Cody

 

 

 

 

 

“S O,” ETHAN SAYS, PUTTING HIS WALLET and phone in his pants pockets, “dinner, and then just us two for the movie, right?”

“Yep.”

“By the way,” he says, “I’m going to give him Hadley’s number. She thinks he’s cute and he seems like a decent guy.”

I laugh and he says, “He’s not gay, right?”

“No,” I say, “I just can’t see them working out. They’re both pretty outspoken and they will probably clash.”

“Hadley likes a good challenge,” he says.

He walks by me and smacks my left ass-cheek.

“That hurt,” I say.

“Good,” he says, leaning over and kissing me. “So, you want to talk about Nathan?”

“I’m good,” I say.

“You could at least tell me when he plans on moving here.”

“In a few months,” I say. “You ready?”

 

***

 

 “So,” Ethan says, “how did you guys meet anyway?”

Ian tips his beer back and says, “I dated Carrie in college. We were awful together, but she came to my gym and she brought Cody one day and we just hit it off as friends.”

“He was one of the first non-gay friends that I ever had in the city,” I say, laughing.

“And he was my first gay friend, ever,” Ian says. “Changed my whole perception of how a gay guy acts.”

“Yes,” Ethan says, pointing to me. “The masculinity is strong with this one. So, why didn’t you and Carrie work out?”

“We both say exactly what we think,” he says, “and neither of us liked that about each other. We always took each other way too seriously.”

“So, you don’t like someone who challenges you in that way?”

“It’s not that,” he says, “we were both young, I guess. I was just getting started with the gym and she was about to graduate and didn’t know whether she was going to stay around here or not. We ended it before it got out of hand so we could still manage to be friends.”

“Which worked out well because I wasn’t put in the middle,” I say.

Ethan pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to Ian and says, “Here, I know it’s random, but my sister is a great person and I mentioned your name to her the other day. She thinks you’re cute, but she doesn’t want to just fuck you. So, if you get bored, you should give her a ring.” He pulls out his phone and shows Ian a picture of her.

Ian smiles and says, “I’ll think about it.”

“I’m warning you, though,” he says, “she’s a challenge. She’s outspoken and will also tell you exactly what she thinks.”

“No harm in trying again, I suppose,” Ian says.

“Well,” Ethan says, “I apologize in advance if she’s a bitch. But you’re welcome if you two fall in love.”

Ian laughs and says, “I’m going to go get us another round.”

I turn to Ethan who looks over at me and smiles. He takes a drink of his beer, sets it down and looks towards the window on the other side of the room outside. He freezes and his eyes grow wide. I look over at the window to see what he’s looking at, but there’s nothing there.

I wave my hands in front of his face and he says, “What?”

“Are you OK?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

I get out of the booth and Ethan rushes past me, walking straight to the hallway towards the bathroom. I sit back down, confused, and Ian comes back with our drinks.

“Where’d he go?”

“Bathroom,” I say. I scratch my forehead and glance back down towards where the bathrooms are again.

“Everything OK?”

“I don’t think so,” I say. “I don’t know. We were sitting here and he looked outside and then he just went blank for a second.”

“Maybe you should go check on him?”

I get up and make my way back to the bathroom. As I open the men’s room door, I hear someone puking in one of the stalls.

“Ethan,” I say, knocking on the stall door. He unlocks the door and it swings open as I see him kneeling on the floor with his hands around the toilet seat.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just felt sick for some reason,” he says. He wipes his mouth and flushes the toilet. I move out of the way as he moves past me to the sink.

I stand behind him and lean against the wall by the door as he washes his hands and looks up at me in the mirror.

“What’d you see outside?”

“Nothing,” he says. “I thought I saw something, but it wasn’t what I thought it was. It just took me by surprise, I think, and upset my stomach.”

He dries his hands and I stand in front of the door as he throws away the paper towels.

“Let’s go,” he says.

“You sure you’re OK?”

“I’m fine, Cody.”

“We can go home after this,” I say, opening the door.

“No,” he says.

He makes his way out of the bathroom and back towards Ian who is talking to our waitress.

She smiles and says, “I could’ve gotten those for you guys.”

“I didn’t want you to work too hard,” Ian says.

She laughs and says, “You’re too sweet.” She makes her way towards another table and Ian rolls his eyes.

“We miss anything?” Ethan says, scooting over to the wall in the booth.

“I was trying not to be rude and flat out tell her how shitty of a waitress she is. She could’ve gotten us drinks, but she’s so slow that I thought it would be better if I did. Are you good?”

“Yeah,” he says, “sorry. I’m not feeling very good.”

“So,” Ian says, “tell me more about this beautiful sister of yours.”

Ethan laughs, grabs my hand under the table and says, “She used to be a detective, but she stepped down. It got pretty stressful and she wants to focus on having a love life and a family and all that. That’s why I said she wasn’t just looking to do it.”

“A family could be nice,” he says. “I have a brother and a sister and they both have kids and all that. I’ve always liked the idea, but I’ve just never found anyone that made me want to try enough, I guess. What about you two?”

“What about us?” I say.

“Kids,” he says, “and marriage and all of that stuff. Do you want it?”

“We haven’t really talked about it,” I say, looking over at Ethan.

Ethan smiles and says, “One day.”

I wonder if he means it and if he really does want that with me. I know he loves me, but what I don’t know is if he’ll ever be able to fully trust me enough to give himself to me fully in all of those ways.

“I’m glad Cody met you, Ethan,” Ian says. “Before you, all he did was go to work and then come work out at the gym. “

“There’s nothing wrong with focusing on bettering yourself,” I say.

“No,” he says, “but you have to have a little fun. Life is about more than working and lifting. I’m just glad you guys found each other.”

“Me too,” I say, pulling Ethan in closer to me.

“You sure you don’t want to go to the movie with us?” Ethan asks Ian.

“I have to get the gym locked up,” he says. “I’m tired, anyway from today. I’ve been training a bunch of wannabe-fighters and it’s starting to exhaust me.”

“You’re good, though,” I say. “That guy won the tournament last year because of you.”

“He was just good,” he says. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Well, I’m sure this year will be no different.”

“I wish you’d join,” he says to me.

“That could be fun to watch,” Ethan says, smiling.

“Until I get my ass kicked.”

“Man,” Ian says, “I’ve seen you fight and you’d be amazing.”

“Just not going to happen,” I say. “Nursing is enough danger for me.”

My brother used to be a fighter - that’s why he moved to Texas when he was young. It’s also the reason he couldn’t come and see our mom before she died. Money and women were a lot more important than family.

“Probably for the best,” Ethan says. “We wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours.”

 

***

 

 “Are you sure you want to watch this one?” I say as we get to the ticket counter. “There’s newer stuff out this week.”

“I haven’t seen it yet,” he says.

We make our way into the theatre and it’s completely empty.

“Apparently, everyone else has seen it,” I say, smiling. “You picked this one for a reason.”

“Kind of,” he says. He makes his way to the far, back right corner of the room and sits down.

“A whole theatre and you want to sit in the very back?”

“Just sit down,” he says. My cock gets hard as I think about what he has planned and I sit down as the previews start playing.

“Are you wanting to make out?” I ask him. “Like we’re in high school?”

“Not hardly,” he says. “Take your pants off.”

He goes to grab my zipper and I say, “Wait.”

He sits back down and looks at me, confused. I lean to my side and kiss his neck as I reach down and grab his cock. I unbutton his pants and shove my hand down them as he leans his head back and closes his eyes. He scoots his pants down to his ankles and smiles as I run my hand down his stomach and back up his chest.

I pull his underwear back and his cock springs to life as I take it in one hand and stick my lips on the tip. He lays his hand in my hair as I motion up and down, drowning his cock with my mouth.

I deep-throat it as he arches his hips up and lets out a soft moan. I smile as I let off it and look into his eyes, jerking him back and forth. The theatre door opens on the other side of the room and two women make their way down the aisle, sitting to the left of the middle seats.

Ethan lifts his chest and says, “Ugh.”

I push him back and stick his cock in my mouth again. It takes him by surprise and he laughs as I get him closer and closer to coming.

“I’m gonna come,” he whispers, arching his hips up and down.

I put my hand over his mouth as he lets out a soft moan and unloads into my mouth.

“Okay,” he says, pulling me off him, “okay.”

He laughs and leans his head back as he pulls his underwear and pants back up.

“I love you,” he says. “I wanted to do that.”

“Next time,” I say.

“We still have time,” he says. “The movie hasn’t started yet.”

I point to the screen as the opening credits start for the movie and he pouts as he turns back around and crosses his legs. He grabs my hand and holds it on top of the cup holder.

“I’m not waiting until next time,” he says and I smile.

 

***

 

We get back to his apartment and he gets a glass of water. My first thought when I walk in the door is to ask him about dinner, but I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.

Luckily, I make my way to the couch and he says, “I thought I saw him.”

“Who?” I say, but I already know.

“Rick,” he says. “I looked out the window and he was standing there, staring at me. I instantly felt sick and when I blinked, he was gone. I know I was only imagining it, but it was still just weird.”

“Are you still having the dreams?”

“No,” he says, shaking his head back and forth, “I swear. I’d tell you if I was. I don’t know why tonight happened at dinner. It’s probably just another thing like the dreams. Just old memories creating negative energy.”

“At least the movie was good,” I say, changing the subject.

He sits down beside me and says, “Very good.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Ethan.”

“I know,” he says.

“Seriously,” I say, “whatever it takes. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Well,” he says, “hopefully you won’t need to do any protecting”

“Hopefully,” I say.

He turns on the TV and leans on my shoulder. I have a sickening feeling in my gut that this thing with Rick isn’t over and if he does show his face around here, he’ll wish he hadn’t.