Riding With Brighton(11)

I run my hands over my face and tell myself the same thing I told him: Fucking relax.

When I head back to my room, the door’s open and Jay’s standing there… in my jeans, which are hanging on his narrow hips, and my T-shirt that has to stretch to accommodate his chest and biceps. The sight of him—in my clothes—sends a shiver through my body. I fucking like it. “You ready?”

“Yeah. You got a hoodie or something I can borrow?”

“Sure.” Opening my closet, I pull a basic red one off the hanger, thinking the color will look good on him. I throw it to him and he catches it. He gets his arms in it, then reaches to pull it over his head, and I get a glimpse of his golden six-pack and the top of his boxer briefs that are poking out of my jeans. My dick twitches so I turn away.

“All right, let’s go.” I look back at him, and I was right—he looks hot in my red hoodie.

We head back upstairs and into the kitchen to say bye to my family, who are all congregated there now. “No,” my mom is saying to Cooper. “Absolutely not. I am not taking you and Ashley to the movies. You’re twelve years old.”

“Ashton, Mom,” Cooper corrects. “And age is just a number. Emotionally I’m at least fifteen, and I need a serious relationship, which I can’t have if I’m not allowed to date.”

Dad barks out a laugh. “Oh God, Cooper, please. You can take a girl out on a date when you can take a girl out on a date. Even your emotional self isn’t old enough. Sixteen, buddy.”

“God, that’s so unfair.” Cooper looks at me then. “Tell them, Bri—a man has needs.”

I shrug. “Pretty sure I was thirteen when I was dating Kellen, and I think you dropped us off at McDonald’s for an hour once,” I say, looking at my mom.

She sticks her tongue out at me. “That was different.”

“Because Brighton’s gay,” Cooper whines. “Seriously, you guys are so biased. I wish I were gay. Then you’d be bringing me and my boyfriend to the movies every weekend.”

“That’s not why,” Mom tells him. “Kellen was only here for that one day. Brighton never had an opportunity to hang out with any of the boys he met. You get to see Ashton every day at school.”

“Whatever,” Cooper says, crossing his arms on the table and dropping his head on them.

I slap him on the shoulder. “Hang in there, buddy. It’ll get better.”

“You two taking off?” Mom asks me. “I didn’t even catch your name. This is Max,” she says, pointing to my dad, “and I’m Mickey.”

“That’s Jay,” Paisley informs her. “And he’s not Brighty’s boyfriend.”

“Sorry,” Dad tells Jay, standing up to shake his hand. “I don’t know why no one has invented a chip you can put into a four-year-old’s brain that can censor their words.”

Jay laughs and shakes his hand. “It’s cool. I don’t mind.”

“Where are you two headed?”

“Errands,” I tell him. I don’t really have a plan.

“Any chance you can stop by The Farm? I have some supplies in the back of the Bronco for Abe.”

“Sure.” I hug them all good-bye, grab the keys to the Bronco off the hook, and head outside.

“You guys have a farm?” Jay asks after getting into the passenger seat.

“No,” I tell him. “It’s The Farm. You never heard of it?”

“No. What is it?”

I shake my head as I pull out of the driveway. “That’s so disappointing, Jay. You should already know and because you don’t, I’m not gonna tell you. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Is it a store…? A restaurant…?”

“You’re not very patient, are you? I just told you, you have to wait.”

“Fine. So where are we going?”

“To pick up my check,” I tell him, heading out of my neighborhood.

He sits back in the seat, but after a few seconds his leg starts bouncing. “So, was Kellen the one time you tried the whole relationship thing?”

I look at him. His skin’s a little flushed, and he turns away when my eyes meet his. Is this why his leg is bouncing? did the Kellen thing bug him? “No. I wouldn’t call that a relationship. Like I said, I was thirteen, and he was only here for the day. We had a pretty serious texting relationship for a few months, I mean as far as thirteen-year-olds go.”

“So what about the other guy… the relationship?”

I clear my throat, not sure what to say to Jay about it. I still don’t know why he’s asking, but more and more I’m thinking it’s because he’s interested. In me. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know… was he lacy?” he asks with an uncomfortable laugh.

“Not really into that.”

“So what… he was a… bear?”

I laugh my ass off at that. “Look at you, using gay slang. Do you even know what that means?”

“It’s like a big, hairy guy, right?”

I shudder at his description. “Big and hairy isn’t my type either.”

“So what’s your type?”

I glance over at him again. He’s looking at me, and this time he doesn’t look away. “I don’t know if I have a type. As far as looks go… I like guys who are in shape. Nice eyes. Nice lips. Around my age. Normal guys, I guess. A lot like you, actually.” I throw that last part in just to gauge his reaction, although it’s true. I mean, most of the guys I hook up with aren’t as all-American as him, but the body, the eyes, the lips—he fits all those criteria.