First Time for Everything (24 page)

“On?”

“How high he can rate on a scale of one to ten for second kisses.”

He grinned. Our mouths met. And held. And moved together, eradicating every brain cell once again.

“So?” Jared asked a few minutes later.

“Yeah, totally destroyed that scale. No scale.”

“Does that mean you’ll go out with me sometime?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely.”

“Good.” Jared smiled and leaned forward for kiss number three. I suddenly understood Carter and Megan. I predicted Jared and I were going to be top contenders for the gold medal in marathon tonsil hockey. Definitely.

J. L
EIGH
B
AILEY
is an office drone by day and romance author by night. She can usually be found with her nose in a book or pressed up against her computer monitor. A book-a-day reading habit sometimes gets in the way of… well, everything… but some habits aren’t worth breaking. She’s been reading romance novels since she was ten years old. The last twenty years or so have not changed her voracious appetite for stories of romance, relationships, and achieving that vitally important Happy Ever After.

She wrote her first story at seven which was, unbeknownst to her at the time, a charming piece of fanfiction in which Superman battled (and defeated, of course) the nefarious X Luther. (She was quite put out to be told later that the character’s name was supposed to be Lex.) Her second masterpiece should have been a bestseller, but the action-packed tale of rescuing her little brother from an alligator attack in the marshes of Florida collected dust for years under the bed instead of gaining critical acclaim.

Now she writes about boys traversing the crazy world of love, relationships, and acceptance. Find out more at www.jleighbailey.net or e-mail her at [email protected].

N
ICOLE
M
C
C
ORMICK

T
HE
MIRROR
was laughing at him. He told the mirror off, not that it did him any good since he found himself stripping out of yet another outfit, leaving him standing before the mirror in his briefs once more. He was aware of how foolish he was acting, but that didn’t make it any easier to curb his irrational behavior, not when he was about to go out on his first date. Sure, he had done the group date thing before, but those didn’t really count. Those had also been with girls, and that definitely didn’t count.

There was a knock at his door. “Are you decent?” his mother asked. Logan looked down at himself and shrugged. He was decent enough. “Come on in,” he told her.

She entered, took one look at him, and shook her head. Logan was fairly certain she was holding back laughter as well. She rummaged around his drawers and his closet and handed him some clothing. He decided to humor her and try on the outfit. It couldn’t be worse than anything he had already tried. It would just be another disappointment, like all the others. Nothing was going to look right for tonight.

He pulled the jeans on as his mom started sorting the pile of clothing on the bed. “Sweetheart, he has seen you before. He does know what you look like. He’s not going to care what you wear. No matter what you think about how you look tonight, he’s going to love it. I promise you that.”

The jeans were a little more snug than he normally wore, and he didn’t think he had the body to fill them out and look good in them. Still, he left them on. “But this is different. This is a date.”

The pale lavender sweater his mom picked out contrasted nicely against his dark skin. The outfit complete, he looked at himself in the mirror and he didn’t hate what he saw. He pushed up his sleeves and hated it even less. His mom came up behind him and brushed her hands down his arms. “See, look how nice you look. Now stop worrying. He’s going to be too focused on other things to care if your outfit isn’t perfect. Just relax. You’re going to have a great time.”

Logan turned around and hugged her. “Thanks, Mom.” She gave him a good squeeze and then left him alone to wait for Jason to pick him up.

Logan was sixteen and had a license but no car. His parents said they would help him get one once it was time for college. Jason was seventeen and already had his own car. He was the epitome of the spoiled rich kid—the one who played sports and was good at everything he did. At first glance.

Logan knew him better than that.

Logan looked at himself in the mirror again, going through a mental checklist to make sure he was ready. He was freshly showered, had clean teeth, and he hadn’t forgotten deodorant. He didn’t have to worry about styling his hair because he kept his head shaved close to his scalp. He had skipped out on cologne, too worried about overpowering Jason with the scent. He was as ready as he was going to be. All that was left for him to do was relax and enjoy himself tonight.

The doorbell rang, and Logan jumped. He clutched at his racing heart and laughed at himself. “Get yourself together, Logan,” he muttered. “This is not the way to start the evening.” He took a couple of deep, steadying breaths and left his room to greet Jason downstairs.

Jason was in a charcoal sweater and a pair of black slacks that fit him superbly. There was no way Logan wasn’t going to be losing focus of the conversation at some point during dinner because he was already drooling over Jason. Jason looked good.

“Hey,” Jason said, running his fingers through his shaggy blond hair. He looked just as nervous as Logan felt, which made Logan feel a bit better.

“Hey,” Logan replied, thankful that his dark skin didn’t show when he was blushing. Jason didn’t have that luxury, his own cheeks tinged pink.

Logan’s father snorted and rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath about teenagers and dating, but both he and Logan’s mother were smiling at them. His sister was nowhere to be found. She had probably been told to stay in her room.

“Mr. Bennington, Mrs. Bennington.” Jason nodded at Logan’s parents as they ushered the two of them out the door, telling them to have fun. It wasn’t the first time they had met Jason, which at least made things a little easier. They had done a school project together. It was what had led them to this date.

The car ride to the restaurant was quiet and awkward, the tension getting to them both. Logan wasn’t terribly worried yet. They would eventually get to talking. They had time. He was thrilled they weren’t going somewhere fancy because he had a feeling it would only have made things even more awkward and uncomfortable.

Things remained strained between the two of them until after they had ordered their food, when Logan decided he had endured enough silence. “Okay, I hate to be that guy, but I have to ask—what are you doing here with me? Why are you ruining a perfectly good stereotype by not dating the head cheerleader?”

Jason surprised him by laughing. “I was wondering if you would ask me that or not. I always get asked why I’m not dating Amanda, or any of the cheerleaders for that matter. I mean, not all of them are terrible. I even made out with one of them once, but Amanda is not somebody I would ever be proud to be seen with. She’s horrible.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “So it isn’t because she doesn’t have a dick?” Then he remembered something else Jason had said. “Wait. Does that mean you’re proud to be seen with me?”

Jason’s cheeks reddened, and he cleared his throat. He recovered quickly, smirking at Logan. “It isn’t because she doesn’t have a dick,” Jason replied, completely ignoring Logan’s second question. “I play for both teams, but I definitely prefer dick.”

Logan snorted and shook his head. He decided to let Jason off the hook for not answering his second question. Jason’s bashfulness when Logan had asked made it obvious to him that Jason was proud to be seen with him. “It’s just guys for me. I used to think there was something wrong with me when all of the other guys talked about girls. I never got it.”

“Seems like you figured it out okay,” Jason replied as he reached for his water glass. Logan didn’t know if Jason was distracted, nervous, or both, but while not known for klutziness, he managed to knock the glass over.

“Shit,” Jason muttered, picking up his glass. He mopped the water up with his napkin as best as he could. Logan grabbed his own napkin and helped. He noticed that Jason’s cheeks were a deep red now. Logan assumed mostly from embarrassment, but perhaps also from nervousness.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said as Jason cursed under his breath again.

Jason huffed and ran his fingers through his hair, something that seemed to be a habit for him. “I’m sorry. I’m just… nervous.”

Logan grinned and made the quick decision to share in the embarrassment. “Don’t worry, I’m nervous too. I changed outfits so many times that you couldn’t see my bed anymore. My mom finally took pity on me and picked this out for me to wear. So no matter what you do tonight, nothing can be more embarrassing than my mother picking out my clothes for our date.”

Jason offered a small smile. “Thanks for telling me.”

Logan shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Couldn’t have you thinking you were the only one who was nervous.”

Jason ducked his head and took a deep breath. He seemed to be collecting himself, so Logan let him be. After a few moments, Jason lifted his head. The red in his cheeks was gone. He looked calm and collected, as if nothing had happened.

“Your parents seem to be supportive,” Jason continued, clearly pretending that their conversation hadn’t just been interrupted.

He was amazed at how quickly Jason had collected himself. He wasn’t sure he could pull that off if their situations had been reversed.

“I’m lucky. They’ve been wonderful. And since you’re out with me tonight, I imagine your parents are supportive as well.”

Logan’s smile quickly vanished when he saw the tick of Jason’s jaw and the way his eyes hardened. He couldn’t feel bad about asking, though. Jason had been the one to bring it up. It was only natural that he would ask the same thing.

“Do they even know you’re here on a date with me?” Logan couldn’t help asking.

“They do,” Jason replied through gritted teeth. “And they are far from happy with it.”

“I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough—and what did it really mean anyway?—but Logan didn’t know what else he could offer at the moment.

Jason shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. It’s what we were talking about.”

It wasn’t what Logan meant, and they both knew that. He didn’t know much about Jason’s home life. When they had worked together on their school project, they had always done it at Logan’s house. And though they had gotten to know each other, they hadn’t really gotten to know each other well. Just well enough to realize there was an attraction between them, and possibly something more. “Listen, if things get bad at home, my parents would be happy to take you in.”

Jason smirked. “Asking me to move in with you on the first date? You’ve got balls, Logan.”

Logan rolled his eyes. He knew Jason was just teasing, but part of him wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have made the offer. Maybe he had offended Jason. But Jason’s features softened, and he suddenly looked small and vulnerable, not at all like the school jock.

Jason reached across the table to take Logan’s hand in his own and gave it a squeeze.

“Thanks,” he whispered. It made Logan wonder just how bad things were at home for Jason. Nobody deserved that.

The waitress came with their food. Perfect timing. Neither of them seemed to know what to say after what Logan took to be an admission of how terrible Jason’s home life was, so it was nice that there was a more natural halt in their conversation as they started on their dishes. Things had been going well until the mention of Jason’s family, and Logan hoped they could get back to that easiness.

After a few minutes of enjoying their food in silence, Jason looked up and smiled at him. It was a relief to know their date wasn’t completely ruined. Even with the badness that had filtered in, he was enjoying himself, and he thought Jason might be too.

“When I was over at your place working on that project, I noticed that your family owns all series, and seasons, of
Star Trek
on DVD. Does your entire family love that show, or is it just one or two people?”

“My entire family enjoys it, actually. Though I don’t think any of them love it as much as I do.”

Jason grinned. “Kirk or Picard?”

Logan laughed. He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with Jason. It was nice that he was. “Picard. You?”

Jason scoffed. “Kirk, obviously, if I must choose, but I’m a Bones man at heart.”

Logan bit his lip to keep from laughing, wondering if Jason realized what he had just said and hoping he figured it out. Jason cocked his head and eyed Logan. He seemed to be working out why Logan was trying to keep from laughing. He knew Jason had gotten it when his eyes widened and he laughed. Logan gave in and laughed with him.

Logan could feel more eyes on them now. People had been watching them all night. It was obvious they were here on a date, but he had been able to ignore the looks. It was unfortunate, but he wasn’t surprised. There was still bigotry and discrimination when it came to race and homosexuality. As half of a gay, interracial couple, he wasn’t surprised by the stares, but he was saddened by them.

It was a problem they would have to face if they continued this relationship, which was something he wanted to do. He was really enjoying his time here with Jason. He hoped Jason felt the same way.

Their laughter died down, but Jason’s eyes were still sparkling. “Well, I clearly did not think that sentence through, but I think you know what I meant.”

Logan snorted. “I had no idea you were even a
Star Trek
fan.”

Jason shrugged. “Most people don’t know. None of my friends are into it. I don’t really have a lot of things in common with any of my friends.”

Logan arched his eyebrows. “No wonder you’re here with me. Do you at least like your friends?”

“Well enough. I could certainly never date any of them. I mean, I like them just fine, I just….” Jason trailed off, clearly at a loss. Logan waited patiently, wanting to hear what Jason had to say. “I really do like them. It’s just that I grew up with them. My parents are friends with their parents.”