“Dude,” Jase said, as he jumped out of bed to pick up the glass. “Sorry about that. I guess I was dreaming. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm not gay or anything like that.”
Luis closed his legs and turned over on his back. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the way Jase's sweat pants were tented out again. The Jase whom Luis knew and loved in the future always had a morning erection. They'd shared some of their most memorable sexual adventures in the early morning hours while the rest of the house was fast asleep. But there wouldn't be any sex that morning. When Luis saw the terrified expression on Jase's face, he said, “I know. Don't worry about it.” He also figured he'd better change the subject fast. “Are you going to use the shower first?”
Jase rested the empty glass on the nightstand and said, “Yeah. I don't take long. I'll be out in less than fifteen minutes.” Then he loped off to the bathroom with his hand pressed to his erection so it wouldn't bounce around.
Luis took a longer shower, and worked even longer on his hair. When he was dressed, he cleaned up the bathroom and made the bed. He also wiped up the water Jase had knocked over and he straightened up Jase's messy pile of clothes. The guy had underwear and sweat socks tossed all over the room. He had jeans and high top sneakers everywhere Luis looked. This made Luis laugh. He enjoyed cleaning up after Jase. And it was nice, in a familiar way, to know Jase was just as much of a slob when he was younger.
When the room was perfect, Luis jogged down to the kitchen with a huge smile. When he entered, he walked to the stove where Isabelle was making breakfast and gave her a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning,” he said, and then glanced down at the stove. She was frying bacon and flipping pancakes. “That looks wonderful. I'll have a nice big stack.”
Isabelle seemed stunned at the way this virtual stranger greeted her. She looked at Jase and Judah first, then said, “Well, good morning to you, sweetie. You sure are in a good mood this morning.”
Luis went to the table and sat down next to Jase. He smiled at Judah Nicholas and said, “It's a wonderful morning. Life is wonderful. And I'm so happy to be here. I can't wait to start working. I hope there's something I can do.”
Judah and Jase looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't seem to know how to react to Luis's bright, cheerful mood. “I made a few calls this morning,” Judah said. “And I found something for you to do at the high school. I'm on the board of education. This way you can go to work with Jase every morning and come home with him in the afternoon. You'll be doing landscape work over there. This time of year it gets really busy over there, especially with graduation. I'm not sure about the pay yet, but the Principal will explain it all to you. I gave you a good recommendation, so don't let me down, son.”
Luis stood up and walked to the other side of the table. He put his arms around Jase's grandfather and said, “Oh, thank you, Mr. Nicholas. I can't thank you enough. I'll do whatever they tell me to do. I promise, I won't let you down. I'd never let you down.”
Judah's eyebrows went up. He looked at Jase and said, “He certainly is an emotional little guy.”
Jase rolled his eyes and shoved a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
Isabelle turned and said, “I think he's delightful.” She smiled at Luis. “I'll have your pancakes in a minute, dear, so you boys won't be late.”
After breakfast, Luis and Jase climbed into the Grand National and Jase fumbled with the keys. Luis noticed Jase hadn't said a word to him all through breakfast and he had a feeling Jase was uncomfortable about what had happened between them in bed. If anything, Jase seemed disinterested. So Luis, not thinking this time, buckled his seatbelt and said, “Are you okay about what went down last night? I'm okay with it. I just wanted you to know.” Then he smiled and folded his hands on his lap. He was looking forward to going to school with Jase.
But Jase frowned and turned in his direction. He leaned over and pointed at Luis. He spoke with a deep, serious tone that bordered on anger. “Nothing happened between us, all right? I'm not gay, man. And I don't want to talk about it again.” Then he punched the door and bit his fist.
Luis felt a sting in his eyes. Jase had never yelled at him once, not in all the time they'd been married. “I was just trying to explain,” Luis said.
Before Luis could finish his thought, Jase shook his fist. “There's no need to explain anything. Nothing happened last night. It was two guys messing around. A big joke. Is that understood?”
Luis felt his face getting red. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He looked Jase in the eye and said, “That's fine with me, asshole. And there's no need to yell at me. I'm not an idiot and I don't take abuse from anyone. Is that understood?”
Jase moved his lips, but nothing came out. His face turned red and the vein in his neck started to pop. Instead of speaking, he clenched his fist and punched the dashboard. Then he started the car and pulled out of the driveway so fast Luis felt like looking back to see if his stomach was on the front porch.
“You drive like an asshole, too,” Luis said. He was on the verge of tears but he didn't want to give Jase the satisfaction. He knew Jase was going through something difficult. He knew Jase had feelings for him and he was attracted to him. But that didn't give Jase the right to yell at him and talk down to him. Luis would never have spoken to Jase that way. And he didn't want to be spoken to that way either.
Jase didn't say a word. He turned on the stereo and Sister Christian began to play.
Luis reached over, turned the volume up higher, and then sat back with his arms folded across his chest the rest of the way.
When they arrived at the high school, Luis's lips were still pinched and his arms still folded. A group of girls walked by and Jase slowed down and lowered his window. He smiled at one girl with frizzy blond hair and said, “Hey, you look hot today.” He spoke with a smooth, flirtatious voice that sounded fake.
Luis rolled his eyes. He recognized the girl Jase was talking to. It was the young version of Betsy Melchiorri, the chubby woman with bad hair Luis had met at the reunion.
Betsy giggled, pulled her books close to her chest, and said, “Hi, Jase. I was thinking about you playing football last season. I think you're the best quarterback this school has ever seen.”
Luis felt like barfing. Betsy Melchiorri sounded as insincere in l986 as she would in the future. He wanted to lean over and say, “You should have seen the way Jase had his hand on my ass this morning, sweetie.” But it would have been a huge mistake that might have cost Luis is perfect nose.