by C. E. Wilson
“No, I’m pretty sure in my choices. I think I’ll stay gay for a while longer.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. I didn’t want to lose the love of my life.”
“Yeah, well me neither. I’m happy to have you in my life. I wouldn’t change a thing. You want more?”
“Yeah, I was going. How about you?”
“Yeah, and then some dessert sounds good.”
They both got up and got another plate of food and ate it. Then after eating dessert and paying the bill, they walked out the door. Cade asked, “Hey, how are you on gas. I’m less than half a tank, so I think I’m going to fill up and we won’t have to stop again until dinner and then we can catch a motel after dinner.”
“Yeah, I need to fill up too. I see a station across the street so let’s go there. Or do you have a preference for another place?”
“No that works for me. See you there.” Cade got in his truck and left the parking lot and went across the street. Bradley was right behind him. They filled their vehicles and Cade pulled out first, and Bradley did as well. They drove for the rest of the day and found a nice restaurant to eat dinner. There was a nice motel next to the restaurant, so they went there after dinner and rented a room.
They got their overnight bags out of the truck and went into the room. Bradley called his dad and told him everything was fine and where they were. Charlie was really proud of his son for traveling that far by himself. Then Cade called his dad and told him where they were, and they would leave right after breakfast in the morning.
Bradley took his shower while Cade was talking to his father. He came out of the bathroom and got into bed. Cade went to take his bath, and when he was finished, he got into bed with Bradley, but he was sound asleep. Cade just smiled and went to sleep himself.
Bradley had set his alarm on his phone, so they wouldn’t oversleep. He was ready for this trip to be over and get settled in their apartment. When the alarm went off, Bradley woke up and looked around. At first, he didn’t know where he was then he remembered they were on the way to school. He looked over at Cade and smiled. Cade was still sleeping.
Bradley slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth. He came back into the room and slipped back in bed. He started kissing Cade on the cheek and neck and then across his shoulders. Cade opened his eyes and locked eyes with Bradley and grinned.
Cade said, “Let me go brush my teeth so I can kiss you properly.”
“All right, then we have to get dressed and eat so we can get on the road. I want to get to our apartment tonight, so we can relax and enjoy being alone.”
“I’ll be out in a minute. I do want that kiss though. You went to sleep last night, and I didn’t even get a kiss goodnight.”
“Sorry babe. I was tired. I tried to stay awake, but I just couldn’t. We will have the next four years together so I will kiss you every night for the next four years.”
“Not good enough. I want goodnight kisses every night for the rest of our lives.”
“That I can and will do. Now get dressed so we can go. I want to be there before dark. We have a lot of stuff to unload from the trucks.”
“GPS said we have six more hours to get to the apartment. We’ll be there before dark.”
After they dressed, they checked out of the motel and went next door and had breakfast. They left there and got back on the road.
The two drove all morning and then stopped to get some lunch and gas up the trucks. They pulled into a buffet and ate a good lunch before getting cups of soda to drink on the way. They were back on the road in less than an hour which left them only three more hours to go to get to the apartment.
Bradley and Cade had driven for about an hour when Bradley’s phone rang. He had his hands free in his ear, so he answered it. Cade said, “Hey, babe. I forgot to tell you something when we stopped.”
“Ok well tell me now.”
“I love you.”
Bradley chuckled. “I love you too. You called me to just tell me that?”
“Yes, I haven’t told you today. Of course, you didn’t tell me today either.”
“Yes, I did. I told you this morning.”
“Nope, I would have remembered that. You did not tell me that you love me today.”
“I told you when I was waking you up. If you weren’t awake to hear me, then it’s not my fault.”
Cade chuckled. “That’s not fair babe. You should only tell me when I am awake.”
“Come on and let’s get this trip done. I so want to get to our new home and see what we have to do to get it livable. I’m sure the furniture delivery people didn’t get it set up. We do the bedroom first, ok?”
“Let’s top off our tanks first. That should get us there and then some. I’m at half a tank, so I know that isn’t going to be enough. How’s your gas?”
“I’m at half a tank too. Yeah, good idea. We can go straight there without stopping again.”
They went across the street, and both filled their tanks. Cade pulled out onto the road and Bradley was right behind him. It was another three hours to the apartment according to the GPS. Bradley wanted to get to the apartment and get a good night’s sleep. It would be their home for the next four years, and he tried to get used to it. He also wanted to spend time getting to know Cade better.
They finally pulled into the apartment building. Cade got out and went to the manager’s office to get the keys to the apartment. They gave them four keys. He also told Cade he had a couple of dollies they could use to move the stuff from the trucks into the apartment. At least it was on the ground floor, so they didn’t have to climb the stairs. They looked like reasonably new apartments. The apartment was only a couple of blocks from the college.
Chapter 13
Cade came back and handed Bradley his key to the apartment and one of the two dollies. They loaded the dollies from the trucks and went to the door of the apartment. Bradley opened the door and pulled the dolly inside. He looked around, and it seemed like someone already had put the furniture in the rooms it went to and set up.
He walked to the bedroom, and the bed was set up as well as the dresser and chest. He thought it looked good. Cade was looking around as well and thought the same thing. “Well, looks like we don’t have to do much but put the sheets and blankets on the bed. I wonder who did this. I know Dad hasn’t been here. He did everything over the phone.”
“It had to be the furniture store men. Who else would have arranged everything?”
“I have no idea, but we need to get the rest of the stuff in. These dollies are helping a lot. We would be half the night without them.”
“Yeah, at least our apartment is on the first floor. We don’t have to lug all this stuff up steps.”
“Did you pick out what bedroom we are going to stay in? I like the one with the bathroom off of it. At least if we do get a roommate, they can have the other bath in the hall. I like this apartment.”
“I agree with the bedroom. I want just you and I to use a bathroom. I don’t like the idea of sharing a shower with a stranger.”
“Ok, that’s settled then. We’ll take the one with the bathroom. Have you noticed how nice this apartment is? I wasn’t sure it would be with Dad renting it sight unseen.”
“Oh yeah, this place is very nice. I’m proud to live here. Your dad did well. You need to tell him that when you talk to him again. We need to make sure when we get everything inside to call our families and let them know we got here all right. I’m sure they are worried about their babies.”
Cade chuckled. “Yeah, our mommies are going to make sure that their babies are safe and sound. I don’t know about your mom, but I expect to get a care package at least once a month if not once a week.”
“I’m hoping my mom is wrapped up in Jacob and forgets to buy me things I don’t need. I’m sure she will call all the time, but I hope she doesn’t send stuff.”
“Let’s get these trucks unloaded. Then we can relax a bit bef
ore we have to start putting this stuff away. I agree to get the bedroom done first. At least the bed and bathroom and then we can do the rest tomorrow, but I don’t want to leave it in the trucks all night.”
They unloaded the dollies and went back outside. They met a couple of guys, and they helped to bring the stuff inside the apartment. One of the guys, Dalton, said, “You might not like this, but we are a gay couple. If you don’t want to be friends, that’s ok, we are used to that, but I did want to let you know.”
Cade smiled and looked at Bradley. “It's fine. We are a gay couple too. We are happy together and would love to be friends with other gay couples. How does the school react to gay couples?”
“I don’t know. This is our first year. We came from the same hometown and decided a while ago that we would be together. Our parents aren’t happy about it, but that’s life.”
They finally got everything inside and, in the rooms, they went into. They all sat down at the table and was getting to know each other. Dalton’s partner, Nash, was adorable, and all four of them seemed to get along fine. Cade said, “We’re looking for a roommate. We can have up to two, but Bradley said one is enough. We don’t care if it is a guy or girl as long as they understand that we won’t be partying or have drinking here in the apartment. We are serious about our degrees and want to spend all the time we have studying.”
Nash grinned. “We came to learn and party. We won’t ask you, but we do plan on doing some serious partying. We only want gay guys around us because we have an open relationship and if we see someone, we want to spend the night with then we do.”
Cade was shocked. “We don’t. We are committed to each other and won’t be with anyone else. We love each other.”
Dalton shook his head. “You’re missing out, man. I guess since you’re not interested in that, we might as well go find another couple. Most don’t mind swapping with us. We will see you later.”
Dalton and Nash left, and Cade shook his head. “Can you believe that stuff? There is no way that I want to be in the middle of that swapping stuff. You weren’t interested, were you?”
“Not one bit. If you would have said you wanted to do that I would be leaving to register for a room at the dorm. I love you, Cade, and I don’t want another man. I never will. You’re it for me.”
“Good, we are on the same page again. I like that we always agree on everything. It makes having a relationship so much easier.”
“Well I’m sure we won’t agree on everything in our lives, but so far we have been on the same page. It’s just natural that we will have disagreements, but I think as long as we sit and calmly talk them out, we will get past it.”
Cade smiled at nodded. “Bed or bathroom?”
“What?”
“Do you want to make the bed or stock the bathroom? I think we have enough for both ten times over. At least in our bathroom, we have plenty of storage room. It’s a good thing. I think Mom went to Costco and loaded up on everything we will need for the next four years. Plenty of towels and washcloths too.”
“Yeah, I got a bunch of that stuff too. At least your dad got us an apartment with a washer and dryer. That is so cool.”
“No, he got us a washer and dryer. He said he remembered when he was in college and had to use a laundromat and didn’t want us to have to spend the time going there, and here, we can do it and still study.”
“So, we take them with us? What else do we need to take?”
Cade pulled a sheet of paper from his book bag and handed it to Bradley. Everything but the dishwasher was theirs. “Looks like we will need a couple of trailers beside the pickups. This must-have cost your dad a fortune.”
“He’s all right with it, and so am I. At least when we graduate, we can go home with enough to furnish a rental until we can get jobs and can buy a house.”
Bradley went to the bedroom and got sheets, blankets, and pillows and made up the bed while Cade put things away in the bathroom. When they were both finished doing what they set out to do, they met back up in the kitchen. They grabbed a couple of cans of pasta and heated it up in the microwave and sat down and ate together. They had brought cases of soda, so a little while in the freezer made them cold enough to enjoy.
They rinsed off their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Bradley started to put things away in the kitchen while Cade took the dollies back.
Cade went to the office of the manager, and the manager George was doing paperwork. He smiled when he saw Cade. “How was the apartment?”
“Oh, it’s really nice. Thank you. Did the furniture delivery people set everything up?”
“You don’t like the way it is set up?”
“Yes, we do. It is perfect. I just wanted to call the company if they did and thank them. It sure saved us a bunch of time.”
“No, they just dumped it in the living room. My husband and I set it all up for you. We figured with you driving for a couple of days that you would be tired when you got here, so we wanted to make it easier on you.”
“Thank you and your husband. Yes, we are a bit worn out. Bradley is trying to get the kitchen things put away while I’m here. He is such a sweetheart.”
“Your dad said that you and Bradley are a couple, is that right?”
“Yes, we are. We plan to marry after we graduate.”
“There is another couple here in the apartments you might want to steer clear of. Their names are Dalton and Nash. They are not committed to each other and want to switch partners all the time. They even tried that with my husband and me. Not happening.”
“Yeah, we already met them, and they wanted to switch. We told both quickly that we aren’t about that life, so they left. We also don’t want to party. We want to spend all our time studying.”
“I’m glad to hear that. At least I know if there are complaints of a too-loud party; it won’t be you and Bradley.”
“No, sir. It sure won’t be us. We both want to get more out of college than just partying.”
“If you need anything at all, just let me or my husband Bill know, and we will get it fixed for you.”
Cade thanked him and went back to the apartment and helped Bradley with the kitchen.
Bradley had the pantry full of canned food and some packets of tuna. They had bread and snacks. Just about anything a college boy would want. He stood looking into the pantry, shaking his head. Cade came up behind him and put his arms around Bradley and rested his head on Bradley’s shoulder. “What are you looking at baby?”
“I guess either my mother talked to your mother or both of them had the same ideas because everything your mom got my mom got just as much. We have snacks to last the whole four years, I think.”
Cade laughed until he looked in the pantry. “Oh, my goodness. What did they think we were going to do? Live on just snacks? They even have little cups of macaroni and cheese. I think half this stuff is going to be stale before we even get a chance to eat it.”
“Either that or we’re going to weigh three hundred pounds before we graduate.”
“If you weigh three hundred pounds, I will still love you, babe.”
“Maybe you will, but I sure wouldn’t love myself. I think we need a roommate or two just to help eat these snacks.”
“Oh, George, the manager, said he and his husband came in and set up our furniture. They figured that we would be tired when we got here. He said to say away from Dalton and Nash. Evidently, they have a commitment problem.”
“Yeah, we gathered that when we told them we weren’t interested, and they left to go find another couple that would swap. I really didn’t like that pair anyway. They are here to party, and we are here for our degrees. Did you thank them for setting up our apartment?”
“Yes, of course, I thought that was nice of them. George said if we need anything to let him or his husband, Bill, know and they will take care of it.”
Bradley asked, “Are all the residents here gay?”
Cade barked out a laugh. “Seems it
’s that way, doesn’t it? I don’t know. The managers are so maybe this is only for gay people. I don’t have a problem with it, but I don’t think federal law allows that.”
Bradley nodded. “I think I am done for the day. We can finish tomorrow. I’m tired.”
“Yeah me too. Let’s see what’s on TV, and we can maybe have a snack if you run to the store and get some.” Cade laughed.
Bradley shook his head. “Hilarious, love.”
Cade stopped laughing and smiled at Bradley.
Chapter 14
Cade and Bradley went into the living room and sat on the couch. Each had a snack in their hand. They turned on the TV and cuddled while watching a movie. The movie wasn’t over yet, and the boys were both sound asleep. Neither moved all night long.
Bradley woke first the next morning. He sat up, and the movement woke Cade. Bradley looked at the window, and the sun was shining. He looked over at Cade and said, “I think we slept all night here on the couch. Wasn’t it dark out when we sat down to watch the movie?”
“Yeah, it was. I guess both of us were pretty tired to sleep here, almost sitting up. We’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight. Instead of watching a movie, we’ll just go to bed. What do you want for breakfast and I’ll go get it?”
“I guess pop tarts would be good. I’ll go too and make some coffee. I do know how to do that.”
They went into the kitchen, and Cade got one of the boxes of pop tarts out and rummaged around in a box and got a toaster out. He set it on the counter and put two pop tarts into the toaster and pushed down the button.
Bradley finished making the coffee and poured them each a cup. When the pop tarts popped up, Cade got a paper towel and set Bradley’s pop tarts on it and set it on the table. He put two more into the toaster and sat down and started sipping his coffee, waiting for his pop tarts to finish.
Bradley asked, “What are we going to do today? I know we still have things to put away, but I think we need to go to the store as well and get stuff like milk and juice. Maybe some frozen foods like pizzas and that kind of things.”
