9. Nine
Nine
Tae
J ude pulls to a stop at the light and looks at me before his eyes go back to the road. “You sure you don’t want me to drop you off at home?”
“It’s your birthday. I want to celebrate with you.”
“We’ve been in a tent for the past few days. You don’t want to go home and shower first?” We’re getting closer to town now, and Jude’s grip on the steering wheel is tighter than before. I’m tempted to throw out the idea of us showering together at his place, but Jude already seems nervous.
“I have clean clothes in my bag. You don’t think your parents will find it weird if you drop me off just to pick me up again in a couple of hours? It’s not like I haven’t showered at your house before.” I put my hand on Jude’s thigh, not able to keep from teasing him a little. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye, mostly keeping his gaze on the road.
“It’s—yeah, it’s fine. That works, I guess.” Jude’s leg twitches under my hand. He still seems off.
“You sure? You’re not uninviting me, are you?”
“No.” He looks at me. “I want to spend time with you. I just don’t know if I’m ready to explain to my parents that we’re dating.”
“You don’t have to. There’s no rush.” I stroke my hand across Jude’s thigh, and he nods without looking at me. We get to where Jude would turn to take me home, but he keeps driving towards his house. He’s still tense as he parks his car in front of his parents’ house. “Come on,” I lean over to give Jude a quick kiss, and he sighs when we pull apart. Jude gets out first, opening the trunk and grabbing his bags. I follow suit, grabbing my bag and trailing after him into his home.
“Hey, boys, did you have fun on your trip?” Jude’s mom asks as we enter the living room.
Jude blushes, so I jump in. “Yeah, it was great. I hope you don’t mind, but Jude invited me along to dinner tonight.”
She looks at us over the book she’s reading and grins. “Of course not. We’re always happy to have you join us, Tae. We’ll be leaving in a few hours, so you two have time to clean up.”
“Thanks,” I say, giving Jude a nudge towards his room. He drops his bag once we’re inside, and I close the door behind us. “Jude, relax. Why don’t you go take a shower first?”
He nods, heading to his dresser to grab a change of clothes. Once Jude is out of the room, I set my bag on his bed to see what clean clothes I have left. That’s when I see Jude’s phone cord, reminding me that my phone is dead after not charging it all weekend. I plug it in and go back to pulling out clothes.
I find a pair of dark wash jeans that’ll do, but I’m not sure what to wear with it. My phone chimes with new messages as it gets enough juice to turn on. I find a polo shirt that looks decent enough and pull it out of my bag before I check my phone.
Austin
We should hit up the club. You busy Saturday night?
Before everything that happened with Jude on our camping trip, I would’ve been jumping at that offer. It’s not the first time I’ve hung out with Austin, and we’ve flirted with guys at the local dance club, but I don’t think Jude would want to go.
We should hang out soon, but I’m gonna pass on the club. I kinda have a new boyfriend.
The message shows read almost immediately, then the dots flash showing Austin is typing back.
Austin
Jude?
“Who are you texting?” Jude walks into the room again, his hair dripping wet.
“Austin.” I click the screen off and look at Jude. His forehead furrows as he looks at my phone in my hand.
“Oh.” His voice falls, but Jude doesn’t say anything else.
“He invited me to go dancing this weekend,” I explain. Jude sighs, pulling at his shirt as he looks down. “And I told him I’d rather hang out with my boyfriend.” I take a step closer to Jude, and he looks me in the eye again. “Did you really think I was gonna ditch you to hang out with Austin?”
“I don’t know. This is all new to me, and Austin is ... gay.” Jude almost mumbles the last word, toying with the hem of his shirt again.
“Austin isn’t my type. Jude, I meant it when I said I want to date you. I don’t care if you’re still figuring out your sexuality. It’s enough to know you like me and want to be with me.” I place a quick kiss on Jude’s cheek. “Now I better go shower. I don’t want to be the reason we’re late for dinner.”
Jude grins and nods. “Okay.”
I grab my things and head for the shower to clean up. I scrub the dirt off my body until the water runs clean and give my hair a quick wash. When I step out, I feel refreshed. I pull on my clothes and fix my hair.
Jude is sitting on his bed and pulling on his shoes when I get back to the room. I sit on the bed next to him and go through my bag, putting away my dirty clothes before looking for a pair of clean socks. “Ready?” I ask Jude when he stops moving.
He looks at me, and I take a glance at his outfit. Jude picked dark wash jeans like I’m wearing, but he’s paired them with a short sleeve black button up. The combination makes him look a bit more dressed up. It’s a good look on him. “Yeah,” he says.
“Boys, we’re going to be heading out in a few minutes,” his mom calls.
I finish pulling on my shoes and head to the door with Jude. Before he can open it, though, I grab his shoulder and pull him closer to me. “Before we go.” I press a kiss to Jude’s lips. He kisses me back, wrapping his hands around my neck to pull me closer. Jude groans as I kiss my way down to his neck. I can’t help myself. I lick and suck at his neck, and his hips thrust forward to meet mine. Before we can get too carried away, I pull back. Jude’s cheeks are flushed and part of me wants to say screw dinner and drag him to bed. “Sorry.”
Jude’s mom and dad are there waiting for us as we walk into the living room. “Tae, it’s good to see you again.” Jude’s dad nods in my direction.
“You too.”
“Ready to go?” his mom asks.