Blue's Rose

Chapter 14 Boys Will Connect

Kool

Chest feeling tight, Kulap looked away and kept walking. 'Never forgot him, never will forget him,' he thought as he unlocked the car doors with the key fob inside his pocket. He walked around to the driver side, opened the door and slid in. Blue followed suit, once again contorting his long length to fit inside the small confines of the car.

Kulap smiled over at Blue. "Next time I'll drive the SUV," he assured him, his eyes lingering on Blue's broad shoulders, and bare knees.

Blue chuckled. "If you're trying to make me self-conscious by implying, I'm fat so I change my mind about getting that dessert, you couldn't be more mistaken," he drawled. Kulap heard the sudden shifting of Blue's body in his seat. "Bossy and mean," he heard Blue snort, sounding closer.

Kulap whipped towards Blue to fire back his own snappy retort but the words got stuck in his throat. Definitely closer!

Kulap's eyes focused directly on soft full lips. The impulse to do something extremely stupid almost won out over years of careful restraint. Almost. The very real fear of Blue stepping back and away from him, rejecting him, walking away from him cooled him off quicker than any ice bucket could have. He may regret denying himself this moment later but he wouldn't ever recover if he lost Blue altogether. Instead, Kulap pulled his head back a bit, quickly regrouped, and simply muttered something lame, while starting the car and driving back towards the city.

"One dessert coming up!" Kulap said a few minutes later, finally deciding on what to get him.

He felt Blue throw him a look. "What's it going to be?" he asked.

"As impatient as ever, I see," Kulap sighed, making a tsking noise with his mouth.

Blue snickered. "What you call impatience, I call enthusiasm," he clarified.

Kulap's chuckle mingled with Blue's, their laughter filling the car with shared comfortable and companionable warmth.

"Well do you think you can control your enthusiasm for at least fifteen minutes?" Kulap asked, pulling to a stop at a red light and looking over at Blue.

"For you," Blue said, leaning over and laying his large hand on Kulap's narrow shoulder, "I'll try my best."

Kulap savored the contact. 'It had always been like this between them,' he recalled. Once the barriers had dropped that night so long ago, they had really dropped. They had tussled, half-hugged, hugged, hive-fived, ruffled hair, grabbed wrists... Kulap could go on with a hundred different memories where they had interacted physically without conscious thought. The shared closeness then had affected Kulap and he had had to remind himself countless times back then that it didn't mean anything deeper for Blue. Feeling the strong warmth now, Kulap figured he probably would need another reminder or two before the night was over.

Blue lifted the hand resting on Kulap's shoulder and gave two light taps, before turning back in his seat to face front again.

Kulap jutted his lower jaw outward and took a deep breath while questioning how it was possible to be feeling both relieved and dismayed so equally and at the same time? He'd wanted Blue to stop touching him and Blue had and Kulap was glad, but he missed the contact and wanted it back. The mixed craziness of his emotions baffled him. He continued driving, trying to sort out the conflicting messages his brain was sending while trying to act as if he wasn't a hot mess.

"We're here!" Kulap announced a few minutes later, never more thankful to be buying dessert.

He looked at Blue and smiled at his look of confusion. Here was a parking lot. There were no visible or notable restaurants to be seen. Kulap climbed out of the car and Blue followed. He caught Blue's eyes over the roof of the car and he tipped his head towards a side street. "This way!" he ordered and together they walked towards the alley, walked about fifty yards deep and came out into a bustling sea of street vendors.