Rivals by Jeff Adams-6
897 Words
Given Trevor’s history, I was surprised to see him on the ice when Alex and I arrived at the rink at 5:30 Christmas morning. He skated around puck handling as we walked along the perimeter of the rink. I banged my stick against the glass so he knew we were here. He waved in acknowledgement and skated over to the exit so he could join us off ice while Alex and I got our skates on.
“Hey guys,” Trevor said. “Merry Christmas. Alex, good to see you again.”
“You, too,” he said. “Thanks for inviting me along.”
“I was surprised when I didn’t get a text about a morning skate since he usually tries to get me out here as soon as he’s home. I decided to take the initiative and invite you both. So how are you guys? I see there was an early gift exchange.”
Alex and I looked at each other confused for a moment before Alex registered what Trevor was talking about. The jacket. I’d told Trevor I was giving it to him and, despite the early hour, Trevor was already paying attention.
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Pretty cool, huh?” He grinned like it was the best gift he’d ever gotten.
“He might have cheated you a bit since he didn’t actually buy anything for that.” Trevor shot me a wink. I was okay with the ribbing in this case. It meant Trevor was already comfortable with Alex despite this being only their second interaction.
“Nah, I know there’s more,” Alex said. “There are two other presents under my tree. Besides, it doesn’t matter, he’s here and that’s gift enough.” He leaned against his head against my shoulder for a brief moment.
“So,” I said, taking over the conversation as I laced skates, “mom and dad got anything crazy planned for tonight?”
“It seems like a straight forward Christmas dinner. Mom and grandma were already up cooking when I came here. The tables are already set for nineteen. I made sure Alex is sitting between us, so he’s somewhat protected. More than anything they’re just excited you’re bringing someone for dinner. I think they’re more excited than when I brought Julie home during my birthday, which I might be a little upset about.”
“Do we get to see her, too?” I asked.
“No. We did our Christmas stuff a couple days ago. She went with her family to Chicago to see grandparents. She’s back before New Year’s, so we can all definitely do something.”
“So you think everyone will behave?” I looked to Trevor. I wanted some assurances this wasn’t a mistake to make the introduction like this.
“For dinner?”
I nodded.
“I’m sure there’ll be stories you’d wish wouldn’t be told. But is it a problem you’re introducing your boyfriend to everyone? Not that I’ve heard. I mean I was pretty heads down until a couple days ago with finals, but I haven’t seen or heard anything but excitement.”
“Cool.”
“You really worried about something?” Alex asked as he finished up his lacing.
“No. Just paranoid. I’ve never brought anyone home before.” I looked over to Alex, my lacing also complete. “Should we tell him?” I gestured towards Trevor.
“Sure,” Alex said without hesitation. “We can tell anyone and everyone.”
“Oh my god,” Trevor’s eyes got wide. “One of you is pregnant. I’m going to be an uncle.” He held a look of amazement, his mouth hung open until Alex dissolved into laughter, quickly followed by me and Trevor.
“He’s good,” Alex said, getting his laughs under control. “You’ll make a great teacher if you can entertain a class like that.”
“The setup was too perfect for me to not say that.” Trevor took a seat next to me so he wasn’t standing over us. “So what’s really up?”
“We’re going to give this thing a real go,” I said, taking Alex’s hand.
“You’re moving home?” Trevor said, excitedly.
“No, sorry. Alex is looking to take a job in the bay area though. That way we could date in person instead of through video or text.”
“That’s cool, though it’d be cooler if you moved back here,” Trevor said as he put an arm around my shoulders and hugged. “You gonna break that at dinner tonight?”
I looked to Alex. He’d told his parents what he was planning before I got into town. I wasn’t sure I wanted to bring it up in front of my whole family at once. “Maybe. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll definitely tell mom and dad while I’m here though. I mean, it’s not like he’s asked me to marry him, but it’s a pretty huge commitment to move across the country to date.”
“So what’re your intentions towards my brother?” Trevor asked, looking past me and over to Alex.
Alex looked at Trevor for a moment before shifting to put his gaze firmly on me. “To find out what I missed during high school, although without the drama of high school. See if there’s a future for us. If there is, and he’s game, then, yeah, get married.”
We stared into each other’s eyes. For a moment, the rink, Trevor and everything else fell away and it was just us. I nodded. “I like those intentions,” I said as we kept staring at each other.
“Me, too,” Trevor said quietly. He slapped my knee a couple times and I heard his skates cut across the ice as he left us alone.
“We should get out there,” I finally said, pulling my gaze away from Alex’s. “We don’t want to be late to your parents for breakfast.”
We hurriedly grabbed our gloves and sticks and hit the ice. Without a word between us, we headed across the ice, looking to strip the puck off Trevor. He saw what was coming and immediately went into a defensive mode, looking to hang on to it as long as he could.
Alex’s declaration replayed in my mind as we skated. It added to the wonderful things he’d already said last night. It’d been a great Christmas so far, with the promise of an even more amazing New Year.
- Writer
