Second Chance(15)

“It’s okay. I wanted to see what it was like.” Jack stood on shaky legs and they both rearranged their clothes. The wet patch in Jack’s boxers was sticky and cold, but warmed with his body heat. It was totally worth having wet pants for experiencing his first orgasm with another guy.

Awkward now they’d come, they grinned at each other.

“So… that was fun,” Stephen said.

“Yeah.”

Anxiety flickered over his face. “You won’t tell anyone will you, though? Nobody knows I’m….”

“Gay?” Jack supplied.

Stephen shrugged. “Whatever.”

“No. I don’t want people to know either.”

There was a pause before Stephen said, “I guess we’d better go back downstairs.” He went to the door and put his ear close to it. “Sounds quiet out there. You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe we can sneak away again later?” Stephen looked hopeful.

Jack grinned, excited at the thought of a second round. Maybe he’d get to suck Stephen’s cock for more than five seconds next time. “Yeah. That would be cool. There’s a summerhouse at the bottom of the garden and I know where Julia’s parents keep the key. That might be safer.”

“Perfect.” Stephen opened the door and they stepped out together, just as a figure rounded the corner.

Nat’s eyes flew wide as she looked from Jack to Stephen and then back at Jack. “Well, this looks cosy.” Her voice was brittle, lacking the teasing tone Jack would’ve expected.

“It’s nothing. We were both desperate for a piss,” Stephen said quickly, his panicked tone not coming across as convincing at all.

“Yeah, right.” Nat raised an eyebrow. “I think you’ll find it’s girls who always go to the toilet in pairs.”

“It’s okay,” Jack said. “She’s my best friend. She won’t tell, will you, Nat?”

“Of course not.” Nat’s expression softened a fraction. “Anyway, sorry to be a lightweight but I’m knackered. Are you ready to go?”

Jack’s heart sank. He and Nat always walked home together. Normally it wasn’t a problem, but tonight…. He glanced at Stephen who gave him a nervous smile. “Nat, I’d rather stay a bit longer. Can you hang on another hour, or get someone else to walk you home? I bet Owen would, he likes you, and your place isn’t that far from where he lives.”

“I don’t want to walk back with Owen.” Nat scowled. “I like walking with you. I don’t have to worry about you getting the wrong idea, do I? If you’re not coming now then I’ll walk home on my own.”

It was a couple of miles from Marlham back to Hedbury. A long walk along narrow country lanes in the dark. Jack wouldn’t fancy doing it without company, so even though he was pissed off with Nat he wasn’t enough of an arsehole to let her walk on her own.

“Okay, fine.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll come with you. Can you just give us a minute?” He gestured between himself and Stephen.

“Sure.” Nat turned on her heel and stalked away. Her tread on the stairs was heavy, even considering the Dr. Martens boots she was wearing. Jack didn’t understand why she was being such a bitch.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly to Stephen once Nat had gone. “But I’m not letting her walk all the way back to Hedbury on her own, and she will if I don’t go with her.”

“It’s okay. At least we both came already.” Stephen smiled, but it was half-hearted at best.

“Yeah.” Jack sighed. “I don’t know what’s up with Nat. It’s not like her to leave a party early.”

Stephen shrugged. “Maybe she’s jealous.”

“No way.” Jack laughed. “It’s not like that. We’re just friends. Okay, I’d better go. Thanks for… that.” He jerked his head towards the bathroom door and grinned. “It was fun.”

“Yeah. It was. I’ll see you around, maybe?”

“Yeah. Maybe. Bye, Stephen.”



2018



Jack stubbed out his cigarette on the stone windowsill as he exhaled a final plume of smoke. It drifted away in the still evening air and he shivered, closing the window, and putting the fag end in his bin. It stank, but luckily his parents never came in his room so they wouldn’t notice.

He wondered where Stephen was now. They’d never met again, but Jack had occasionally thought of him over the years whenever he’d had a conversation about first times.

Nat had been a bit weird about what happened with Stephen. On the walk home she’d been moody while Jack was bouncing with excitement at finally getting off with another guy. He’d tried to tell her about it, but she’d covered her ears. “Eww, gross. I don’t need the gory details.”

Subdued, Jack had stopped talking about it while being secretly hurt by her reaction.

With his new knowledge of Nat’s transition into Nate, Jack considered Nat’s behaviour that night. Perhaps Stephen hadn’t been so far off the mark after all with his suggestion of jealousy. Not that Nat had been jealous of Stephen, but more that she might have been jealous of Jack—or of both of them—even if she didn’t understand why at the time.