Meet Me in the Water

Chapter Nine

Nick wasn't in his bed when I awoke. Given it was past nine in the morning and I should've been up by then. I heard chatter from outside the window and could catch the whiff of breakfast food. The sun shining through the window nearly blinded me when I looked at it. That was probably where Nick was. He probably got up for breakfast and didn't want to wake me.

  I walked to the window and saw that everyone was eating breakfast at the picnic table. Isla and Cassie were running around in their bathing suits while the parents were talking around the picnic table. Kyle was there, talking to them while drinking a beer. Seriously? A beer at nine in the morning! No sign of Nick though.

  I took my time getting ready. There was no reason for me to rush down there. The one person I actually wanted to see wasn't in sight.

  That night, I would be going on my first date with Nicholas Masterson. I dated many times and none of them made me smile as much as I was just thinking about it. Our main concern was getting past the parents. We were adults, but I was also taking out a closeted bisexual who had homophobic parents. Right then, I'd much rather look for something to wear on our date than go downstairs and pretend to be straight. 

  When I got downstairs, I decided to grab something to eat from the fridge and eat inside, anything that will let me avoid going outside. And surprise surprise, there was nearly nothing in the fridge. Seven people, one fridge. I didn't expect anything less to happen.

  Grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, I sat down at the kitchen table and played on my phone. I was reading a new article from Gay Times when the door opened and Nick walked in carrying several bags of groceries at once.

  "Seth, help me," he begged the moment he saw me.

  I shot up from the table and grabbed some of the bags out of his arms, placing them on the counter. "About time you got back. I was bored. And I am really not in the mood to be the only one playing straight in front of your parents. I need backup."

  He laughed, placing his own bags on the counter. "Sorry. Mom had me run to the grocery store. I took a detour to get some things ready for tonight." He winked at me.

  "Can't wait." I walked back to the table and grabbed my phone. "By the way, I need you to put your number in my phone. You look really cute right now. So, take a cute picture for your icon." I opened a new contact and handed my phone to him. 

  He chuckled and took my phone from me. He typed in his number and snapped a picture of himself for the icon. "Here you go." He handed me back the phone.

  I took a look at his contact information. He put himself down as Nick with a heart and pride flag. His picture was so cute. That man could not take a bad picture. I sent him a quick text of a heart so that he could have my number.

  His phone dinged in his pocket and he took it out. "I guess you're Unknown Number?"

  "It's my alter-ego," I joked. "Now, you have my number."

  He held up his phone to me. "Is it alright if I take your picture for the icon?"

  "Go ahead." I smiled at the phone and let him snap the picture. We put our phones away and began unpacking the groceries. "What exactly were you getting for tonight?"

  "I mostly did a quick sweep of the boat. Making sure it was clean. Got some lights, a few candles, a table cloth, etcetera." He took out a loaf of bread and tossed it to me.

  I placed the bread in the fridge. "Wow, did you get us a personal chef too?"

  He chuckled and handed me a carton of eggs to put in the fridge. "You wish. I just want it to look nice. How do you feel about Italian?"