The Big One

Chapter 11 - BoyGear

Anderson went to the bedroom and got back to his work. I got dressed and went out for fun with Kellan and Cooper. Justin decided to head back to the Bay with Kyle. We dropped them off at the airport.

Cooper drove us around to see the sights in LA. I hadn't spent much time there so it was neat to see. It looked so different from San Francisco.

LA is an endless stream of concrete where the Bay Area is more of a series of cities split up by coastlines and rugged hills, connected with bridges and tunnels. Los Angeles is one giant coastal shelf filled with development. It felt endless.

We were just pulling up to the dog park under the Hollywood sign when I got a text.

Anderson: Your college announced finals schedule update is coming next Thursday. I put some cash in your wallet. Have a fun day and let me know if you need anything. I miss you so much. I'm going to finish all this before you get back so we can have a nice night.

I opened my wallet and saw a 20 dollar bill peaking out behind my ID card. I pulled it and saw a corner of another one behind my student ID. There was a third behind my library card, and a fourth behind a punch card from the coffee place on campus. He had stuffed a folded bill in every crevice and pocket of my wallet. Along with the cash I'd made at the drag bar competition, my wallet was feeling full.

I thanked him and folded the bills. I'd put them back in his wallet later.

We walked around the park and took selfies with the sign. I sent some to Anderson, but he was deep in his work. I felt bad for him.

"He has so much to catch up on from being down for a few days. I feel bad for him having to work while we go out," I noted when we got back into the car.

"He always has things to catch up on. He is always busy. Do you even know what he does for a living?" Kellan looked at me with a laugh.

"I know he built the building you guys live in. So he does construction, I guess?" I hadn't really thought about it.

"He does construction, development, investments, tech startups. The man never says no to money. He's Vice President of one company and then owns two others." Cooper shrugged.

"Why does he do so much?" I wondered.

"It's how he was raised. Even in college he was interning for one company and tutoring on the side for cash. It's why his relationships go bad. He gets too busy and just throws cash at his boyfriend until they get spoiled and too demanding, like Kyle." Cooper was opening up.

"He stuffed a bunch of 20s in my wallet because he couldn't hang out with us today," I told them.

"He will shower you with things if you let him. You're not the spoiled twink he usually attracts. He's giving you more of his time than I've ever seen. And if you break his heart, we have many places to dump your body where it will never be found," Kellan said.

"It's shark season too," Cooper added. He drove onto a freeway and headed towards the ocean.

"I know you're his friends and need to scare me. But I'm not planning on breaking anything. We're just figuring things out. It's still new. I don't know where it will go. I like him... enough to tell my brother about him," I offered.

"Your brother figured it out. He knew what he'd walked into. When I got him to bed, he said you looked happy with Anderson." Kellan put his hands on my shoulders from the seat behind.

"I think my family will be ok with him." I shrugged.

"Tenley said they will be fine. I wouldn't mind seeing him again. When he was sleeping, he rolled over and held me all night. Those arms were magic... as good as Anderson says he feels when you hold him." Kellan sighed happily.