Summer of '08 Ch. 03

Someone was talking but Jason was thinking about his cum streaking across Wesley's tongue.

"Calling Planet Hollywood. Come in, Planet Hollywood," said the voice.

His sister Aubrey snapped her fingers in front of his eyes and Jason refocused on the scene in front of him.

Interior. Suburban Living Room - Night.

The Falconer family - Jason (19), Aubrey (25), Janet (43), George (43) - are seated along a large corner sectional couch facing a big-screen TV. Parents, Janet and George, are snuggled together in the corner watching their children bicker.

Aubrey snapped her fingers in Jason's face again. "You've got ten seconds to pick the movie or I'm putting on Napoleon Dynamite."

"Oh, fuck, no," said Jason as he jumped off the couch to go to the DVD cabinet.

"Language!" said their mom, and then added, "But please not that one again. Something sweet!"

"But not too sappy, please," added George.

Jason's parents were the strange kind of high school sweethearts who got pregnant on prom night, but, twenty-five years later, they were still in love and had even been good parents. And for some reason they liked to wear matching pajamas.

"Something funny, but not like your kind of funny-something actually funny," said Aubrey. Jason's sister had gone to university in England, leaving Jason with long stretches of time when he could be home alone while his parents worked late at their cafe-slash-bookstore. It was one of the nicest things she ever did for him. Since she moved back in after graduating in the spring she had been working through a backlog of four years of big-sister bullying.

"Funny and sweet, but not too sappy," said Jason, standing at the front of the room like an impatient professor.

"A bit of action?" George asked. George was a man of simple tastes and he would never complain about what Jason picked. Knowing that his favourite film was Die Hard, Jason knew he really didn't want another night like last week when they watched The Hours and he had had to console his grief-stricken wife.

"But no James Bond movies," Aubrey countered, "and nothing older than Toy Story."

Jason sighed and asked, "Is that all?"

Aubrey raised her hand like she was in class and added, "Hot lead actor, please."

Janet nodded, "Seconded."

Jason blushed as his mom and sister high-fived and his dad rolled his eyes. Maybe it was because his parents were relatively young, but his mom had always been the "cool" mom that his friends liked and he was often embarrassed by. He loved her more than anyone, but she took every opportunity to poke him in the side when she saw a cute boy his age. When Jason came out to them it was neither a bad thing nor "no big deal". It had been a great thing, and a huge deal. The PFLAG merchandise arrived before the end of the week and by the end of the month she was on the chamber of commerce committee planning the parade.

He looked at their DVD collection and scanned through the options. Despite their strong opinions, his family had never been movie nerds on his level, so Jason knew he could get away with showing them almost anything, and by the time they knew he had picked something that didn't tick every box they would already be enjoying it, so he pulled out 3:10 to Yuma.

After the movie the family dispersed to their rooms and Jason buried his head in his pillow. In the darkness he let his mind wander over Wesley's bare skin, the curve of his naked shoulder, the line of his jaw sucking on Jason's cock. His wide eyes looking up. His tongue out. A splash of cum.

Jason ground his hard cock into the mattress and groaned into his pillow. Every bit of him tingled with a strange energy. He'd had his head down, working his job, preparing for university, forgetting the awkwardness of high school, and trying to figure out what he was good at while not embarrassing himself in the process. He had found some success at the theatre. People liked him, he thought, and he was pretty good at his job. There would be time for dating and friends in university. It wasn't like he had wasted the best "mess around" years of his life being in the closet and then being shy, right?

Wesley's voice floated across his mind, You treat every little milestone like a monumental fucking moment and you'll miss out on having any fun.

Jason could see him standing there, in that cum-stained tank top. Total confidence. No holding back from what he wanted, or from what he enjoyed doing.

Is sucking a dick that good? Jason thought back to his earliest memories of learning about blowjobs and oral sex in an awkward afternoon lecture in a grade seven classroom. His mind had always gone to being on the receiving end. Even when he figured out he was gay, somehow he overlooked the fact he had a mouth too, and it was good for more than just kissing.

The monitor of his computer watched him from the dark corner of the room. The house was quiet. Everyone had gone to bed.

What else am I missing out on?

Jason barely slept. He walked into the theatre at eleven thirty, his head buzzing with images and sounds from his first dive into the dark end of the internet.

Iris was already making popcorn and he waved hello as he passed on his way to the break room, but suddenly a hand yanked his arm back and he spun to face her, her eyes narrow and serious.

"You hooked up with Wesley!?"

"What? How did you- I mean," he tried to cut off his confession but it was too late.

She grabbed his other shoulder and held him in place as her suspicion turned to shock. She whispered urgently, "You mean it's true?"

"Who told you?"

"Wesley."

"What? When?"

"He texted me last night after work."

Jason imagined Wesley, walking away from the trees, cum still drying on his tank top, already texting the details to Iris.

"So are you guys, like, are you together now?"

"No- well- I don't know. I don't think so. It was just a... thing."

"Is it true you came on his shirt?"

"Oh my god!" Jason raised a hand to Iris' mouth in shock. How much detail did Wesley give?

She knocked his hand away and rolled her eyes, "I'm not a prude like you, Jay. I've sucked dicks before."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," said the last voice Jason wanted to hear say those words.

He turned around slowly to face Darlene.

Iris' cheeks reddened a bit, but their manager's expression was a solid mix of "I'm not shocked" and "I don't give a shit."

Then, from behind Darlene, stepped out the only other person Jason could think of who he didn't want to have overhearing his conversation with Iris: Griffin. His sandy-blonde hair was styled with gel and he was wearing a crisp black uniform shirt. He had a nametag on his chest with a sticker fresh from the label maker. He raised his forearm to wave hello, and Jason waved back, biting the inside of his mouth with embarrassment.

"This is Griffin," said Darlene, "He's on the day shift for training today, so walk him through the cleaning routine and then later in the week we'll get him on cash and concession. Good?"

Jason nodded.

Darlene turned and disappeared back into the break room.

Iris, Jason, and Griffin all glanced at each other with closed-mouth smiles in a moment of awkward silence.

"So," said Griffin, "do you guys get free popcorn?"