Chartreuse (4 page)

    
“Are you freezing?” Rowan asked, a bit concerned for the other.

    
“Not entirely,” Kasen replied.  “You think I’d be used to the cold weather, but
I’m not,” He licked his lips, watching his breath escape into the air once
again before he glanced back to Rowan.

     “I’m
far too used to the cold,” Rowan chuckled.  “Snow isn’t even impressive for a
guy like me.”

    
“Really?”  Kasen asked curiously.  “I like the snow, I guess.  But I don’t
really like having too much of it.”

    
“Oh, well never go to Boston then, huh?”  Rowan grinned and it only grew bigger
as Kasen grinned back.

     “Oh
yeah.  You’re one of those places famous for the fifty feet snows or something,
right?”

     “Well
I wouldn’t go that far,” Rowan laughed, watching as Houston and Napoleon came
running by.  They seemed to be getting along, playing tag or something.  That made
Rowan feel much better.  Hell, if his dog could get along with someone, surely
he could, too?

     He
glanced over at Kasen, watching as he worried his bottom lip between his
teeth.  Maybe it was just a nervous habit.  The boy looked up at him and Rowan
was taken aback.  The way the sunlight peaked through the clouds and reflected
off of those azure hues; Rowan had never seen anything quite like that before. 
It was possibly the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

Chapter
Five

     Kasen
was nervous from the way the other was looking at him.  He blinked a few times
before he squinted one eye, trying to avoid the sunlight that suddenly decided
to come out.  He rubbed his cheek.

    “Is
there…something on my face?”  He asked. 

    He
listened to Rowan’s baritone chuckle and he swallowed hard. 

    
“There’s nothing on your face,” Rowan reassured him. 

     “Oh,”
Kasen nodded, lowering his hand back onto his lap before he glanced over to see
Houston and Napoleon digging holes.  It was like they were competing with one
another to see who could dig the deepest; or maybe the fastest.  If only it was
so simple for Kasen.  To befriend someone that quickly and easily.  But it
wasn’t, because he always had to make everything awkward.

     He
bit at his bottom lip, going quiet for a few moments before he pulled his pack
of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.  “Do you mind?” He asked, glancing
towards Rowan.

    
Rowan quirked a brow, turning his head to look at Kasen, “Why would I mind?
It’s a free country, right?”

    
“Right,” Kasen echoed, a bit cautiously.  He lit up the cigarette and took a
drag, but then he glanced back to Rowan once more.  It was something about his
eyebrows.  Kasen noticed how thick they were, but for some reason, they suited
the other man.  When he lifted his brow like that, Kasen felt a weird sensation
in the pit of his stomach, and he wasn’t sure why.

     “So
what’s there to do around this town?”  Rowan asked after a few more moments of
awkward silence.

    
Kasen lifted his head once again, his cigarette halfway gone, and his dog’s
head halfway down in the ground.  “Uh,” He blinked, “Well, not too much to be
honest.  There’s an old roller rink just downtown, and then there’s also a new
movie theater that we got a few years ago.  I say new, because our old one had
a roof that was falling in,” He flicked his ashes before sticking the cancer
stick back between his lips.

    
Rowan nodded, “Hm.  Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it?”  He asked.  He offered
another smile to Kasen before he reached into his own jacket pocket and pulled
out a pack of cigarettes.  He lit one up, taking a deep drag before exhaling
from his nostrils and then he studied Kasen.  

    
Kasen felt paranoid from the way the other kept looking at him.  It made him
nervous when he wasn’t sure what people were thinking about him.  Which wasn’t
a problem with the locals: because Kasen already knew what they thought of
him.  But when it came to a new person, Kasen couldn’t help but to over-analyze
what they might think.

     “It
sucks,” He admitted honestly.  “Because we’re such a small town, we never get
anything cool.  I would personally enjoy having a Target, or something of that
sort.  But of course, the biggest thing we have is Wal-Mart,” He gave a small,
crooked grin before shrugging.  “Seems that’s all most places have.  I guess
we’re lucky to even have that.”

     “Target’s
not really all that,” Rowan insisted.  “I mean, sure they have good deals
during Black Friday and such, but they’re not the best in the world.  Come on. 
Wal-Mart’s where it’s at, right?”

    
Kasen laughed lightly, giving another shrug.  He was beginning to come out of
his shell.  At least a little bit; which was all anyone could ever ask of him. 
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Kasen nodded in agreement.  “I guess I should
thank my lucky stars that I’m able to buy a CD, toilet paper, and a loaf of
bread all in one place.” 

     He
listened as Rowan echoed his laughter and he glanced over at him again.  How
wrong was it that Kasen thought this guy was attractive?  He shouldn’t have
even been looking at him.  Because no one in Chartreuse was gay.  It was
unheard of.  Well, besides Kasen.  But he kept it well under wraps and no one
had a clue. 

     He
also knew that no one would be insane enough to move to a place like Chartreuse
knowing ahead of time that they didn’t accept people who were ‘different’.

    
“It’s almost time for me to head to work,” Rowan said suddenly, pulling Kasen
out of his thoughts.

    
“Oh? Right, of course,” Kasen nodded in understanding.  “Sorry if I’ve kept you
from it.”

     “No
worries,” Rowan said, winking and smiling towards him.

     He
didn’t mean anything by that, right?   People winked all the time.  Kasen was
certain of this.  His face heated up either way and he quickly looked down at
the ground.  “Well, I guess I’ll see you around then.” 

    
“Sure thing,” Rowan replied as he stood up.  He took the final drag of his
cigarette before tossing it to the ground, stomping it out with his shoe before
he held his hand out towards Kasen once again.  “It was very nice meeting you,
Kasen,” He said.

    
Kasen slowly lifted his gaze, seeing the hand that was being offered to him. 
It took him a full five seconds to get his hand to even move and it was soon
placed in Rowan’s.  He was surprised to find how warm his hand was.  As the
other’s finger’s curled around his hand for a hand shake, Kasen bit harder at
his bottom lip than usual.

    
“Same here,” Kasen said in a breaking voice.  He cleared his throat, chuckling. 
“Have a good day at work,” He swallowed hard, feeling as Rowan released his
hand before he walked over to retrieve his dog.  Kasen was frozen to the bench
as he watched Rowan put the leash back on Napoleon’s collar and then they
headed towards the exit.

     He could
hear Houston whimper from obvious disappointment as his new friend was led
away.  But Kasen smacked his thigh lightly and the loyal dog came running.  It
was at that very moment that Kasen looked up and his eyes connected with
Rowan’s.  He was outside of the park now, but he was looking at Kasen.

    
When their eyes met, Rowan smiled and nodded to him, offering a final wave
before he disappeared around the corner.  Kasen imagined that he smiled his
stupidest smile ever before slumping back against the bench and gazing down at
Houston.   “What am I thinking?” He asked, only to be met with a confused gaze
from his best pal.

------------------------

      “Good
morning, Tasha,” Rowan chimed as he stepped inside of the clinic with Napoleon
right on his heels.

    
“Oh, hey there, Mister K,” She said with a grin.  “So, Mrs. Birmingham called
again..”  Her voice drifted off as she wrinkled her nose.  “That woman
seriously has it bad for you.”

    
Rowan was putting on his white jacket as he smirked, shaking his head, “Well,
that’s unfortunate for her now, isn’t it?” 

    
Natasha leaned against the counter, gazing at him for a moment, “Can I ask you
something, Mister K.?”

     He
glanced up from some files, lifting a brow, “I suppose you can ask, but it doesn’t
guarantee I’m going to answer.”

     She
smirked a little, batting her fake eyelashes, “Are you gay?”

     He
stared at her, “What?”

     She
lifted her hands up quickly, “No offense if you’re not.  But you dress really
nice.  And you’re totally polite.  So, it just makes sense that you’re gay. I
mean, the guys around here are total hicks about everything. It’s all about
hunting and fishing and seeing who’s the manliest.”

    
“Are you suggesting that I’m not manly?”  He inquired

    “Oh
crap. No.  That’s not what I’m suggesting at all.  I just.. Wow. I’ll shut up
now,” She lowered herself back into her seat, pushing her glasses back down
from on top of her blond head as she chewed at her bottom lip.

     He
smiled a little, shaking his head as he walked over to stand near the desk,
“I’m just messing with you,” He replied.  “And I’m not ashamed to admit that
I’m gay.”

     Her
face lit up suddenly as she looked back up at him.  “I knew it,” She said.  “Oh
my gosh.  This is so exciting.  I’ve never known a gay guy before.  It’s just
like the sassy gay friend from YouTube—“

    
“Let’s get one thing straight here, as contradictory as that may be,” He said,
rubbing his chin.  “I’m not sassy.  I may have a taste for fashion, but you
will never see me flipping a scarf over my shoulder, and I don’t do the limp
wrist thing.  I’m just a normal guy, who happens to like guys. Okay?”

     She
nodded with a very serious expression on her face, “Okay.”

     He
was trying very hard not to laugh on the inside.  He was actually pretty amused
by the entire conversation.  He gave her a grin finally, and then nodded before
pointing down the hallway.  “So I’ll be in my office if you need me,” He said,
starting that way, before he stopped and turned back to her.  “And should Mrs.
Birmingham call, tell her that I’m filled up for the next three weeks, and it
may possibly be after Thanksgiving before I can get her in again.”

    
“Got it,” Natasha said, giving him a salute.  He nodded, and then disappeared
back into the sanctuary of his office.

----------------------

     The
rest of his day passed by pretty quickly.  Houston slept for the most part, so
Kasen had lots of free time to himself.  Though he wasn’t really thinking
properly.  He was far too distracted with thoughts of the guy from the dog
park, which was silly considering it was a waste of time.  Kasen knew he’d
never be able to find anyone as long as he lived in Chartreuse. 

     It
was a pretty depressing thought.  Knowing that he’d never be able to find love
in his own home town.  Then again, didn’t Rose find love on the Titanic?  With
a total stranger?  Albeit, he died in the end, but they’d had a romance most
people would kill for.

     He
let out a frustrated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his
thumb and forefinger.  He was only going to give himself a headache with all of
these useless thoughts.  The story of his life.  His phone was ringing then,
and he glanced at the caller I.D.  It was his mother, but he didn’t feel like
talking to her, so he let it go to voicemail.

     She
would probably leave a nasty one, but he’d deal with that later.  Right now, he
just wanted to think about other things.  Like Rowan.  God, he needed to stop
that!  It was useless.  There was no point in thinking about someone he’d never
be able to have.  Sometimes, he wondered why he even bothered being gay.   Well,
now that didn’t make sense.  He couldn’t start being straight for the hell of
it.  It wasn’t something that changed at the drop of a hat.  It was something
he’d just always known, and people would just have to accept that.

     Stupid
thoughts.  There were always so many stupid thoughts running through his mind. 
He heaved another sigh, shutting down his computer before he got up and walked
into the bathroom to turn on the shower.  Hadn’t he already showered today? 
Yes.  But he needed to do something else other than think about a guy.  A
really handsome guy with a voice as smooth as silk and skin that probably felt
the same.

     He
shook his head, undressing quickly before stepping into the shower and letting
the hot water beat down onto him once again.  There was nothing like
distracting himself with the smell of Old Spice.  He soaped up his mop of brown
hair as quickly as he could, massaging his scalp with his short nails as he let
out a small groan of approval.

     But
even as his eyes shut tightly to avoid that dreadful sting of suds, all he
could see was
that
face and
that
smile.  He was going to go
insane before the day was done.  It was only five thirty.  God help him.  He
quickly rinsed, only to start soaping up his body……and that definitely didn’t
help things.

     In
his mind, he was wondering what it would be like to feel those abnormally warm
hands against his skin; touching, caressing.  He let out a small breath. 
Really? Was this how it was going to work now?  He surely wasn’t about to
fantasize about a man he barely knew.  But God, it felt good.  He bit at his
bottom lip, his soft breaths being drowned out by the rushing water that
continued to cascade down his back.  He threw his head back, letting out a
quiet noise as he reached his hand down to caress the hot flesh jutting out from
between his thighs.

     He
reached out quickly, steadying himself against the cool tile wall as his fist
pumped rapidly up and down his length.  He bit his bottom lip hard, imagining a
large, hot hand pleasing him while lips that were bound to be as soft as velvet
teased his neck.

      “Shit,”
He stammered as his orgasm overcame him far too soon.  His legs immediately
turned to jelly as he leaned back against the tile, gazing up at the ceiling
for a moment.  He would never mention that to anyone.