The Tribuo - Book I

 

Saturday

            I woke up on Saturday morning because my phone kept going off.

   “I thought you turned it off,” Lucas muttered without opening his eyes.

   “I thought that too,” I sighed and reached for the annoying gadget. “It’s probably Jess…”

   Jennah grumbled something and unwrapped his arm that was around my waist. I managed to get the phone finally.

   “Yeah,” I said with annoyance.

   “Hey!”

   I almost moaned. It was Rose.

   “Hey…” I muttered. “What’s up?”

   “Umm… Not much,” she sounded puzzled by my lack of interest. “Are we still on for tonight?”

   “Tonight?” I frowned.

   “Yeah… Seven-thirty, remember?”

   Oh crap, that’s right. I completely forgot. Lucas pulled me closer, and my breathing started to get very uneven when he began nibbling on my ear.

   “Rose…” I said finally. “I am sorry… I… Umm…”

   Okay, Jennah’s tongue in my ear did not help.

   “You are what?” she laughed. “You okay? You sound funny. Did I wake you up or something?”

   “Uh huh,” I tried my best to sound semi-normal.

   “Oh, I am sorry! So I’ll see you tonight then? Hey, do you wanna go the Rocket? That place is supposed to be awesome! I have a friend who went there, and she said that you can see, like, the entire city from there! We should totally…”

   Lucas’ hand slid down to my hip.

   “Umm… Rose…”

   “I haven’t seen you for, like, ever…!” she kept jabbering and I bit my lip.

   Jennah’s fingers squeezed me in such delicious way that I have no idea how I managed to keep quiet. Combine that with his tongue that was still in my ear, and you should truly admire my self-control.

   “Rose…” I finally said. “I’m sorry… I can’t… I am really busy all day today. I have… Ah… I have this deadline and… Oh, God…”

   “Deadline? Matt, what’s going on? You sound really bizarre right now!”

   “Yeah… I gotta go, sorry. Look, I’ll call you next week, okay? I am seriously… Oh, Jesus… Busy!”

   “Matt, what is…”

   “Bye, Rose…” I shut my phone and made sure that this time it was really off. Why the hell did I even get a cell phone in the first place? These things are beyond annoying, honestly!

   I dropped it on the floor and tried to turn around, but Jennah wouldn’t let me. It felt like all of a sudden, he was incredibly strong, and I couldn’t even move on my own. All I was able to do was to press harder against him, and rock my body along with his.

****

   We were smoking on Jennah’s front porch; his shirt forgotten somewhere under his bed, mine unbuttoned all the way. Life was good.

   “What time is it?” Lucas asked lazily and I shrugged.

   “Dunno. My phone is somewhere inside, and my watch…” I tried to remember. “I don’t know what the hell happened to my watch… But I’d say it’s around two or so.”

   “Uh huh,” he said without opening his eyes. “Cool.”

   “Why?” I looked at him. “You have plans or something?”

   “Not really,” he finally opened his eyes and looked at me. “My Dad is coming home tomorrow, so I guess I’ll need to clean the house somewhat…”

   “Your Dad…” I muttered. “Right.”

   Lucas laughed.

   “Don’t worry about my Dad,” he said. “He doesn’t stick his nose in my business.”

   “Does he know that you are gay?” I squinted my eyes at him and he snorted.

   “No,” he said seriously. “But then, neither did I, until you came along…”

   “Yeah,” I sighed. “That makes two of us… I mean…”

   Jennah laughed and took a cigarette out of my hand.

   “I know what you mean,” he said and stabbed it in the ashtray.

   He ran his fingers up my chest, and I was about to get up and pull him back into the house, when someone coughed politely and said, “Hello, Lucas!”

   I looked up, startled. It was some guy, and he didn’t look shocked or anything. Jennah froze for a second.

   “Shit…” he muttered finally under his breath and looked up.

   “Hello, Uncle Seth,” he said very evenly. “What are you doing here? Dad’s not coming until tomorrow.”

   “I know,” the guy answered lightly. “Need to talk. To you,” he added after Lucas wouldn’t move.

   “Talk then,” Lucas said in the same even voice.

   The guy looked at me pointedly.

   “Umm…” I muttered. Okay, this was uncomfortable. “I’ll just go… I need to stop by my house anyway…”

   Lucas blinked and looked at me.

   “I’m sorry,” he frowned. “Matt, this is Uncle Seth, my father’s friend. Uncle Seth,” he shifted his gaze to the guy who looked serene. “This is Matt. My boyfriend.”

   Uncle Seth didn’t even flinch. Interesting.

   “Nice to meet you,” he nodded without offering his hand.

   “I’m gonna go get my keys…” I said and got up.

   “Uh huh,” Lucas said gloomily.

   It took me almost fifteen minutes to finally find my car keys. I buttoned up my shirt and went back outside. Jennah was sitting on the bench just like he did when I left to look for my keys, and Uncle Seth – or whatever his name was – just leaned on the wall with one shoulder. He looked completely relaxed unlike Jennah, who seemed to be beyond tight.

   “Okay,” I said. “I’ll see you later, Lucas…”

   He muttered something and I started walking towards my car.

   “Wait!” he called suddenly and I turned towards him.

   He all but ran after me.

   “Wait…” he repeated and put his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll come and get you in an hour or so, okay? He said he had something from my Dad…” he glanced briefly at Seth who didn’t even look at us.

   “Oh, right… The soldier thing, huh?” I muttered and Jennah laughed weakly.

   “Yeah,” he nodded. “The soldier thing…”

   “You don’t have to come and get me,” I said, enjoying his hands on my shoulders. “I can drive, you know…”

   “I know,” he said softly. “I want to.”

   “Okay then… Well, see you in an hour?”

   “Yeah,” he muttered and leaned forward.

   He kissed me so gently that I couldn’t breathe for a second or two. Jennah closed his eyes, took his hands off my shoulders, and pressed his forehead against mine.

   “I’ll see you in an hour,” he said finally and walked away.