He Loves Him Read online

  “Mm-hm.”

  After another hour cuddling in bed, we arranged with Jermaine to have the car for the first half of the day and then for him and Jake to take it and go out for the rest of the day giving us the house to ourselves for a bit. We drove into town and found a nice little breakfast place. I had chicken and waffles and he had chocolate chip pancakes, and then he stole some of mine. We fought over who was going to pay and I caved and let him pay for once.

  We drove back to an isolated part of the beach so we could walk. It was a public area but apparently no one went there because all the locals already lived right on the beach. So, we had the place to ourselves. It was a long stretch too, so we could easily spend a couple hours just walking without recovering our ground more than it took to get back to the car. In the end, we spent three hours out there walking hand in hand. We were just coming back around to the car when I moved my hands to his sides and started tickling him.

  The face he always made, a mix of laughter and being affronted, was beautiful. The way he always tried to squirm away, only half-heartedly at first but with more effort the more he laughed, was adorable. Most people tried to get away from being tickled but it was always like he couldn’t decide whether or not he actually wanted to get away or accept it and enjoy it.

  “Stop that,” Riker said between laughs and swatting at my hands.

  “Nah, I don’t think I will.” I moved in to tickle his sides again setting him off into more laughter. He pulled away and started trying to run away, but he was still trying to catch his breath from the laughing. It only took a few strides before I caught up with him.

  I lunged for him, catching him around the waist, and crashing both of us down to the sand. He was smiling so I was pretty sure he wasn’t hurt or mad, so I started the tickling onslaught again. Riker squirmed underneath me, but he was giggling the whole time as he tried to free himself from me. Eventually, when he was laughing so hard, he couldn’t get enough breaths in, I finally stopped.

  I placed my arms on either side of his shoulders, resting all my weight on them, and held myself over him as he calmed down. He reached up and grabbed hold of my shirt, smiling, when he finally got himself under control.

  “I hate you.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “So, what now Romeo, gonna ravish me on the beach?”

  “Don’t you wish,” I said with a smirk as I pulled the waistband of his shorts away from his hip then let it snap back against his skin.

  “I always wish,” he said nonchalantly.

  Oh god. Yep. This conversation was going to get us in trouble.

  “I have a picnic packed in the car,” I said suddenly.

  “Picnics are fun,” he said just as nonchalantly as everything else.

  “Wait here?”

  Riker nodded and released my shirt.

  The picnic wasn’t anything overly special. Just some sandwiches, fruit, potato salad, a couple of sodas, and some chips. We laid it all out on a beach towel though because Riker insisted that we had to for it to be a real picnic otherwise we just took our lunch to the beach like we had been all week. I told him a little about how Jermaine had been opening up to me, and he told me about surfing. He was really excited about the surfing. Then when we were done eating we cleaned up and drove back to the house. The entire drive back he was belting along to the radio. Part of me loved it, the other part really wanted to smack him upside the head. So as soon as the car was parked back at the house and we got out I rounded on him, lowering myself enough to get my arms wrapped around his thighs and lifted him up and over my shoulder so that he was hanging over my back.

  “Put me down!” Riker demanded.

  “No can do, little man,” I said.

  “We’re the same size!”

  “Yes, but who’s carrying who right now?”

  “Not fair! You go to the gym,” he protested.

  “You’re an athlete!” I argued back.

  “Yeah, but I don’t use my arms. I fake that part at the gym,” he said.

  “You might consider actually partaking in that part at the gym from now on,” I said.

  “You are not carrying me into the house like this!”

  “Really? Watch me,” I said and started walking towards the door.

  “No, no, no.” I felt him hiking my shirt up in the back.

  “What are you doing back there?” I asked curiously.

  “Trying to distract you so you put me down,” he explained then started kissing my back.

  I smiled and reached back with my free hand to swat at him. I wasn’t really complaining though. And he could try whatever tactic he wanted I wasn’t going to put him down. I pushed the door open to the house and carried him in despite his protests. Jake and Jermain happened to be standing there putting their shoes on.

  “Ignore us,” I said, before Riker had a chance to say anything, and handed my car keys off to Jake so they could use the car for the rest of the day if they wanted to.

  “Will do,” Jake said. Jermain gave a two-finger salute.

  “You weren’t a boy scout!” Riker yelled out in some combination of outrage and despair even as I carried him away and toward the stairs.

  “Ignoring!” Jermaine yelled back. I didn’t wait around to see, or hear, if they actually left the house. Riker was starting to get a little heavy. So, I rushed up the stairs and into our room. A brief glance assured me the balcony doors and blinds were shut. Great. I tossed him straight down onto the bed. He hit the mattress with a small shriek of surprise, bounced a little, and then settled sprawled on his back. He looked startled at first before slowly turning the look into a wolfish smile.

  “You still wish?” I asked.

  “Always,” he smirked.

  Chapter 48 – Riker

  March 18th, 2017

  Jermaine and I had been playing sand soccer for about two hours now. Jake had been there for the first hour, but he had quit and was lounging on the deck watching us now. Kit was, well I didn’t know where he was, inside somewhere. That was fine. I didn’t get a whole lot of time alone with just Jermaine.

  Jermaine managed to steal the ball from my feet only to miss our makeshift goal by about a foot. I laughed and sunk to the ground. He sat down next to me.

  “Defenders aren’t goal scorers,” he said defensively.

  “They can be,” I said.

  “Well, this one isn’t. I’ll leave that to you.”

  “Hey, um, you know Jake and I joke a lot about it, but I do support your relationships.”

  “Oh god, what did Kit tell you?” he asked with a groan.

  I shrugged. “Nothing, I mean he told me what you talked about, but he didn’t give details or anything.”

  “Okay, well, I appreciate it Riker, and let’s never talk about it again.”

  “Okay.”

  He bumped his shoulder lightly into mine and said, “Do you want to go for a run later?”

  I scrunched my face up. “You know I hate running.”

  “And you realize our sport is like seventy-five percent running right?”

  “It’s different,” I said as I laid down and threw my arms out to the side.

  “It’s not, but whatever you say.”

  “I don’t have to think about running when I’m on the field, when there’s a ball at my feet. If I’m just running to run, then I have to think about it,” I explained.

  “Makes sense I guess,” Jermaine conceded.

  “Nah, I’ll run with you later today if you want,” I offered, “Just don’t expect me to do it without complaining along the way.”

  “Wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said as he moved to lie down next to me. I pulled my arm back, folding it across my chest to give him space.

  “We have to get up at some point and pick all this up,” I said gesturing at the air, not really knowing where the ball or our makeshift goals were in relationship to us anymore.

  “If we leave it long enough Jake will do it for u
s.”

  “Yeah, but then we’ll have to listen to him complain about us being lazy children.”

  “Well we are. Just leave it for now Riker. Relax and enjoy the beach. It’s our last day here.”

  I groaned. I didn’t want to go back to school. I wanted spring break to be permanent, or at least I wanted life to be more carefree and relaxed like this. Of course, as much as the world liked to remind me, it couldn’t be that way, which made me want to squeeze every last ounce of fun out of today that I could.

  “Let’s have a barbeque, tonight. We have the grill, and we can use the fire pit and make s’mores. End spring break the right way.”

  “And here I thought we’ve been doing spring break the right way all week. Minus getting blackout wasted of course. Besides we’d have to go to the store.”

  “So, I’ll go to the store and pick up what we need. We can go on a run when I get back, relax for a bit, play some games or something, and then barbeque.”

  “Alright, fine, I’ll admit it sounds good, but you gotta get Jake and Kit on board.”

  “You do realize, Jer, that they’re the easy ones. You’re the one that it takes work for me to convince of things,” I said as I stood back up and started walking back up to the deck where Jake was lounging on a sectional with his feet propped up on a chair across from him and his arms behind his head. His eyes were closed when I laid down across the rest of the couch, placing my head in his lap, looking up at him.

  “What’s up, Rike?” Jake asked without looking at me.

  “I know we said we would just finish whatever food was in the house today, but I was thinking I could go to the store, and we could have a barbeque tonight,” I said.

  “S’mores too?”

  I scoffed. “Of course.”

  “I’m in then.”

  I smiled up at him even though he couldn’t see it. “You’re my favorite.”

  He smiled in response. “I know.”

  I tracked Kit down in the bedroom. He was doing the whole pack now, so I don’t have to do it later when I’m tired thing. He agreed just as easily as Jake did. Pretty sure it had something to do with the fact I was hugging him so tight he couldn’t move to keep packing, and he just wanted to get me to stop.

  Jermaine ended up going with me to the store. The trip took longer than it should have, mostly because we kept arguing about what we needed and what we didn’t. I will admit we probably didn’t need two packs of hot dogs and hamburgers. There was only four of us, we could eat a lot, but not that much. However, we did need the big bags of chocolate and marshmallows, because there may only have been four of us, but it was s’mores and there was no such thing as too many.

  When we got back to the house we went on a run. It was as painful as I thought it would be, but that was fine. After that all four of us sat down together and played video games. Me and Jake against Jermaine and Kit. The two of them were a surprisingly good team. Although, that seemed to be the revelation of the week. I went out one last time with Jake to try and surf despite Jermain’s protests that it would be too much exercise in one day for me, and would probably wear me out. Finally, and thankfully with witnesses, I managed to stay up on the board. I rode three waves, made sure there was video evidence, then called it quits.

  Eventually we all started getting hungry, so we started to barbecue. Well, Jermaine and Kit were barbecuing. I wasn’t allowed to help, so I was just standing around talking to them while they did all the work, and Jake set up the fire pit.

  I had been standing with my arm slung over Kit’s shoulder. He had reached up with one hand to hold mine while he barbecued with the other.

  “I’m gonna go grab the buns. You got this?” Jermaine asked as he put down the tongs he had just been using to rotate the hot dogs.

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  Once Jermain was safely inside, I kissed Kit on the cheek and said, “Thanks for coming this week.”

  “Thanks for convincing me to come. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.”

  I smiled and moved to hug him around his waist instead. “How much of that is because of your new best friend?”

  He snorted. “He’s a good guy, as you know seeing as how he’s your friend. Yes, I guess he’s my friend too now, but mention it in front of Elyse and we’re all dead.”

  I chuckled and rested my chin on his shoulder, “Oh trust me, I don’t want to start that drama.”

  “Alright lover boys, break it up. It’s time to eat,” Jermaine said as he stepped back up with buns and plates.

  “But Jer,” I whined and pouted playfully at him.

  “You’re unbearable sometimes,” he said.

  Kit and I both laughed, but I let go and moved away from him, carrying the tray of hot dogs over to the table near the fire pit. The other two followed behind with the rest of the food. It was then that I noticed Jake wasn’t there anymore. I looked around and caught sight of him standing a little ways down the beach.

  “You two start eating, I’ll be right back,” I said.

  “You good?” Kit asked.

  “Yep,” I flashed him a smile, sent a knowing look to Jermaine, then slowly walked the distance to Jake. I stopped about half a foot away from him, and stayed silent, looking out over the water with him.

  He did this occasionally. Just disappeared without a word to anyone. Usually it was easier to catch, he’d have a minor breakdown. Breakdown, because well, Jake doesn’t cry. He’s our rock. But when he cries, it’s almost always about one thing, and it always results in this, him walking away.

  The last time Jake got emotional in front of Jermaine, I got a panicked call from Jermaine who was hiding in the bathroom because he didn’t know what to do. That had been a good laugh at least until I hung up and had to actually go over to make sure Jake was okay. Then the idiot had let him walk away in tears and I was in a panic until he showed up again two hours later promising everything was fine. It had scared both of us, and he knew it.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t think he couldn’t take care of himself. And it wasn’t because I didn’t trust him. I didn’t like him walking off and disappearing when he got emotional because it was hard to tell how bad he was actually feeling when he hides it all the time. That occasion he had told me I was overreacting, but later on I found out he had thanked Jermaine for calling me. So yeah, he worried me from time to time. Jake knew that though and that was usually enough to keep both of us even keeled in these situations. Which was probably why this time he had walked off without a word but had stayed in sight of us.

  “No offense Rike, but sometimes you and Kit are too much,” he said after a few minutes and swiping the back of his hand across his eyes.

  “Oh. Jake, I’m sorry.”

  “No, no it’s not really you and him,” he said to reassure me. “It’s hearing about Jermaine trying to sort out his relationship problems on top of seeing the two of you. It just kind of snuck up on me.”

  “Someday it won’t feel like this anymore,” I said.

  He scoffed. “Using my own lines against me now.”

  “Yeah, well they’re good lines. I know how true they are.”

  “Circumstances are a little different between you and me, Riker.”

  “Circumstances be damned. You’re perfect boyfriend material, and someday you’ll meet a girl that will see that and decide you’re worth it regardless of how complicated it might get. Sometimes complicated is more worth it than we realize.”

  “Maybe.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I’ll figure out how to be completely happy on my own.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. My first thought was to say that he was stuck with me as his best friend for life so he would never be on his own. But then I thought maybe it was just best to go with it. After all, I didn’t know what he was going through. I could try and understand as best I could, but I’d never be in his shoes, so in the end I could say a lot of comforting words, but not all of them would mean anything.

  Jake
reached out and bumped his fist against my shoulder and said “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. You wanted to barbecue and you’re missing it right now. Go, go eat. I’ll be back in a couple minutes, I promise.”

  “Alright, but I’m making you a plate before Jer can eat all the best-cooked food.”

  Jake chuckled, “Thanks, Rike.”

  “Anytime.”

  When I made it back to the deck Jermain looked like he was about to jump out of his own skin from panic. I assured him Jake was fine, then set about making two plates of food. The three of us moved to sit around the fire pit, a little ways off of the deck. There weren’t chairs, just logs placed around it for people to sit on like it was a campfire. It was kind of nice actually. Kit gave me a questioning look when I sat down on a separate log instead of on the open spot next to him. I sent him a small smile before looking over my shoulder towards Jake, who was finally on his way back. Kit nodded his understanding.

  We all ate in silence, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the calm sound of the ocean behind us. Jake finally made it back and sat down next to me. I gently bumped my shoulder to his, but didn’t say anything, instead opting to focus on my hamburger.

  A while later when we finished our dinner, I happily retrieved all the materials needed for s’mores and set about making sure me and Jake both had one and were started on a second before I even passed everything around to the other two. Kit and Jermaine both stopped after three each. Jake and I made it to five, but it was right around the fifth one that I started feeling exhausted. I leaned into Jake’s side, who lifted his arm up and around me.

  The sun was still setting, and we were sitting at the perfect angle to watch it disappear behind the horizon. It was beautiful, and I was at least going to keep myself awake long enough to finish watching. I could manage another ten minutes.

  “I told you surfing was too much today. It’s like eight o’clock and you’re about to pass out,” Jermaine said.

  “Am not,” I said, sounding only a little bit petulant.

  “We’re leaving early in the morning, anyway. Maybe going to bed early is a good idea,” Jake said.

  “Early sure, but not this early,” Jermaine said.