Something Like Spring (59 page)

“I’m starving,” Tim said. “Let’s order a pizza.”

“Better call Ben first,” Jason said. “He might have fixed something for us.”

“Good idea.” Tim got to his feet, wincing and groaning a few times before stepping outside to make a call.

William and Jason eyed each other a moment before laughing. Jason had no idea why. Maybe they did it to relieve tension.

“I wish we were at your old place,” William said. “I’d like to hose off out back again.”

Jason grinned. “They have these new things called showers, you know. Very cutting edge. There’s one here. Two, in fact.”

“Sounds amazing,” William said. “We should try it out.” When he saw the panicked response this caused, he added. “Not together, of course. That is unless… We have a lot of catching up to do, verbally, because I don’t even know what your situation is.”

“My situation?”

William nodded. “I noticed you’re not moving in with another guy.”

“Oh.” Jason swallowed. “There is someone, actually.”

“That’s great!” William said with a smile. “That’s what I wanted for you.”

“What you wanted?” Jason repeated.

Tim opened the front door. “Everyone, into the truck! There’s lasagna waiting for us! I just hope he made two, because I swear I could eat one all by myself.” He looked puzzled when neither of them moved. Then he seemed to figure it out. “Oh. Sorry, boys, but Benjamin is going to have hurt feelings if we don’t show. Especially since this is your last night with us, Jason.”

He nodded his understanding. “We’ll catch up later.”

“Right,” William said. “Of course.”

The mood was more somber on the way back. Once they were home again, William asked to take a quick shower. Tim went to do the same in the master bedroom. Jason waited upstairs for his turn, leaning against the hallway wall and listening to the muted sound of artificial rain. If nothing stood in their way, would he be in there with William now, giggling as they soaped each other up? Frustrated, Jason went to his old room and checked his phone. Caesar had written again.

How’s the move going?

All done
, Jason wrote.
Went fine. You?

Should be there late tomorrow. Miss you. Can’t wait to rumble in the jungle.

Jason laughed, his body reacting. Maybe he was just sexually frustrated.
Hurry hurry,
he texted back.

I will. Love you.

Jason hesitated. Then he responded with the push of two buttons.
:)
A lame smiley. Hopefully that would buy him some time, because despite his body knowing what he wanted, right now his heart felt like it was rocking back and forth in a padded cell. He distracted himself next by answering Emma’s texts. She was packed and ready to make the drive tomorrow. That meant more unloading, the thought alone causing Jason’s back to ache.

“Shower’s all yours,” Tim said, cruising down the hallway toward dinner.

Tossing aside the phone, Jason exhaled, then got cleaned up. He was the last one at the table. Tim was already eating, offering a shrug of apology. The others had waited for Jason. Ben had shiny eyes, like he couldn’t believe how grown up Jason was or something. Putting on a brave smile for him, Jason focused on the food, praising it and making excited conversation about his new place. Inside, he began to seethe. Why had William shown up, gotten flirtatious, then acted like Jason being with another man was all part of his plan? Was he masking hurt feelings? Or did he really want Jason to move on emotionally? Maybe William had only been hoping for a hookup and was relieved that Jason didn’t expect a relationship. If so…

“What the hell!” Jason said, letting his fork clatter to the plate. He looked up at William, who sat across from him. “You
wanted
me to be with another guy? How could you even say that?”

William glanced selfconsciously at Ben and Tim, but he answered anyway. “I didn’t want you waiting for me. I wanted you to have your freedom.”

“Why?” Jason asked. “What’s the use? Did you really think that would stop me from loving you?”

“Eventually,” William said.

“Really?” Jason asked in disbelief. “Simple as that? Well, I don’t work that way. Maybe you do. Took you about two years to stop caring about me, didn’t it? That’s when it really ended.”

William looked away instead of responding.

“Maybe we should give them some privacy,” Ben said, standing up.

“I’m not done eating!” Tim protested.

“It’s okay,” William said. “I should head back home. My mom will be getting worried. She hates it when I ride my bike at night.”

“We can give you a ride,” Ben offered.

“No, really. It’s fine. Thank you for dinner. It was wonderful seeing you again. All of you.”

Jason glanced up. William was looking at him, of course, his face as gentle as it always was. This took some of the steam from his hissing emotions, but he still didn’t say anything as William left. The table was quiet when he had gone, except for a squelching sound coming from the pan as Tim helped himself to another piece of lasagna as silently as possible.

“Sorry,” he whispered, slopping it onto his plate.

“It’s fine,” Jason said. “Everyone should keep eating. I didn’t mean to ruin dinner.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Ben said. “At least not yet. It’s not too late.”

Jason eyed him a second longer before hopping to his feet and rushing out of the room. He ran down the front drive, catching up with William just before he reached the main road.

“Wait,” he panted. “Please! I’m sorry.”

William stopped and stood, fists gripping the handlebars. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“No,” Jason said. “Let’s just forget everything, okay? That was no way to welcome you back. Let’s just move on.”

William was quiet for a moment. “I really do have to get home.”

Jason didn’t want him to leave, especially without knowing when he’d see him again. “We’re having a housewarming party,” he said. “This Saturday. We can make it a homecoming party too.”

“Do I have to wear a corsage?” William asked, some humor returning to his voice.

Jason grinned. “Not that sort of homecoming. It’ll be a welcome home party for you. Saturday. Seven o’clock. Please.”

William nodded. “I’ll be there.”

Jason watched him pedal away into the dark before he turned around and slowly began walking to the house. William was back. He should be happy right now, but instead his heart ached. Is this what moving on felt like?

Between his day job and volunteering at the shelter, Jason didn’t have much time for unpacking. The apartment would have been a disaster if not for Emma, who not only tore through cardboard boxes, but was revealing a natural talent for home improvement.

“I’m a lesbian,” she said proudly one night as she cobbled together her bed frame. “I’ll probably graduate from college just to become a plumber.”

Every night when Jason returned to the apartment, he found the place feeling more and more like home. He and Emma were having a great time too, staying up late and talking. Maybe the apartment was fairly average, but to him it felt like a slice of paradise. Mostly.

Just a little past midnight on Wednesday, the doorbell rang. Emma was busy in the kitchen, trying to fix a broken cabinet, so Jason went to answer the door. Caesar stood there, holding the last thing in the world that Jason wanted to see—another cardboard box.

“Did you get my texts?” Caesar asked.

“No,” Jason said.

Caesar lifted the box to make sure he could see it. “Can I come in? This thing is heavy.”

“Yeah, of course.” Jason stepped aside, confused by what was going on.

“I got kicked out of the hotel,” Caesar said.

“What?”

“I know. It’s terrible. My car is a total mess. I had to throw everything in there at the last minute. I didn’t want to leave any electronics out there, so…” Caesar set down the box. Then he strode over to Jason and kissed him. “What would I do without you?”

“I have no idea,” Jason said. “Why did they kick you out?”

Caesar sighed, sat on the couch, and rubbed his forehead. “I told you I had a little money saved up?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah. So?”

“Well, when I said little, I meant it. I’m bone dry.”

Jason shook his head. “But you’ve been looking for an apartment.”

“Because I expected to get the deposit back from the old place by now. That would be enough for two months rent and then some. They couldn’t cut me a check when I moved out, but they said I’d have it within a week. Meanwhile, the storage unit I rented maxed out my credit card… I just need a place to stay until I get my deposit back.”

“Okay,” Jason said. “No big deal.”

Caesar grinned and held out his arms. “Come here, baby.”

Jason rolled his eyes and smiled. “I need to get to bed. I have work first thing in the morning.”

“Bed is exactly what I had in mind,” Caesar said.

“I need to sleep,” Jason said. “Every minute counts. Trust me.”

Caesar frowned. “Are we okay?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“It’s just that ever since I got back into town… Or ever since Mr. Coast Guard showed up, things have been a little chilly.”

Jason snorted. “Are you jealous? The almighty Caesar is worried he can’t compete?”

“You tell me.”

“It has nothing to do with William. Seriously.” Jason offered his hand. “Come on, you big baby. I’ll prove it to you.”

Caesar’s eyes lit up. “In the bedroom?”

Jason nodded. “In the bedroom.”

* * * * *

Jason wrapped two strips of leather around one hand, then two more around the other, feeling like a primitive warrior getting ready for a fight. And in a way, he was going into battle, but he already knew that he was greatly overpowered.

“Okay, you little brats,” he said. “I don’t have much time tonight, so we’re doing this as a group. You want to run. You want to poop. I want to go home and relax. Are we agreed?”

Four heads turned toward him, tails wagging. Jason sighed, already knowing the battle was lost. The second he opened the door, his arms were nearly yanked from their sockets. Jason stumbled around the yard of the animal shelter, being pulled this way and that. Leashes got tangled, a small fight broke out between two of the dogs, and Jason stepped in a fresh pile of crap. For all his trouble, in the end he probably only saved ten minutes.

“Told you it wouldn’t work,” Barbara said when he returned.

“Oh, it worked,” Jason said, still trying to untangle the leashes.

Barbara raised an eyebrow. “So you’d do it again?”

“Never,” Jason admitted. “Nope. Absolutely not.”

“Here.” Barbara reached for the leashes. “Let me get those sorted out. I think someone is here to see you.”

“Really?”

“Well, he asked if you were working tonight.”

Jason resisted grimacing. He had avoided going home after work, simply because he needed a break from Caesar. Living together, even temporarily, felt very premature. Ironic since they had lived together on the first day they had met. Regardless, Jason wanted a little space, so he had turned off his phone, grabbed fast food for dinner, and gone straight to the shelter. In contrast, Caesar had nothing but free time and had probably come looking for him. Jason returned to the public area, where a few people were browsing the animals.

“I’m looking for a housewarming present,” a voice said.

Jason spun around and smiled. William stood just a foot away, smelling like cologne and—Jason sniffed—yes, a hint of chlorine. Sometimes, after Tim had installed the pool, Jason would sit out there and breathe in the smell, just because it always brought him right back to William. He wasn’t the only one sniffing right now. William made a face.

“Oh!” Jason said, lifting his shoe. “I had a little accident. A dog, I mean. Not me. Ha ha! So what are you doing here?”

“Like I said, I’m looking for a housewarming present.”

Jason shook his head. “But how did you know I’d be here?”

William winked. “Just because we’ve been apart four years, doesn’t mean we haven’t spoken. We kept in touch a fair amount, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s just that there’s more than one animal shelter in Austin and—”

“All those text messages you sent me? Every email and letter? I read them all. Multiple times. I never stopped caring about you. My leaving wasn’t about that.”

Jason hesitated. Was he meant to read between the lines? Were they picking up the conversation where dinner had left off?

“So anyway,” William said, “what sort of pet do you think my friend would like? He’s about your age, your size. Just got himself a rockin’ two-bedroom apartment.”

“Hm.” Jason pretended to be thoughtful as they began to stroll. “I’d imagine he likes big dogs. Not really into puppies because they take more effort and they get adopted easily. He’s probably the kind who likes ugly mutts with problems, because he knows they’ll have a hard time finding a home.”

“So something big, ugly, and weird,” William said. “Have anything like that here at the moment?”

Jason stopped. “Honestly, I bet your friend is a little too overwhelmed with all the changes in his life to take on a pet right now.” Besides, Jason already felt like he had a puppy waiting at home, one who definitely needed a lot of care and attention. “It’s a nice idea,” he added. “I’m sure your friend will appreciate the thought.”

“I hope so,” William said. “Hey, I called Kelly the other day.”

Jason felt a pang of jealousy. “Really? How did that go?”

“Fine. He said you guys had lost touch.”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “Sad but true. We actually got along pretty well after you were gone.”

“I heard. Anyway, his photography has really taken off. He has his first exhibition next week, and look—” William pulled out a folded brochure, turned it over, and pointed at the address. He didn’t need to. Jason already recognized the space from the photos. “That’s Tim’s gallery, right?”

“Yeah,” Jason said.

“So do you want to go with me?”

“To the opening?” Jason hesitated. “Is that a good idea? If you’re trying to get back with Kelly…”