other girls would be more likely to give me blow jobs if I was nice. And learned their names. I met a sweet girl, Dad, too. Her name is Liza.”
Not true. I promised no such thing. Please stop saying blow jobs.
“Jane. Her name is Jane,” I interject, but Colt ignores me.
“Lavinia is a prettier name,” he says, and I groan. Poor Mr. James rubs the bridge of his nose before apologizing to Jody.
It’ll be a long night.
Saying goodbye to Mr. James the following morning is harder than I thought it would be. I don’t think either Colt or I realized how much we missed him or missed being home.
He stands out the front with his hands in his pockets while Colt loads the car with our bags. Work gave me a week off, and we planned to stay with Mr. James for the week, but we didn’t realize he had plans with Jody.
He apologized profusely, going so far as to offer to cancel his plans so we could stay longer, but we wouldn’t let him. It’s almost summer break, and we have more than enough time to come back and visit before the summer is over.
“Well, thanks for coming to visit your old man.” He rubs the back of his neck. He hates goodbyes.
Colt pulls him into a hug. “I’ll be back soon. Thanks for the weekend. Hope you enjoyed it.”
“Best birthday ever. Love you, son.”
Colt clears his throat and shuffles awkwardly on his feet. “Love you, too.” He doesn’t express emotion or profess his feelings often, but he loves his dad and it means a lot to Mr. James when he says it.
Mr. James pats Colt on the back as he releases him then stretches his arms out to me. His eyes are glassy and I’m sure he’s trying to hold back the tears.
I fall into his arms and attempt to fight off my own. I don’t want to leave. I’ll miss him too much. I’ve felt more wanted and loved in the last two days than I have in my entire life.
“Be patient. He’ll figure it out. If not, you might need to kick him in the ass and shock it out of him,” Mr. James whispers in my ear.
I pull back, wondering what he’s talking about, and then wondering if he’s getting himself confused. At what age can a person suffer dementia? But he nods at me, giving me a confident smile and adds, “You’ll figure it out, too.” Then he chuckles and pulls me back in for a hug. “I love you, kiddo.”
And that’s when the tears I fought so hard to stop spill over. They flow, unstoppable down my cheeks, and I can barely form the words to say back to him. Mr. James nods and smiles, saying, “I know,” as he deciphers my mumbled words.
“Go on. You better get on the road before it gets too late.”
With one last goodbye, Colt and I climb into the car. And it’s not until we’re driving away that I realize we had an audience next door.
My mom was standing in the front window watching.
21
Colt
“I’m going.” I open the bathroom door a crack so Em can hear me. “Keys are on the table.”
“Enjoy your date.” The sarcasm is thick in her voice. She’s going to by chicken feed and run some errands while I go and woo my lady.