“Our divorce will be final in a few weeks, and I’m bisexual, Myles. I’m attracted to both men and women.”
“Oh.” Myles’s face was puzzled, and he looked like he had a million questions. “So, Hugo, that means you aren’t dating Summer?”
Hugo couldn’t help but laugh. Of course Myles’s concern would be about Summer.
“No. I’ve never dated Summer or any woman, for that matter.”
“Oh. Okay. So, do you guys want to eat over here tonight? I got some amazing steaks to grill.”
It had been that easy, which was good for Kevin. It was also good because, now that Myles knew, Kevin was a lot more open with his affections at Green Lake. He’d lean over to kiss Hugo out of the blue or hold his hand on the beach.
“Seed-spitting contest?” Kevin asked as he handed Hugo a plate with a half circle of watermelon on it. The slice was thick and drippy, so Hugo grabbed some paper towels.
“Sure, but on the lawn this time. I’m afraid we’re going to have watermelon plants growing at the bottom of the lake the next time we come up here.”
“Because watermelon seeds won’t grow in the lawn with all that fertile soil?”
“You’ve got a point.”
So they sat on the end of the dock eating sticky melon and spitting seeds into the water, judging each other’s skills on loft, distance, splash back, and even the best artistic form. And they talked. They always talked.
Their lives were slowly being woven together. They often slept in each other’s beds in the city or the suburb and made phone calls to each other during the workday. Even Hugo’s difficulty sleeping in new places was no longer an issue. He found he easily fell asleep with Kevin nearby.
They interacted on Facebook so much their friends wanted to know who this new person was they hadn’t met yet. In order to respect Kevin’s timing, Hugo didn’t tell his friends he and Kevin were boyfriends, but referred to him as a friend from high school. He hoped that would change some day, but it was a minor thing at the moment.
“I’m all sticky,” Kevin complained as he held up his hand. Hugo sucked the juice off each finger and watched as Kevin’s eyes glazed over. “You’ll be the death of me; do you realize that?”
“Why do you say such things? You hurt me so.”
“After this weekend, I don’t think I’ll have sperm in my balls for a month. And here you got me going again.” Kevin gestured to the growing bulge in his board shorts.
“That’s okay. We don’t really need your sperm for anything. It’s not like we’re trying to make babies,” Hugo said as he squeezed Kevin’s hardness a few times before pulling away.
“Geez. You’re crazy. Do you know that?”
“I do. Now come on. Let’s go get cleaned up. I’m sticky, and I smell like lake water.” Hugo stood and headed toward the house, but Kevin remained seated. “I’ll suck you off in the outdoor shower,” Hugo singsonged as he walked. Kevin beat Hugo to the semiprivate shower, leaning up against the stone wall before Hugo dropped to his knees.
T
HE
sun was dissolving into the tree canopy behind the lake house, and across the lake, the sky was set off with pinks and purples cast back on fluffy clouds. It was gorgeous, and the lighting as they stood on the dock made Kevin’s skin look even warmer and more golden. His soft, pink lips and messy blond hair seemed to stand out the closer they walked toward the end of the dock because of the way the light reflected up from the water.
“I think I’ll let you teach me how to water ski tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really. Everyone seems to have so much fun. I’d better try
it.”
“You trust me not to get you killed?”
“I do. Pretty scary, huh? That’s a lot of trust I’m putting in you, so don’t fuck it up,” Hugo joked.
Kevin wrapped his arms around Hugo from behind and kissed a line from his ear to his shoulder. Without thought, Hugo held on to Kevin’s arms, pulling him even closer. They stood at the end of the dock, looking out at the beautiful water reflecting the sky.
“I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe, Hugo. I promise.”
A loon called.
Hugo closed his eyes to the perfect moment, wanting to drink it all
in.
Another loon called from farther away, answering its mate.
Kevin took in a deep breath of Hugo’s scent and squeezed him tighter. No words were needed. He slipped a hand up toward the center of Hugo’s chest and palmed the oblong silver pendant he found there. Hugo looked down and watched Kevin thumb across the shiny, raised North Star that easily stood out from the dark, antiqued silver. He spent time tracing the longer points of the star that ran top to bottom—north to south—before palming it like he often did during sex. Rather than simply leaving it alone, he kept tracing over the atomic star with his fingers as he pressed more kisses to Hugo’s neck. When Kevin lifted the heavy pendant to take a closer look in the fading light, he flipped it over.
“
So you’ll always know your way
,” Kevin read, and Hugo knew exactly the way the words circled around and around toward the center of his pendant. “Wait. Is this what I think it is?”
Hugo nodded, fingers joining Kevin’s around one of his most prized possessions.
“You’ve been wearing this all this time, and I just now realized this is part of the gift I gave you forever ago?” Kevin asked, his voice sounding awed.
“Yep. The keychain broke, and the little compass had come unglued and was lost even before the rest broke. I took it to a jeweler, and he figured a way to keep the most important part, but I didn’t want everyone to see it. I wanted it to be a secret to me, so he designed me a piece built around the spiraling words on the back side. I wanted the North Star on the front since that’s all you really need to know your way.”
“Wow. I can’t believe you still have this after all these years.”
“I knew your reason for giving it to me back then wasn’t just to make sure I wouldn’t get lost in the woods.”
“See? Even back then I wanted to keep you safe.”
“I know.” Hugo smiled and brought Kevin’s hand to his mouth to kiss.
The sun’s light slowly drained from the sky, and gold was replaced by blue, warmth by chill, and Hugo shivered despite being held safe and close.
“Let’s get you inside,” Kevin said, taking Hugo’s hand and walking side by side toward the house.
When they took the first step onto the deck, they heard a voice.
“Hi, Kevin. I know this is unexpected.” It was Erin. Kevin dropped Hugo’s hand and took a few steps closer to her.
“What’s wrong?” This was highly unusual, and Kevin’s voice betrayed his worry. Erin didn’t ever just show up with no warning.
Erin shook her head. “Nothing. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer. I got the job at Mayo. They called on Friday to tell me, so we’re going to be moving.” The kids chose that moment to tear around the corner of the house, distracting their mom with their shouted greeting at Hugo and Kevin before they ran into the house, most likely to forage through the fridge for food.
“Congratulations,” Kevin said, but Hugo could hear the concern in his voice.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah,” Hugo added. “Way to go.”
Erin smiled as she pushed her red hair off her forehead, fingers threading through the strands where they stayed, and she gripped her hair. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to take the kids the rest of the weekend. I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to even think about getting my house on the market. Plus, I’m not feeling the greatest, so I’m not being the best mom. I’ve had a migraine for the last week, probably from the stress. When I finally got some relief, I left Fargo. I need your help. Please?”
“Sure. I’d love to have ’em,” Kevin said. “Were you up at your parents’ place?”
“Mhm. I’d had enough,” she said, hand dropping to her thigh with a lazy slap. “The kids were at each other’s throats, my mom was her usual insufferable self, and I knew if I didn’t get out of there, my migraine would never go away. Besides, I have too much to do to just be sitting around twiddling my thumbs, and Green Lake is only, like, fifteen miles out of my way.”
“How many lists did you start?” Kevin asked with a chuckle.
Erin smiled at him and shook her head as she laughed. “I’m so predictable.”
“No. Lists just work for you, Miss Type-A,” Kevin said with a wink.
Hugo couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy he felt, even if he knew there was nothing to worry about.
“Could I get a glass of water to take my meds?” Erin asked. “All the in-car bickering….”
“Of course,” Kevin said.
“I’m assuming their luggage is in the car?” Hugo asked and headed to get the kids’ belongings to give them some privacy to talk after Erin nodded. Kevin and Erin walked inside the house. Hugo felt like a third wheel whenever Erin was around, so grabbing the kids’ stuff was a good excuse to escape that feeling as well as being helpful.
It was odd to hear about the kids fighting. They squabbled from time to time. They were siblings. That was normal, but from what Erin said, it sounded like it had been happening a lot more than usual. Or maybe Erin had just been more bothered by the noise because of the sensitivity migraines tended to bring on. No matter, Hugo would do what he could to help smooth things out between Brooke and Finn later.
“Thank you,” Erin said as she met Hugo at the side of the house on her way back to the car.
“Sure. It’s just luggage.”
“No. I mean thank you for being here for Kevin. I know we hardly know each other, but something’s different about him since you came around. He’s so much happier than I’ve seen him in years. It’s good to see Kevin have such a great friend to hang out with. That’s new for him aside from his golfing buddies.”
Hugo didn’t know how to respond without giving any secrets away, so he gave a quick shrug.
“Hopefully the kids got all their fighting out of the way, but if they didn’t, I’m sorry.” Erin said with an apologetic smile.
“Don’t worry about it. I grew up with a sister who tirelessly picked on me when I was little. I know all about sibling rivalry.”
“It’s awful, isn’t it?”
“It sure can be.” Hugo chuckled. “All right. I’ll let you go. Drive safe.”
“Night.”
H
UGO
knew Kevin was preoccupied with the knowledge that his kids would be moving away from the Twin Cities soon. Apparently, Erin had to be down to Rochester by the second week of October, a few weeks after the divorce would be final, so they’d start school in Edina and would then transfer just after getting settled into their routines. Not the best timing, but they’d make do.
Hugo took over and cooked a late supper for the kids, made sure they got bathed before bed, and read stories to each in their own rooms. As soon as Kevin came back downstairs from saying his goodnights, he admitted to his sadness that the kids would be moving away. Hugo did all he could do, holding Kevin until he felt better.
“You’re not going to lose touch, Kevin,” Hugo whispered in a calming voice. “You’re not your dad, and the world is a different place than it was back when you were a kid. There are computers, Skype, texts, cell phones. You’ll be there for them. I know you will.”
“Yeah,” Kevin said with a watery smile. “I know. You’re right. It just felt like my life was finally coming together in such new, surprising ways, and I was looking forward to sharing that with them.”
“It still is, and you can still share it,” Hugo said with a sure smile.
Hugo and Kevin waited for a long time after the kids were asleep before they headed to bed themselves. They’d never slept in the same bed when Brooke and Finn were around; Hugo always headed home on those weekends.
“How early do you think they’ll be up?” Hugo asked as he started to set the alarm clock so they could make sure to beat the kids out of bed.
“If they’ve been at their grandparents’ house for the last few days, I’m guessing they’ll sleep in,” Kevin managed to get past his yawn. “Erin’s mom keeps the whole house quiet until the kids get up on their own. I think we’re safe if we set the alarm for seven thirty. What do you think?”
Hugo didn’t have a clue, but he shrugged and set the alarm.
“What if they wake up earlier or come in here in the middle of the night?” Hugo asked. These were Kevin’s children, so it was up to him entirely.
Kevin lifted his shirt over his head and dropped it in the laundry basket on top of his board shorts. Standing there naked in the middle of the room was not a very good way to have this conversation.
“Will you put on some underwear?” Hugo practically begged.
Kevin chuckled but opened a drawer and pulled on a pair of tight blue-and-white checked underwear, which were almost as distracting as when he was naked.
“Christ. Get under the covers so I don’t have fantasies of ripping those off you, will ya?” Hugo said.
“What’s gotten into you?” Kevin asked as he finally covered up. “You’re insatiable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this horny. Not even in high school.”
“I don’t know. It’s this weird thing that happens to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s stupid. Summer teases me about it all the time because she has this uncanny ability to just know if I’ve recently had sex. She claims she can basically tell how comfortable I am in a relationship by how crazy my libido is. See? It’s stupid, and I don’t really see it.”
Kevin burst out laughing, burying his face in Hugo’s stomach to keep the noise down so he wouldn’t wake the kids.
“Shhh,” Kevin told himself as he brought his chuckles back under control. “Don’t be embarrassed. That’s a really good thing to know. That’s probably why your year of monkhood didn’t bother you nearly as much as it would have a lot of guys.”
“Maybe. Now, if we can get back to talking about the kids?” Hugo sharply raised a brow, which only made Kevin laugh at his seriousness. “Gah. What if the kids find us in bed together? Seriously, how’s that gonna go over?”
“They’re eventually going to know,” Kevin said with earnestness. “I know we’ve been really discreet around them, but I don’t want to keep them in the dark forever. I feel like I have to tell Erin before they find out, though.”