Monday evening, the three musketeers met as usual at the Y. And as usual, once their workouts were complete, Jesse and Rhys headed to the locker room to shower and change, while Alex headed home to do the same. They’d agreed to meet at Alex’s house later, with Rhys and Jesse picking up pizza on the way.
Once everyone had filled their plate with pizza, they sat down in Alex’s living room. Rhys wasted no time in asking, “Okay, what’s up guys? I know something is going on. Spill.”
Jesse and Alex exchanged glances with one another before Alex responded. He was nervous, though he wasn’t quite sure why. “Well, Matt asked me to put together a couple different possible trip scenarios for the group, and Jesse’s been helping me.”
“Quit with the bullshit, Alex. I already know that. This is something different entirely. Spit it out.”
Jesse quickly glanced at Alex again before responding to Rhys. “Um, Alex and I have decided to pursue a relationship beyond simply being friends.”
Rhys broke into a smile and pumped his fist in the air, nearly dropping his plate onto the floor in the process. “Yes, I knew it!” He then continued, “It’s about frickin’ time!”
Alex gave Rhys a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Alex. I’ve seen the way you look at Jesse. You’ve had it bad for him for a long time. Like, probably since we first met.”
“Really?” replied Alex. “You could tell?”
“You’re easy to read, Alex. But then there’s ‘Mister I’m Never Going to Date’ over there,” Rhys motioned with his head in the direction of Jesse. “He’s a lot harder to read than you, Alex, but I’ve kinda thought that he’s had a hard-on for you for nearly as long.”
“Rhys,” said Jesse dismissively, “that’s baloney. I really didn’t seriously think about dating Alex until this past weekend.”
“Jesse, Jesse, Jesse,” Rhys responded. “Maybe you didn’t consciously realize it, but you definitely have had the hots for Alex for some time now. Your ‘never gonna date’ façade was so good that it even clouded your own mind, I guess.”
Jesse suddenly felt self-conscious and began to blush, a fact which both Alex and Rhys saw. Rhys continued, “I really want to know why you’ve been so vocal about your opposition to dating, at least until now.”
The atmosphere in the room immediately shifted. Jesse’s reaction to being questioned about his issue with dating was predictable. A look of defiance began to cross Jesse’s face as he responded tersely, “Rhys, I am not having this conversation right now.”
“Jesse,” said Alex calmly, “I know there’s something in your history that you don’t want to talk about. I really want to know what it is, so I can understand. So that I can help you. I don’t want to repeat whatever hurt you so badly in your previous relationship. But I’m afraid I won’t be able to avoid hurting you if I don’t know what it was that hurt you before.”
By now, Jesse looked very uncomfortable. When Alex saw a single tear trickle down Jesse’s left cheek, he set his plate down, walked across the room, and sat down on the sofa next to Jesse. He put his right arm around Jesse and pulled him close, then wiped the tear from Jesse’s cheek.
Rhys continued, “Jesse, I’m sorry for bringing it up. Like Alex said, though, it’s obvious that there’s something in your past that upsets you. You may not want to talk about it, but Alex and I can’t help you get past that hurt if we don’t understand what it’s all about. And now if you’re going to be dating Alex, there’s a whole other reason to be concerned. Alex doesn’t want to hurt you, and I don’t want him to hurt you, either.”
The three sat in silence for a time before Rhys added, “And I want to know what Alex has got that I don’t! You know, I would probably have asked you out before now if I hadn’t heard the ‘I don’t date’ speech so many times.” Jesse snickered in response, thankful for the change in subject.
“I’m not joking, Jesse,” said Rhys, before adding, “You are very dateable.”
Alex nearly responded, “As opposed to me, someone who is not at all dateable,” but bit his tongue as he recalled the previous afternoon’s discussion with Jesse. He was going to try and not disparage himself so frequently.
After a brief silence while the men began to eat their rapidly cooling pizza, Rhys again spoke. “Great, guys. Now I’m gonna be a third wheel.”
Jesse commented, “We don’t want you to feel as though you’re a third wheel. We still want to stay the three musketeers, you know?”
Alex nodded in agreement, swallowed, then added with a smile, “Now we just need to find you someone so we can double date.”
“By the way, Rhys,” Jesse commented, “we were planning on telling you about us tonight. We want to wait to tell the rest of the group, though.”
“Yes,” agreed Alex. “We’re planning on showing up to whatever event we go to next holding hands. That ought to surprise them.” He then added with a slight smile and a wag of his finger, “So keep your big trap shut.”
Rhys finished a slice of pizza, then wiped his mouth with a napkin. Suddenly feeling playful, perhaps to distract from his own true feelings, he leaned over and asked Jesse in a stage whisper, “is Alex hung?”
Alex’s face reddened while Jesse and Rhys laughed.
Picking up another slice, Rhys turned to Alex and asked, “Is Jesse good in bed?”
While Rhys and Jesse continued to laugh, Alex sputtered, then picked up the television remote and threw it at Rhys. “Jeez, Rhys, we just started talking about seeing one another! We haven’t even gone out on a date or anything yet! Sex has not happened and will not happen in the immediate future!”
Rhys continued to laugh at Alex’s discomfort. “Man, Alex, chill! I’m just joking.”
“I know,” replied Alex, “but still.”
The conversation turned to the shortened work week and their holiday plans. Like Jesse, Rhys was also planning on heading to his parent’s home in Clarinda. Unlike at Jesse’s parent’s house, however, the Van Cleave household would be full, with both of his sisters and his brother bringing their respective broods to Thanksgiving. His siblings and their spouses had provided Rhys with ten nieces and nephews. As he excitedly talked about the ten, Alex realized that Rhys must be a fantastic uncle. ‘It’s a shame that he’ll probably never have kids. I bet he’d be a great dad,’ he thought to himself. ‘Maybe he’ll find Mister Right, get married, and then adopt. Or use a surrogate. Of course, just because he’d make a great dad doesn’t mean he wants to be a dad…maybe nieces and nephews are enough for him. I’m so lucky to have my two kids.’
Alex listed off the foods he planned to make for Thanksgiving dinner. While Jesse and Rhys thought the meal sounded delicious, Alex worried about his definite lack of culinary skills. They both assured Alex that everything would be fine, reminding him that he’d have help from both Cameron and Charlotte. Alex then told Rhys about Cameron’s two college friends who were going to be weekend guests.
“Uh-oh,” replied Rhys. “Two hot college boys in the house for the weekend? You better keep it in your pants, Alex.”
“Rhys!” exclaimed Alex. He looked around for something else to throw at Rhys before conceding, “They are both pretty damn cute, though.”
As the evening wound down, Rhys and Alex agreed to meet at the Y the following evening. Alex said he wanted to play Wednesday by ear, as both of his children and two guests would be arriving, and he might have final preparations for the holiday to take care of during the evening. Rhys stood aside and waited as Jesse and Alex hugged. He felt a pang of jealousy as he watched the two share a goodnight kiss, brief though it was. ‘I really need to find someone for my own,’ he thought to himself. The thought was a frequently occurring one for Rhys.
-----
Rhys and Alex bumped fists when they met in the Y’s weight room. “So,” commented Alex, “are you going to be okay without Jesse tonight?”
“Yep, guess I’ll have to be, won’t I?” The tone of Rhys’s voice clearly was one of disappointment.
‘Whoa,’ thought Alex. ‘Rhys seems down. Is it because he’s without his weightlifting buddy for a couple days, or is it because his weightlifting buddy is planning on spending more time with me?’
“Well, I was thinking,” said Alex. “Does your offer of showing me around the free weights still stand?”
Rhys’s eyes lit up. “Of course, it does!”
Rhys excitedly began to explain about weights. The way to store weights. The way to lift weights off the rack. Various exercises using weights. The importance of mirrors when lifting weights. How to lay on the weight bench. ‘Wow,’ thought Alex. ‘This guy is clearly a teacher. I hope he’s as excited about teaching history to high schoolers as he is showing me these weights.’
After working with Alex for more than a half hour, Rhys stayed in the weight room while Alex returned to his favorite recumbent bike. Rhys told him he’d lift for a bit, then come to the cardio room to finish his workout. Rhys was clearly happier when Alex left him than when he’d first arrived.
Once their Y workout was complete, the two headed to Rhys’s apartment. Rhys decided to shower when he got home, right after Alex. They’d agreed on dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.
After they ordered, they both grabbed chips to dip into the complimentary salsa. Alex spoke first. “Rhys, I just want to check in with you. Are you okay with Jesse and me dating?”
Rhys nodded as he chewed. Once he’d swallowed, he responded, “Yes, of course I’m okay with it.”
“Rhys, now tell me the truth. Are you bothered even a little bit?”
Sheepishly, Rhys nodded yes. Alex then asked, “Are you bothered because you’re afraid we’ll be spending all our time together, leaving you out in the cold? The third wheel, so to speak? Or are you upset that it’s me, not you, that Jesse will be dating?”
“Well, both, actually.” After eating another chip, Rhys explained. “Firstly, I’ve known Jesse longer than you have, and before you joined the group, just the two of us would frequently hang out. And at the Y, it was the two of us, plus Lane. And Lane’s not around anymore, either. So, yeah, I’m feeling left out. It’s not a great feeling to lose a friend.”
“Rhys,” Alex said, “Jesse and I talked about this. We were both afraid you might feel this way. We don’t want you to feel left out. As far as we are both concerned, we are planning for our relationship with you to continue with minimal change. Y nights will stay the same. If we go out afterwards, you’re invited. Period.”
After another chip, Alex continued. “Jesse told me when I first started joining you at the Y that lifting was more of a social thing for him than anything. He said that you and Lane were the, if I remember correctly, the ‘muscle hunks.’ I guess it didn’t register with me that lifting weights was also a social thing for you. Now I kind of feel bad that I pulled him away from you, since he seems to enjoy cardio more than lifting, just like me. Now, Jesse and I did not talk about this, but I intend to spend at least a little more time in the weight room than I have been, and I’m sure Jesse will, too.
“Now, you said both.” Rhys looked at Alex quizzically before Alex explained. “You said that me dating Jesse, and not you, also bothered you.”
Rhys nodded, then looked down.
“Rhys, don’t be embarrassed about your feelings.”
Rhys looked up at Alex before speaking, hurt clearly visible in his eyes. “He’d always said he never wanted to date anyone. He made that clear from the beginning. If I’d have thought there’d been a chance, I’d have gone after it. You come into the picture and, bam, next thing I know you two are going out.” He then added, “So, yeah, I’m jealous.”
“Okay,” replied Alex, “you sounded pretty excited about our news when you first heard it last night. You know, the fist pump and all. And then you were joking about dick size.” Alex smiled.
Rhys replied, “Well, I am excited for you guys. I can be both excited for you and jealous of you at the same time, you know. And the joking? I think that was probably a defense mechanism that kicked in. Better that than crying.”
“I didn’t consider that to be a possibility, quite honestly. That you were interested in Jesse, that is.” After a few seconds, Alex continued. “Did Jesse tell you how we got together?”
Rhys shook his head.
“Well, Rhys, I really, really fucked up. It just somehow worked out in the end.”
Rhys looked quizzically at Alex. He explained, “We were working together much of Saturday on the group trip project. We’d been huddled together, sitting close, looking at Jesse’s laptop. We’d really been in each other’s personal space all day long. At some point, we turned to look at each other. Sitting so close, our faces were just inches apart. And I don’t know what came over me. I just leaned in and kissed him. He clearly did not kiss back, so I panicked. I ran out of his apartment and spent much of Saturday night crying. I had very little sleep.”
Alex stopped his story to pick up another chip, which he dunked in the salsa and popped into his mouth. As he bit into the chip, he noted the look on Rhys’s face. He concluded the look was one of sympathy. Once he’d swallowed, he continued, weakly smiling. “So, not really my finest moment. I wouldn’t take his calls. Finally, Sunday afternoon he came over and confronted me. I apologized and confessed to him that I’d fancied him. He thought that expression was kind of funny, by the way. Then I went on about what a blithering idiot I was. And I apologized, begging his forgiveness. It would’ve hurt like hell if he no longer wanted to be my friend, which was what I was afraid of more than anything.
“So, he then keeps trying to tell me that my kiss wasn’t unwanted. Quite honestly, I didn’t believe him. He finally kissed me. I was so stunned that this time, I was the one who didn’t kiss back. I said there was no way he could be interested in someone as undesirable as me. Well, he got on me for saying that, and then he said he’d thought a lot about it after I took off Saturday night, and he concluded that he wanted to give us a shot.
“So, Rhys, it’s not like he was spurning your advances by saying he didn’t date. He really didn’t consider dating anyone, including me, until I forced the issue. You understand that, right? Jesse cares very much about you, and quite frankly, so do I. We don’t want the two of us getting together to cause a rift between us and you.”
After a few seconds of silence, Rhys responded. “I am happy for you both, really. It’s just hard, you know?”
Alex nodded in understanding, then replied, “We just need to find you a man. You never know when he’ll show up. Quite honestly, I can’t believe the guys aren’t beating down your door. Mister Right, well, at least I hope Mister Right, showed up for me when I wasn’t expecting. Your Mister Right is bound to show up for you, too.”
-----
“Hey Cam! Welcome home!” Alex had stepped outside in his stocking feet when he saw Cameron’s maroon Kia pull into the driveway. He watched as Cam and his two friends got out of the car. The three all stretched their limbs after the three-hour drive from Decorah. After hugging his son, he embraced Chase, a tanned, brunette Southern Californian, and then Zeke, a tall, strikingly handsome blonde from Arlington County, Virginia. “Hey, guys! Welcome to our house. I’m very happy to have you here with us this weekend. Let’s get your things in and get you settled. I hope you all brought your laundry with you. We’ve got a high-capacity washer and dryer, and they cost a lot less to operate than the ones in your dorm. Probably do a better job at washing, too.”
“Yes, Mr. Kimball,” replied Zeke with a smile. “Cam told us to bring our laundry with.”
“Zeke, if I haven’t told you before, please call me Alex.”
“Yes, sir,” Zeke responded with a salute and a silly grin on his face. Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head in response, though he also returned Zeke’s grin with one of his own.
As Cam opened the trunk, Alex asked, “Did Cam discuss the sleeping situation with you two?”
Cam chimed in before Zeke or Chase could. “Yup. Zeke and Chase can have the two twin beds in my room. I’ll pull out the air mattress and sleep on the floor between the beds.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind giving up my bed to sleep on the sofa, you know.”
“No, Alex, we wouldn’t want to put you out of your bed,” said Zeke. “If Cam doesn’t want to sleep on the air mattress, I certainly can.” The three young men retrieved their bags from the trunk, and Cam slammed the trunk lid shut.
“So, is Charlotte home yet?” asked Cam.
“I’m right here, big bro,” she replied as she stepped out of the front door, pulling on her jacket to ward off the November chill.
“Yes, she got home yesterday,” commented Alex.
“Must be nice having the day before Thanksgiving off,” Cam said. Gesturing, he continued, “We all had classes this morning.” He then asked, “did you get a ride home with one of your friends?”
“Yep, Leah brought me home. Pretty convenient having a friend from high school go to college with you. Especially a friend with a car.”
Cam quickly introduced Charlotte to Zeke. She’d already met Chase.
Charlotte held the door open as the three students carted their bags into the house. She then queried, “So, Cam, did dad tell you he wants to have a quick family meeting?"
“Yep; I’m not sure why, though.” Cam glanced at his father, but Alex’s face gave no clue to the purpose of the meeting.
“You guys get settled, and then we can get our quick family meeting over.” Turning to Zeke and Chase, Alex said, “I hope you don’t mind. It should only take us a few minutes.”
“Not at all, Mr., uh, Alex,” replied Chase.
Alex smiled at Chase’s response, but the smile quickly disappeared. His stomach felt as if it had been tied into knots all day. His day of judgment had arrived.
Ten minutes later, Alex called Charlotte and Cam into the living room. They both took seats on the sofa. Zeke and Chase had made themselves scarce, sorting their laundry in the basement. Alex then sat down in his recliner.
“Okay, I hope you guys don’t freak out on me.”
Cam and Charlotte exchanged nervous glances at one another before turning their attention back to their father.
“Okay,” Alex said. “God this is hard. Okay. I’ve started to see someone.”
Cameron and Charlotte both began to smile excitedly. “Dad, that’s great!” replied Cam.
“Yeah, dad,” Charlotte commented. “Why would you be nervous about that?”
Cam asked, “Well, what’s her name?
Charlotte quickly added, “Yeah. When do we get to meet her?”
“Um, guys, that’s the thing. It’s not a she. It’s a he.”
The expressions of happiness that had been on Cam’s and Charlotte’s faces quickly disappeared, replaced by looks of complete shock. Charlotte’s mouth was left hanging open. Several seconds of uncomfortable silence followed.
“Guys, please say something.”
Cam began to respond. “Uh, wow, that’s not what I was ex…”
As Cam began to speak, he and Alex watched as Charlotte rose from her seat, and with a face void of expression, silently walked out of the room, presumably heading to her bedroom.
“Well, shit, that’s not the reaction I was hoping for.”
Cam stood, then walked the few steps to the recliner. He pulled Alex up and hugged him tightly. “It’s okay, dad. I’m sure she’s just surprised, that’s all. I’m happy for you, and I can’t believe that she isn’t happy for you as well. Give her a few minutes, and then go talk to her.” Alex nodded in response. They continued to hug.
After sorting their clothes and throwing a load of laundry in the washing machine, Chase and Zeke stood at the bottom of the basement stairs, listening for the sound of conversation from above. Hearing no voices, they agreed to head back upstairs, but stopped in their tracks near the top of the stairs when they saw Alex and Cameron hugging. They were about to retreat to the basement again when Cam saw his two friends. He motioned for them to come in, then broke the hug with his father.
Alex quietly said, “Okay, I’m going to go talk to Charlotte.”
He headed up the stairs, while Zeke and Chase joined Cam in the living room. Zeke and Chase both noted the stunned look on Cameron’s face. As the three sat down, Chase asked, “Is everything all right?”
Cam nodded before replying, “Uh, guys…I think my dad just came out to me.”
Posted 25 December 2024