A Perfect Confluence of Events - 14. Chapter 14

“Drew,” Teo said. I jumped, having just entered my room wrapped in my towel.

“Jesus!” I yelped. “Don't you two knock or anything?”

“Little bro, we talked about this last night,” he said seriously.

I rolled my eyes and walked to my dresser. “We slept, Teo. I can't help what anyone else wants to say.”

“The picture is of you in bed,” Alessia pointed out. “And Cole has experience.”

I pulled underwear on beneath the towel and then pulled a tee shirt on. “Guys. Nothing happened – not that I owe you an explanation or details.”

Tossing the towel on top of my dresser I pulled out socks and jeans. As I turned I nearly bumped into Teo, Alessia not far behind.

“Jesus Christ!” I snapped, taking a step back. “What is going on with you two?”

“We're fucking concerned,” Teo said quietly. “You don't owe us an explanation, but before we found out we really were siblings you were part of our family. It's your first relationship, and you've liked him for a long time. We just don't want to see you hurt.” Teo hesitated. “And after we texted last night...then he posts that this morning...I don't know this guy. I'm worried.”

I shook my head. “Can I put on pants, at least?” I grumbled, setting the socks on my dresser and pulling on my jeans. I grabbed my socks and sat down on the edge of my bed. “Cole's dad left Cole's mom. He's living with his boyfriend, Keith. It's a three bedroom apartment, but only two bedrooms are being used. Emily, Cole's little sister, was in the bedroom and Cole and I were on the pullout in the living room. Emily was unhappy about not being at home, she woke up and fell back to sleep between us. After she was settled, we cuddled a bit, okay? I fell asleep. End of story.”

Teo looked at me dubiously.

“Fucking nosy,” I said and pulled my socks on. “I'm not an idiot. Cole likes me and I like him. If we decide to have sex, we will.”

Teo rubbed his face. “Look. Sometimes guys who have more experience than you do are ready for things faster than you are. I just want-”

“Stop!” I said loudly. “We're not fucking! Jesus Christ!”

They stared at me for a moment, and then Teo's lips wavered. Oh. Really? My jaw slackened and he started to giggle, followed by Alessia.

“You guys suck,” I said petulantly. Then they were both laughing and I started to smile despite myself.

“We're not fucking!” Teo mimicked to Alessia in a high falsetto.

“Asshole,” I told him.

They sat down on either side of me. “Okay, so is he a good kisser?” Alessia asked.

I looked at her. “Very good. Seeing stars good.”

“Okay, good question but the biggie is – how does he look naked?” Teo asked.

“I haven't seen him naked,” I said truthfully, but heat was rising in my face.

“You have seen something, though!” he teased.

I thought about his body pressed to mine, and the feel of his erection pushing into my side. “Felt it, actually.”

“You grabbed his dick?” Alessia gasped.

“What?” I asked, whipping my head around to look at her. “No! We made out and, well, he likes me back.”

“Erections are gross,” Alessia said, lifting her nose in the air.

“Yeah,” Teo agreed. “Unless you jacked off your boyfriend in his car last night. Then they aren't so gross,” he said to me, winking.

My head whipped back to her. “You jerked Brax off?”

She pushed her tongue against her teeth and held her arms out, hands together in a false show of propriety. “He's been a good boy. Besides, it's not like I put it in my mouth, Teo.”

I whipped my head the other way. “Who? Hector? I thought you were done with him!”

He rolled his eyes and waved. “It's that underclassman that invited me to the dance. We hung out last night, just to get to know each other a little.”

“And...was it 'just little', Teo?” Alessia asked sweetly.

“It was...it'll do, pig, it'll do.”

“Pig? Please. Did you swallow?” she asked, then simultaneously they said, “You're gross!”

“So wait, a blow job is like a handshake for you?” I asked, giggling.

“No, no,” he said, trying to sound serious. “So you know that online game I play?”

“Raiding, dungeons,” I said, rolling my hand in a 'get on with it' gesture.

“That's the one.”

“Wait. You told him the rogue story?” I asked, suddenly catching on.

“I did,” he said, his tone approving.

“Wait, what story?”

I turned to her and spoke quickly, “In this game your items have statistics on them – strength, wisdom, like that. Certain types – classes – make more use of those statistics than others.”

“I don't get it,” she said.

“Okay,” Teo said. “Mascara is generally more in use for a girl than a guy. With me?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“So mascara gives you a plus one to beauty.”

“Oh. So like beauty would be the statistic?”

“Exactly,” he said.

“Yep. So agility is the one rogues use, right? So this guy leveled all the way up to max level, and then asked if agility was important to him,” I told her.

She frowned. “So? I mean, this is how you judge people?”

“Yes!”

“Totally!”

She rolled her eyes.

“So anyway, I tell him about this rogue, right? And he goes – wait, he got to max level and didn't know what stats were important to him?” Teo said, raising his eyebrows.

I stared at him. “And you blew him?”

“Well, not then. But he was well on his way, right?” Teo said with a laugh.

“I can't believe that!” I said. “You only date college guys. How does this guy rate?”

Teo flushed a little. “He's a nerd. Yeah, he's younger than me, but....”

“Teo!” I said, shocked. “Are you actually thinking of dating someone who isn't in college?” I asked, shocked. “Or are you just going to have sex with him?”

“Hey, nothing wrong with a little casual sex,” he said with a smile.

“Wait a second. You give me this big thing about being sure and only getting one first time and you're blowing guys while you get to know them?” I crossed my arms and stared him down.

“Of course I gave you a hard time – you're my little brother!”

“Oh, no you don't!” I said standing up.

“Whoa, whoa!” he said, laughing. “Look, it's true enough you'll always remember your first time. At the same time, while I'm happy to give you advice and I'm definitely looking out for you, no one gets to tell you what to do in your relationship. If you think the time is right to go down on him or to let him go down on you – that's your call.”

I frowned. “Don't you think it's kind of fast?”

He shrugged. “I've known Ashley for a week. He was a repressed Catholic schoolboy – or he said an ex called him that just before they broke up. I guess it was the shove he needed. He's a little extra when it comes to embracing his gay side right now, but you know what?” He leaned forward. “He's a nerd. I like him. Fuck having a type.”

I turned toward Alessia. “And you?”

She sighed. “I lean more toward knowing someone better. I haven't done much, but that's been by choice. It never felt right. I know I make my own drama sometimes, but Teo thinks – and I think I agree – it's some kind of defense mechanism.”

I looked at Teo. “Defense mechanism? You watching YouTube again?”

“Psychology channel. It's so interesting,” he said enthusiastically.

“Wait. You're diagnosing me or something with a YouTube video? What the hell, Teo?” she demanded.

“Wait, I want this back on my issues,” I said, not quite believing I was going to set myself up like that. Looking at Alessia I said, “So you seriously jacked him off? So you think it feels right?”

She looked thoughtful. “Actually, it felt hot and kind of like an overly large finger.”

“Really? I don't want to hear about Brax's cock.”

“Oh, I do!” Teo said, bouncing with his hand in the air.

“Well, he has to know I'm going to tell you guys, right?” Alessia said in a reasonable tone. “I'm going to talk to my friends and family, so if I tell you how long he is and that he has balls the size of-”

“La, la, la, la, la, la!” I said in a loud voice and pushing my fingers in my ears. “He's my friend! I do not need to know his dick details!”

Teo laughed. “Dude. Don't you think Cole will tell him about your erection?”

I stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“Who else is Cole going to talk to, Drew?” Alessia said with an evil smile. “You can bet I'll be asking Brax, just so I can see him squirm.”

“Brax will get nervous with dick talk?” Teo asked.

“I don't know too many straight boys who don't get weird when a cock besides their own is involved,” she replied.

“This has to be the most bizarre conversation, ever,” I said and flopped down at the head of the bed, wrapping a pillow in my arms.

Teo coughed lightly. “We should talk a little about the parents,” he said. “Mom kind of made her move today, because Dad has zero control in the house anymore after we found out what he'd done.”

“Right,” Alessia agreed. “And this is nothing on you, Drew. You know we love you, and that's actually the silver lining in all this. That and I get to hold it over you guys' heads that you were going to fuck each other.”

“We were not!” we more or less said in unison. She cackled – mischief managed.

“Anyway,” she said, ignoring our attempts to correct the record. “Mom wants Dad to get your situation squared. They are talking about moving you in with us.”

I frowned. “I don't know.”

“Look,” Teo said as he turned to face me. “It actually makes a lot of sense. We don't know what's going to happen with your mom, and even if she comes back, how do we leave you with her when she's unstable? I mean – we know for sure, now, that she's unstable. All it takes is her not taking her meds – and I hear that's kind of common. People with a mental condition think they don't need them anymore when they start to feel better, and then they go off the rails. How do we do that?”

I frowned. “It's what's been done for sixteen years, Teo. I've changed, though. I don't put up with her shit anymore.”

“The thing is, Drew,” Alessia said. “We don't know what's wrong with her. What if next time instead of a plunger she comes with a knife? Or a baseball bat or something else where she could do a lot worse than a bruise. What then?” she asked. She leaned forward and put her hand on my knee. “Dad knew there was a problem, and he handled it wrong. If Teo or I had known, we'd have raised a ruckus. He told us things were okay, that he'd talked to her and fixed things. Now? We know more. I don't want to lose you.”

I sighed. “I don't know. I like my room. I'm enjoying having some freedom. I don't have a lot of respect for your dad, and no matter what your mom said this morning, she's not going to be thrilled to have me around even more. I'm still a living reminder of her husband's infidelity.”

“You have points, Drew,” Teo said quietly. “We're not saying any of this is ideal. Practically speaking, though, if your mom needs medical help or if she never comes back, she may need the money from the sale of the house. I mean, I assume it's in her name. Right?”

“No clue,” I said tiredly. We tossed that one around a bit longer, but there wasn't enough information to force a decision yet.

~PCE~

The week was strange in that I had more attention than I was used to at school. I ended up meeting that Ashley kid – he invited me to the next month's GSA meeting. Mostly the chatter was about Cole, though. How he'd broken up with Haylee – and the rumors about how he got with me were all over. Oh, and his little picture of me in bed with him had tongues wagging that we'd fucked. Christ. The week was busy with work, school work and trying to squeeze in as much boyfriend time as I could.

Cole's mom got out of jail on Monday – kind of a drawback of being put in jail on a Friday night, I guess. Cole said they were getting lawyers, but his Dad's had already assured them that Cole would have a say in where he lived due to his age. His mother was furious.

Teo took Alessia and I shopping Wednesday night for some new things to wear to the dance that Friday. I couldn't believe I was going to a school dance, and I wasn't that thrilled. I didn't think I knew how to dance, and I sure as hell wasn't going to say anything. Brax texted me that we all needed to wear bow ties, so I worked on picking one of those out. I got a nice button-up in a cream color, with a red bow tie to accent it. I got a nice pair of dark khakis to complete it – I had belts at home I could use with them.

Brax and I worked together Thursday night. It was slow and we started to chat while we cleaned the dining area.

“So. Alessia tells me you guys had some fun in your car,” I whispered to him.

He chuckled. “Yes we did, bruh.”

As innocently as I could manage I said, “I was surprised she managed to repeat so many details about your johnson.”

He face-palmed and his cheeks flushed. “Stop talking,” he said while starting to laugh.

“She said it was like a-”

“Bruh!” he said, laughing and pushing me. “Stop or I'll have to repeat every stupid thing Cole said about you.”

“Cole hasn't hooked up with me.”

“Yeah? Didn't stop him from telling me all about how much you bone up around him,” he said with a snicker and it was my turn to blush.

“He's worse,” I countered and we both burst into barely suppressed giggles.

“All I care about is my boy is finally happy,” he said as he scrubbed a table with something sticky on it.

I hesitated and then asked, “So was it, like, a surprise”?

“Was what a surprise?”

I glanced around, but Theresa was probably having a cigarette, and Jorge was on his phone. Looking back to Brax I said, “Did you guys plan the...sex, or was it like, spontaneous?”

He blushed and smiled. “I never thought about this part of being friends with you or Cole,” he said. “I always used to talk shit with my boys back home, and I guess you guys are no different, right?”

I shrugged. “Allie said you'd only get nervous if the dick in the conversation wasn't yours.”

“Oh, she did, did she?” he asked, chuckling. “Well, I've seen a few pornos, and dicks don't scare me so much. But, uh, no we didn't plan anything. At least, I didn't plan anything. I took my girl to the movies, then we went over to the coffee place on sixth and we sat on their benches, kind of checking out the night sky and talking about whatever. We started home, and when I was a few blocks from her house she had me pull over where there was no streetlights. We made out, I copped a feel and next thing I know...yeah. It was all her, bruh.”

I nodded, thinking to myself.

“You're not picturing my dick, are you?” he asked and then burst out laughing at my expression.

“Jesus, Brax!” I huffed, but couldn't keep up the fake outrage because he was laughing. “Teo doesn't mind hearing about your dick,” I informed him.

“Yeah, not surprised,” he said, his chuckles trailing off. “I've seen him sizing me up a time or two.”

“Doesn't bother you, huh?”

“Fuck no,” he said with a shake of his head. “Let him look. Let anyone look. You put a picture on the web, anyone can see it. People copy it and put it on message boards or picture sites – whatever. What do I care if he thinks I look good?”

“That's true. Pretty evolved for a jock,” I teased.

“Bruh, that hurts,” he said, holding his hand over his heart. “I'm way more than a jock. Do we need to hug this out?”

I burst out laughing. “No, I'm good.”

He grinned. Theresa called out to us that the dining area should be clean within another fifteen minutes, so laugh and work.

When we finished up, Brax gave me a ride home. I decided just to get the real question on my mind out of the way.

“Hey Brax, what do you think is better – having sex when you want to or making sure it's with the right person?”

He pursed his lips as he considered. “Well, having wet my willy a few times I think the answer is the right person. Timing doesn't matter so much if the person is right.” He glanced at me. “My first time was with this chick from my old church group. We were on this trip, and we snuck off and did what the church hopes we never do before we get married.”

“Was it good?”

“Hell yeah,” he said with a grin. “But she wasn't right for me. We didn't get along, just hooked up a time or two because we each thought the other looked good, you know? I kind of thought about that for a while. It was nice to have the sex – better 'n my hand – but it was a bunch of things all together that made me look for something more. Like, first, we didn't do it enough. I didn't enjoy hanging out with her, and it was kind of a lot of work just to get in her pants. It took me a while to get to the 'I should actually care about the other person' stage of sex. Like, adults would talk about how it's better with someone you love and that's why you should wait, but I was getting some and that seemed like it was better than nothing. Then I started to date Madison Keating, and all that changed.”

“Who was she?” I asked quietly.

“Bruh, first girl I ever loved. Broke my damn heart when she told me she wasn't in love with me. I'd have done anything for that girl. We dated for like six months, and getting with her was the difference between a slice of meatloaf and bread and a fucking porterhouse steak, my friend. I wanted to make love to that girl for the rest of my life.”

I turned in my seat. “What happened?”

He sighed and glanced at me again. “She wasn't in love with me. Didn't love me for who I was, anyway. Wanted me to change – and some things, I could and did. Some things are just me.”

“I'm sorry, Brax. She missed out.”

He smiled. “Yeah. I was hurting there for a while, I won't lie. Depression is a real thing my friend, but mine wasn't like the poor bastards that deal with it every day of their lives. Mine was something I could get over, eventually. Got out there, dated again. Haven't found that spark again, though, until Alessia. Girl makes me want to be my best self.”

I nodded, smiling at him and sat properly in my seat.

“So...this about some crush you got on me or about your new boy toy?” he teased.

“You're pretty awesome, Brax, but no – it's about Cole.”

“So what's on your mind?” he prompted when I trailed off.

“Just back and forth on when or if it's right to take a step like that. We had a few chances, but I put the brakes on it,” I told him.

“Oh yeah? Well, you guys will know if it's right. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it,” he advised.

“You don't think there should be a time where you get to know each other first?”

“Yes and no,” he said. “I mean, there's hooking up, and I have no problem with that. I think it's okay to hook up while you're building something if both people are on board. You might make a mistake – and everyone does. Even when you are in a good relationship, you'll still fuck things up sometimes. Think of it like that thing you said to Cole about how everything breaks – relationships break in little ways all the time. Thing is, most people learn how to fix the little stuff. It's like...maintenance.”

“You make it sound like owning a car,” I said with a smile.

“I think of it like a house, actually,” he said seriously. “Relationships shelter you from things outside – other people, bad times, zombie apocalypses – things like that.”

I snorted with laughter and he grinned at me. “But houses need things. Fix a broken window. Maybe sand the bottom of a door because the house is settling a bit and it's scraping the floor. Sometimes the paint is peeling. That's like maintaining a relationship. You talk to your partner, to maintain things. Same with your friends – you let them talk about their dicks, if that's what needs doing.”

I burst out laughing. “We talked about your dick!”

“Well, you get the idea,” he said with a chuckle. He cleared his throat and adopted a serious tone. “I hope she complimented my goods.”

“I stuck my fingers in my ears when she got to dimensions. To keep with your story, I don't need to look into your basement to know who you are.” I paused. “She did seem happy, though. Said you'd been being a good boy.”

I could see him blush a little.

“She said your balls were-”

“Stop talking!” he said and started to laugh. It was too funny, and I joined him.

I was about to climb from his car and I suddenly asked, “So you think...maintenance is the way to go? Like, things don't have to break?”

“Nothing has to anything. It's just the nature of shit to break down.”

“Entropy.”

“If you have to, outside my car, not in it, please,” he said with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes. “It means inevitable breakdown.”

He pursed his lips. “You know I heard about people who meet in high school and get married, then divorce. Same thing, but then they last for fifty years before one of them shoots the other over the TV remote. Or they die after a stupid amount of time together, finishing up in an old folks home somewhere.”

“So what do you think it is that makes them fail or succeed? Luck? Hard work? Love?”

He looked at me seriously. “A perfect confluence of events.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Confluence? Nice.”

“I read. Don't look so surprised, asshole,” he said with a chuckle.

I went inside and kicked my shoes off before digging my phone out to text Cole.

Hey. Wyd?

Finishing homework. You just get home from work?

I sighed. I'd be up late with my own homework tonight. Yeah. Brax gave me a ride home. We talked about his dick.

Imma need some details about why my bf is talking about my bf's dick.

Alessia.

Oh. Got it.

Selfie?

Why? You have pics of me. Moments later an image came through. He was obviously shirtless with a fine gold chain around his neck. All you could see was his head and shoulders, but man...so pretty.

Ur so pretty.

What? No I'm not!

Yes, u r. Ur like a puppy I want to cuddle with 24/7

Stop! I'm not pretty, I'm MANLY!

Manly pretty, kk?

I hate u.

U love me.

I hate that u know that rn.

❤️