We're Working On It (14 page)

“Why don’t you go into the kitchen and get that rag from the counter. Wet it down and can you wipe off the table and chairs? I’m going to fire up the grill and get it cleaned.

Kevin bounded back to the deck, but slowed as he passed Cory, who was still standing poolside.

“Pool looks miiiiiighty inviting,” Kevin said as he passed, eyebrows wiggling in that up and down mode again.

“Get your work done first, Groucho, then we’ll think about the pool.”

Cory tried to swat Kevin’s arm again, but Kevin had too quickly ducked inside the sliding glass doors before Cory could get to him. Cory again melted as he smiled in Kevin’s direction, although he couldn’t see him at that moment. Cory wished that he could just tell Kevin about himself. Why does he have to be so straight? Why does this have to be so difficult? Cory questioned his life.

Kevin returned and started wiping the patio furniture. He returned to the kitchen several times to clean the towel he was using, as Cory waited for the grill to heat up so he could use the wire brush on it.

It was now Cory’s time to watch Kevin while he waited. As he watched him, he had to admit that Kevin was gorgeous as he noticed how his brown hair was trimmed and combed forward with the front bangs gelled up into a short wall above his forehead. Those blond highlights were so striking, he thought. They brought out the soft blue-green of his eyes like pools of water. Cory wanted to drink of that blue water, to quench him, to....

“Hey! Stop drooling,” Cory heard Kevin yell.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I guess I was day dreaming,” hoping Kevin wasn’t thinking about what Cory was thinking.

“Well I’m just about done here. Scrape the grill and let’s get wet.” Kevin had that grin back on.

“Okay. Okay. It’ll only take a minute.” Cory quickly scrapped the grill as Kevin returned the towel to the kitchen.

As Kevin popped his head through the sliding glass door, he shouted, “Ready?”

“Yup.” As Cory returned the wire brush to the shelf under the grill, he yelled back, “Okay, let’s go get changed. The new chemicals in the pool have been in long enough now for it to be okay.”

Cory entered his bedroom in front of Kevin and went directly to his dresser. Rummaging through a drawer, he pulled out his pair of board shorts and turned around. Kevin was just standing in the middle of the room, staring at Cory.

“What?” Cory asked.

“I don’t have any trunks.”

“Well, all I have is one pair of boarders.”

“Where are your racing trunks?”

“That’s an old pair, kind a ratty. They hardly even fit me anymore. I’m growing, you know?”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Kevin returned.

Cory shot Kevin another one of those looks. He couldn’t understand why all the double meanings were coming from Kevin. Was he reading far too much into what Kevin had been saying? Or, did Kevin really mean what Cory thought he meant? Cory thought he was losing it. He figured that he was just hearing what he wanted to hear.

“Okay, if you want to wear them that’s up to you. But you’ve been warned. At least we’ll be alone this afternoon so you won’t have to feel embarrassed, cuz it’s only me here with you.”

Kevin’s smile lengthened as he took the old Speedos from Cory.

“Well, you know Cory, since it’s just the two of us, we can just skinny dip, you know?”

What is with Kevin? There’s nothing more than that that Cory wanted to do right then, but what in the hell was Kevin saying? What had gotten into him? Did he really want to go naked with Cory in the pool? Maybe it’s because the boys had been in the shower together so many times after gym class that Kevin didn’t feel shy around Cory any more. ‘That’s it!’ Cory thought. ‘It’s got to be. Kevin’s just being natural. There’s nothing more to it, right? Kevin didn’t have any gay feelings toward Cory at all,’ he thought.

“Nah, it’s too light out, so just put on the speedos and let’s jump in and cool off.”

Cory knew that he sure needed to cool off just then.

Cory reached behind his head, grabbed the neck of his tee, pulled it over his head and threw it on the bed next to Kevin. Kevin hadn’t moved yet. Cory pulled off his shoes and socks, turned around and started to pull down his shorts, but stopped, still bent over and looked under his arm at Kevin.

“Come on, dip shit. Get changed,” he said to Kevin.

With that, Cory, with his back to Kevin, stripped off his shorts and boxers and stepped into his board shorts and pulled them up. Once finished, he turned around to see Kevin sitting on his bed with just his trainers and socks off, still looking at him.

“Earth to Kevin,” he said.

Kevin shook his body quickly.

“Oh, yeah, give me a sec,” as he quickly stripped and pulled on the older speedos...RIGHT IN FRONT OF CORY!

Now it was Cory’s time to watch Kevin. He watched Kevin thinking that he had the nicest ass. Why didn’t Cory see it like that in gym? Cory guessed it was because he was always looking at the wall instead of around the shower room. Or, maybe it was because Cory was alone with him right now and no one can catch him watching him. Shit...except KEVIN HIMSELF.

Cory quickly turned from Kevin and ran from the bedroom.

“Meet you at the pool, Kev.”

Once outside, Cory knew that he had been getting hard from watching Kevin get undressed. Cory knew there was only one thing to do. He dove into the water. As he surfaced, sweeping his head to the side to get his bangs out of his eyes, he saw a huge body in front of his eyes. ‘Oh shit.’ he thought as Kevin bombed into the water just beside him, causing his bangs to once again droop over his eyes.

As Kevin surfaced, Cory splashed him with a wave of water from the skidding heel of his hand.

“Dip shit. Take it like a man,” Cory shouted as he continued to splash water onto Kevin’s face. Kevin returned with his splashing onto Cory’s face. They continued until Kevin finally petered out.

“Okay, okay. Enough, man. You’re going to drown me and you’ll never see me again.”

That stopped Cory flat.

The two boys horsed over to the side of the pool and Kevin finally pulled himself out of the water at the shallow end.

“That’s enough for me,” Kevin said. “I’ve cooled down from having to slave under my task master,” he laughed out to Cory.

Cory couldn’t help but see his old speedos Kevin was wearing, and they were wet. Cory noticed that the older speedos really hugged him, and, and, Oh my God! Kevin looked HUGE in them.

“Hey, Cory, I better get home. It’s getting late and Mom wants me home for dinner soon.”

Cory also jumped out of the pool. “Okay, but don’t forget. The party starts at 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. You can come early and help me set up, if you’d like.”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you about 4:00, okay?”

Cory smiled again. “See you then. Oh, and don’t forget your trunks, doofus.”

“Now why would I want to forget those?”

“Perv!” Cory yelled.

Kevin winked and strolled back into the house.

Cory slept in until almost 10:00 the next morning. When he couldn’t stand the sun brightening his room any more, he got out of bed, completed his morning routine in the bathroom, and went downstairs to the kitchen in only a clean pair of boxers.

Richard eyed Cory as Cory grabbed a bowl for some morning oats and nuts.

“Why only the boxers?” he asked.

“Huh? Oh. Shit. Sorry. I guess I’m not awake yet.”

“Don’t swear,” Richard chided the boy who was only half awake.

“I’ll put something on. Be right back.”

“That’s okay. I guess since it’s your birthday today, you can go around in your birthday suit if you’d like.”

“Oh shit, I almost forgot it’s my birthday.”

“Don’t swear,” Richard chided again.

Cory became excited again, remembering it was his 16th birthday. ‘I’m almost a man,’ he thought. Ri

“Richard? Now that I’m 16...” Cory slowly let out, “...what are the chances of me getting a car?”

“A car?”

That request shocked Richard. He knew it was coming, but when it did, he still wasn’t ready for it. He also knew that he was stalling.

“Um,” Richard began. “Well, not until you’ve passed Driver’s Ed at least and then not until you’ve passed your learner’s permit exam and then maybe not until you’ve passed your driver’s test. And then again maybe not until I retire.” Richard couldn’t hold it in any longer. He had to laugh.

It was approaching the end of October, and the weather in Southeastern Michigan could be unpredictable. It was still warm, so a pool party was still possible although it probably was going to be the last time until next spring.

Kevin’s mom dropped Kevin off and he showed up at the door at 3:30 that afternoon. Cory hadn’t expected him until 4:00, so when he stood standing at the door, Cory was surprised. Actually, he wasn’t too surprised as Kevin could be unpredictable. No, Kevin could be just Kevin and all that that means.

“You’re late!” Cory sprang on Kevin trying to addle him.

“I’m not late! I’m early!”

“Okay, you’re early. So what are you doing here so early then?”

“Um, nothing better to do, I guess,” Kevin grinned at him through the doorway.

Cory knew that Kevin was here early because he was just as excited about the upcoming party as he was, and maybe, just maybe, Kevin just wanted to be with Cory.

Kevin looked at Cory. Then his eyes dropped lower and widened.

“Um, Cory, what are you still doing in your underwear? It’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“Hey! It’s MY birthday. Richard said that I could wear my birthday suit if I wanted to. But, this is as far as he’d let me go, not the real thing.”

“Humph. Don’t you ever call me a perv again, you perv.”

They laughed together. Cory felt so good just to be with Kevin. They just seemed to click so much together. Again Cory had to ask himself what he was thinking, even considering, that this would be going anywhere further.

They spent the next hour getting out paper plates, plastic cups, napkins, chips, dips and all the other trappings of a party to set up around the house and the deck, then Cory ran upstairs and got dressed.

Matt was the first to arrive, and of course he was right on time. Kelly and her friends didn’t show up until almost 5:30. When the chimes rang for the late arrivals, Cory had to yell as he ripped open the door, “You’re late you know?”

“Hey. I have to be fashionably late. Gotta attract that future boyfriend with my sophistication, you know?” Kelly laughed as she strode through the doorway. “But I can see that there’s not much hope here,” she chided Cory.

Cory wondered where that was coming from. There was nothing wrong with the guys at the party, except maybe for him. Kelly must really be trying to get Matt because his avoidance was getting to her.

“Hey, Kelly, glad you got here,” Matt said strolling up behind Cory with a can of Coke in hand. “You guys want something to drink? Sorry, but my underage friend here only has Coke and Dr. Pepper, no beer.”

“Hey, dork, Richard’s in the other room, so stuff it back in your pants.” Cory blatted out.

“Yeah, we gotta be good tonight,” was Matt’s retort. Matt thought for a moment.

“By the way, where is Richard? I thought he’d be here.”

“He wants to be here, but only if we get into trouble. He knows what kids are like, so he’s going to stay away in his study unless we need him,” Cory responded.

“Well, it’s Cory’s coming out party, so come on in,” Matt said turning to the three people standing at the doorway. Josh’s eyes widened. Kelly grinned.

Cory wanted to know what it is with these people. Everyone seemed to be trying to get him to ‘come out,’ but Cory wasn’t buying into their crap. Hell, they didn’t even know that Cory is gay. Cory was not feeling good about the evening.

“Oh, does everyone know Dawn and Josh?” Cory continued.

“Hey guys,” Matt said. “Yeah, we’ve met at school a few times. Good to see you guys again,” Matt said sticking out his hand, first shaking Dawn’s hand and then Josh’s.

“Hey, Matt, good to see you again,” Josh said shaking Matt’s hand only two times before letting go.

“Come on in guys,” Cory slipped in trying to defuse the small amount of tension that appeared at his door.

“The pool’s out back and you can change in the pool house next to it.”

“Grab a drink from the ice bucket out back. Get changed and we’ll party hardy, and without the beer,” Cory said glaring at Matt.

“Oops,” Matt slipped out.

Kevin then strolled into the living room as everyone else was leaving to head through the kitchen and outside.

“Hey guys. Glad you finally showed up,” Kevin said as they passed him.

Kelly, Dawn and Josh just strode by without saying anything.

“What’s up with those three?” Kevin whispered to Cory when the others were out of ear shot.

“I’m not sure, but I think Kelly’s pissed at Matt because he won’t return her sooooo obvious advances, and I’m not sure why Josh seems to be uptight. Dawn seems to be oblivious to what’s going on.”

“I know Josh. He’s in my Lit class. He’s always been friendly to everyone. He’s not a jock, and seems to get along with everyone, so I know it’s not just a popularity thing. He just seems to be a nice guy. If he seems upset, it’s gotta be something that’s really bothering him.”

Cory thought for a moment and then said, “Look Kevin. We can’t solve everyone’s problems tonight. Let’s just have some fun on my birthday.”

“You got it, man.” They clacked knuckles again and headed out to the back yard.

Kevin stopped, grabbing Cory’s arm just before they reached the sliding glass doors leading to the deck outside.

“What?” Cory asked.

“Oh shit man. I forgot my trunks.”

“You didn’t? I told you man. I specifically told you to bring them. Now what’re you gonna do?”

“Well.” Kevin said slyly with a chuckle, “We could always go skinnying,” those brows at it again.

“No fucking way, man! There’s no way you’re getting in that pool without trunks.”

Kevin couldn’t contain himself. Kevin’s eyes instantly told Cory that Cory had been had again. Kevin pulled his own pair of speedos out of his back pocket.