Page 50 of Country Road Romance

“Uh, I guess I could show Charlie Annamoriah? I mean, I’m not sure he’d want to see my old stomping grounds, but at least it would get us out of the house a bit.”

To his surprise, Charlie greeted this idea with enthusiasm.

“I think that’s a great idea,” he said. “I’d love to see where you spent part of your childhood.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Jared said. “There really isn’t that much there that’s worth writing home about.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to show some pride in where you come from, son,” Doug said.

“I’ll do my best, dad,” Jared said.

The rest of breakfast passed in mostly companionable small talk, as Jared and his parents reminisced about their shared past and the many happy memories they had in this house. This was a regular part of his visits home, since it was often easier to find shared understanding and joy in the past rather than the thorny present. Any time they got close to one of the subjects that Jared preferred not to talk about–particularly anything to do with his love life–he neatly parried and moved them to more comfortable territory.

Finally breakfast was done and it was time to start getting ready to leave for Annamoriah, since that was clearly what they were going to spend the day doing. Considering the fact that it took about ten minutes to get from one side of town to the other, he wasn’t sure just what he was going to show Charlie.

Don’t be so negative,he thought, his echoes echoing his father’s words.If you want Charlie to understand who you are, the least you can do is show him where you grew up and the places that shaped you. And who knows? You might even learn something about yourself.

That was a bit of a strange thought, but he decided to go about this with the spirit of openness that it deserved.

Both he and Charlie took showers, and the whole time Charlie was in there Jared kept wondering what it would be like to be in there with him, their bodies touching each other as the hot water streamed over them. Sex was great, but so was thekind of intimacy that could only come from taking a shower with another man…

“Jared,” his mother said, breaking into his thoughts. He turned to where she stood in the doorway to the guest bedroom. She had that serious look on her face that said she had something very important to tell him but didn’t quite know how to start. “Do you have a minute?”

He gestured vaguely toward where Charlie was still showering down the hall. “Sure, mom. What’s up?”

She came in and sat down on the bed next to him. He suddenly had a flashback of when they’d had “the talk.”

“Don’t get that look,” she said. “I’m not here to lecture you.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said.

“I just wanted to say that I love the way that you’ve been the past day or so,” she said. “I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised when you brought Charlie here without telling me, but I’m glad that you did. You seem so carefree when he’s around, almost as if that weight you’re always carrying is finally starting to lift a little bit.” She leaned in then and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I know you don’t need a mother’s advice, but if you ask me you might want to give this one a chance.”

Before he could say anything to that–before he could even thank her for offering her advice–she was up and gone.

A minute later Charlie came into the room, wearing a very tight-fitting pair of jeans and a plain white T-shirt. He looked so much like a teen idol that Jared almost wanted to scream.

“You look…really nice,” he managed to choke out.

“If you could see your face right now,” Charlie said. Before Jared could respond to that Charlie had thrown himself onto the bed beside him and took him into a rough embrace.

“What are you doing?” Jared said, the scent of Charlie’s cologne and that smell that was justhimmaking him feel very aroused.

“Just giving my favorite guy a hug. You looked like you could use it.”

I could always use a hug from you,he thought but didn’t say.

“So, when do we head off to your hometown? I meant what I said. I’m genuinely looking forward to getting to know the place that you grew up and spent your formative years. One of these days I’ll return the favor, I promise.”

There was something enticing about that promise of the future, of a time when the two of them would be able to get to know more about one another. He smiled at the thought.

“We’re leaving right now.”

It took abouttwenty minutes to get from Jareds’ parents’ place to Annamoriah, and the road was, like so many others in West Virginia, full of twists and turns. Charlie, of course, was used to this type of thing, as he reassured Jared when he started to apologize for the road.

“Believe me, they’re even worse down south below Morgantown,” he said. “Not only do they curve and switch every which way. There are also pot holes that could easily swallow a car.”

They both had a good laugh at that.

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