Chapter 2:

I looked at my watch after I got home and put everything away. It was still a little before nine a.m. This is going to be a really, really long day before seven gets here. I was still having a hard time believing what had happened; that he'd said yes, and that I had a date with that sweet, cute, sexy man in the blue Walmart smock. I felt like pinching myself to make sure I was awake and not dreaming the whole thing.

The next two hours drug by like a slow moving flu virus, and were every bit as agonizing. I'd been playing on my computer when my phone rang. I snatched it up and looked at caller-ID; it was A.J. We only talked for about 5 minutes; just telling each other how much the day was dragging by. As he was getting ready to return to work he paused for a moment. I thought, uh oh, he's changed his mind.

"Hey Brody, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, anything."

"Uh, just to put my dad's mind at ease, cause I know he's gonna ask me, can you tell me your full name and your age?"

"Of course. Brody Daniel Mullins and I'm thirty-three. How about you?"

"Vasquez."

I wait a few seconds. "And...?"

"I already told ya my name." He giggles.

"Yeah you did, but now it's your turn to tell me your age."

"Twenty-one. Now you're probably gonna tell me I'm too young for you."

"Too old actually; I was hoping for twelve." I laugh.

He laughs. "Perv."

"But seriously, you're the perfect age for me. I was worried you might think I'm too old for you."

"Not at all. I'm not really into guys my own age; they're too worried about dumb stuff that won't matter six months from now. It's like most of `em haven't left middle school yet."

"Great. So we're agreed; the age difference doesn't bother us. How's your mom and dad gonna feel about you going on a date with an older guy?"

"Well it's not like you're older than them; they'll be okay with it. They know I like guys older than me, so don't worry about it."

"Sounds good."

"Yup. I'm gonna grab a light lunch and I'll see ya tonight."

"OK. Don't work too hard. I'll see ya at seven. Bye, A.J."

"Later, Brody."

I end the call and look at my phone for a few seconds. The idea that it could be the connection to my maybe, possible, future boyfriend gave it a whole new meaning. I shake my head, grinning and set my phone down. I'm the one who's acting like they're still in middle school. I go back to my computer and wait for the day to pass a little more, stopping at noon for a light lunch of my own.

By six that evening I feel like I've been up for three or four days. I'm finally getting ready for my date. I've taken a shower and now I'm looking through my clothes for something to wear. What does one wear on a date with a twenty-one year old man? If I were twenty-one the answer would be easy; the same thing I usually wear. I guess the same rules apply. I pull out a pair of jeans, a nice, grey with vertical navy pin stripes long-sleeved button up shirt, black boxer-briefs and black and grey socks. I look at myself in the mirror. Not bad... I pull on my low-cut hiking shoes and look at my watch again; 6:15. I pull the weather up on my phone `cause it seems like it's become much colder since the sun went down. Sure enough, snow flurries expected and a low of 23 later tonight. I decide to get my jacket on and go drive around a little, that way the car is warm when he gets in. I grab my phone, some breath mints and head out.

By the time I pull up in front of Walmart at 6:55 the car is plenty warm. I see him standing by the main doors, rubbing his hands together and shivering a little. I pull up to where he's standing and roll the passenger window down.

"Hey stranger, get in here; you look like you're freezing out there."

He looks through the window and smiles. "Hey! Yeah, it's kinda cold out here; I wasn't expecting the snow."

He opens the passenger door and sits down while I roll the window up. He shivers once again and then looks at me and smiles. I return his smile.

"I was even thinking about sending you a text to tell you about the weather, but I figured you already knew. Sorry about that."

"No worries. It's nice and warm in here and I'm hoping the restaurant is warm."

I pull away from the curb after he puts his seatbelt on. I glance at him and then back to the road. "I'm sure it will be. They do have flames going in the kitchen, after all."

He laughs. "Yeah, I guess so, huh?"

"I guess I should've asked this first. Do you even want to go to the Outback? For all I know, you're a vegetarian."

"Oh hell no, I like real food. Beef: it's what's for dinner."

I laugh. "I'll be nice and not say the first thing that popped in my head."

He laughs loudly. "You are a perv. Good. But yeah, we have to be good boys."

"I'll try my best. You look incredibly hot by the way. That's gonna make it tough to be a good boy."

"Well you look damn hot yourself, so I guess we have to keep each other good."

"We'll try our best. Anyway, I was wondering about what to do after dinner. Do you want to see a movie or go to a club or something? Or do you have to be home after dinner?"

"Well I don't exactly have a curfew. I'm not really much into clubs though; they're too damn noisy. What kinda movies do you like?"

"I'm open to pretty much anything except slasher movies. I like suspense type movies and comedies best, I guess."

"Sounds good. How about that movie, St. Vincent? I love Melissa McCarthy in Mike and Molly and I've kinda wanted to see this."

"I like her too. We'll check times while we're waiting for our food."

The restaurant isn't quite as packed as I was expecting for a Saturday night. We have a 10 minute wait for a table and just spend the time talking about his day at work and my day watching the clock. When we get sat at a table, the waitress pops up about 30 seconds later to take our drink order. I look at A.J.

"You can go first; I'm still deciding."

He grins at me and then at the waitress. "I'll just have a Coke, please. Thank you."

I look at her and smile. "I'll have iced tea, please. Thanks."

He looks at me and grins. "You don't drink?"

"Yeah, I'm having tea. My mouth gets kinda dry when I stop drinking."

He giggles. "I meant alcohol, silly."

I wink at him. "No, I don't drink. Maybe like a beer once a year, but that's about it."

"Me either. I don't really like the taste all that much. I did get drunk once at a party a friend of mine was having. I was really, really drunk from what they said. I felt like hell the next day and decided it wasn't all that great."

"That makes two of us. I don't really care for the taste either. So cruise the menu and see what makes your mouth water. Order whatever you want."

"I'm paying half, ya know."

"No you're not. I asked you out; I pay. When you ask me out, you can pay." I grin at him.

He smiles. "OK, sounds fair. Thank you, Brody."

"Thank you for saying yes."

He blushes a little, smiles and then looks at his menu. Once we have food on the way, he pulls out his phone and looks up the movie times. He looks over at me.

"They have a 7:05 showing, which of course already started, and the next one is at 9:15. It should be over by eleven."

"Can you make it that long? You're the one who's been up early and at work all day."

"Yeah, I can make it. I get to sleep in tomorrow anyway. Well at least until nine or so, then I have church with my family at 10:30."

"Cool. Then let's go see a movie when we're done here. I'll get you home and tucked in before midnight; you'll get to stay a prince." I smile at him.

He blushes and smiles again. "I would probably love to get tucked in by you. Remember though, we have to be good boys."

"Yeah we do. I'll be good now." I grin at him. I look over towards the kitchen and then back at him. "Hey, in all seriousness though... I'm not just looking for someone to fool around with and then end up in bed on the first night. I want to get to know you if you'll let me. I want us to take this kinda slow and get to know each other before anything really serious happens. That's not to say I don't wanna kiss you pretty soon, because I really, really do, but anything more than that can wait."

He smiles big. "Well I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about kissing you more than a few times today. But yeah, other than kissing, I agree a hundred percent; let's take this kinda slow. I've fooled around with guys before and it didn't lead anywhere; it was just fooling around. I'd like this to lead somewhere."

I smile. "Me too. It's not every day I get the courage to ask out a sexy guy stocking cheese at Walmart." He laughs. "And I'd like it very much if this were more than just hooking up for a quickie."

"I'm sure glad you did, `cause I didn't have it. I really wanted to while we were talking and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't know how you'd react, or even if you were gay. My gaydar blipped a little, but not enough to make me sure. I thought I caught you flirting with me a couple of times, but I still wasn't sure."

My turn to giggle. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And you're one up on me; I don't have gaydar; they must've been out that day and I didn't get it. But yeah, as I was walking around afterwards I was running everything over and over in my head, and I was sure you'd flirted with me a couple of times. I finally decided to man-up and go find you. I'm very glad I did. And between the two of us, we got me to ask you out" He laughs and we smile at each other again.

"You were being adorable; I couldn't let you give up."

I blush bright red and he grins. "Well after I managed to get that first part out, I wasn't about to give up; I just didn't know where to go after that. I hadn't thought that far ahead; just that I had to spit that out. I was ready to run little old ladies over with my cart and change where I shop if you reacted badly though."

He laughs. "I'm glad you didn't have to run anyone over. And I would've been really bummed if you started shopping somewhere else. I've really looked forward to my Saturdays at work for the last couple of months, `cause I know you'll be there."

"I might just have to start coming in every day you work, so I get to see you in your blue smock." He laughs. "Well, and just to see you."

"I'd like that a lot. I could start every day in a great mood."

I blush and smile. "Me too."

He smiles. "So where do you work?"

"At the construction rental place over on fourth avenue; at least until I get my foot in the door of a real job."

"Oh, OK, I know the place. So what kind of real job are you looking for?"

"Project management. At least that's what I went to school for. I figured being around a place where contractors go would be a good way to network with some of `em, and let `em know I'm good for more than renting them a hammer."

He grins. "Yeah, that should work. I hope it does."

"What about you? What's your major in school?"

"Green and wind energy science. There's gonna be a huge demand in the near future and I thought it sounded like something I'd enjoy. So far I'm just taking my core classes, so the fun stuff hasn't started yet."

"Yeah, writing a 15 page paper on the life cycle of an ameba or suffering through a statistics lecture is hardly much fun, is it?"

He laughs. "You're funny. I've never had to do a paper on an ameba, but you can help me if I ever do."

I smile. "Hey, I'm right there. You do the research and I'll write the paper."

"You have a deal. So when did you get out of school?"

"Last year. I was a late bloomer. I didn't decide to go to college until I was seeing thirty over the horizon and looked at where I was. I had a going nowhere job and thought there had to be more to life than that."

"It's never too late."

Our dinner arrived and we spent the next 40 minutes just chatting while eating, learning more about each other, and smiling at each other a lot. I was still having a hard time believing I was here with him. Seeing him once a week while taking furtive glances at him was one thing, but this was heaven. I was sitting less than two feet away from him, talking to him, making him smile and laugh and getting to look into those beautiful eyes of his and seeing the sparkle in them. After I signed the credit card slip for the bill he looked up at me.

"I guess I should text home and tell `em I won't be home `til after eleven."

"Good idea. They'd be really worried about you."

He grins. "Yeah..."

He spends a couple of minutes texting back and forth and then looks up at me, a slightly worried look on his face.

"Uh... My dad asked if we had time to stop by the house before the movie. Would that be OK, Brody?"

"Of course. It's only a little after eight; we have plenty of time."

"Well just to give you a heads-up, this could be the second Spanish Inquisition." He grins.

I laugh. "I kinda thought it might be. Don't worry about it. I studied for my tests."

He laughs. "Okay... I'll try to keep them reeled in as much as possible."

"Don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've been brought before the board of inquiry." I grin and he laughs again.

He texts them that we're on our way and we head out the door. At least this will give him a chance to get a warmer jacket. I feel really bad for him, shivering outside in the cold. Once we're in the car, and I have it started and the heater going, he looks over at me and grins shyly.

"Don't turn the lights on yet, please."

He leans towards me, his right hand coming up to my face and he rests it on my cheek while his mouth moves closer to mine. I close my eyes and tilt my head a little while he does the same. Our lips touch for the first time and I feel like my heart could explode at any second. His lips are so soft and yielding, molding perfectly with mine. It's not a long kiss, but it's definitely one I'll remember. He pulls his head back just a few inches and smiles at me.

"Nice. I've been waiting all day to do that, and it was worth every minute I waited."

I smile. "Yes it was. You're incredibly good at that, too."

He grins. "Thanks. You too, sexy." I blush and he grins bigger. "You're being adorable again, blushing like that."

He rubs my face with his hand for just a second and then leans back in his seat, putting his seatbelt on. I wink at him and then put mine on and turn the lights on. We leave the parking lot and he gives me turn by turn directions to his house. When we pull up out front, the porch light comes on and the front door opens. I see a man and woman, probably only about 5 or 6 years older than me, standing on the other side of the screen door. Let the games begin.