Chapter 8. The Decision.

The ride home from the amusement park was only around thirty minutes normally without traffic, but this time it seemed like two hours as the anticipation built inside me. Now before you start asking why we would rent a motel room for the week instead of traveling that thirty minutes back and forth to the house each day, this was vacation for my mom and dad. Granted it wasn’t far away but they had their reasons for it. First, no house cleaning or any other chores for mom for a week, this was the main reason and most important as far as mom was concerned. Second, was the place we were staying at was owned by a friend of the family, and they charged mom and dad a dirt cheap rate for the week we stayed compared to others who would normally rent a room there. Finally, we were a block from the beach and the sounds of the water hitting the beach at night, combined with the smell off the beach when the winds blew the ocean smell towards the motel made it really feel like a vacation even more, in a way. It was something we just did every year since I was small. My parents would take another week off in August and we would normally go away with them that time too. It was always some place new or some place different then a beach trip. We all looked forward to that too and if I got this job, I had a strong feeling I would miss that family trip this year. Right now however, the cash, car, and other parts of what was happening made this more then worth missing it. Besides, who is to say I couldn’t get together with Caden and Conner, and talk about us going some place special too. I think with enough begging from them, Caitlin might give in and allow it, as long as it wasn’t that far away or too expensive. All my thinking and daydreaming about this finally brought me to the front of my house. The driver stopped and I got out. As I walked away, the driver rolled down his window and called me over.

“Master Ryan, I just talked to Caitlin and she told me I should wait here for you for a while. She asked me to stay for thirty minutes so I wouldn’t have to run back for you right away. Do you think that will be enough time sir?”

“Yes, I don’t see that being a problem. I shouldn’t be longer then that, and if I am, I will come out and tell you.”

“Thank you sir,” he said to me.

I started walking towards the house and a few of the neighborhood kids who were outside came over to see what this was all about. I talked to two of them quickly and they laughed, smiled and apparently were satisfied with my answer as they rode off on their bikes. Mom was also apparently home as she met me at the front door with a big smile.

“Wow, look at my son being driven home in a big black car. Hi honey, seems like they are treating you well.”

“Hi mom,” I stopped to give her a hug and kiss, and then I walked by her into the house. “I came home to talk to you about this job.”

She followed me in closing the door. Since it was Monday, and the first Monday after vacation, I guess my dad was at work.

“Dad went back to work?” I asked.

“Yes, and your sister is out with friends, so why don’t you tell me what’s going on with this ‘job’ you have, and what brought you home in a nice car like that,” she said in a sarcastic tone, teasing me some.

I sat down at the dining room table and she pulled out a chair and sat a few feet away.

“Well, in a way it’s a lot to take in, but I have to start somewhere mom.”

I reached into my pocket, pulled out the envelope with the two thousand dollars in it, and put it on the table in front of her.

“What’s this?” she asked as she picked it up.

“Open it and look mom,” I said as I smiled.

She looked inside the envelope.

“Oh my,” she said briefly looking through the cash inside. “There has to be a thousand dollars in there.”

“Two thousand mom, half is mine and the other half for the two boys I am taking care of if you let me have the job.”

“If?” she asked. “Someone trusted you with two thousand dollars?”

“Yes, after spending the weekend with both boys we had a discussion about watching them for the summer and that was part of her offer.”

Of course, I wasn’t telling here everything. Just enough to get her to agree. She really didn’t need details.

“Part?” she said seriously.

“Yes, part. The rest is that she is going to buy me a car and insure it for me if you let me work for her.”

“Oh my, this is a lot to take in Ryan. Are you sure she isn’t putting you on?”

“Mom, you talked to her on the phone, what do you think?”

“I’m sorry Ryan, I remember, it’s just that this is an awful lot of money and a car?”

“I know mom, I am still taking it all in myself. This all went down about an hour ago. My head is still spinning.”

“I bet it is. Well, I guess I can’t say no but I really would like to talk to your father about this,” she said.

“Then call him mom. It’s important to me.”

“Under these circumstances and for this much money, I guess I can call him.”

She went over, grabbed the phone, and called my father at work. She briefly explained things to him and shook her head yes a lot as she listened to his replies. Then she said she understood, and told him she loved him, and would see him tonight, then hung up.

“He said we would be foolish not to let you do this.”

I smiled.

“But… he said we should talk to her again and make sure this is all on the level and that you need to make sure you really want this.”

“I don’t have a problem with you talking to her mom. Its going to be all summer and then even into school with some adjustments of course. It won’t interfere with my studies, I promise, and I can always do homework there while I am watching them if I have to.”

I was really doing my best to sell this, even if I was getting way ahead of myself.

“It’s okay dear. You made your point and we can revisit this after summer is over IF you keep this job until school starts. Let’s take it slowly.”

“YES!” I said as I stood up and pumped my fist in the air. “I need a new cell phone too mom, she wants me to have a better plan.”

“We can’t afford that right now,” she said glumly.

“Mom, I have a thousand dollars in front of me that is mine. We can afford it!” I said to her.

“Oh, I guess you have a good point there, what about vacation in August, Ryan?”

“I guess I will miss it as of now, but its okay. I can probably take the guys someplace myself if I want and she okay’s it.”

“It appears you have this well planned. Let me speak to her and then if its okay and everything sounds fine on the phone, I don’t have a problem with it.”

I dialed Caitlin up on my cell and she answered on the second ring.

“Hi, my mom wants to talk to you Caitlin.”

“Sure, put her on the phone,” she said to me.

They talked for the next five minutes with my mom once again shaking her head yes a few dozen times, smiling, and asking several questions of Caitlin. Finally, she said thank you and she handed me back the phone.

“Hello?” I said.

“Guess I will see you back here shortly Ryan,” Caitlin’s voice said from the other end.

“Great! See you in a little while,” I said, and we both hung up.

I looked at my mom and she was smiling and appeared very happy. Here I was worrying she would say no.

“Well dear, she certainly sounds charming. Is she cute?”

“MOM!” I said shrugging my shoulders. “This isn’t about her.”

“I know dear, it’s just that she sounds wonderful on the phone.”

“You don’t know everything mom, why do you think I am taking care of her two brothers? Because she can’t handle it!”

“Oh… well, that doesn’t sound too good then.”

“Don’t worry mom, I have it under control for now. It should all work out great and I will be back tomorrow with my car and probably both boys. You can meet them then and I guess we can go get my cell phone too.”

“That’s fine. We can work out all the details then.”

“Okay mom, I better get back there, the car is waiting for me outside, and I don’t want to keep them waiting.”

“Okay Ryan, call me later with anything new,” she said hugging me after we stood up.

“I will, I promise.”

I waved as I hurried out of the house and back to the car. I got in and the driver quickly took off to bring me back to the amusement park. It almost felt like I was going back on vacation and maybe in a way I was. That all depends on how well behaved Caden and Conner will be now. Damn… I was in such a hurry I forgot I wanted more clothes. Guess I can get them tomorrow when I bring them over. I daydreamed about how this is going to work all the way there, not to mention the even bigger fact that I will have two cute boys around me all summer and plenty of sex too not to mention, I am getting paid for it. Damn this really is scary. I hope nothing goes wrong! I was so engrossed in thought, I didn’t even notice thirty minutes passed and we were there already. The driver stopped the car back at the park grounds and that finally brought me back to earth. I got out and thanked him as I headed some place… it didn’t take long before I had two cute boys running towards me. I was almost tackled to the concrete ground as they mobbed me.

“Easy guys, I can’t do this if you put me in the hospital!” I said, almost falling over.

“Why didn’t you call?” asked Conner.

“Sorry, so much was happening so fast, I sorta got lost in thought.”

“Yeah but…” he frowned, “I wanted someone to call me on my cell, I haven’t had a chance to use it yet,” Conner said sadly.

“Don’t worry. I am sure it will get plenty of use very soon. Tomorrow after your sister takes me to get my new car we will be going to my place and you can meet my family, or whoever is home at the time.”

“Cool, then at least we have something to do tomorrow!” Caden said smiling.

“Yes, we will have plenty to do for a while. Just remember, even traveling around gets boring after a while,” I said to both of them.

“No way!” said Conner, not with everything we want to do.”

“Great!” I replied.

Looks like we will be taking the limo a lot. Last thing I want is to drive all over the world! Occasional driving is fine, but I have only had my license for 5 months. I don’t feel like being a taxi driver and babysitter too!

“What are we going to do now? Caden asked.

“Go see your sister and then I guess we can go back to your place and have some fun until tomorrow.”

“Awesome!” said Conner.

“Sounds good to me,” added Caden.

As we took the walk to the office both boys flanked me like I was glue. It wasn’t that bad, but it still felt a little weird having two boys practically hanging all over me. I decided to play a game and have some fun.

“Okay guys, as we head to see your sister let’s check out the view and see who can find the cutest guy.”

“Sounds like fun!” said Caden.

Conner just nodded his head yes. He seemed to be off some place thinking or something… Caden and I were looking intently, but Conner seemed to be off some place else. I stopped walking, Caden kept going since he was ahead of me and looking for cuties, and Conner almost walked up my ass since he was right behind me and not paying attention at all. Caden too eventually stopped and ran back over to us.

“Conner are you okay,” I said as he finally came back to us from wherever he was.

“Ummm… yeah… sorry. I was thinking.”

“About what bro?” Caden asked him.

“Nothing important,” he said timidly.

I looked at him, then at Caden. Something was weird about this.

“Okay, I don’t buy that,” I said. “What are you really thinking about Conner?”

We were standing off to the side of the walkway, but since it was midday on a Monday in June, the place wasn’t very busy at the moment. Judging by what I saw last week it would probably get busy towards the evening. It wasn’t my problem either way, I was just observing, more importantly I want to know what’s up with Conner at the moment.

“Do I really have to say?” he asked shyly.

“No, not really,” I said to him. “But if something is wrong I would like to know Conner.”

“I promise its not you Ryan. I just had something on my mind and I’d really like it if I didn’t have to talk about it right now. Maybe later, okay?”

“Sure,” I said, we started walking again.

Soon we were at the office and Caden used his key to let us in since Conner seemed to be off thinking again. We walked in and went directly into Caitlin’s office.

“That went well Ryan, better then I expected,” she said as we approached her desk.

“Yeah, better then I expected too. I thought my mom was going to put up a big argument.”

“She didn’t give me a problem on the phone, just asked a bunch of questions. I think she had a real problem with the cash,” she said.

“It is more then any of us are used to having in our hands,” I said back to her.

“I can understand that, it won’t be a problem will it Ryan?”

“No, not at all, I don’t mind one bit.”

“I didn’t think you would,” she said smiling.

It appeared she was really okay with this. I wasn’t totally sure before, now I am starting to actually think this is going to happen.

“So what do you have planned for the rest of today?” she asked,

“Something to eat and then back to your house if that’s okay,” I said.

“That is totally up to you,” she said. “You are in charge now.”

“Yes I know, one day at a time,” I said aloud.

“That sounds like a good way to do this,” she said back to me.

“At least for now, until I get a total grip on all this,” I said as I smiled at her.

“Okay then, take the boys and find a place to eat. Are you going to eat here?” she asked.

“I think that’s a good idea for now, since I am really starving and there is decent food here at the park.”

“Sounds fine with me Ryan, let me know when you are ready and I’ll have the driver get the car ready to take you guys home. Oh and tomorrow, I have an appointment at 9am, then I will stop by the house afterwards and we can go shop for your car. Then after that, I won’t have to worry about you getting around as much. You can still use the limo when it’s not in use, at any time, but I will feel better when you have a car. Also, when you need gas, here is the address where you can gas up.” She handed me a business card with a gas station address on it. “It’s the station that I and the limo use. If you need gas and you aren’t around here, always get a receipt and I will give you back any gas money you use, as long as you are working. For now, working will be anytime the boys are with you,” she said to me.

“Wow, this is amazing!” I said. “It’s almost too much to take in at one time.”

“I am sure, eventually it will all fall into place Ryan, it is great to have money, I guess I don’t have to tell you that.”

“No Caitlin, that is something you have already shown me. Boy are you right!” I exclaimed.

I got her to laugh at my comment. I was really still in shock over all this, but she certainly seemed a lot more relaxed now. In a way, I was happy for her, a small way. If she got too happy, I could lose my job. Maybe… I am kidding! We were done, so I got up to go.

“As long as the boys are with you, you shouldn’t have a problem getting food in the park. Eventually, if you are here enough, the employee’s will get used to you and then you will be able to come and go as you want and eat just about any place. If you have any problems in the meantime, just mention my name and I’ll try to make it clear that you can get what you want to eat anyplace here. Also, here are three keys. You can add them to the one you have for the small house here. They will get you into this building and our house back in town. I am trusting you big time Ryan, please don’t let us down!”

“Thanks Caitlin. That sure means a lot to me,” I said. “I promise I won’t let you down. All I need is for those two to behave!” I said sarcastically.

“They will if they know what is good for them. After all, I have done this for them. I do hope they appreciate it,” she said looking at them.

Conner and Caden just sat there listening to us talk for now, I don’t think they know how to respond right now, but I think they both understood how important this is. They are 12 and 11, so I don’t expect angels at all, matter of fact, I expect problems until we all get comfortable with each other. Who knows how long that will take?

“I AM SURE THEY APPRECIATE IT!” I said loudly since neither responded to what she said.

“Oh sorry,” said Conner. “Yes sis, thank you, I really am thankful for what you did for us. Aren’t you too Caden?

“Yeah, of course I am. Thank you sis,” he said.

“See that Caitlin, they do know how to say the word.”

“I see that Ryan,” she laughed. “It didn’t take too much coaxing from you either.”

I got up from my chair it was time to go. The boys noticed and got up too.

“We’ll talk to you later Caitlin,” I said.

“Um, sure but Caden can you stay a minute. I want to talk to you in private.”

“Sure sis,” he said.

“We’ll be outside waiting,” I said as I gently grabbed Conner by the arm and headed out shutting her door behind.

We got out in the hall and I stopped briefly.

“We need to talk and now is as good a time as any since your brother isn’t here, lets go outside.”

“Sure Ryan,” he said with a puzzled look on his face.

We walked out and over to a bench that was across the walkway. I sat, he sat next to me.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Before, when we were heading over here, you seemed to be a million miles away. Would you tell me what was going on?”

“Do I have to?” he asked.

“No of course not, but I sure would like to know. It will stay between you and me.”

“I guess I can. It’s not too private. I just don’t like mentioning it in front of Caden.”

“Okay, you have my full attention Conner.”

“I was thinking about my mom and dad. Sometimes I zone out when I do, I guess I did this time since I walked into you. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine Conner. Is there something you wanted to share?”

“No, not just yet Ryan, I really like you a lot, but I’m just not ready to talk about them with you or anyone yet. Even Caitlin doesn’t know. It hurt a whole lot to lose them and I really think that one day soon I’ll be able to trust you enough to share how I feel, just not yet. I’m sorry if that bothers you.”

I put my hand out and touched his leg.

“No Conner, I am not upset at all. I will be here if you want to talk about them or anything and I do understand. It’s only been three days, it’s silly to think anyone can totally trust someone that fast. I can wait.”

He reached out and touched my hand briefly.

“Thanks for asking and for caring so much for us Ryan. I really do like you a lot sometime soon we can talk about it.”

“I like you a lot too,” Suddenly came from in front of us.

We looked up and Caden was walking towards us. We got so engrossed in out chat that we both shut out the world around is for a bit.

“What were you two talking about?” Caden asked.

“Nothing bro,” Conner said.

“It must have been something important, you two didn’t even know I was there,” he said.

“You gonna tell me what you and sis talked about when we left?”

“No.”

“Then why should I share what I told Ryan out here?” Conner asked him.

“Some things should stay private you two,” I said. “Let’s drop this, okay? I am starving and whatever happened inside and on that bench stays private unless either of you wants to discuss it. Okay?”

They both shook their heads yes. That’s good. I actually made some progress there. I am curious about what they talked about too, but I wasn’t asked to stay so for now I will mind my own business too.

“Come on you two, I need some food!”

I took off and they both followed as I started searching for what I wanted, which I didn’t really know, I just knew it was something. We wandered upon a food stand and I stopped. I looked over the menu and found something good. I waited for the guy on the other side of the counter to pay attention to me. The boys were looking at the huge overhead menu too since I stopped here I guess they decided to eat too.

“Do either of you know what you want?” I asked.

“I just want an order of fries and a soda,” said Caden.

“I think I’m gonna get a cheeseburger and a soda, added Conner.

“That sounds good,” I said. “But I want sausage and peppers.”

“That’s gross,” said Caden.

I laughed, so did Conner.

“He doesn’t know good food Ryan, let him eat his fries,” Conner said.

“Yeah, I guess not,” I replied.

We had been standing there for over a minute now and the older kid on the other side of the counter was still talking to the girl who was at the grill making the food. He looked at us once and then went back to talking to her. She was cute and from where I stood, it appeared he was trying to get to know her better. Almost another minute passed. I looked at Conner and he shrugged his shoulders.

“We’re ready to order,” I said starting to get a little impatient.

He turned and looked at me.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second,” he said, all but ignoring us.

Conner looked at me and then went over to the other side of the two-foot wall that we were standing next to as I watched him.

“Hey bud,” he yelled out. “We want to order now!” he said loudly.

The older teen stopped talking to the girl and looked at him.

“Why don’t you go wait over with the guy, I’ll be there in a second,” he said smugly.

This was getting interesting now. Apparently, the kid didn’t know who he was mouthing off to and I could see Conner getting upset. He looked at me and I tried not to smile. Then he took a step over towards me.

“Who does he think he is?” Conner said.

“Probably someone new,” Caden said.

“Not for long if he doesn’t pull his head out of his ass!”

From what I had seen and heard, Conner doesn’t like to wait and this jerk was making us wait. Good thing no one else was online.

I laughed. “Let me try once more Conner, I want to see how much attitude he has,” I said to him.

“Hey guy, we’ve been waiting for a few minutes you want to take our order now?”

He turned and looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

“What’s wrong,” I said. “Are we bothering you?” I asked him. I was getting mad now since I was so hungry.

He finally walked over to us.

“What do you need?” he said with a bit of an attitude. It wasn’t a good one either.

Just then, Conner stepped up next to me. I could see he was mad now.

“Hey you, is this how you treat your customers?” He said with an angry tone. “What’s your name?”

“What’s it to you kid?” the smart-ass guy replied.

From behind me, all I heard was… “Uttttt oooooo, this isn’t going to be good,” come from Caden as he smirked when I turned to look at him.

“You wanna know what it matters to me?” said Conner back to him in a no so nice tone.

“Yeah,” the guy said.

“Gimmie your name now!” demanded Conner.

“It’s Joseph, and why does that matter to you? Said the guy.

Things were getting loud now, loud enough that the supervisor came around the counter from the other side where he had been assisting with customers and making drinks and stuff over there.

“What’s going on over here?” the supervisor said as he walked over. “Oh, hello Conner, what’s wrong Sir?” he politely said as he greeted Conner when he walked over to see what all the fuss was about.

Joseph looked at the supervisor with a little surprise when he greeted Conner this way.

“Steve, when did this clown start working here?” Conner asked him.

The look on Josephs face basically said, he didn’t like being called a clown by this kid he didn’t know, and he was about to open his mouth when Steve turned to him

“Who the…” “Shut up Joseph!” Steve said quite loudly, cutting Joseph off after two words. Then Steve turned to Conner. Caden was snickering behind me, which all of us heard just adding to Josephs frustrations.

“I’m sorry Sir, he just started yesterday, he was way out of line.”

“Yeah, he was out of line, if he doesn’t straighten up his freaking attitude, he is going to be out of a job in another minute!” Conner said screaming back across the counter top at both of them.

Steve turned and looked at Joseph. “I suggest if you want to keep your job you apologize immediately!”

“To him? But he was rude…”

“He basically owns this place with his brother and sister you idiot!” Steve said to him, cutting him off again after a few words.

Joseph turned red and lowered his head in humiliation.

“Oh Great!” he said before he lifted his head and looked at Conner. “I’m very sorry Sir, I didn’t know who you were, I didn’t mean to get loud with you. Please forgive me?”

“I know you didn’t know who I am, that’s obvious!” Conner said as he looked at Joseph and then Steve. “Get rid of him, we don’t need rude people like him working for us!”

“Yes Sir Conner,” Steve said.

“Wait,” I said as I grabbed Conner by the arm gently. He turned and looked at me.

“You need to calm down just a little Conner. I know he was wrong but…”

“No Ryan, please let me run things my way,” he said loudly to me.

I gently grabbed him by the arm and pulled him a few feet away.

“Don’t do this Conner. Be smart here!” I said to him.

“But he was a total ass hole Ryan!”

“Conner, please?” I said.

He looked at me and then at Caden who was standing with us.

“Okay Ryan, he can keep his job, but I don’t know why you care!”

I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. “One day you will understand Conner. Whether he was an ass hole or not, he didn’t know who you were, you best believe next time you come to this stand, he will totally kiss your ass,” I said to him in a low voice.

“Yeah bro, maybe Ryan is right, you should back off some,” Caden added.

“Okay, okay, boy you two are softies!” he said as he turned and we walked back over to the food counter.

“Nevermind what I said Steve,” said Conner. “For now he can keep his job, but he better not keep another customer waiting or I’ll make sure he isn’t around next time!”

“Yes Sir,” said Steven.

Conner looked at Joseph after saying that to Steve.

“I’m very sorry I was rude to you Sir,” he said to Conner.

“Okay then, thank you,” said Conner. “Let’s order.”

A small crowd had gathered around all the commotion to watch and as things started to quiet, some of the people started to mutter a few things and slowly walk away. Mixed comments from, what an ass hole, to that was decent of him, I heard as I stood there. I wasn’t sure who the ass hole was, but I wanted to laugh either way.

“So Conner, what can I get you, your brother, and your friend?” asked Steve.

“Oh, this is Ryan, he is going to be watching us now,” Conner said to Steve.

“Nice to meet you Ryan,” Steve said. “I run several of this food stands here for Caitlin and the boys, if you ever have a problem or need something just mention my name. When the workers get to know you, I am sure you won’t have a problem getting any food you want. Nice to meet you Ryan.”

“Thank you Steve, nice to meet you too,” I said back to him as we shook hands.

“So what can I get you three?” Steve asked. “I’ll get it personally, myself guys,” he added.

We placed our order, and within two minutes, we had our food and this small crisis was over. I thanked Steve and told him it was nice to meet him and we turned and walked over to the closest bench and we sat to eat. From where we were, I could hear Steve talking a little loud to Joseph and the kid stood there taking the tongue-lashing Steve was giving him. Conner was watching this as he took a bite of his food as was Caden and myself.

“What an ass hole!” Conner said aloud.

“Be nice Conner, the guy didn’t know. I am sure he needs the job or he wouldn’t have come here to start. He made a mistake.”

“Yeah Conner, forget about it. Like Ryan said, next time we come around I bet that Joseph guy kisses your ass.”

Caden and Conner chuckled. I took another bite.

“I bet you two love your asses kissed,” I said to them between bites.

“Only by you,” Caden said as he brushed up against my arm and smiled at me.

I smiled back at him and them looked at Conner.

“You gonna be okay?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I guess, I just hate jerks like him,” he snarled.

“Well, he won’t be that way anymore,” I said.

I reached out and grabbed a few fries from Caden. He looked at me and smiled.

“Take as many as you want Ryan, I don’t mind sharing with you, I can always get more.”

“Butt kisser!” Conner said to him.

“Bite me!” Caden replied.

I laughed. “What’s wrong Conner, you afraid your brother is gonna get a brown nose like you?”

He looked at me.

“I don’t get brown noses!” he said arrogantly.

I laughed at him. “Right!” I said.

Caden laughed.

“I want more fries,” I said. Caden you want more?”

“Sure Ryan, I’ll come with you.”

We both got up leaving Conner alone on the bench. He watched us as we walked back up to the food counter. This time Joseph immediately came over and greeted us.

“Yes Sir, what can I get you guys?” he asked as he smiled at us.

“Two fries,” I said.

“Right away,” he replied as he took off in a hurry to get them.

He quickly hurried back and we were handed fries within a minute.

“Anything else?” he asked politely.

“No thanks,” I said. I turned to Caden. “Will you give me a minute? I want to talk to him.”

“Sure Ryan,” he said as he took his fries, salted them and then headed back over to sit with Conner.

Joseph stood there waiting as Caden walked away.

“Look,” I said to him. “Joe, I don’t want to rub it in after what happened. But, remember, I don’t know you from anyone else here. I am sure you need this job and I don’t want to see anyone get fired, that kid has a temper and I am glad I was here to help, you seem like a nice guy, I don’t know what happened to piss you off, but if you really do want this job… need I say anymore?”

“No, and thanks. I didn’t know. I feel like a fool, I was out of line but the way he acted so smug just got to me. I never would have thought he was part owner.”

“Yeah, I know. Tough way to learn a lesson I guess,” I said to him.

“Hell ya, that was close, I got chewed out by him and Steve after you guys walked away. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem,” I said. “Good luck working here.”

“Thanks,” he said to me.

I smiled, waved and headed back to them. The kid was kinda cute when he smiled, I wasn’t trying to do anything special, I just wanted to talk to him alone for a second, not that I would turn down something if he was gay… Anyway, seeing him talking to that girl that way, I was sure he wasn’t, not to mention he made a total fool of himself in front of her now. I wonder what he will say to her later. I headed back and sat down with them.

“What was that all about?” asked Conner.

“Just being friendly,” I said.

“Oh,” Conner replied. “Kissing his butt?” he said, busting my balls.

“I don’t have to kiss anyone’s butt Conner,” I looked at him. “But if you wanna be a smart guy, I won’t kiss yours anymore,” I said busting him back.

Caden laughed.

“Boy, you sure are tough sometimes Ryan!”

“I might be tough Conner, but you can be an ass sometimes. You are lucky I like you so much,” I said as I punched him gently in the arm.

He didn’t say anything else. I was surprised.

We finished eating and got up to throw out our garbage. As we walked away Caden and I waved bye to Joseph and Conner just looked at him.

“I’m full, time to head home guys.”

“Kewl!” Caden said. “When we get there can we do something?”

“Like what? Conner said. Sex?” he added laughing.

“Maybe,” Caden said laughing back.

“Oh,” was all Conner said causing me to laugh.

“Oh?” I said to him, what’s wrong with you, that seemed to totally surprise you.”

“It did,” Conner said.

Things were quiet the rest of the walk to the limo. I messed with Caden a few times on the walk back. Messing his hair and teasing him. I could tell he was loving it. I turned to Conner and did the same once. He just looked at me, so I didn’t do it again. He seems to have a bug up his ass now. We got to the limo around 2pm so there was plenty of day left. The driver was waiting for us when we got to the car. We got in and the cool air inside made me quickly remember how warm it was outside. It felt good. Conner sat next to me on the left side and Caden on the right as I sat in the middle. No more then ten minutes into the ride, I had both of them leaning on me. Sweet! They stayed that way all the way home. I was playing a little with each of them. Touching them in a few non-sexual places and neither complained once. It almost seemed like the ride home lulled them into a quite state. We got to their home and got out into the heat of the day. It wasn’t too hot, just a little humid I guess. The sky looked like it could storm soon. I guess we might get a storm or something. After all, it is summertime. And, what a summertime it is! We headed inside the house to see what trouble we could get into, or stay out of, for the rest of the day.

To be continued...