The Cockney Canuck - 96. Chapter 96 The Party

“Alex you look like…hmmm…like.”

“Like what, dickhead?”

“Like a mummy,” I said and it was true. His left arm was in plaster and held in a sling in front of him and he had bandages wrapped around the top of his head, his neck and shoulder.

“Very funny,” he said. “I’m actually in a lot of pain.”

It was out of character for Alex to admit to being disadvantaged in any way but looking at him, he didn’t really have much choice and was clearly in some discomfort.

“Why are you here?” It sounded bad, like I didn’t want him at my party and I retracted it immediately. “I mean, it’s good to see you, but not like this. You should still be in the hospital or at home resting.” I wasn’t thinking straight.

“What home? I haven’t got a home anymore. They won’t allow me back there. I was discharged this afternoon and your…dad…uncle?”

“Don.”

“Yeah, Don. He came and picked me up.”

“So you're staying here with us, that’s great?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t feel right, it’s not cool me hanging here in your house. It’s not my home.”

I was able to sympathise with him on that one; I knew exactly how he felt. It had taken me over half a year to feel anywhere near at home in that house.

“I understand but it’s better than being on the street and you get to see me every day.”

He managed to raise one corner of his mouth after that statement but I was sure that I meant more than that to him and I jumped up from my chair to prove it.

“I can help you,” I said and I put my arm around his shoulder. “You should sit down.”

“Don’t touch my shoulder…argh…fuck…I told you not to touch me.”

“Sorry…I was just.”

“Well don’t! Stop hovering…I mean it, stay away from me,” he warned. Then he shook his head and smiled. “You’d make a poor nurse.”

“I was only trying to help.”

“You can help by staying away from me…dickhead.”

In Alex’s world, a dickhead was a compliment, better than an asshole or a piece of shit and when accompanied by a half smile it usually meant that I was forgiven for whatever I had done.

“What about Luke?”

“He’ll be here tomorrow,” he said. It was bad news for everyone else but I noticed how the mention of his little brother’s name brought a smile to his beaten up face. “You know he can be a lot of hard work sometimes but I’ve really missed him not being around. I can’t wait to see him again.”

The way he said that really got to me and I had to swivel my chair around quickly as I felt myself tearing up. Despite his skulduggery, and his attempts to gloss over his life to protect his family, at times, Alex could be brutally honest about his feelings. It was always unexpected but an endearing and refreshing quality for such a rough and complex character.

It would have been clear to anyone listening how much he loved his younger brother. He was more of a father to Luke than a sibling and it amazed me how he was able to do that job at such a young age, without any help or advice and without complaint.

I was itching to help but kept my distance as Alex eased himself down slowly to sit on my bed. There was a brief moment when he screwed up his face in pain before smiling bravely to hide it from me.

“So they haven’t found your dad yet?” He shook his head and looked at the floor so I changed the subject. “I would have invited you to my party but I didn’t know about it.”

“What kinda of shit excuse is that?” he said and I had to think about it before laughing as he smiled. Then he flinched and held his ribs again. I remembered him telling me how much it hurt him when he laughed.

“Why are you undressed?” he asked suspiciously. I was still in my underwear although I didn’t really know why.

“What? Oh, I was just getting changed…they threw me in the pool.”

“Don’t make me laugh, dude. You know my ribs.”

“No, seriously, they thought it would be funny, I guess. But I lost my cool and stormed off.”

“And you came here to sulk in your bedroom right?” He chuckled and then pulled up in pain, holding his ribs. “Oh man, that’s even funnier. I wish I had made it here in time to see that.”

“It wasn’t funny.”

“I think so…anyhow, you do look kinda cute when you get all sulky.”

It was a compliment which I could have well done without and a timely reminder that I should put some clothes on.

“Whatever.”

“Nobody likes a crybaby, Robbie but I probably would’ve done the same.”

“They wouldn’t have done it to you, Alex. They would’ve been too scared.”

“What are you talking about?”

“People respect you more because they’re scared of you.”

“Robbie, take a look at me man. Do you think that my old man respected me? It doesn’t matter shit how tough you think you are. There’s always someone tougher than you who wants to prove it and this is what happens.”

“I’m sorry you got hurt, Alex.”

“Not as much as I am. Go back to your party, dude. You should be having fun; didn’t you just get adopted?”

“Yes. Why don’t you lie down in my bed and rest and I can get you something to eat and a drink?”

“What are you my fucking nurse?” I watched him lie down on top of the bed while I looked for something to wear. His movements were slow and cumbersome, so unlike Alex.

“Robbie are you okay?” It was Nathan, taking advantage of the still partly opened door to walk in. I wasn’t sure if boyfriend status allowed him to walk into my bedroom without knocking but it didn’t bother me. His smile slipped, however, the moment he saw my friend lying on my bed.

“I’m just talking to Alex, he got out of the hospital today,” I stated but I was probably being a little too defensive and Nathan jumped all over it.

“Did you have to get undressed to talk to him?”

“I was getting changed from the pool, you see what they did to me, right?”

“That was half-an-hour ago Robbie. What’s wrong with you, storming off like that. That was so dumb.”

“You think so?”

“Yes…they were just having fun.”

“That’s right, they were having fun. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun for me though.”

“Well you seemed to enjoy stripping for them, you didn’t need to do that.” He was right but I wasn’t in the mood to back down and he soon realised this with a hefty shrug and a smile. He shut the door, pulled me out of the chair and put his arms around my neck. “I’m sorry baby, I shouldn’t moan at you on your big day.” I could see Alex watching us as we kissed. It put me on edge but it didn’t seem to affect my boyfriend in the slightest. If anything I got the feeling that Nathan was deliberately laying it on thick for his benefit, although I couldn’t understand why.

“Ahem, err…I can go outside if you guys wanna hook up or whatever?”

“No Alex, it’s okay we’re the ones who are going, right Nathan?” He was too busy working his way down my neck with his spongy lips to take the hint and I had to physically pull myself away from him to make my point. I hated having to do that but I didn’t fancy putting on a show for Alex who despite his offer to leave, didn’t look like he was ready or able to go anywhere.

“Hooking up sounds good to me,” said Nathan and he pushed himself against me once more before moaning his disapproval as I backed away. It was neither the time or the place to be attempting anything naughty and he was finally able to see the folly in continuing. There was no way that we were going to be allowed any time alone that afternoon, no matter how randy he was feeling.

As I donned an old t-shirt I could hear a scream and the familiar splash as someone else took an involuntary dip in the icy cold waters of the swimming pool. I couldn’t recognise the voice but Nathan was unable to resist a quick peek through the blinds.

“Oh my God, someone just threw Nicola in,” he said and suddenly it became very funny. There were another two splashes and I heard Daniel pleading to no avail before more shouts and the biggest splash yet. “Looks like your whole family’s going in, except Amy but Daniel just pulled Doug in with him.”

I had heard enough to warrant a last minute change of plan and I quickly rummaged through my drawer for something more suitable. This time I was going to be prepared. I dropped my briefs and pulled on a pair swimming shorts.

A quick wolf-whistle from Alex alerted Nathan who turned just in time to see me tucking my bits away.

“Did you just strip off in front of Alex?”

“Hey, it’s not like I haven’t seen him naked before,” said Alex and Nathan frowned at him.

“We do sports together at school dummy,” I said to Nathan and he smiled as he fell in. “Are you ready?”

He looked down at my shorts. “I don’t know why you bothered they won't push you in again.”

“I’m not taking any more chances.” I smiled and he looked warily at me.

“You're not thinking of…pushing me in…are you?”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Of course not…I wouldn’t dream of it.”

He didn’t look convinced. “You are, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

He sighed as we heard another scream outside followed by a mighty splash. “Can I borrow a pair of swimming shorts?”

“Now, let’s see, what have we have in here,” I said as Nathan rolled his eyes. “How about these, I threw him the only spare pair I had; orange and blue, his favourite colours and he looked surprised.

“I thought you going to hand me a pair of speedos or something.”

“I don’t have any.”

He took the shorts from me before narrowing his eyes at Alex and turning his back on him. Then he dropped his board shorts and boxers to his ankles and stepped into his new swimwear.

As soon as they were up to his waist, he was on me again, stuck to my lips like glue. I struggled for breath and gently pushed him away while smiling at Alex.

“Do you have to keep doing that?” He was lying on his side watching us but he didn’t look overly disturbed by what he saw.

“He’s just jealous,” said Nathan but his words sent a shiver down my spine and I stared hard into his eyes.

‘Was that a joke’?

It had to be because I was the only one, other than maybe Jenny, who knew Alex’s secret. There was no way that he would have risked spilling the beans to Nathan unless of course, he had made a move on him. I didn’t have a lot of time to consider this with Nathan’s shiny white tombstone like teeth gently nibbling the end of my nose and I didn’t want to.

After being treated to a dentist eye view of the inside of my lover’s mouth we were separated by a knock on the door.

I recognised it as Sue’s and called out for her to come in. “Are you okay now honey?”

“Yes, of course.”

“What about Alex, is he resting.”

“Yes, thank you, Mrs Taylor,” he replied and she looked happy to see him lying down.

“That’s good dear; if it gets too noisy down here you can go upstairs and sleep in my room. Come on Robbie this is supposed to be your big day, it’s your party. Make sure he has some fun, Nathan.”

If there was anyone there who I could definitely rely upon to have fun with, it was him but I knew what he had in mind didn’t involve anyone else. My boyfriend made a fine attempt at disguising his devilish thoughts behind a sweet homely smile as he grabbed my arm and led me away to join the mayhem out on the deck.

We were stopped by Fran and David who were standing in the doorway as far away from the pool as possible.

“Hey, so you decided to join the party?” She put her arm around me and kissed me affectionately on the cheek. It was more than I expected and not the type of kiss usually associated with ex-partners but Fran had moved on quite quickly from our ill-fated relationship.

“Yeah, I thought I’d better show my face. I wasn’t expecting all these people to be here.”

Fran held my hand and gave it a quick squeeze as she looked at Nathan and then me with a friendly smile.

“I think you make a cool couple,” she said. “I didn’t believe you at first, you know. The whole gay thing. I thought you were making it up.” My eyes flicked towards my partner and then back to my ex as I returned her smile and kissed her on the forehead.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Fran,” I whispered.

“You didn’t hurt me,” she insisted. “I got David out of it.” She was right; David was the real deal as far as straight boyfriends go and she grabbed her new partner by the arm and pulled him into the conversation as I watched Nathan sidle off.

“Are you guys properly dating now?” asked David and I nodded nervously.

“Didn’t you know?”

“Yes of course he did,” said Fran, answering for her boyfriend.

“Aren’t you nervous about going back to school?”

“Terrified,” I said and I think they were both a little surprised by my candid reply.

“You can hang with us,” he said. “And Nathan too, if you want to that is. We don’t mind, do we?” He glanced at Fran who confirmed her support but my attention was already taken by my friend Rory who came over to give me a big hug. He was pristine as usual, fresh, clean, fragrant and bubbling with unspent energy.

“I remember you,” he said. “We met a long time ago.” Sarcasm didn’t suit him; he was too sincere to pull it off.

“I’ve been kind of busy all summer.”

“I know. I heard your friend’s here from England, that’s pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah, I’ll introduce you later. He’s coming to Niagara Falls with us on Sunday.”

As we were talking, I noticed Fran smiling at someone behind me and then felt a wet pair of arms around my waist which I recognised immediately.

“Have you finished sulking, little brother?”

“Hi, Nicola.”

“Are you gonna be nice to me now?”

“I’m sorry for swearing at you and pushing you and anything else that I did that was horrible. But please don’t call me your little brother.”

“But you are my little brother now and if it makes you feel any better, I got thrown in the pool as well, by Doug and Billy.” It was obvious from her damp hug and cold wet hair on the back of my neck. She kissed me on the cheek and posed as Fran took a couple of photographs before letting go.

“Yuk, we don’t kiss either, okay?” I wiped my cheek with the palm of my hand and pulled a face at her but she thought it was funny. Nathan and his sister were always kissing each other like that but even though we were now much closer than we were, Nicola just wasn’t that kind of a sister.

After wrestling from the grip of one female I fell straight into the arms of another. This time it was Nathan’s sister Karen who planted a sloppy kiss on the other cheek accompanied by a hug which threatened to cut off my circulation. She was an unexpected but very welcome surprise guest to a party that was steadily growing in size. She already knew Nicola so I introduced her to Rory, David and Fran, who didn’t quite know what to make of my boyfriend’s slightly wacky sister.

“Where’s your sexy friend then?” asked Karen.

“Which one, I have so many?” I looked towards Rory and David and received a tentative smile from both but I wasn’t joking. I was surrounded by cute looking boys but I guessed that she was referring to Tom. Nathan must have told her that Tom was sexy and sure enough when I looked around, it was my boyfriend who was keeping him company. They were standing by the stairs talking and I pointed him out to Karen.

“Oh, he is kinda cute.” Then she gave a two-fingered whistle that you could probably have heard from the other side of town. Her brother turned immediately and dutifully walked over to join us, bringing Tom with him.

“That’s a neat little trick,” said Nicola. “You need to teach me that.”

“Yeah, it works with younger siblings and dogs; they’re basically of the same intelligence.” I ignored their little pun to return my boyfriend’s warm smile as he put his arm around my waist in a very public show of affection. I was a little nervous but I wanted to meet him halfway so I rested my hand on his opposite shoulder and tried to relax. We were a couple for all the world to see, or at least our friends and family and when Sue didn’t pull us apart, I had to assume that the no touching rule had been abandoned for the day.

As I had expected, Tom was attracting the girls who would stick to him like flypaper throughout the evening but Nathan was quick to point out another possible development.

“Is that Daniel?” I asked squinting into the sun and Nathan nodded. My newly acquired brother was sitting on the side of the pool with Ginny and I suddenly remembered what we had told her the week before. “She’s not seriously trying to…?”

“Seduce your brother,” said Nathan. “I thought that’s what you wanted?”

“Yes, but no. I’m not sure anymore.” It seemed like a good idea on paper but now that I was able to see it in real life, I didn’t like it so much. Ginny looked a lot worldlier than Daniel who seemed to be only a little boy now in comparison.

“I think it’s cute that you're getting all protective of him now that he’s your brother but I’m sure he can decide for himself.”

“He might not make the right decision though.”

“I think it’ll be cool for Daniel to have some fun,” said Nathan. “And it’s not as if they’re gonna be able to do anything today is it, not here? Your parents have it set up like a prison camp.”

He was right, the adults had already taken up positions on the balcony that ran along the back of the house. Don had started the barbecue up there but it also provided them with a perfect view of the whole garden. I looked up at them and my interest was met with a friendly wave from Nathan’s mom who was standing talking to Sue.

“Your parents are here?”

“Yep, the whole family.”

He was right though, all that was missing was a couple of machine guns and some barbed wire.

“What are we gonna do?”

“Err, behave ourselves?”

“That’s sick.”

“I know, but unavoidable.”

“Can’t we sneak out to your house.”

“I doubt it. They would definitely notice if the host went missing at the same time as his boyfriend. It doesn’t matter; I got something nice planned tomorrow for your birthday.”

“Are you gonna tell me?”

“No.”

“Not another fucking surprise?”

“Do you really wanna know?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I’m taking you to Palm Springs for the day or for a few hours anyway but keep it quiet or they’ll all wanna come.” He left me dangling with a cute smile as he went off to get us some food.

He was replaced by an inquisitive Tom. “What are you guys planning?”

“Hi Tom, Nathan was just telling me about tomorrow.”

“Your birthday?”

“Yes. How far away is Palm Springs from here?”

“Palm what?”

“Fancy asking an Englishman? Oh shit, here comes trouble.” Bearing down on us with a wicked smile was Nicola’s best friend Naomi but this time it wasn’t me who she was interested in.

“Hey Robbie, are you gonna introduce me to your friend?” She hardly moved her eyes from Tom as she stood next to me studying every inch of him.

“This is Tom,” I said. “From England. Tom this is….”

“You're not gay as well are you?” she asked completely ignoring me.

“Yes,” I said.

“No,” said Tom at the same time and they both turned to stare at me.

“Sorry.”

“Wishful thinking, huh Robbie,” she said. “Haven’t you got a boyfriend around here someplace?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you go and look for him?”

‘What’?

Tom just shrugged his shoulders at me so I decided to let him fend for himself and took Naomi’s advice. As I walked away though she called me back.

“Oh, Robbie.”

“What?”

“Congratulations on your adoption sweetie.”

“Thank you.” I shook my head and walked straight into a bare-chested Daniel.

“Hey, it’s my new brother,” he said. He was in good spirits as he pulled me in for a warm sweaty hug and I was pleased to see him on his own.

“Hi Daniel, look I’m sorry about earlier, you know getting all grumpy an all.”

“You don’t have to apologise, dude. I thought it was funny; I got thrown in too and Nicola. Everyone’s going in there before the end of the night including Nathan, I hope you don’t mind?”

“Be my guest but not until after he gets me some food.”

“Do you wanna beer?” I wasn’t sure whether I heard him correctly.

“Do I want a what?”

“A beer,” he laughed. “Come on follow me.” I walked with him a little way up the garden to the edge of the grass just past the swimming pool where there was a small pile of clothes. His t-shirt and a lady’s leather jacket that I knew belonged to Ginny. Hidden in the bushes behind him was a bottle of Molson which he took a swig from it before offering it to me.

“How long have you been drinking beer, Daniel?”

“Oh, about ten minutes,” he giggled as I took a large mouthful of the now lukewarm liquid. I never expected to see Daniel drinking beer but it made sense as to why he was so talkative.

“How did you get this?” I asked and he pointed behind me where I could hear two familiar voices approaching. I should’ve known. Ginny and Nathan; one carrying beer and the other food.

“I only got two beers,” she said handing one to Daniel and taking one for herself. Ginny was still a year short of the legal drinking age but her tattoos and piercings made her look a lot older than eighteen.

“Wait a minute, he’s too young to drink beer,” I said.

“Don’t sweat, you can have half,” said Daniel as he handed me a much colder bottle and then rolled up laughing at my boyfriend who was doing some naughty things with a sausage in his mouth.

Ginny elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t be disgusting.”

“Oh my God, I’ve seen you do it for real dude,” said Daniel who was definitely starting to look and act a little tipsy.

‘It was a bad idea getting Ginny involved’.

I shared a worried look with Nathan and decided that we were going to have to keep Daniel away from any more beer that day and hope that nobody noticed but when I glanced over he was polishing off the last of Ginny’s.

“Hey is this a private party or can anyone join in?” Daniel’s already rosy face lit up at the arrival of another of his friends Doug, who sat down on the grass with his girlfriend. As our number grew though I suspected that we would soon show up on Sue’s radar and sure enough shortly after Doug and his girl started making out we were given orders to move closer to the house.

The instructions came from Sue but the message was delivered abruptly by Nicola who walked with me back to the house.

“Has Daniel been drinking?”

“Daniel?”

“Yeah, he’s the guy walking behind us with no shirt on; you share a room with him.”

“Very funny; maybe a little,” I said.

“How much is a little?” she frowned.

“I’m not his keeper, what am I supposed to do. You should talk to him.”

“Mom’s gonna be so pissed if she finds out.”

“Then don’t tell her,” I said but it looked as if I was already under suspicion as I arrived at the house and Sue called me upstairs. I decided to use the basement route and was surprised to see Alex sitting on the couch in the family room. He looked comfortable with a plate of food and his leg resting on a stool.

“Hey Robbie, did you know that Principal Andrews is upstairs?”

“I do now.”

“Yeah that’s pretty cool, the fucking principal comes to your party.”

“It’s a long story,” I said sitting down beside him. “Are feeling a little better now?”

He edged away from me nervously. “Just don’t touch me okay.”

“I care about you Alex, don’t mock me for it.” I was expecting the usual tirade of abuse which always followed a soft statement but instead, he just stared. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said and allowed himself a private smile as he turned to the television. “You're a dick, you know that?”

“So you keep telling me.” I stood up.

“Well, don’t forget it. Now you're gonna leave me all alone.”

“Sue wants me.”

“Your mom?”

“No, Sue.”

“Your mom.”

“Sue!”

He laughed. “I like you, Robbie.”

“I know that,” I said heading up the stairs.

“I don’t like many people; just you and my little brother. That’s it.”

I felt honoured to be included in Alex’s minuscule list of trusted friends and it gave me a good feeling. I was glad that he was in our house where he could be looked after and not on his own or in the hospital.

The real nurse was waiting for me in the kitchen. “What took you so long,” said Sue.

“Sorry, I was making sure that Alex was okay,” I replied indignantly.

“Well, I wanted you to know that Mr Andrews is here.”

“I knew that already.” I could see him standing outside on the balcony talking to Don. “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“It would be nice dear; he’s come to see you.” I didn’t mind, he was a nice guy and when I waved at him from the kitchen, he walked inside and came over to shake my hand.

“Hello Mr Taylor,” he said as Sue strolled off to leave us alone. “You're looking well, I hear you’ve been discharged from the hospital and have a clean bill of health. It’s been a hectic summer for you, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You don’t need to call me sir.”

“Mr Andrews then,” I said.

“How about Glen?” he said, “for informal occasions.” For some reason, I wasn’t at all comfortable addressing the school principal by his first name.

“Thank you for coming, I wasn’t expecting any of this, it was a surprise.”

“Well I thought that I should show my face, I’ve been meaning to stop by anyway to see how you were progressing. Today’s a big day for you eh, with the adoption. It will prove valuable to you in the future.” I smiled and gave him a nod. “I hear that you have a visitor from England.”

“Yeah, Tom,” I said excitedly. “He’s downstairs somewhere. Here’s here until the end of the week.”

“Why don’t you ask him if he wants to come to school with you one day before he leaves. You can show him around and he can meet some of your classmates who aren’t here. He can have lunch and maybe watch some baseball.”

I wasn’t sure how Tom would react to an offer to go to school on his holiday but it was a neat idea and probably better than staying at home on his own.

“I’ll ask him; it sounds like a good idea.”

“I know you were very close in England.”

“He was my best friend; he knew my mom.” I thought that it was a good way to bring her into the conversation.

“You know that I knew your mother.” I nodded expecting more but he always seemed to be holding back when he talked about her. “It’s a testament to her that I will never be able to forget her. I guess that she left a hole in a lot of people’s lives”

“This was her decision you know Sir, sorry Mr Andrews. She wanted them to adopt me. I did it mainly because it was her wish, her last wish.”

“And how are you getting on now? I know that you’ve had some problems at home.” I wasn’t sure how much Don had told him so I played it safe.

“I’m okay, I guess.”

“And Nathan?” That was a bit of a surprise.

‘I guess Don did tell him everything’.

“He’s outside somewhere.”

“I know that you two are a little more than friends now.”

“Oh, yeah. I suppose.” The conversation had slipped out of my comfort zone but Mr Andrews was more adept at handling it than most of his generation.

He gave me a warm smile. “I’m happy for you; Nathan’s a very confident and talented young man. Maybe you two can feed off each other.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that but it sounded nice. “You know the police are still investigating the incident on the stairs but they believe that you were targeted because of your sexual orientation, which is disappointing for the school because we had such a good record.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, it’s us who should be apologising. Students should be safe in school, we failed in that respect.”

“I don’t think it was your fault either,” I smirked.

“Well, we obviously want you to be safe at school and we don’t tolerate bullying in any form. But it’s equally important to feel safe at home. We don’t have to talk about this now but I know there were a few issues.”

“Things have been much better lately.”

“Good, make sure you tell me if anything changes. You don’t have to suffer in silence, you know that, don’t you?” I nodded as he put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m always around if you need to talk to me and whatever you tell me is confidential.”

“Thank you Sir, Mr…Glen.”

“There’s a lot of people looking out for you, so don’t be frightened to speak up. I think you know what I mean.”

I knew exactly what he meant. Don and Sue were homophobes and he knew it. It was hardly breaking news though and as far as I was concerned it was in the past, the future was going to be a lot better.

Nathan’s parents were the next stop for me as I politely made my way around the adult guests—most of whom were strangers—to thank them for coming to a party that I knew nothing about.

*     *     *

When I finally made it outside I was stopped by a very hot and sweaty looking Don in full barbecue mode with a beer in one hand and a grilling fork in the other. He looked like he was already three sheets to the wind and I could see why. Directly behind him was a giant cooler packed with ice and more bottles than I had ever seen in one place before. It was way too convenient for him.

‘He’s gonna be wrecked for sure and it’s only seven o’clock’.

He wasn’t alone; most of the adults on the balcony, except for Sue seemed to be in a similar way. They were having a good time and there was no way that this party was going to end any time soon.

Things were looking very promising and I beamed a smile as Don put a greasy hand on my shoulder and moved his beer to the rhythm of the Electric Light Orchestra—another English band that I had never heard of before moving to Canada.

It was probably the closest he had come to showing me some sort of affection and he had to be drunk to do it but that was Don; my new dad wasn’t the best but better than my real one. At least he wasn’t ashamed of me anymore.

I hung around for a while and put up with him introducing me to his friends as the new addition to his family but there was a reason behind my madness. I had my eyes on slightly bigger fish that were floating in a sea of ice next to where I was standing and like a bird of prey, I waited patiently for the right time before striking. As Don struggled with a grill full of burning burgers, I casually plucked a bottle of Blue from the cooler and walked away with my prize.

It would have been the perfect crime but as I reached the deck and headed into the garden to consume my bounty, I noticed Sue walking dead ahead. I changed course quickly veering off towards the pool but she spotted me.

“Robbie, come back here.”

‘Shit, what do I do now’?

I could only think of two worthwhile options. Confess, surrender my beer and accept whatever punishment she handed out or hide it down the front of my shorts and hope for the best.

“What?” I looked her in the eyes and tried to appear normal as my testicles began to freeze from the ice cold bottle. She knew that I was up to something and stared at me suspiciously without noticing the unfeasibly large bottle-shaped bulge in my shorts.

“Can you check on Alex for me dear and make sure he’s okay?”

I nodded and smiled at her through gritted teeth while my dick turned to ice. Then as she turned to walk away I grabbed the front of my shorts and limped into the basement past a stunned-looking Ginny.

“What have you got in your shorts?”

‘Stupid question’.

“What do you think?” I said. “Can’t you tell by the shape, geez.” I reached down and pulled out the offending bottle as Alex laughed and then held his chest in pain.

“That was fucking cold,” I said and I pulled out the front of my shorts to check for frostbite. “Fuck, I should’ve worn underwear.”

Ginny, at last, could see the funny side. “If you had asked me I could have got you one without you having to freeze your balls off.”

“It’s okay, it’s more fun this way.”

“Whatever turns you on, Iceman.”

“Do you wanna share this?” I said handing Alex the bottle. His eyes lit up as he shuffled along the couch to make room for me to sit down. Then he took a man size gulp of beer followed by a belch and handed me back the bottle with a huge grin on his face. “What’s so funny?”

“I was just wondering if you got anything else down the front of those shorts that you wanted to share with me?” I nearly choked on the beer, spilling some down my t-shirt.

“That’s the corniest chat up line that I’ve ever heard, Alex.”

“It’s not a chat up line, dickhead.” Then he stopped laughing and whispered. “I don’t need a chat up line with you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Nothing dude, forget it.” I took another big gulp from the bottle and stared at him. “I said forget it.”

“I do like you Alex; but not in the way you're thinking.”

“I know it, dude.”

“There’s nothing to know.”

“It’s cool, really,” he said as I had another gulp of beer and watched him as he flicked through the channels with the control. He had a smirk on his face which was both annoying and attractive at the same time but as much as I wanted to dismiss his claims, we both knew that there was at least some truth in what he said.

I poured the last drop of beer down my throat. “Do you want another?”

“I only got one drink of that one,” he laughed.

“I’ll get you another,” I said. “Don’t go away.”

“Forget it, dude, I probably shouldn’t be drinking alcohol with the painkillers they gave me anyway.”

I didn’t even think of that. “Shit, are you gonna be okay.”

He laughed at me. “Sometimes you're so annoying that I really wanna hit you.”

“Thanks, Alex, that was a really cool thing to say.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d like it. Don’t you think that you should be going back to your party and Nathan?”

“I suppose.”

“He ain’t gonna like it if he catches you in here with me again.”

I laughed but those words would later play on my mind. Something had happened between Nathan and Alex in the past that I didn’t know about.

“The party’s that way dude,” said Alex.

“But the refreshments are this way,” I waved at him as I headed upstairs for another raid on the beer cooler then stopped halfway. “How far is Palm Springs from here Alex?”

He thought it was hilarious but I still didn’t get an answer.