Chapter 4: Making Adjustments.
**Author's Note:** Please read the disclaimer in Chapter 00 before you read this.
After a lengthy discussion, we decided it would be a good idea if I drove Colt around and tried to get him acquainted with the area. I also used this opportunity to take him by the local public school, as well as past a prominent private school in our area, in an effort to get him thinking about which institution he would like to attend. While we were out, we also stopped and picked up a few things we thought he would need for his classes. When we got home, we checked out both schools' websites on the Internet, in order to give Colt additional information he could use to make his decision. Even though Colt preferred the private school, he was going to choose the public school, so I wouldn't have to pay for it. However, I convinced him that I thought the private school would actually be better for him. They would have the resources and smaller class sizes, making them more capable of helping him catch up. Besides, I told him it wouldn't cost that much for such a short period of time. Once he agreed to it, we discussed how he would get back and forth from school.
Now that we were back home, I had him get his things together and layout his clothes for the next day. He fussed a bit about having to do it and informed me that he always decided in the morning what he was going to wear that day. However, I told him I wanted everything to go smoothly, so we could get to the school, enroll him and get through the process as quickly as possible. I reminded him I would be taking time off from my job to do this and I didn't want it to take any longer than needed. After all, I would be calling in and giving my employer very late notice that I would be delayed, so I didn't want to aggravate the situation by being extremely late. He finally gave up his protest and did as I asked.
The rest of the day went smoothly. Colt talked almost non-stop, asking questions about the school, the types of kids that went there and anything else that popped into his head. He also asked how we were going to get his records transferred there. I explained that I believed that since he was seventeen he could actually request to have that done himself. I told him I would also contact a lawyer to find out what it would take to get him emancipated from his family, thus removing the last of the obstacles for making him independent. He seemed satisfied with my responses, so we moved on to other things.
"Leo, I see you have a portable basketball hoop outside," he commented. "Do you play at all?"
"Sure I do," I replied grinning. He didn't realize that he had ventured upon one of my passions. I loved the game. I was only an average player myself, but I was a college basketball junkie. I would watch every game I could on TV and attend any nearby games in person.
"Okay, I challenge you to a game then," Colt announced, looking confident. This made me wonder what secrets he was holding back about his athletic prowess.
"Done," I announced, looking forward to the opportunity.
We went to our rooms and changed into appropriate attire, before I went to fetch the basketball out of the garage. We took a few minutes to loosen up and practice shooting, before we began our game. Colt's raw ability immediately impressed me. He was quick, smooth and his knowledge of the basics of the game was sound. He also had a slight advantage, in that he was a bit taller than me and had longer arms. He made me work hard to keep up with him. The only thing in my favor was that his shooting was a little rusty.
It was a very intense match-up and we were both determined to win. It was nip and tuck the whole way, but I managed to pull ahead at the end and win. I think that shocked Colt, but it also made him look at me a little differently. I believe he thought the six years difference in our age meant I couldn't compete with him physically, but the basketball game dispelled those doubts. After the game, it was almost as if we were just two high school buddies.
We were both worn out and sweaty from out little challenge, so we went back inside to clean up. I used the bathroom off of my bedroom, while Colt used his own shower. I must have been a little quicker than he was, because when I came back out, I could still hear the water running in Colt's bathroom as I walked by. I went to the kitchen and started preparing dinner, as it was starting to get late. I had been working a few minutes when I heard his voice.
"What are we having?" he asked. As I turned around to answer him, I noticed he was drying his hair with his towel, while standing naked in front of me. I was completely shocked and left speechless, but I couldn't pull my eyes away from his marvelous body. As I glanced upward, I could see the smug, self-satisfied expression he had on his face.
"Do you think it's wise to run around the house like that?" I asked, thinking I had to say something, even if I was a little unsure as to how I should broach the topic.
"It's no big deal," he explained. "I've been naked in front of other guys in the school showers and the showers at the pool." He gave me a very seductive grin when he finished.
"But what if someone happened to come to the door and saw you like that?" I asked, falling back upon something my parents might have said. I actually cringed as the words escaped from my mouth.
"Hey, if it gives them a thrill," he teased and winked at me, "but I think I'd have time to get back to my room before you opened the door." I couldn't think of anything else to say to him, so I turned back to my task.
"I'm making chicken with a sweet and sour sauce glaze," I told him, without looking in his direction. "I'm also fixing a couple of baked potatoes and a salad. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, it sounds fine," he told me, still standing behind me drying off his body. I continued to concentrate on what I was doing, but I knew he hadn't left. However, when I turned back around, he had wrapped the towel around his waist. That took some of the pressure off of me, as I was getting aroused just thinking about him being there.
"You're better at basketball than I expected," Colt told me, almost making it sound as if he had expected me to have one foot in the grave. Hell, I was only twenty-three. Did he really think THAT was old?
"You are too," I shot back, not conceding anything.
"It was fun," Colt countered. "I hope we can do it again."
"Oh, I don't see why not," I responded, "as long as you don't mind getting beat all of the time." I added that part to get him going.
"Hey, you just barely won and next time I'll beat the pants off of you," he challenged, confidently.
"Then we'd better play indoors, because I'm not a nudist at heart, like you are," I teased back. At first, he was a little shocked by my comment, thinking I was criticizing his earlier behavior, but then he realized I was just joking.
"Well, I can't help it if you're ashamed of your body," he jabbed back. "And I promise I won't make fun of your little pee-pee," he added, making sure to use the childish name for penis, to add to his feeling of superiority over me.
"Oh, a wise-guy, huh?" I countered, before I wielded about to grab him. I immediately began to tickle him for his insolence. As he squirmed about to get away, his towel fell to the ground, so now I was attacking a wiggling, naked boy. I was going to ease up and let him go, feeling this had already gotten out of hand, but he tried to tickle me back, so I couldn't just ignore the challenge. As each of us continued to try to get the upper hand, it soon became obvious this had blossomed into more than just a tickling match. Colt was definitely quite aroused, and so was I, but my erection wasn't quite as obvious as his, since I was still wearing clothes. Finally, I decided it was time to end the shenanigans.
"Okay, truce," I called out, trying to give him a chance to quit gracefully.
"What's the matter, getting tired old man," Colt quipped, issuing a new challenge.
"No, I was just giving you a way out, so you wouldn't have to lose again," I replied, offering a dig of my own. It did not go unnoticed.
"I let you win at basketball," he responded, although I knew it wasn't true, "but this time I'm going to beat your butt."
"Oh, so you're into that kinky stuff," I shot back, instinctively, later regretting my impulse to put a sexual twist on our verbal joust.
"You'd probably like that, wouldn't you?" Colt countered quickly, having picked up on my sexual innuendo. Encouraged, he redoubled his attack upon my body. Now, it was an all out wrestling match.
I had a definite advantage, since I weighed more than Colt, so I used it to my benefit. I quickly took him down and pinned him on his back, with my butt sitting across his hips and my hands pinning his arms above his head and against the floor. I tried not to notice his erection pressing against my backside. "Now do you give?" I asked him, hoping to put an end to this.
"No, way!" he countered, before doing something totally unexpected. Somehow, he managed to flip me off of him and onto my back, taking advantage of my momentary lapse in focus. I was expecting him to concede victory and end the struggle, so I wasn't ready for that move. However, he was now prostrate on top of me, straddling my waist and grinding his midsection against my own. I wasn't sure if this was a conscious or unconscious action on his part, but I was afraid of totally losing control of the situation. Using every ounce of strength I could muster, I rolled him off of me and pinned him against the floor again and kept him there until he gave up. Before he conceded defeat, though, he managed to pull off one final surprise. As I lay on top of him, demanding he declare me the victor, he lifted his head and kissed me on the lips.
"Okay, you win this time too," he said cheekily, after breaking the kiss. I suddenly realized the only reason he was giving up was because he'd felt he'd won more than just this little struggle. He had managed to wrestle nude with me, hump his erection against mine and give me a kiss, which might have been his intention all along.
After I let him up, I went back to the kitchen. My head was spinning from everything that had just taken place. There was no doubt in my mind that Colt was coming on to me and I didn't know how to handle it. On one level, I wanted to just pick him up and whisk him away to my bedroom and give in to our lust, but on the other hand, I was afraid to do that. Not because of society's laws or the chance that there might be repercussions from such an encounter, because legally he had reached the age of consent. What troubled me was that in the short time I had known him, I found myself more and more attracted to him. I had also been deeply affected by his actions during that time too. I hated it when I thought Colt was upset with me or, worse yet, when I thought he hated me. I wanted him to feel the same way about me that I did for him, but not because he felt that he owed me or was obligated to do such a thing. If we were going to end up being lovers, I wanted him to give himself to me fully and freely because that's what he wanted to do and not out of some misguided sense of duty.
Colt continued to flitter about the house, remaining completely naked and acting happier than I had seen him up to this point. I watched him intently, as I needed to find a way to discover why he was doing all of these things. Maybe I shouldn't have worried so much about his reasons and just enjoyed the fact that he had made a play for me and was obviously willing to give himself to me. However, I couldn't shake my desire to have it happen for the right reasons. I wanted something more than a one-night stand or short-term relationship. Maybe I had been imagining a moment such as this for far too long and continually hoping for the chance to fall in love with someone like him. I had always longed for a deep-seated commitment and the never-ending type of love that poets and writers romanticized. It was ingrained in my psyche and I was committed to accepting nothing less.
The more I pondered the situation, the more confused I became about what the future might hold for us. Colt, on the other hand, seemed relaxed and happier than he had been since we first met. He would continually brush against me whenever he passed by and then smile broadly at me before he walked away. I knew this was a sexual game he was playing and I began to worry where it might be leading. Did I let him get the wrong idea when I let him grind against me when we were wrestling or by letting him kiss me without protesting? Did I make another error in judgment that was going to backfire on me later? I wasn't sure what to do or how to respond. Instead, I decided to wait and cross that bridge when we came to it, although I had no idea when that might be.
We had dinner and Colt chatted excitedly throughout the entire meal. He commented about our basketball game and the wrestling match that followed. He asked more questions about his new school and then inquired as to what type of job he might be able to find for the summer.
"How about taking care of lawns for people who either can't or don't want to do it for themselves," I suggested. "That way, you can continue to work for them on the weekends, once school starts again in the fall. Most of the demands on your time will be made during the summer months, so there won't be as much to do once classes begin."
"I guess that sounds like a good idea," he responded, "since I did those kinds of things at home. The only problem is, I don't have any equipment to use, unless the people let me use theirs."
"Well, some might," I told him, "but I already have all of the equipment you would need and I'd be happy to let you use it. So, what do you think?" Colt readily agreed that he liked my suggestion, so now all he had to do was line up some prospective customers.
After dinner, Colt happily helped me clean up and put things away, even humming some of his favorite tunes as we worked. He seemed as giddy as a high school girl experiencing her first crush and this raised another red flag for me. He continued on his merry way and when we sat down to watch television later, he even asked me to sit on the sofa with him. I agreed to do so and he leaned back against me while we watched a couple of different programs.
At last it was time for bed. We both had big days ahead of us tomorrow, so I suggested to Colt that we both turn in. Much to my surprise, he didn't argue with me. Instead, he headed down the hall and went to his room, while I locked up the house. Once I had completed that task, I went to my own room.
After a quick wash up, I stripped down to my underwear and slipped into bed. I was just starting to dose off, when I heard the door to my room creak. I opened my eyes and saw a shadowy figure enter. I figured it was Colt and that maybe he had a bad dream or was possibly too excited to sleep, so I waited to see what he would do or say. I was somewhat taken aback when he went to the other side of my bed, slipped under the covers, put his arm over my body, and cuddled up against me.
"Colt," I began, as I rolled over to face him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I was lonely and wanted to be with you," he explained, meekly.
"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," I told him. "We both need our rest tonight and I'm not sure either of us will get any like this."
"What do you mean?" he asked, seemingly startled by my suggestion.
"What I mean is, I for one am not used to sleeping with another person," I explained, "so just having someone else in my bed might keep me awake all night." Although I couldn't see his face or his expression, I knew he was disappointed, as indicated by his response.
"Oh, I see," he almost whispered. "So you want me to go back to my own room?"
"I think that would be best," I answered. "Don't you?"
"Not really," he replied, dejectedly. "I think I'd sleep better in here with you." I knew I had crushed his hopes yet again, but understood that I couldn't let this move along at such a rapid pace. If something was going to happen between us, I wanted it to happen slowly and over time, not in the blink of an eye. I didn't want to dash his hopes totally, so I phrased my next response carefully.
"Maybe another time," I suggested, letting him know he wasn't being completely rejected and giving him a ray of hope. "If it wasn't going to be such a long and busy day for us, I might reconsider, but I think it best if we didn't do this tonight."
"All right," he said, as he crawled out of my bed, "but I don't agree." That parting shot let me know he was still unhappy about my decision, without letting it evolve into a fight between us. I watched as he slinked out of my room, like a puppy that had just been scolded.
It took a while for me to fall asleep after he left, mainly because I kept thinking about what might have been. I'm not sure if people can really fall in love this quickly or if we are both merely responding to each other's particular pain and loneliness. Was this really love or were we both just grabbing at the first quick and easy way to end our unhappiness? I, for one, needed it to be more than an easy fix to a complex problem.
Eventually, I did fall asleep, but I endured a fitful night's rest. I was still disillusioned and very tired when the alarm went off the next morning, but I got up. As I did, my only thought was, `what is this day going to bring?'
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