Go Forward Slowly

by Whitney Cannon

  Shaking his head, Wes smiled down at his overly excited boyfriend. “No. Do I dare ask what creepy thing they have going on in there?”

  Patton laughed. “The lights don’t work, and the bathtub is filled with some sort of inky black liquid. I have no idea what’s floating in the water but it’s super pale and slimy-looking, and I’m not totally sure, but I swear there was a faint heartbeat hidden in there somewhere.”

  “You love it, don’t you?” Wes asked, grinning at Patton as his eyes tracked Patton’s smile.

  Patton nodded enthusiastically. “Lizzy’s family is the best. This house is amazing! Everything is so over the top.”

  Wes chuckled. “I heard the basement was pretty cool this year. Have you been down there yet?”

  “They have a basement?” Patton asked excitedly as he pulled away already looking around like the door would be right there.

  “Yeah, babe. Come on. I’ll show you,” Wes said, grabbing Patton’s hand, but at the same moment, Ty and Riley walked in. Riley was dressed like a pirate, and Ty was dressed like a sea captain.

  “Oh my God, you guys. You look awesome!” Patton exclaimed as he dropped Wes’s hand to hug Ty and Riley. “How are you guys? How are you, Ty? I haven’t seen you since the dance.” Patton pulled back and looked Ty up and down.

  Ty was grinning as he hugged Patton back. “I’ve been good, thanks. Look at your costume!” Ty gushed, spinning Patton around. “You look so cool. And damn, Wes. Nice eyes. Who are you guys supposed to be?”

  “We’re Malec from Shadowhunters,” Patton said as Ty looked back at him blankly. “Nevermind. They’re a couple from a TV show.” Patton waved him off.

  “Oh. Cool,” Ty replied. “Well, you still look awesome. What do you think of the house? It’s amazing, right?”

  “Oh my God. I just came from the creepiest bathroom, and Wes was just saying that there’s a decked-out basement. Have you been down there yet?”

  Ty shook his head with wide eyes and that was the end of Wes’s time with his boyfriend.

  Ty took Patton’s arm and they were off, talking animatedly about all the wonders the house held. Neither of them even looked back as Wes and Riley watched them leave, and when they turned to each other, they laughed.

  “Looks like you’ve got some serious competition, Wesley,” Riley taunted and cracked up as Wes shot him a look. “What? Not my fault your boyfriend forgets you exist when Ty is around. Those two could talk until tomorrow and suddenly look up, wondering where everyone went.”

  “You’re not wrong about that. I mean, I’m glad they’re friends and all, but a goodbye kiss would have been nice. Or even a hug… I feel like I’ve been tossed aside now that the cool kids have arrived.” Wes pouted.

  Riley laughed. “Aww. Is Wes a little jealous that his boyfriend left him for a seaman?” Riley doubled over, howling with laughter, and Wes couldn’t hold in his own laugh as he busted up as well.

  “Oh my God. You’re such an idiot.” Wes gasped as he laughed his ass off.

  “Seamen!” Riley bellowed practically falling over as tears gathered in his eyes.

  It wasn’t until Colt came in a moment later and asked, “What are you two idiots laughing about?” that Wes was finally able to gather himself again.

  Riley continued to snicker as Wes dabbed his eyes with a napkin and said, “Nothing. Just Riley being a moron again.” He caught his reflection in the window and checked he hadn’t messed up his makeup too badly. “How are you doing, man? The house looks really great. I’m sure you’ve been here since dawn helping to get everything ready.”

  Colt sighed dramatically and plopped himself onto a barstool. “Try every day after school for a week and all day Saturday and Sunday. I swear I’m just going to move in. Thank God the party will finally be over. If I have to see one more creepy doll head, I’m going to start crying in my sleep.” Colt shivered and grabbed up a handful of “rat brains” to pop into his mouth.

  Riley and Wes both chuckled, and they bantered back and forth for a while before Wes excused himself to go hunt down Patton. A quick search of the first floor didn’t yield any results so Wes headed downstairs to the “dungeon.”

  The area was crowded, as the dungeon was more of the main attraction, and Wes said quite a few hellos as he passed his friends. He had to hold back a snicker at seeing one of his track buddies dressed in a Pikachu costume, though. Brayden looked ridiculously out of place in the dark and morbid room.

  The walls of the main room had been draped with black sheets, creating a very dark atmosphere, and most of the furniture had been removed to allow the props to be set up. There were makeshift jail walls complete with bars that had been painted black along with chains and manacles, and each of the four sectioned off areas held a different gruesome or twisted scene. Plastic sheeting cut into strips hung from the divided areas while bones littered the ground and more fog pumped out from behind the black-curtained walls. The entire floor of the main room had been laid with some sort of plastic as well and crinkled eerily as Wes walked. The enormity of the effort and effect was impressive.

  Wes found Patton and Ty huddled together behind the guillotine.

  As Wes approached, Ty leaned into Patton and said something that Wes had no hope of hearing, and the broad smile that bloomed on Patton’s face made Wes’s heart beat faster. His guy had such a great smile.

  Patton’s eyes finally landed on him once he was only a few feet away, and Patton practically leapt up in joy, instantly wrapping his larger frame around Wes’s shoulders and hugging him close.

  “Hi, baby!” Patton exclaimed as Wes returned the gesture, hugging Patton just a tightly. Wes spared only a cursory glance toward Ty, but he certainly didn’t miss the expression on Ty’s face. “I missed you,” Patton went on, drawing Wes’s attention once again.

  Wes pulled back and kissed Patton thoroughly, completely at ease in the dark space and familiar setting of his friend’s home. “I missed you, too, sweet pea,” he said after a few more pecks that brought out a giggle from his boyfriend. “What have you guys been up too?”

  “Nothing,” Patton said as he wrapped Wes up again, rocking them from side to side like they were dancing as he spoke into Wes’s ear. “Have I told you lately how sexy you look in that outfit with your eyes all dark and mysterious? I think we need to find a dark corner somewhere and make use of all this fog.”

  Wes groaned low in his chest and bit Patton’s earlobe, feeling an unmistakable shiver run through Patton’s body. He licked the abused area and said, “We could always leave. We’ve been here for a while, and we could go park out by the lake and do naughty things in the car.”

  Patton started to chuckle but it cut off as Wes moved his lips down and sucked gently at the juncture of Patton’s neck and shoulder. Patton moaned quietly, but Wes felt the rumble of it in his chest, and he preened a bit at knowing he could make his guy lose himself from such a simple touch.

  When he relented and finally pulled back, Patton’s eyelids fluttered open, and he stared at Wes like he was life itself. The cacophony of noise must have finally filtered back into Patton’s awareness, and Wes watched as a blush spread across his cheeks. His guy looked embarrassed and turned on all at once, and without looking away, he pressed the softest kiss to Wes’s lips. He nodded his consent, and Wes tuned out as Patton made his excuses to Ty. He waved his goodbye, not wanting to be impolite, and clutched Patton’s hand as he followed his guy back up the stairs.

  It took another ten minutes for them to finally make their escape, but Wes certainly had no trouble making good on his promise of doing naughty things to his boy out by the lake.

  Chapter 13

  As the weeks grew colder and the days got shorter, Wes was able to catch up on all his assignments and was actually doing the best that he’d ever done academically. Patton felt a surge of affection just thinking about his boyfriend. He usually did. Wes was incredible in Patton’s eyes. Tackling every obstacle with determination and a confidence
Patton could only wish for.

  Apparently Wes felt the same way about him and said so often, but Patton just didn’t see it. He knew he was gaining confidence and felt a drive to do better, be better, and to Patton, most of that stemmed from Wesley and the support and love he gave him. Even though Wes hadn’t outright confessed that he loved him, Patton was pretty sure that he did. Wes looked at him that way. The way you felt in your chest and stomach like plumes of butterflies had taken flight. And Patton hadn’t said as much either, but he felt the same way toward Wes.

  The boy was everything to him.

  Patton loved his sense of humor, how Wes could always cheer him up or cheer him on if he was feeling burnt out about his eating or exercising. Wesley supported him in his hobbies and thought he was adorable for geeking out over his boats. They could talk for hours about absolutely anything or they could lay together in silence and listen to the world around them. And Patton had never been more turned on by anyone in his life.

  Wesley was gorgeous. His dark hair was longer than he’d ever worn it and his dark eyes were almost always lined and a little smokey. Patton’s confession about loving the look of his eyes from their Halloween costumes had been all the motivation Wes had needed to keep the look up but with a little more subtlety that was appropriate for school.

  He was tall and lean and Patton had taken an especially keen interest in Wesley’s ribs and abs. There was something about the definition of his physique that just unraveled Patton’s self-control. Anytime they were together with their shirts off, Patton had his hands and lips all over Wesley’s torso.

  Patton himself had slowed in his initial weight loss, but he was still steadily dropping between two and three pounds a week. His body shape and size though had improved considerably. Since he’d first started with his journey to better health, he’d lost over twenty-five pounds and dropped two pant sizes. He was no longer buying extra-large shirts to hide behind but purchasing a large that fit him comfortably. He was proud of himself and all that he’d accomplished, and he attributed a great deal of his success to Wesley.

  Wesley challenged him. He demanded that Patton do better, do one more rep, run harder or run thirty seconds longer. He pushed Patton to try new things, and Patton challenged him right back, saying that if he had to do it, so did Wes. They’d taken a yoga class together. They’d rock climbed. They’d gone swimming at the Y a few times, and Patton was pretty sure that in the spring, he was going to try swimming in his lake. He’d get a wetsuit if he needed to, but he actually found that he liked the low impact high cardio workout that swimming afforded him.

  And one thing Patton never thought he’d ever do was run a 5K race on Thanksgiving.

  Wesley had encouraged Patton to sign up and explained that having a goal or something to work toward, would keep him motivated. Wesley had been absolutely right.

  Once Patton had committed to doing the race, he didn’t want to look like a total loser who couldn’t hack it. So they had trained a few times a week and even though the days were colder and they had to dress in layers, Patton really did love their time together on the trails. He felt a peacefulness of both body and mind when he ran alongside Wesley. He no longer struggled to breathe or gasp for air, and yes, he was still slightly sore afterward, but he was sore in a good way that he knew meant he was improving.

  So, Patton was headed to pick up Wesley relatively early on Thanksgiving morning, and they were going to drive the forty-five minutes into Green Bay for the Turkey Day Trot that looped around Lambeau stadium.

  “Hey, baby,” Wes said as he climbed into Patton’s car and immediately pulled him into a kiss. “You feeling good this morning? Nervous?” he asked after he came up for air.

  Patton ran his fingers up into Wes’s longer hair and tugged him closer, giving some attention to Wesley’s neck and ear. He ran his tongue along the shell of his ear and whispered, “You’d better enjoy this now because after the race, I know I’m going to hate you.” He punctuated his statement with a sharp nip to Wes’s lobe, and Wes yelped and pulled back laughing.

  “You little devil.” Wes rubbed his earlobe as Patton grinned. “Lure me into thinking about sexy times then bite me. Not nice, sweet pea. I’ll have to change your nickname if you keep that up. Sweet peas don’t bite. Besides, you signed yourself up for the race. I just encouraged you and said I’d run with you for support. Not my fault if you can’t hack it.”

  Patton swatted at him and they both laughed. Wes leaned in again and kissed Patton softly. “You’re going to do great, baby. I’ll be there every step of the way cheering you on. You’ve worked hard for this. We know you’re not going out there to compete for first place, so just have fun, and enjoy the fact that you’ve accomplished something you never thought you’d be able to.” He pressed another kiss to Patton’s lips and when he pulled back, he said, “I’m really proud of you, sweetie. You’ve come so far the last couple of months, and I couldn’t be happier to call you mine.”

  Patton blinked as his eyes filled with tears. Wes was looking at him that way again.

  He nodded shakily and wrapped Wes up in an awkward hug. Moment of truth— “I love you,” Patton whispered.

  Wes sucked in a breath and squeezed him tighter. “Oh my God, I love you too.” He pulled back and took Patton’s face in his hands to kiss him. “I love you too, baby. So much. I know it’s weird to find the person you love in high school, but I just couldn’t help it.”

  Patton shook his head. “Me either—”

  “You’re so cute and amazing and smart and funny and we get along so well and you love Harry Potter and boats and—” Patton giggled and shut Wes up with another kiss.

  “You’re cute,” Patton said after they separated. He looked into Wesley’s gorgeous eyes and said again, “I love you. Thank you for being so amazing and being the guy who is exactly who I needed. You make me so happy, and you push me to be better and do better. You support me and don’t think I’m a loser for liking boats. You even liked me when I was the chubby kid.” Patton choked up a little and blinked to clear his eyes. Wes wrapped his arms around him and pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

  “I liked you the first time you took me to your house, and I saw your room,” Wes confessed. He pulled back, and they held hands over the center console. “You were so shy and insecure and looking at me like you were waiting for me to walk out and never come back. I’m sure you must have had your fair share of friends over the years who thought you were, um, different.” Patton laughed and Wes chuckled a bit as well. “But I just saw this amazing guy who knew exactly who he was and what he loved and didn't apologize for it. I know you don't see it or think it about yourself, but you’re one of the most confident, self-assured people I’ve ever met.”

  Patton blushed and ducked his head a bit, not really agreeing with Wes’s statement.

  “Maybe you’ve been insecure about your weight for a while, sweetheart, but where the rest of your life was concerned, you already had it together,” Wes finished. Patton squeezed his hand as he pulled it up to his lips for a kiss.

  “Thank you, Wes. Though I feel the exact same about you. You were never shy or trying to hide who you were. You had your eyes lined and nails painted the very first time we met. I’ll admit it took me a while longer to realize that I liked you or at least that I thought of you with any potential, but I didn't think anything would ever come of it since no one has ever liked me before. I wasn’t exactly at my best for a long time. But you were so sweet to me, even inviting me to eat with you, and it felt like even from the beginning you were just trying to be my friend.”

  Wes nodded with a grin. “We totally bonded over our talk about cereal.” They both laughed at the absurdity of that conversation.

  “But even from the first, you were just nice. Not many people are nice like that,” Patton said.

  Wes smiled softly. “What can I say? Apparently I had a thing for you even before I knew it.”

  Patton leaned in to kiss him
again. “Love you,” he whispered against Wes’s lips and they both grinned.

  “Love you too, cutie. Now. Let’s go get our Turkey Trot on so we can come home and stuff ourselves silly with Thanksgiving dinner.”

  It would be an interesting afternoon, for sure. Since it was just the three of them, Wes’s mom, Janice, and his younger brother, Calvin, had also been invited to Patton’s house for the holiday, and both families would be having Thanksgiving dinner together. Patton wasn’t sure if he was glad or terrified of the idea. Having the families together was bound to lead to the telling of the absolute most embarrassing stories of his life.

  — — —

  “So, who’s ready for dessert?” Tim called out as everyone sat around an hour after they’d tidied up from their dinner.

  All in all, the day had gone off without a hitch. Patton and Wes had completed their first 5K together and they’d taken a few minutes of alone time after the race and treated themselves to sharing an ice cream sundae before they’d returned home to help prepare the day’s meal.

  And, so far, no embarrassing stories had been shared.

  A round of grumbles met Patton’s ears and he smiled down at Wes who had fallen asleep with his head on his lap. Wes had said he just wanted to rest as he recovered from overstuffing himself on all the deliciousness they’d spent the afternoon smelling, but between the murmur of conversation, the warmth of the fireplace, and Patton running his fingers through his hair, Wes had been sleeping soundly with his head pillowed on Patton’s lap for a good half hour.

  In the kitchen, Patton could hear the clank of dishware and the hum from the dishwasher as it did its part to keep up with their activities. Janice and Tiffani rose from their seats where they’d been talking about work and cats and headed toward the kitchen to help Tim, who was apparently set on getting his hands on the two amazing pies Janice had brought over.

  Calvin was sulking in an armchair texting away, while the girls were working on coloring Thanksgiving-themed turkeys they’d made from tracing everyone’s hands. They had a pile of arts and crafts supplies on their little work table in the corner and feathers were blowing around the floor as they worked on their projects.