The Cockney Canuck - 33. Chapter 33 The First Day of Summer

Saturday began with a clear blue sky and the forecast was much the same as the day before, which had reached a decent 22º not bad for the end of April. I was up early leaving Daniel asleep, before heading upstairs on a mission. I had already showered and had spent ages in front of the mirror choosing what to wear. It was a beautiful day and I was in the best mood ever. Today I was going to fix up Daniel’s old bicycle that he had recently given to me and put it to good use, oh and Nathan was coming over!

I think that Don and Sue were surprised to see me breeze into the kitchen at eight thirty on a Saturday morning. They were probably even more surprised by my unusually cheerful persona and the fact that I had actually said good morning to them and with a smile on my face, as if I really meant it. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and went into the dining room to sit across the table from Don.

“You look like you’re ready for summer,” said Sue as she followed me out. I was dressed in knee length, khaki shorts, a bright orange t-shirt and white ankle socks. “What do you have planned for today honey?”

‘I’m going to snog Daniel’s best friend’.

“I’m going to fix up Daniel’s bike and enjoy the sunshine,” I replied. I could see her shoot Don a quick glance, no doubt wondering why I was so happy all of a sudden and full of energy.

Don looked over the top of his newspaper at me. “Good for you,” he said. “The forecast is for another warm day.”

I quickly scoffed down my breakfast, looked at the clock and took my bowl out to the kitchen.

“Is it okay if I go out with Fran tonight?” I asked the pair of them.

“Of course it is dear,” said Sue.

“Thanks.”

“You too are seeing quite a bit of each other lately,” said Don approvingly.

I had to stifle a laugh.

‘We saw quite a bit of each other last night all right’.

“Are you going anywhere nice?” asked Don.

“I don’t know yet, maybe to the pictures,” I said. “I mean the movies.”

Don laughed, “I know what the pictures are Robbie. I used to go all the time in England.” I laughed with him; it was easy to forget that Don was English and had lived over there up until his mid twenties. Unlike me, he was actually born in the UK and had spent more time there than I had; he just seemed so Canadian now.

“Fran’s a nice girl,” said Sue, “you can always invite her over here you know, if you two don’t fancy going out?”

‘I already did that last night’.

“I know,” I said, recalling what we had got up to. It had been passionate and Fran had been quite vocal. As I thought about it, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, which had them both looking at me wondering what was so amusing. “Sorry, I just remembered something funny.”

“Care to share it,” Don said, smiling.

“No!” I replied curtly, with a mischievous grin and it made him laugh. I think he was just pleased to see me in a good mood for once.

“So when are you going to invite her over again?”

I shrugged my shoulders and pulled a face, the universal teenage sign language for I don’t know.

‘Probably the next time that I’m here on my own’.

I doubt if they would have been so happy, if they had of known what we had been doing previous afternoon in their house. The nice girl, who they had met and liked so much, was nothing like the screaming nymphomaniac that nearly broke my bed.

She could play the quiet girl routine perfectly, when she wanted to, but my sore willy, was evidence of a different side to her personality, that they didn’t know about. Looking at that cute, innocent face, it was difficult to imagine even the most mild of swear words escaping from her lips. The lips, which she had so eagerly wrapped around my dick yesterday, at almost every opportunity, she had sucked on me so hard that her tongue had made me sore. The sensation at the time was amazing, but what followed was even better and more exciting than anything that I had tried previously. It amused me, that despite all of Fran’s hard work and two explosive orgasms, it was Nathan’s cameo appearance right at the end that stole the show and it was his sweet kiss that had dominated my thoughts ever since.

I was becoming aroused just thinking about it. Fortunately, my baggy t-shirt was able to provide some cover from the growing bulge in my shorts, but I still needed to sit on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, for it not to notice.

“Earth to Robbie, are you still with us, dear?” It was Sue. I had zoned out for a while.

“Sorry,” I said with a goofy smile, “what was that again?”

Don and Sue glanced at each other and they both started laughing.

“It doesn't matter Robbie,” said Don, as he got up and walked to the kitchen, putting a hand on my shoulder as he passed.

“It looks as if we have a love struck teenager on our hands Sue.” They both laughed.

“Hey, what?” I said, snapping out of my thoughts, “I’m not struck in love! Whatever that bloody means.”

‘Am I’?

“That’s more like the Robbie we know,” said Don. “I was getting worried for a minute, thinking that you were going all soft on us.” He laughed as he made his way upstairs. I pulled a face and rolled my eyes.

‘Very funny, but I’m definitely not soft’.

Everything was beginning to fit into place now. It had taken a while for me to figure it all out, but now that there was some stability in my life, it was finally starting to make sense. Don and Sue had provided the stable platform that I needed and hadn't had since my mom became ill. It wasn’t surprising, after everything that I had gone through over the past year, that I had been a little messed up. Now that my life had settled down into some kind of routine, I felt more secure and for the first time in a long while, I even dared to think about my future. I had already decided that my future was in this country and not in the UK. Although I hated to admit it, I liked it here. I liked the North American way of life, it suited me and I felt like I belonged in this country. I was turning into a typical ex-pat and I rather liked that too. It gave me the best of both worlds, as I could live here, while remaining just that little bit detached from everyone else. I guess that everyone wants to be different and being an Englishman in Canada was somewhat cool, even if technically I wasn’t actually English. Don would jokingly call me a plastic Englishman, meaning that I was a fake and he was probably right, after all, the only thing that was actually English about me was my accent. Canada was my home now anyway and I was sure now, that it would always be.

There was something else that I needed to do, which I had been putting off since the day that I had arrived. I needed to talk to Don about the adoption. My mom had originally brought the subject up much to my horror, when she was still well enough to organise everything. Don and Sue had not only agreed to do this, but had done all the groundwork to make it possible and were keen to see it through to fruition. All that remained was for me to agree to it, which for various reasons I had kept delaying. I guess that I needed some time to settle in first, I wanted to feel as if I belonged in the family and most of all, to be sure that they actually wanted me there. This was important to me and although I wasn’t totally convinced, there was enough evidence now for me to want to start the ball rolling. I was worried that if I delayed it any further, Don and Sue might lose interest altogether and it may not happen.

Despite being so non-committal, I desperately wanted this to happen. I needed a family, it was something that I had always wanted but could never have. My mom’s death had enabled it and although I would never have asked for it that way, I looked at my situation as some kind of compensation for losing her. I would have given it all up, if it could have brought her back and that was the truth. I was simply making the best of a bum deal and it was what my mom wanted me to do.

There was no doubt, that adjusting from an only child, to living with a brother and two sisters had not been easy for me, but it could have been much worse. I had been given everything that I could ever want to help with the transition and my life was now considerably better than it had ever been in England, although it hadn't been without sacrifice, I had lost Tom along the way.

‘My poor Tom. We haven’t talked in a couple of weeks; I’ll Skype him later today’.

Overall, having siblings I decided was cool, even Nicola was nice to me sometimes, but there was always going to be a problem when it came down to Don and Sue’s role in my new life. I had made it clear from the beginning that it would be difficult for me to think of them as my parents. For a start, nobody could replace my mom and I wouldn’t ever allow that to happen. Sue had assured me that she would never try to do this, when I told her that I could never call her mom. The same went for Don, but for different reasons. I had never had a dad and after moving in with them, Don had naturally assumed the role. He had already proved to be, a more than adequate replacement, for the piece of shit that originally held the position, but I would still never be able to think of him as my dad.

As far as the law was concerned, I knew that once the adoption was granted, then Don and Sue would become my adopted parents and I would have to change my surname to Taylor. At the time, they were only my guardians, although actually there wasn’t a great deal of difference, as they could still tell me what to do, run my life and were responsible for my well-being.

However, I couldn’t help feeling that I was replacing my mom and according to the law, that is exactly what I would be doing. It didn’t sit easy with me, even after three months, but I doubted if I would feel any different after three years, so I decided to tell Don later that day.

I was joined at the breakfast bar, by a still tired looking Amy. She had been up late the night before and had slept in to make up for it. She looked a bit grumpy and groggy, as she sat on the stool next to me in her nightdress and rested her head against my arm. We had become quite close in the three months that I had lived there, although it was probably more to do with Amy’s personality, than my own. She had always treated me as if I were her older brother anyway, but if the adoption went through, then I would be her older brother for real and that would be so cool.

Sue had gone downstairs to sort out the laundry, which was a task that she saved for Saturdays, so I took it upon myself to see to Amy.

“Do you want me to get you some breakfast?” I said, as I put my arm around her and gave her a gentle hug and she looked up at me and nodded. She was so loveable and one of only a select few that I was comfortable being that close to.

“Okay, sit up straight and I’ll get you something,” I said. Then I grabbed a tea towel and draped it over my arm. “What would miss like for breakfast?” I said in my best English accent.

Amy rubbed her eyes and giggled. “Loops,” she said referring to her favourite cereal.

“One bowl of loops coming up?” I said, grabbing a bowl and a spoon and putting them in front of her. Then I grabbed the loops from the cupboard and a new bag of milk from the fridge.

‘Why is the milk over here sold in plastic bags? I don’t get it’.

“Would that be all for now miss?” I said.

She laughed at my silly, upper class accent. “Yes…thank you,” she said politely, and I couldn’t help giving her another quick cuddle, as I poured her milk. I guess that I just felt good and wanted to pass it on somehow. As I did this, I looked up to see Sue standing in the entrance to the kitchen, with a smile on her face.

“I’m going downstairs now, would miss like me to switch on the television for her. I believe that it’s not too late for cartoons.” I said keeping a straight face while she laughed.

“Thanks Robbie,” said Sue, as she walked into the kitchen. “You would make a good waiter,” she said.

“Doubt it,” I said smiling, and was gone.

* * * * *

After spending the next half an hour with Amy, hoping that Wile e Coyote would finally catch and eat that annoying little git, the roadrunner, I decided that I needed to talk to Don about the adoption. Despite pushing me for a decision when I first arrived, he hadn't mentioned it now in a couple of weeks, so I wanted to know that the offer was still on the table. I found him in his study with the door half open, so I walked in.

“Don, do you have a minute?” I said.

“Yes of course,” he said, “what is it?” He sounded a bit concerned, probably thinking that I had something bad to tell him.

“It’s…about the adoption,” I said, a little nervously.

“Yes,” he replied, himself cautious.

“Well if you still want to do this, then I’m ready now,” I said. I could see a huge smile spread across his face and I knew that everything would be fine.

“Of course we still want to go through with it Robbie,” he said. “We were waiting for you, to decide when the time was right.”

I couldn’t help smiling at his enthusiasm and took a deep breath.

“I think that it’s the right time now.”

“Good,” he said, “I’ll book up your interview. You’ll need to see a court official first, who will ask you if you if you have any objections to us adopting you and you will obviously need to say no. You’ll have to change your name as well, it’s no big deal but it will take a bit of getting used to I suppose.”

“I don’t mind about the name, I’ve never liked my surname anyway, it was his.” I said, referring to my real father.

Don stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s the right decision Robbie. I’m glad you’ve finally decided to do it. I would say, welcome to the family, but you’re already a part of it. This will just make it official, that’s all.”

“Thanks Don,” I said, and left to make myself a drink. Once outside and out of view, I punched the air triumphantly. I knew what a big decision it was and how important it may prove to be in the future. Now I had given Don the okay, I was sure that he wouldn’t waste any time organising it, in case I happen to change my mind. I went into the living room and sat down by the front window looking towards the empty street, which was already bathed in sunshine. It was getting close to ten-thirty, which meant that he would be here any minute.

* * * * *

I had been excited all morning knowing that Nathan was visiting. Even though he was officially coming to see Daniel, I knew that the main reason for his visit that day was to see me.

‘We kissed twice, on the lips. No tongues, but proper kisses’.

I didn’t need to keep reminding myself, but I did anyway. Every few minutes, my mind would replay it as if there was ever going to be a possibility of me forgetting that moment or the time that it happened. It was nine-forty-six or forty-seven, something like that. It may not seem important, but it was to me, because that was the time when everything in my life seemed to change.

I was in the downstairs toilet next to the front door, when the doorbell rang and I could hear Sue shouting in the kitchen.

“I’VE GOT MY HANDS FULL.” I laughed to myself.

“So have I,” I said quietly and laughed as I tucked my willy back into my pants, zipped up and quickly ran some water over my hands.

“I GOT IT,” I shouted, but I couldn’t get out of the bathroom quick enough and hit my arm on the wooden frame, as I ran towards the front door.

“SHIT!” I yelled, “That hurt.”

“I heard that Robbie,” said Sue, and I knew that it would cost me another dollar.

Undeterred by my ever-dwindling allowance, I rubbed my arm as the doorbell sounded again, only this time I was right there and opened the door as quick as a flash, just as Nathan’s hand pulled back from the buzzer, startling him. It was becoming a bit of a habit.

He wasn’t the only one; I was also taken by surprise and let out an audible gasp of appreciation when I saw him.

‘Fuck, he’s adorable’.

The moment our eyes met, a warm, radiant smile spread across his smooth peach coloured face, accented by two of the cutest dimples that I had ever seen. As always though, it was his eyes that captured me, they were his most potent weapon and he used them to good effect. I knew that those eyes could get him whatever he wanted in life, as they stared at me, reflecting the bright morning sunlight. They were big, bright blue and sparkling with life, I was sure that even the most precious jewels in the world would have looked dull in comparison. I was ready to surrender, totally overwhelmed by his natural boyish beauty, I would have done anything that he had asked of me at that moment, without question.

His teeth were big, clean and ridiculously white, almost as if they had been painted and were framed by the soft, ruby, moist lips that I had kissed the day before. If I could have paused the world at that moment, then I would have happily stood there for hours, just admiring his beauty. Instead, it was probably four or five seconds before either one of us realised that we could speak. Then we both greeted each other at exactly the same time, before laughing nervously. He had an intoxicating laugh, it was cute and like everything else, it suited him perfectly. I had an overwhelming urge to lean forward and continue where we had left off the day before and I wondered if he felt the same way. His eyes broke away from mine, to look behind me into the house.

“Can I come in?” he asked, and I had to force myself to look away from him and take a step backwards to create some room between us.

“Huh, oh yeah” I said, “of course,” and I moved out of his way to let him pass. He was wearing a very pale green and yellow striped shirt that covered a plain light grey t-shirt and a pair of dark blue Levis. His shirt was completely unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up past his elbows. On his wrists, he wore multi coloured wristbands and he had a white and brown beaded necklace. He was noticeably different from the way that he dressed for school. Much more flamboyant and he definitely looked gay there was no mistaking that.

I could tell that he had put a lot of effort into his choice of clothes that day, but unlike me, he was looking perfect, almost pristine. If I had spent all year getting myself ready, I still wouldn’t have been able to hold a candle to him.

I had been standing there, unashamedly looking him over, as he slipped off his shoes. I was certain that Nathan knew this house as well as I did, if not better, but he still chose to wait politely for me to lead the way into the kitchen, where Sue was busy filling the dishwasher.

“Hi Mrs Taylor,” he said.

“Oh, hi Nathan,” she said excitedly, before wrapping both arms around him and giving him a big hug. I laughed, as he looked over at me with a helpless expression, he must have been expecting it from Sue. “We haven’t seen you for a while,” she continued. “Does Daniel know that you’re here?”

Nathan looked at me for the answer.

“Daniel’s still asleep,” I said, “but he knows that you’re coming to see him today, doesn't he?”

“Yep,” said Nathan, “we talked on the phone last night.”

“Robbie, go and wake him up honey and tell him Nathan’s here,” said Sue.

“I’ll come with you,” said Nathan. With a mischievous grin on his face, which was too sexy for words.

He followed me downstairs and waved towards Amy, who was still watching her cartoons. She responded with a squeal and hurtled towards him excitedly, grabbing him around the waist.

“I have this effect on girls,” he said. I laughed with him, admiring Amy’s ability to openly display affection to someone whom she obviously liked. I wished that I could have done the same.

Nathan followed me into the bedroom, with the confidence of a boy who had clearly known Daniel for many years. As I had expected, he was still asleep and in typical Daniel style, with his duvet thrown to one side, an arm and a leg both hanging off the edge of the bed. I sat watching from the safety of my bed as Nathan turned to Amy and put his index finger to his mouth to ask her to stay quiet. Then he crept forward and tickled the sole of Daniel’s foot. At first, he jumped and turned over mumbling to himself. Amy giggled and Nathan turned to me to share a silent laugh and smile, before repeating it until finally, Daniel woke up and sat upright. He threw his pillow at Nathan and collapsed back onto the bed.

“You creep,” he said.

“Morning Daniel,” said Nathan.

“Whatever,” replied Daniel, with muffled tones, as he buried his face into his mattress.

Nathan laughed and I couldn’t help joining in. Then Daniel, realising that he wasn’t likely to get any more sleep that morning, finally dragged himself out of bed, picked up his towel and stomped to the bathroom to take a shower.

I laughed with Amy as Nathan took a seat at Daniel’s desk and switched on his computer. It was clear that Amy wasn’t about to leave Nathan alone and she bombarded him with questions, asking him why he hadn’t visited in so long. To his credit, he gave her a lot of time and talked to her, as he would someone his own age. I thought that it was cool of him to do that; most teenagers would have ignored her, or thrown her out of the room. I wasn’t quite as patient with Amy as Nathan was, she was seriously eating into our alone time and I wasn’t sure how much opportunity I would get to talk to him that day. I eventually persuaded her to go back to her cartoons by telling her that I had to change, before gently closing the door behind her. There was an uncomfortable silence as I went back to sit cross legged on my bed, resisting the urge to look directly at him.

“Do you really need to change?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“Too bad,” he said and as I turned towards him, he gave me a naughty smile. “I almost didn’t recognize you today with your clothes on.”

“Very funny,” I said, “You're not gonna let me forget that are you?”

“Never, but you looked really cute,” he said.

I blushed and looked away again. I knew that I needed to say something.

“Nathan, I’m sorry about…what happened yesterday.”

“Are you talking about when you kissed me?” he said, way too loud for my liking. I nodded hoping he would lower his voice next time. “Was it a mistake then?”

I had to think about that, before opting for the truth.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then why are you sorry, dude?” I searched his face for the answer but it wasn’t there. “I’m not sorry for kissing you.”

‘Why can’t I just tell him, how much I’m attracted to him’?

“You don’t need to be sorry for doing that,” he said, “I could have stopped you, if I wanted.”

I could feel the energy between us. I had experienced the same kind of thing with Tom and I was wondering if Nathan was feeling it too, or was it just me.

“You won’t tell anyone?” I said.

“Of course, I’m gonna tell everyone, it’ll probably be on the front page of the school newspaper by the end of the week.” I must have looked horrified at first before realizing that he was joking. He stood up and walked over to sit next to me on the bed. He was way too close to me, our arms were touching and I panicked, looking towards the door expecting Daniel to open it any second now. “I’m only kidding ya, I wouldn’t blow your cover dude, I wouldn’t do that to anyone. Not even people that I don’t like, but I like you…a lot.” As he said that, he gently placed his hand over mine and left it here as he turned towards me. There was nothing between us and I could smell the toothpaste on his breath.

‘He wants to kiss me again…not here, it’s too dangerous’.

I turned away from him and stood up walking over to the window.

“Sorry Nathan, I know that I’m being paranoid about this,” I said, “but I don’t wanna get caught, especially by Daniel. It’s too much of a risk.”

“Daniel won’t be back just yet, but I guess you're right,” he said, “It would look really bad and he probably wouldn’t understand.”

“He definitely wouldn’t understand,” I said, “but I…don’t mind…you know, if you wanna do that, when we’re alone sometime.”

“You mean kiss you?” I nodded as I sat on the chair by my desk. Nathan laughed. “Did you like it when we kissed yesterday?”

“Yes, of course,” I said, “does that surprise you?”

“No, I was quite certain that you were gay.”

‘How comes everyone knows about me, except me’?

“Does your girlfriend know about you, that you're gay?”

‘I knew it, what did he have to mention her for’?

I didn’t answer his question and I looked away to avoid his stare.

“Don’t you think you should tell her?” he said, and I spun my head around to look at him.

“I can’t do that Nathan, what if she decides to tell everyone else?”

“What if she doesn't?”

There was another uncomfortable silence, as we both pondered our next move.

“This bed’s really comfortable eh,” he said, bouncing up and down and finally breaking the silence.

“Yes,” I replied, what else was I supposed to say? I must have looked confused by his remark, but started to laugh as I thought about what Fran and I had been up to, on that bed the day before.

“I used to sleep in this bed whenever I stayed over,” he said and it suddenly made sense. I remembered Daniel telling me that only one other person had slept in the bed before me.

“Yeah, it is comfortable,” I said laughing. This was getting more bizarre by the minute and the mere thought of this sexy kid sleeping in my bed, was enough to excite me. I wondered if he slept in his underwear when he had stayed over, or like me, in just PJ bottoms, or maybe in the buff! I was going to have to start thinking of something else very quickly, or face the ultimate embarrassment.

“I used to love sleeping in that bed,” he said.

“Well, if you stay over again, then you can sleep in it,” I said. He looked surprised.

“Would there be enough room?” he said with a wicked smile.

“Not with me dipstick, I don’t think that Daniel would appreciate that.” It immediately brought back images of Tom and a flood of erotic memories filled my head.

‘I think Tom’s bed, was even smaller than this one and yet we managed somehow’.

“I could sleep on the sofa bed,” I said. I would have slept on a bed of nails, if it had meant him staying over.

“Too bad,” he said, “but who knows, maybe someday, eh.”

“Who knows,” I said, blushing again. I seemed to do a lot of this in his company. “Daniel told me that you used to sleep over quite a lot.”

“Yeah, I practically grew up in this house. We had some pretty wild times. I get on well with his…” he paused, “I mean your family. Nicola doesn’t really like me, but Amy’s so cute and I like his mum.”

‘He could be me’.

“Well Nicola doesn’t really like me either,” I said laughing.

He didn’t reply to this, instead, he was already onto his next question. I was sure that only Amy could ask more questions. “How are you finding it in Cobourg?”

“I’ll have to pass on that one,” I said, grinning, “I haven’t seen enough of it to form an opinion.”

“Oh, well there really isn’t a lot to do in Cobourg,” he said, “other than the beach of course and there’s a festival in the summer, when everyone gets drunk, but you have to be nineteen to drink alcohol.”

“Yeah, I know that, but I don’t think that Cobourg is a terrible place to live.”

“Just be careful, because people here are quite conservative. If you don’t fit in, then they can make life difficult for you, if you know what I mean.”

“No,” I said, “not really.” Although I think, I knew what he was trying to say.

“They're not that liberal,” and as he said this, the door opened and in came a wet but much livelier Daniel, with his customary towel wrapped around his waist. He shook his wet hair at Nathan as he walked past and laughed. For once, I chose to ignore the sight of a near naked Daniel, to concentrate on his best friend.

“That’s for tickling my foot and waking me up,” said Daniel.

“I was gonna tickle something else, but you were laying on it.”

“Yeah, in your dreams Nathan”

“You wouldn’t wanna know what I do to you in my dreams, Daniel.”

“You're right,” said Daniel, “I don’t wanna know.”

‘Well I do’.

I had to admire him; if it had been me, I would have taken all my clothes with me to the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom fully dressed. Daniel didn’t seem at all bothered about changing in front of us. Admittedly, Nathan was his best friend and had no doubt, seen him in the raw plenty of times, but he was also openly gay and this would have been enough to deter most teenage boys, from changing in front of him. Daniel had never been shy in front of me either, but we did share a room, so there was no real reason for him to be. Even so, I decided that this would be a good time to check my email and moved over to my desk, which faced the window, to give him some privacy. Then, as Daniel began searching his drawers for some clean underwear, Nathan much to his credit, decided that he needed to go to the bathroom, probably to avoid any embarrassment. When he returned, Daniel had at least managed to pull on a pair of boxer shorts and was searching for a suitable t-shirt.

I opened an email from Fran. She had listed the three movies that were showing that night at the mall, along with their start times and left it for me to choose. None of them really appealed to me, but I doubted if we would be seeing much of the movie anyway, so it didn’t really matter. She told me how much she had enjoyed our time alone last night and asked me if I wanted to stay over at her place the following weekend. Her parents would be away at their cottage. It was the first that I had heard about this, but I wasn’t particularly excited by the news.

“So what have you two got planned for the rest of the day?” I asked them, when Nathan returned.

“Nothing much,” said Nathan, “just hanging out I suppose.”

“We’re going to pick up a new game that I’ve been after for a while now, they have it in stock at that game store in the mall,” said Daniel. He had obviously forgotten to tell Nathan about this on the phone, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“Correction,” Nathan said, “we’re going to the mall.”

“You can tag along too,” said Daniel.

It was nice of him to offer and as much as I wanted to be in Nathan’s company, I didn’t fancy the thought of travelling across town on the bus that morning. It would be busy at the mall too, on a Saturday. “I got dome stuff to do here,” I said, thinking about my bike.

I was sure that I detected a look of disappointment on Nathan’s face. He had the most expressive face that I had ever seen and I thought that it was cool, the fact that Nathan wanted me to go with them. Daniel insisted on having some breakfast before leaving, so I got a couple of drinks from the fridge and went to keep Nathan company while he waited. We went outside onto the balcony overlooking the garden and he pulled a pair of dark sunglasses from his pocket to shield him from the bright sunlight.

“What do you think?” said Nathan, posing provocatively.

“You look good Nathan,” I said. I wondered if I should tell him what I was really thinking. This boy had so much sex appeal it was oozing from every pore in his body. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

“Only good huh,” he said, “I’m disappointed.”

‘What does he want me to say, that I think he is the cutest, sexiest boy that I’ve ever seen’?

My mouth was dry and my hands were sweaty all of a sudden. I wondered if he knew what he was doing to me and if I was doing anything to him. I doubted that I would have had anywhere near the same effect. I moved a bit closer to him so that we were standing almost side by side leaning against the balustrade overlooking the patio. I stood as close as I dared, our bare arms were almost touching but not quite.

“How is it going with your new family,” he said, “it must be kinda neat having Daniel as a brother.”

I turned my head to look at him as he said this and our eyes met and stayed locked into each other for much longer than was necessary, before we both seemed to realise what we were doing and shyly looked away at the same time.

“Daniel’s great,” I said trying to keep the conversation going. He moved his arm across so that we were touching and I could feel the electricity passing between us, he had to be able to feel it too.

‘He just did that on purpose, I know he did’.

“Yeah, he’s good fun to be around too eh,” said Nathan.

“Yeah, he talks about you the same way,” I said.

“He does?” he seemed to be surprised by my last comment.

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“We’re not that close anymore,” he said.

“Did you have an argument or something?” I knew the real reason and I think that he knew that I knew too.

“No he just started to hang around with his other friends more,” he said.

“Doug and Billy you mean,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said, “I guess that you’ve already met them.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“They don’t like me that much,” he said, “so I don’t get invited to hang out that often.”

There was a long silence, as we both seemed to avoid eye contact.

“Well I think that you’re pretty cool,” I said, and our eyes met again instantly.

“I know that,” he said, “but I scare the hell outta some people around here.”

“Why, are you some kind of serial killer?”

“Ha no, but you’d think that sometimes, the way that people act around me.”

“Okay, I obviously know that you're gay, but it doesn't bother Daniel, I know that for sure.”

“I know, Daniel’s so sweet,” he said, “I love him to bits.” He saw me look up at him. “As a friend, of course, but not everybody’s so comfortable with me hanging around. Doug and Billy especially are a little insecure, but who cares, I don’t need them in my life either.”

“You definitely don’t Nathan,” I said, “you seem to have more than enough friends but I don’t understand why you don’t have a boyfriend. I mean how can…you know…you're so good looking.”

‘What did I say that for, why don’t I just ask him to have sex with me’?

“Maybe you need the glasses then,” he said handing his sunglasses to me. I took them and tried them on, if only to hide my eyes from him.

“I need to buy myself some sunglasses,” I said, trying to change the conversation.

“There are lots of shops that sell sunglasses at the mall,” he said. “Why don’t you come with us and I’ll help you to choose a pair?”

He really wants me to go with them. Maybe I should.

“Well,” he said smiling, “are you coming?”

“What?” I think my mouth fell open at that point.

He laughed, “You have a filthy mind,” he said, with a seductive smile. “I meant are you coming to the mall with us?”

“Why not?” I said.

“There isn’t a reason why not,” he said, “but there are plenty of reasons why you should.”

I could only think of one and that was to be in his company.

“What are they then?”

“Well for a start you get to spend time with me,” he said, “and not many people get to do that. And you can buy some sunglasses and we can stop and get something to eat if you want and check out all the good looking…girls.”

I turned my head towards him smiling. “Are you sure that it’s the girls that you want to check out?” I said laughing.

He started to laugh as well, and then he turned to face me and put his hand on my arm. “What are you implying Robbie? That I prefer to look at boys,” he said before removing his hand. I wanted to kiss him right there and then or better still grab him and feel him all over.

“Yes,” I said laughing.

“Well, you're absolutely right, old boy,” he said in a pretty good upper class English accent. “Don’t you?”

“You know that I do,” I said.

‘Phew. I can’t believe I just said that’.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” I said.

“Which one?”

“Why haven’t you got a boyfriend?”

“You tell me dude,” he said, “I guess there aren’t that many gay boys in Cobourg.”

“That’s rubbish,” I said, “There’s gotta be a few.”

“There’s a few yes, but there’s not a great deal of choice. Most of the gay boys my age are still locked away in the closet.”

“Like me, you mean.”

“No not like you,” he paused and studied my face for a few seconds, then smiled sweetly. “Why are you so interested in my love life anyway?”

“No reason,” I said.

“There’s a reason for everything.”

“Do you wanna boyfriend?”

“Why are you thinking of applying for the position?”

“Possibly, what are my chances of getting it.”

“You're the best offer that I have at the moment,” he said, “but I’m not willing to share you with somebody else.”

I could hear Daniel shouting from the kitchen, telling Nathan to get a move on.

“We’ll talk later,” he said and I nodded, as he told a relieved looking Daniel that I had decided to join them at the mall after all.