A Hot Mess - 11. Chapter 11 - Yards Gained

One would be hard pressed to say whether it was the son or the father who was more nervous about the dinner. Jason had spent the entire day cooking and Corey - cleaning! It was a surprise for Jason too. Normally the young teen demanded rewards for merely picking up after himself. You could not have told that was the case given how he had made every room in the house shine. When Jason found his son scrubbing a bathroom floor, he was forced to comment:

“Son! I don’t think Travis would be seeing the inside of ‘your’ bathroom.”

“You never know”, Core replied without pausing as he wiped behind the toilet bowl. “I’ve heard most Gay men are neat freaks. What if he snoops around?”

“Alright, that’s it. Get out of there and take a shower. You’re freaking me out now.”

“Almost done! What time is it?”

“Quarter to four.”

“Shit! Eh.. sorry Dad! Darn I’ll be ready in a jiffy.”

Chuckling at his son’s anxiety, Jason commented again.

“One’d think it was you who’d invited the guy over.”

“It’s all about first impressions, Dad. You wouldn’t know”, saying that Corey stood up and started removing his clothes.

“’I’ wouldn’t know. Of course!”

“Yea! You’ve been out of the game for a long time.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, “And you have been in the game?”

“Duh”, teen made a ‘but obvious’ face. “Alright, I’m gonna take a shower and you might wanna change.”

Jason looked down at himself as he was being pushed out of the bathroom. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” It was his most worn out wife beater and he thought he looked good in it.

As the door closed he heard, “First impressions, Dad! Jeeze! Put on a polo-shirt or something.”

Jason heard the shower start and decided to heed his son. He had obviously meant to change but looking at the time he realized he had better hustle.

What Jason could not have guessed was that Travis had already pulled up near his house, and was sitting with hands on the steering wheel; his knuckles white. At exactly two minutes to four, he took a deep breath and got out of his car. He locked and walked a few steps, then back tracked. “Shit.”

He opened the back seat door and pulled out a bow tied bottle of wine, followed by flowers, followed by a wrapped up box. He looked down at his hands and a doubt crossed his face. “Bit over the top?” he wondered. Luckily his desire to be on time did not leave room for any more mulling.

Once at his Sergeant's front door he had to maneuver all he was carrying into one hand to ring the bell, standing at a precarious angle. Thankfully the door opened within the minute to reveal Jason sporting a big smile. Travis’s nervousness abated a little as he said a shy, “Hi!”

“Hi!” replied Jason.

They stood there looking at each other till Corey made a loud throat clearing noise.

Jason spoke first. “Come on in, Travis. This here is my Son, Corey. Core, this is my.. eh.. Travis.”

“Hi Travis. Wow! You got flowers?”

“Oh yea, here..” He indicated to Jason to take the gifts off his hand. “I just brought…”

“Flowers, wine and... ?” Jason couldn’t help chuckling.

Travis colored a little, “Chocolates, those're for Corey.” He offered meekly.

Corey, playing the adult said, “Thank you, you shouldn’t have” and snatched the box out of his Father’s hands.

“Don’t open it till after the dinner”, Jason called out after his son who left the room.

“Okay Dad! I’ll be in my room. Call me once it's time for dinner.”

The two adults in the room shifted uneasily. Jason took control of the situation.

“Take a seat. Like Corey said, you shouldn’t have, but Thanks.” He proceeded to check out the bottle. “I’ll put these flowers in water. Would you like wine or beer?”

Travis croaked out, “Beer.” He sat down on the love seat and took a look around now that he was alone there. It was a cozy living room. Well used couch, old fashioned furniture, lots of pictures, a Seahawks banner, you could tell the room had not been graced with the feminine touch.

When Jason came back into the room with two bottles, he noticed that Travis was sitting at the edge of his seat.

“The couch might be more comfortable, you know”, he remarked.

Travis got up obediently and re-seated himself on the couch. He received the bottle of dark brew with a 'thanks' and watched warily as Jason sat down at the other end of the couch.

“Cheers!” said the older man and took a swig. His colleague followed suit. “Feel better?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you want to bolt.”

“No I don’t! Okay, a little bit. I’ve never done this before.”

“Well, neither have I in a long time. Not since I’ve had Corey with me.”

“Really?”

“Really. So, shall we get some obvious questions out of the way?”

“Like what?”

“About how I came to have a twelve year old son. Why I am single, all that?”

A mischievous gleam appeared in Travis’s blue eyes as he took another sip of his beer and said, “I might already have some of the answers.”

“Do you now?” Jason was amused. “Looks like I’m not the only one who’s done research.”

Travis’s brows went up and he waited with pursed lips.

“Alright, I’ll go first then” offered Jason.

Travis nodded wordlessly, but was looking visibly relaxed as he sat with his back resting on the couch.

“Born to white collar working parents, second child, got an elder sister who’s married. Smart enough to skip grades in school, came out in eighth grade, finished high school living with sister. Could’ve been with CIA but chose to be a local detective.” Jason had deliberately brought up the family and watched as his companion’s brows furrow slightly at their being mentioned. “Your turn.”

Travis began with a nod, “Only son. Joined the force early and rose fast through the ranks by cracking open some high visibility homicide investigations. Became a young parent when you adopted a child, one you came across during an investigation.” When he saw his superior’s eyes narrow in a questioning manner he mentioned “Mal” and continued. “Never been in relationship, never seen at bars, gay or otherwise. Only out to people really close to you.”

“Mal?”, Jason questioned about the source of that last detail.

Travis shrugged and said, “Hunch.” With a shit eating grin he resumed nursing his beer. The eyes on him were showing admiration and he reveled in it, gaining confidence. It was short lived though - Jason started scooting closer to him.

“So tell me”, said the older man as he threw his free arm on the back of the couch and settled down very close to his companion. “How did you figure me out? Is it Gaydar?”

Travis swallowed before answering, “I… I didn’t. Not at the beginning. I just… it was…” he realized his neck was being massaged and let out an involuntary sigh. “I think I had a crush on you even before we met. When i saw you I couldn’t help it. Then when you started being nice to me... I began hoping.” He was now looking directly into Jason’s eyes and added in a whispering tone, “At some point, during one of our lunches… I realized maybe you did like me. Maybe a little?”

Jason’s hard face was set seriously and his eyes were darkening. He moved closer, very slowly. He cocked his head, looked at Travis’s lips and answered, “Not a little.” A slow smile stretched those lips wide.

It wasn’t clear who moved first or whose eyes shut earlier, or for that matter whose groan was louder, but within two seconds the two men were in a bone crushing embrace and kissing each other hungrily. What was certain however, was that Jason broke the kiss first to draw a deep breath into his lungs.

Travis’s eyes were still closed and a couple of tear drops had formed at the ends. Taking the young man’s face in his hands, Jason wiped the tears with his thumbs. “What’s wrong?”, he asked.

“It’s corny. This feels like a dream and I’m afraid I’ll wake up if I open my eyes.”

Jason couldn’t help laughing and it turned into a coughing fit. “You’re right…. that was… so corny!!” he managed to say between heaves.

Travis pushed the laughing man away and narrowed his eyes. “Happy to provide amusement”, he said tersely.

Noticing that he had offended Travis, Jason pleaded, “Come on! You said so yourself.”

“I can say that, you can’t. You’re supposed to find it romantic.”

Jason drew his upset colleague close once more and said “I’m sorry”. He placed a peck on protesting lips. “This romantic enough for you?”

Travis nodded and closed his eyes once more.

After a few more minutes of making out, the two men moved to the backyard. There, a grill had been heating up. Jason put the steaks on it and opened another couple of brews, offering one to Travis. They clinked the bottles this time. “To romantic times” Jason quipped and received a shove in response.

“Watch it. You’ve been highly insubordinate all day”, said the Sergeant.

“Are you going to punish me?”

“I just might.”

The flirting was cut short when the teenager announced his coming.

“Finally”, he remarked as he joined the adults in the backyard. “I was praying for you guys to stop making out and get the dinner going. I’m starving.”

It was Travis who got a coughing fit this time as Jason shot daggers at his son.

“What?”, asked Corey innocently. “Am I wrong about what was going on earlier?”

“Yes. And behave.”

“Dad! I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“That maybe, but you’re still not too old to be put over my knee.”

Travis watched the exchange with a perplexed look.

Chastised, the kid responded with, “Sorry, Dad. Sorry, Travis. I didn’t mean to be mean.”

Realizing his own wordplay, the kid grinned. Travis couldn’t help smiling at the irrepressible youngster.

“Alright, no more sass from you tonight. Now can you go set the table, please?” asked Jason as he attended to the meat on the grill.

“I’ll help”, Travis offered.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to” said the guest and nodded to Jason before walking towards the house.

Corey let Travis enter first, holding the door open for him. Then, turning to his father who was looking, he surreptitiously made a thumbs-up sign away from his new helper's line of sight.

Jason chuckled and shook his head at his son’s antics. A flame appeared as he flipped one of the steaks. It was all going just as he had hoped.