It doesn’t matter, though. Seriously. The entire thing is stupid. I admire how Keno has stuck with the Gays Can Play initiative and become a loud advocate for it. The day he came back from the youth event truly changed his outlook on the whole thing. I’m pretty sure he was indifferent before.
He used to cover his stick with pride tape in November and donate whatever he could to charity auctions and whatever. Butit was passive support. As was my activity. I suppose the true importance of it never hit him until that day.
I can’t say I’m quite as active as he is, but I tag along when he asks me to. Whether it be to events or the obligatory meet ups with other Gays Can Play guys when it comes around.
Why does loading always take forever? I glance at the time and realize I’ve only been sitting on the bus for eight minutes. I guess it just feels like an hour.
Clicking off my phone screen, I drop it to my lap and lean my head back to stare out the window. Lots and lots of traffic at the Buffalo airport. I absently wonder how many people traveled here just for a hockey game. Are there people arriving today for the game tomorrow?
Keno drops into the seat beside me, phone out as he’s scrolling. “You hungry?”
I shrug. My stomach growls as if in answer. “I could eat.”
“Are we talking huge meal starving or just something to hold you over till morning?”
“I think lighter fare is fine.”
Keno nods. “Feeling anything specific?”
Am I? I’m not even sure I’m truly hungry. I shake my head. “No.”
He nods.
Finally, the bus pulls out and I sigh. Soon, I can crash on our bed. “You brought the game system, yeah?”
“Yep. A year of traveling? 100% necessary.”
I snort. “Exaggerate much?”
He smirks. “Play alone or want to ask the guys over?”
“Dunno. Let’s see how we feel after we eat.”
Keno hums. A minute passes and then he leans in. “Oh, I wanted to show you this. It’s on marketplace, so I’m hesitant, but I like this style. Maybe this is what we’re looking for?”
We’ve been looking to buy a jet ski since summer, but I’m gonna be honest: finding ones we like hasn’t been easy. You wouldn’t think it was a big deal, but it’s proved to be more challenging than either of us thought. Not because we can’t agree, but there are things we’ll like about one and things we hate about it, too.
For now, we’re only in the market for one. We want to see if it’s something we’re going to enjoy and, maybe more importantly, make time to do. Keno’s house, which we’re at sixty percent of the time, is right on the lake that is fed by the Salt River. We have a private dock and a pontoon boat already, but we’ve been thinking about either getting a boat with some oomph or a jet ski.
“It’s got the speed and the style we like. I’ve looked to see if I can find a new one direct from the maker but apparently, it’s a model that they stopped producing two years ago. I mean, of course it is because I like it.”
I laugh. “Maybe we just need to think of other fun additions we can bring to the pontoon. Like one of those big blow-up couches, and we can drag people around in it. It definitely goes fast enough for that. Maybe some tubes and knee boards or whatever.”
Keno hums as he leans back into his seat. “Yeah.”
“I think we should also get one of those big blow-up living rooms to put on the water. We can tie it to the dock with a long rope.”
He looks at me with a brow raised. “That was so incredibly clear, I know exactly what you’re talking about.”
Laughing, I pluck his phone from his hand and type a quick search into the browser. The one I click on to show him can hold six to eight people. There’s a raised daybed couch on one half and the other half has two two-person seats where people can situpright comfortably, with their feet flat on the bottom. There’s even a little dock over the side to jump from and climb back on.
Handing it back to Keno, I watch as he examines it. “This is cool as fuck,” he says. “Why didn’t you bring this up before?”
Laughing again, I roll my eyes. “I just saw it for the first time in my feed the other day. I don’t know where you were, but I forgot about it until just now.”
“There are much simpler ones that look just like a kid’s inflatable pool—round and boring. There are ones with canopies. Ones with sunken areas for water, which I find funny since it’s floating in the water already because it’s a pool within the water. There are even bigger ones, too. Pretty cool though, no?”
“Yeah! We’re buying one whether we get a jet ski or not. Maybe like… eight or nine. All different. There’s no way I can decide which one I like best.”
