sleeves of Derek's rumpled shirt. Instead he asked again, “Why?”
Derek flashed his Cheshire cat grin, the conspiratorial one he’d used when he’d bought beer for Jesse and his friends in high school or agreed not to rat him out when he caught him breaking curfew. Derek was older, but he often felt more like one of Jesse's friends than someone his parents’ age. “I need him to teach me how to be boring. I figure I’m finally ready to learn.”
A smile crept across Jesse’s face. This was going to be fun. “I can tell you what he does to pass the time and how he plans to stay busy. He and Mom are out picking up the crib right now.”
The look on Derek’s face was worth more money than Jesse’d spent on tuition before he’d dropped out. With any luck he’d been a little more subtle when they’d broken the news to him. Forty wasn’t old for babies in some parts, it was just the fact that they’d stopped at two children almost twenty years ago that made it come as such a surprise.
When he could finally speak again, Derek launched into a stream of consciousness monologue that told Jesse more than he cared to know. Jesse tried to let the news roll off of him. Maybe his older brother had been a tequila accident, but Dad and Mom had settled in and made a life of it. It was more than Derek could claim had come out of his relationship with his high school sweetheart. Even if his parents may have gotten on the road to family by accident, maybe more than once, they seemed happy about it, in love, and determined to do a good job. They’d done better than most and shown Jesse what he wanted in his own marriage one day. His babies would have to be planned and he wouldn't live out in the middle of nowhere, but smiling at your best friend over breakfast every morning seemed like a pretty good life goal.
Derek’s rant quickly lost steam, and he shoved a weary hand through his hair then turned his attention on Jesse. “Your Dad told me there's no risk of you getting a girl pregnant, but you know about condoms, right? You're being safe?”
Jesse wondered if the heat radiating from his cheeks would set fire to the hay in the barn. “What did Dad tell you?”
“Not much. I told him back when you were in high school that if you ever came out he better do a hell of a lot better job with it than he did with me. You called him from school and when he hung up with you he called me to see how he'd done.”
Jesse's mind grabbed at the bits of information floating past, but they were like dust motes in bright light. “You? But I know about the women...”
“I'm too old to bother with labels. I like who I like and I don't feel bad about it.”
Jesse closed the space between them and breathed deeply. Leather, hay, horses. He'd grown up with these scents, but now, close enough to Derek to feel the hot brush of his breath, Jesse understood why people went wild in cowboys.
“Jess, I need to talk to your dad, first.”
The wall held Jesse up as he leaned hopelessly against it. Derek, a rogue of the road and twice his age, wanted to talk to his father about his gay son's romantic life. That was going to go well. Jesse's head banged back against the warm, worn wood of the barn wall and the heat suddenly seemed to smother him. Derek might make his heart run fast, but he wasn't an option. Dad would be right to send him away. “Well then it's never going to happen.”
“Probably not, but I still want to do this right.”
Jesse leaned in, his lips inches from Derek's, and Derek closed the distance. Their kiss was sweet and gentle at first, a promise of what was to come once Derek had done the gentlemanly thing and checked in with
Derek flashed his Cheshire cat grin, the conspiratorial one he’d used when he’d bought beer for Jesse and his friends in high school or agreed not to rat him out when he caught him breaking curfew. Derek was older, but he often felt more like one of Jesse's friends than someone his parents’ age. “I need him to teach me how to be boring. I figure I’m finally ready to learn.”
A smile crept across Jesse’s face. This was going to be fun. “I can tell you what he does to pass the time and how he plans to stay busy. He and Mom are out picking up the crib right now.”
The look on Derek’s face was worth more money than Jesse’d spent on tuition before he’d dropped out. With any luck he’d been a little more subtle when they’d broken the news to him. Forty wasn’t old for babies in some parts, it was just the fact that they’d stopped at two children almost twenty years ago that made it come as such a surprise.
When he could finally speak again, Derek launched into a stream of consciousness monologue that told Jesse more than he cared to know. Jesse tried to let the news roll off of him. Maybe his older brother had been a tequila accident, but Dad and Mom had settled in and made a life of it. It was more than Derek could claim had come out of his relationship with his high school sweetheart. Even if his parents may have gotten on the road to family by accident, maybe more than once, they seemed happy about it, in love, and determined to do a good job. They’d done better than most and shown Jesse what he wanted in his own marriage one day. His babies would have to be planned and he wouldn't live out in the middle of nowhere, but smiling at your best friend over breakfast every morning seemed like a pretty good life goal.
Derek’s rant quickly lost steam, and he shoved a weary hand through his hair then turned his attention on Jesse. “Your Dad told me there's no risk of you getting a girl pregnant, but you know about condoms, right? You're being safe?”
Jesse wondered if the heat radiating from his cheeks would set fire to the hay in the barn. “What did Dad tell you?”
“Not much. I told him back when you were in high school that if you ever came out he better do a hell of a lot better job with it than he did with me. You called him from school and when he hung up with you he called me to see how he'd done.”
Jesse's mind grabbed at the bits of information floating past, but they were like dust motes in bright light. “You? But I know about the women...”
“I'm too old to bother with labels. I like who I like and I don't feel bad about it.”
Jesse closed the space between them and breathed deeply. Leather, hay, horses. He'd grown up with these scents, but now, close enough to Derek to feel the hot brush of his breath, Jesse understood why people went wild in cowboys.
“Jess, I need to talk to your dad, first.”
The wall held Jesse up as he leaned hopelessly against it. Derek, a rogue of the road and twice his age, wanted to talk to his father about his gay son's romantic life. That was going to go well. Jesse's head banged back against the warm, worn wood of the barn wall and the heat suddenly seemed to smother him. Derek might make his heart run fast, but he wasn't an option. Dad would be right to send him away. “Well then it's never going to happen.”
“Probably not, but I still want to do this right.”
Jesse leaned in, his lips inches from Derek's, and Derek closed the distance. Their kiss was sweet and gentle at first, a promise of what was to come once Derek had done the gentlemanly thing and checked in with
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