19. Chris

NINETEEN

CHRIS

Benny drives us to my place where I get my car, so I can drive and not give away what we're doing today.

He's been bursting at the seams since we got out of the shower an hour ago, and I can't wait to see his face when we get there.

Jake told me yesterday that I was making a mistake by bringing him here, but I know Benny. I know he's going to want to jump up and down from happiness when he sees where we're spending the first hour of our date.

My brother was also surprised when I told him I'd bought out the locations for the time we'll be there, which is understandable since I never spend that kind of money on anything, and I've never even come close to spending it on someone other than my brother.

"Are we going to the movies?" he tries to guess.

"Nope," I answer.

"Are we going bowling?"

"No."

"To a show? "

"No."

"Strip club?"

"No."

"Magic Mike show?"

"No."

"A concert?"

"No."

"Hmm."

"You can keep thinking all day long, baby, but we're two minutes away so..."

"To your brother's sex club!" he shouts like he figured it out.

"Uh, definitely not. Wait, would you want to go?" I ask, surprised that he'd even think of it.

"I don't know. Is there a room full of mirrors in the club? 'Cause I think I'd be into that. I already bought four for my place."

"Four mirrors?" I think that's a bit much and am tempted to pull over and take a good look at his face to check if he's pulling my leg.

"Yup. All full length too. I researched a little and it turns out it's not good feng shui to sleep with a mirror pointing at your bed, so that's gonna be hard to figure out."

"Feng shui? What the hell is that?" I'm so confused.

"It's a Chinese thing that dictates how the furniture should be placed so the energy flows, or something like that. Sleep is very important to me, Chris. I take that shit seriously."

"All right," I drawl. "Well, we're here, and now I think you'll be disappointed that it's not?—"

"A TRAMPOLINE PARK!" he screeches and unbuckles his seatbelt before I've even finished parking. He's out of the car and jumping on the concrete before I turn off the car and... yeah I don't mind it. He looks so fucking happy.

I'm tempted to snap a picture and send it to my brother, so he can see I know what I'm doing and he can suck it.

I do take the picture but keep it to myself.

"So you like my date plan?" I ask as I round the car.

"It's the best plan ever . I've never been to a trampoline park before." He jumps over to me and into my arms. I thank all the gods for my love for a good workout when he wraps his legs around me and slams his lips down on mine, because if I didn't, then we would be groaning on the pavement instead of groaning from the kiss. "Thank you," he whispers and gives me one tiny peck before jumping down.

"I was enjoying your ass in my hands, baby."

"And you'll enjoy it later today when I ride you like the best cowboy in the world, but let's go jump."

"You got it, baby."

I take his hand and explain we have the place to ourselves for an hour when he looks confused at the huge empty space. An employee tells us to take off our shoes, then basically lets us do our thing.

"I bet you can't catch me," Benny taunts as he jumps on the first trampoline.

"What's the bet?" I ask, rising up to the challenge without hesitation.

"What do you want if you win?"

I think about it as I step up and bounce next to him. "I want one unsupervised hour with Norman where he's allowed to tell me every funny story about you and you can't get mad. "

He narrows his eyes at me, though the glare loses its effect since he's bouncing.

"That's diabolical," he murmurs. "Okay, you've got a deal, but I get the same from your brother."

I think about it seriously, then thrust my hand out to him. "Deal." He shakes once, and then he's off to the next trampoline. And the next, and the next.

I don't know for how long I'm chasing him, but I'm out of breath when I spy the pit of foam. I've been slowed down by the edges of the trampolines, since I don't want either of us to get injured, but if I time it just right...

I push as hard as I can on my legs and fly across a trampoline, wrap my arms around him and take him with me into the pit.

"Nooooo," he complains as we lay there. I keep my arms around him as he wiggles around and smile up at him when he's finally face to face with me.

"Caught you," I sing-song.

"Yes," he says, resigned, but then something changes in the light of his eyes. "You caught me," he whispers, now sounding amazed.

It is kind of amazing when I think about it, and when I let myself feel it my body moves on autopilot. I have to kiss him.

Even though it wasn't the plan, even though I want to see his delight in jumping around again, that's how we spend the rest of our time in the trampoline park, making out like teenagers who have all the time in the world.

Since we don't have all the time in the world, we fight our way out of the foam pit and head over to put on our shoes as soon as the employee hollers at us that they're about to open to the public.

A kid's party arrives just as we're finishing up. I'd say they're around ten, all boys, and I'm enthralled by how they flock to Benny. They want pictures and autographs, and he doesn't say no to a single one of them which melts my heart.

He tells them all I'm his boyfriend, casual as ever, and the moms come over to me to tell me how much they appreciate Benny taking the time to talk to the kids—as if I had anything to do with it.

So our plans are a little bit delayed, but it doesn't matter.

"Thanks," he tells me quietly when we exit into the parking lot. "And sorry."

"For what? And for what?" I repeat just to see him smile again.

"For waiting, and for delaying us."

"First of all, of course I'm gonna wait for you, baby. What kind of lousy date do you think I am?" I demand, faking offense. He looks unconvinced that I really don't mind, so I stop him before he can climb into the passenger seat. "And second, I think it's awesome how you talked to all those kids. You probably made their year just by talking to them. I really like that about you, baby. You never have to apologize for being awesome, okay?"

He only nods but swallows hard and lingers on a kiss while I hold the door open for him.

This time, when we start our drive, Benny doesn't take a million guesses of where we're going. Instead, he just holds my hand and sings along quietly to the song on the radio .

We have the arcade to ourselves for three hours, since I didn't know how much time was appropriate, and as I asked, we're met with fountain Cokes and a basket of wings when we arrive.

"An arcade?" Benny asks in wonder, spinning in his place and looking around with wide eyes.

"An arcade," I confirm.

"I've never been to an arcade before."

"Really?" I wasn't expecting that at all.

"Yeah, there's not one in Elliottsville, or in the small town where my boarding school was. Then I just started working and never really stopped."

"But you travel so much."

"I know, but we almost never have time to check out the cities where we go."

"Well..." My throat closes up looking at the way his eyes shine for such a simple thing. He's acting like he's just found a treasure, and I can't help but be proud that I'm the one who made him feel this way. I feel like a freaking superhero. "We have this place to ourselves for more than two hours, so go nuts, baby."

"Let's start with those bikes," he declares after another long moment looking around. He takes one wing and bites into it with vigor, then puts his basket down on a table and turns to look at me.

The happiness in his eyes leaves me speechless, so I can only nod. I'm pretty sure I'm going to bring him to the arcade every damn week if I get to see him like this.