Capítulo 40: May-December | Chapter Ten
Nothing happened.
Kyle stayed over that night, curled up to a sleeping Chaska until dawn. At a point, he had thought something would have happened, but it seemed that Chaska read his nervousness and drew the line at kissing and sharing light touches.
They talked until Kyle said something and Chaska never responded. The man had slept off, but Kyle found it difficult to drift off as well. He didn't get a wink of sleep. He spent the whole night marveling at the fact that he was sharing a bed with the man his heart yearned for. He would reach out to touch his face, trace his lips, and occasionally brush back his long dark hair that got tangled whenever the man moved his head. Chaska looked his age when he was asleep. Young. His demeanor was softer, and Kyle guessed that was from the fact that he wasn't carrying any of the heavy thoughts he pulled around with him while awake.
Sometimes he would get brave and scoot closer, before throwing an arm over the man as he pressed their noses together.
Hours would pass, and Kyle would get up to walk around the house. He would be greeted with a meow from a cat or two. And while he was at the fridge looking for something to drink one came up to rub their body against his feet. He didn't look around much. He just moved from the kitchen, living room, bathroom and then back to Chaska's room. He felt roaming too far and poke-nosing would be rude.
"Did you sleep well?" Chaska would ask him when he finally peeled his eyes open at around seven in the morning. Kyle would nod, lying because he didn't want to explain why he had been so restless. Chaska would smile at him, patting his cheek before getting up and leaving the bedroom.
Now Kyle was alone in the small bedroom. The queen-sized bed took up most of the space, leaving just enough room for a small drawer. Kyle sat still from the time he heard Chaska brushing his teeth to the time the shower stopped running and Chaska stopped humming.
"You can use the shower, and I could borrow you some clothes," the young man muttered as he walked into the room with a towel rubbing his hair and nothing else. Kyle's eyes went wide with shock, but he managed a nod before casting his eyes down to the tiled ground. He had seen a deal many naked men in his life, but something just made this different. He felt like his chest would give way to his leaping heart any moment, and that he might faint from the sound of blood pumping in his ears.
Chaska didn't seem affected, though. He moved around like it was any other day, getting into his usual sporty attire. "I have to go to work, and we have to pick Otis," the man said when he noticed Kyle hadn't moved from his seat at the edge of the bed.
"Oh, right," Kyle said, finally getting on his feet. "For a moment, he had forgotten about his usual morning routine. He guessed he would drive Chaska with him to pick Otis up from his mother's before dropping him and Chaska off at the preschool building.
"Hurry, if I make breakfast and the cats get to your portion first, there's nothing I can do about it," the man said with a chuckle, sitting on the bed before tossing Kyle the fresh towel he had scavenged from the lowest level of his drawer. "There's a new toothbrush in the bathroom somewhere," he added as Kyle thanked him.
In the bathroom, Kyle spent most of the time looking at what the dim light bulbs hadn't allowed him to in the evening. He noticed that Chaka had a lot of notes taped to the mirror. He couldn't read them because they were illegible, but it looked like some sort of checklist. Chaska didn't have anything fancy in terms of products, and that explained the clean soap smell he had most of the time. No hair products apart from the cheap shampoo either. Kyle wondered how he managed to keep his hair healthy that way.
All this was mundane and boring information, but not to Kyle. There were little pieces of Chaska—information about the man he had growing affections for.
"You've been in there for a while, ten more minutes, and you're paying for my water bill," Kyle heard Chaska said as he rapped his fist on the bathroom door.
"I'm done. I'm done." Kyle grabbed the towel, drying off before tying it around his waist and walking out. He felt a little embarrassed about spacing out in the bathroom, but Chaska didn't seem as upset as he had sounded behind the door. He was smiling, even. Talking to Kyle when the man walked into the sitting room/kitchen after getting into the clothes Chaska had laid out for him on the bed. He got his portion of toast and omelet that the young man had set aside for him. He also ended up sharing a bit with the cats even though Chaska had urged him not to.
This feels nice. He thought, chewing a piece of toast as he looked to his side to find Chaska on his phone. It almost feels like we're dating. He thought wistfully to himself, letting the Siamese cat that had found her way to the sofa nibble the remaining bit of omelet on his plate.
When he was done, they headed to Kyle's car that the man had packed right of the apartment the other night. As they got in Chaska mentioned something about having to park across the street if he was staying over next time.
"Next time." The words repeated themselves in Kyle's head. There was going to be a next time.
When they got to Kyle's mother's place the old lady had been a little surprised to find Chaska in her son's car. She didn't question it and simply gave the man a wave before handing Otis over to his father.
"Where were you?" Otis had mumbled as he got strapped into his chair by his father. His dirty blond hair was brushed back the way his Nana liked it, and he was wearing a white shirt and brown shorts that went well with his hazel colored eyes.
"He a was in my house," Chaska said from the front seat, making Otis' eyes go wide when he noticed his teacher was in the car.
"Your house?" the boy, said in a high voice, wiggling in his seat and making the process of strapping him a pain. "Really?" he asked as his father huffed, finally getting the locks in place.
"Yes. He came for a play date," Chaska continued as Kyle got into the driver's seat. "We talked, and we played with my cats."
"You have cats?" Otis asked with a little squeal.
"Yes! Three." Chaska said, raising his fingers up. Kyle noticed how Otis started to mumble numbers under his breath, counting three of his own fingers. He was impressed that Chaska could sneak a little lesson into the conversation. If it were him, Kyle would have opted out now. He had nothing against Otis, but his son grew loud and restless when he was excited. Chaska didn't seem to find anything wrong with that, though, and that made Kyle try and reevaluate his issues with the behavior.
"Wow!" Otis said, squeezing his hands into fists on his lap as he swung his legs. "Can I come and play at your house?"
"If your dad brings you along, why not."
The two continued to converse and Kyle drove to the town center where the preschool was located. He was in awe at how Chaska was able to make a conversation with his son out of nothing. Sometimes it was repetitive, but Chaska listened to Otis and spoke to him with genuine interest.
"You have to talk to him. If you don't talk to him, he can't practice talking to conceptualize his thoughts."
The headteacher in Otis' former school had scolded him. It had been about a few weeks since Anastasia left, and things had been rough. He had just done what was needed—bathe and feed his child. The socialization thing had been hard. It was still hard. He found it hard to talk to Otis. What was there to talk about with a three-year-old?
When Kyle pulled up at Otis' school he got down with Chaska before heading to the back to get his son out of the car. They went up the stairs to the top floor and just when Chaska was about to wave Kyle goodbye the blond man spoke up.
"Wait," he said, spitting out the word before he could chicken out. Chaska stepped out of the preschool entrance, closing the door behind him so that it was only him and Kyle in the hallway.
"I wanted to ask you something—" Kyle paused. "No, two things," he clarified, and Chaska nodded, turning his right side to him.
"About the horses. Do you think you could take Otis to see some this weekend?" Kyle asked.
"Sure, I'll see if I have time," Chaska muttered, and Kyle sighed, feeling a little relief. He wanted to take Otis out to somewhere fun. The last time he went out was with his mother, and that bothered Kyle.
They stood in silence for a bit. Chaska waited for the second thing the man wanted to say, and Kyle hesitated, trying to find his voice.
"I wanted to ask you what—" he stopped, taking a deep sigh. "What are we now? You know, relationship-wise?"
Chaska hadn't been expecting that, and a little frown formed on his face as he cast his dark eyes on Kyle. "We're taking this slow, aren't we?" he asked.
"Yes," Kyle replied, nodding his head.
"So whatever's between friends and lovers," Chaska muttered, and Kyle stared at him with a blank look, not sure what to make of the answer.
He was in the process of deciding if that was a good or a bad thing when Chaska closed the distance between them and took his face in his hands. The dark-haired man smiled, pressing his Roman nose on Kyle's turned up one.
"It's good," Chaska said, answering the question that was swimming in Kyle's head. "It's good we're taking things slow. I'm the first man you're trying to see, right?" Chaska said, and Kyle nodded.
"And this is my first relationship, so I'm a little scared," the man admitted, looking away from Kyle's blue eyes for a while before looking at him again and pressing a brief kiss to his lips.
"See you at two," Chaska said, taking his hand away from Kyle's face before stepping back. He smiled at the man a bit, turning away to open the door. He walked in, shutting the door behind him and leaving Kyle alone in the hallway, red-faced and slightly stunned.
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