He strolled out onto the town wharf and sat, closing his eyes and turning his face to the sun to absorb its warmth. He remembered the dinner with Ash just across the street at the Tavern on the Wharf a couple of weeks before and smiled. That was the beginning of what was proving to be a great friendship. Truth be told, he would occasionally wonder why Ash wanted to be friends with someone like him, but most of the time he just accepted it since he really liked Ash a lot and needed a friend like him in his life.
When his stomach growled, he shook himself out of his daydreaming and headed home, trying to figure out what he had to eat. He remembered buying a can of beef stew and a couple of cans of soup. Yeah, soup and a grilled cheese. He could manage that. His mom had never really taught him how to cook even basic stuff, and he had just gotten lazy and never taken the time to learn anything more than the absolute necessities so that he didn’t burn the house down. Oh, well, he’d managed this long, right? But still, knowing how to do more than make a grilled cheese sandwich or a burger or fry an egg and heat up canned soup would be nice.Ash seemed to know his way around a kitchen that first week when he showed up at A Helping Hand. Maybe I could ask him for some pointers in the kitchen.
Ker woke smiling as he replayed yesterday’s phone conversation in his head. He couldn’t understand why just hearing Ash’s voice made him so happy. Never had he experienced something like that in any past relationship. Not that he’d had many.
It was the summer after his senior year of high school, and he’d thought it all through and knew he was gay. Not that he’d done anything with a guy yet. But he’d been surreptitiously checking out the boys in the locker room after gym class, and he knew what he knew. Then there was that kid Jonas, who was visiting his aunt and uncle for part of the summer. He’d come into the store one day while Ker was working behind the customer service counter, and Ker had helped him find some weird, dried herb his aunt had sent him in for. Ker couldn’t keep his eyes off him. A bit taller than Ker, Jonas had broad shoulders and a narrow waist and wore cut-off denim shorts that revealed lots of dark-blond hair on his muscular thighs and calves. His dad almost caught him staring at Jonas’s ass as he walked out the door.
A couple of weeks later, after Jonas had visited the store a few more times, and they had become summer friends, they drove down to Leominster State Forest one day and hiked a few trails, then took a dip in Crow Hill Pond. It was then that Ker got to see the areas of matching hair around Jonas’s navel and under his arms. After swimming for a while, they stretched out on a patch of grass to dry off, and Ker couldn’t stop staring at Jonas’s chest.
“See something you like?” Jonas teased.
“I, um …” Ker stammered.
“It’s okay, I think you’re pretty cute too.”
“You do?” Ker swallowed, not believing he was actually having a conversation like this.
“Yeah, I do.” And with that, Jonas leaned over and kissed Ker on the mouth. It was sweet and wonderful, and Ker didn’t want the kiss to end.
Ker snapped out of his reverie, realizing he hadn’t thought about Jonas in such a long time. But it was that fateful summer that Ker had finally come out to his sister, knowing that she’d be supportive. It was much longer before he’d had that conversation with his folks.
Okay, enough reminiscing—time to get ready for work.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Ash
Ash had a lot on his mind as he cleaned up the kitchen after dinner. He’d spent a good part of the week thinking about his friendship with Ker, and tonight was no different. The more time he spent with him, the more he hoped it would turn into something more than friendship. But then his brain started overworking, and that led to nothing good.
Ker had a history of drug use. Based on that alone, Ash really needed to move slowly here. Did he, a police detective, really think he could have a relationship with someone that had that struggle? After all, he arrested drug users for a living, didn’t he? Was there any way this could work? Hell, he didn’t even know if Ker was interested in a relationship. Would he even want to date a cop?
Argh, this train of thought is getting me nowhere.He turned on the television and began channel-hopping. Maybe he could find something that would take his mind off Ker.
One of the movie channels was doing a back-to-back presentation of Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, one of his favorite series. He came in toward the beginning of thefirst movie, and while he wouldn’t stay up to watch all three, it would keep him entertained for a while.
As he watched Frodo and Sam and Pip setting out on their journey, he remembered a conversation he’d had recently with Ker about these films. It seemed that his new friend was a fan of both the books and the movies, just as he was. They’d spent a ridiculous amount of time discussing them, including the fact that both Legolas, as portrayed by Orlando Bloom, and Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn were hot. Smiling at the memory, he suddenly realized that he was, once again, thinking about Ker. A yawn convinced him that he should probably go to bed, but once there, he continued to ponder the situation with Ker and whether or not friendship, and maybe eventually something more, was really wise. Maybe he needed to talk this through with someone more objective than him.
Sleep did not come easily for Ash that night.
“Hey, Hank,” Ash said, returning to his desk. They’d both be leaving work shortly, and Ash was hoping to talk with Hank for a few minutes. “Do you have any plans after work today?”
“Not really, why?” Hank looked over, his eyes curious.
“There’s something I’d like to talk with you about. How ’bout I buy you a beer at the Gray Whale?”
“Works for me.” Hank smiled. “Are you ready to go now?”
“Let me just put this paperwork away.” Ash turned to the file cabinet next to their desks.
Phil was working the bar when they walked into the Gray Whale, and he greeted them as they sat. “What’ll it be, boys?”
“I’ll do a Whalers draft,” Hank answered.
“The same for me. And put both on my tab, please, Phil.” Ash responded.
“So, what’s up?” Hank was always one to get right to the point.
