state fair

Nick tapped his fingers against his knees in an offbeat rhythm while he sat in a hard plastic chair, staring out at the landing planes. Kevin sat down beside him, passing over a cup.

“Flight’s delayed an hour,” Nick said, taking the cup. He stared at it. “What is it?”

“Tea,” Kevin said.

“What?”

Kevin repeated the word and said, “It’s good for you. Better than Mountain Dew.”

“I like Mountain Dew.”

Nick set the cup down on the floor and continued his nervous tapping.

“Will you stop?” Kevin asked, reaching over and pressing his hands on top of Nick’s bouncing fingers.

“Can’t help it. I’m bored.”

“Read a book.”

“Boooring,” Nick drawled.

Kevin sighed and leaned back, the chair creaking beneath his weight.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked, and Nick blew out a breath and sat up.

“All right. Will you stop? C’mon, Kev. You said you’d do this with me.”

“I know, I know. It’s just, you and me, don’t always get along.”

Nick glanced sideways at Kevin. “Look, not to be mean or anything, but I did call all the others first and they said no.”

“Yeah. So you’ve said.”

“Kevin, please. I’m bored out of my mind sitting at home. It’s almost the end of summer and I haven’t done anything. This road trip is important to me.”

“I know. That’s why I said yes,” Kevin said, nudging Nick’s knee with his own.

Nick blinked. “Oh. Okay.”

He sat back and resumed knee tapping, until Kevin cleared his throat. Then Nick crossed his arms and tapped his elbows instead.

Kevin shook his head and drank his tea. He had been surprised to receive Nick’s phone call two days earlier. The guys hadn’t really talked much lately, and Kevin hadn’t seen or spoken with Nick in almost two months. Nick wanted to hit the road, take a trip and see a different part of the country.

“I’ve got it all planned out,“ Nick had said in a rush. “We’ll take a plane out to Omaha, rent a car, and drive across Iowa on Interstate 80. We can stop along the way and see the little towns, then once we hit the Mississippi, we turn around and drive back to Omaha. It’ll take a week, maybe less.”

Kevin waited until Nick ran out of breath before asking, “Iowa?”

“Hey, it sounds interesting.”

Kevin asked if anyone else was going along, and this was when Nick admitted he’d already asked the others and they’d said no. Kevin couldn’t be offended because this was how things were with him and Nick. Being the oldest and youngest of the group, they acted like bratty brothers stuck together in the backseat on a long car ride. He chuckled at the thought, since this was basically what Nick was asking to do.

Kevin played the part of the protective older brother who believed that Nick was too immature to play outside unattended, and Nick did anything he could to annoy the hell out of Kevin just for kicks.

As he listened to Nick ramble on about flight schedules and cornfields, Kevin realized it wasn’t the destination of the trip that had Nick excited, it was the fact that they could do it. Together.

So Kevin agreed. And now he was sitting in LAX while they waited for their flight to be announced.

“You love me,” Nick said, poking Kevin in the arm repeatedly and grinning.

Kevin rolled his eyes heavenward, but he knew it was the truth.

~*~*~

Kevin drove the rented Jeep along Interstate 80, his hands properly on the wheel at ten and two. Dark sunglasses shielded his eyes from the glaring sun, and he was starting to wish he had earplugs to shield his ears from the noise in the passenger seat.

“Oh oh oh ohoh. The right stuff,” Nick crooned along to the radio.

“Dear God,” Kevin groaned, reaching for the dial.

Nick slapped his hand away. “No! Stop it! This is a good station.”

He reached behind his seat to the cooler stashed there and pulled out two cold cans of Mountain Dew. He offered one to Kevin, who declined.

“Didn’t I buy water at that last gas station?”

Nick grabbed one and handed it to Kevin.

“It’s warm,” Kevin said.

“I didn’t have enough room in the cooler with my stuff in there.”

Kevin drank the warm water, trying not to become annoyed. This was their second day on the road, and they’d already stopped at twelve towns and checked out the local goings on. Nick had dropped a wad of money on knickknacks and plastic toys. One thing he’d bought was a yo-yo, but he couldn’t get it to work right, so he would aim it at Kevin, roll up the string and do it again. Kevin finally grabbed it, broke the string and tossed it out the window.

Nick had stared openmouthed for a full minute before declaring, “You just littered!”

Kevin growled in response.

The previous night they’d stayed at a Holiday Inn, sharing a room. It was Nick’s suggestion, and while Kevin was surprised, he understood it. When they toured, Nick would have his own room, but more times than not, he’d end up bunking with one of the others. There was a small part of him that still yearned for closeness, so Kevin didn’t object.

But by the middle of the night, Kevin was very close to wanting to drown Nick in the bathtub. He’d forgotten how loudly the younger man snored.

“Hey, what’s that?“ Nick asked, pointing to a large billboard. “Iowa State Fair. That’s going on right now. Where are we?”

He dug around the cluttered area around his seat for the map. Then he spent five minutes unfolding it. Kevin gritted his teeth while he waited.

“Uhhh, looks like we’re, uh,” Nick muttered, glancing from the map to a passing road sign. “We’re almost to Des Moines. Kev, can we stop at the fair?”

“Yeah, that sounds fun. I haven’t been to a fair in ages.”

“Cool.”

Nick bounced in his seat for the next hour. As they neared the fairgrounds, the traffic thickened. Finally, they parked and made their way to the front entrance. Kevin purchased two tickets and they followed the crowd inside.

They had donned baseball caps and sunglasses to disguise themselves, but Kevin knew that Nick’s grin could be recognized anywhere. They would just have to be careful.

“Cotton candy, funnel cakes, turkey legs,” Nick said, taking in the signs advertising food. “Pork chops, nachos, pizza, hamburgers. Wow.”

“Don’t pig out too much,” Kevin warned.

“Why not?”

“Three words. Port-A-Potties.”

Nick frowned. “Oh. Good point.”

They stopped at the craft tables, checked out the rabbits, horses, pigs and cows, and watched a sheep shearing contest. Kevin examined tractors while Nick took in a yodeling show. They met up again in front of the Grandstand stage, and Nick handed Kevin a cowboy hat.

“Hello, pardner,” he said with a grin.

Kevin put the hat on and turned sideways. “How do I look?”

“Like a real cowboy.”

They left when it got dark and Nick started getting bitten by mosquitoes.

“We’re going to need to drive some,” Kevin said. “All the hotels around here will definitely be full.”

“I’ll drive,” Nick said, hopping into the Jeep.

Kevin didn’t argue. He leaned back in his seat and downed a Mountain Dew in seconds.

“Whoa,” Nick said.

“I’m hot.”

They drove for an hour and found a hotel, quickly checking in. Kevin flopped onto his bed and moaned.

“What’s wrong?” Nick asked.

“I still feel hot.”

“Are you sick?”

Nick leaned over and placed his hand against Kevin’s cheek.

“I don’t think you have a fever,” Nick said. He flipped on the bedside lamp and his eyes widened. “Kev, you’re sunburned.”

“What?”

“Like, really bad.”

Kevin picked himself off the bed and went into the bathroom to look in the mirror.

“Shit. Why didn’t you say something?”

“How was I supposed to know? I was wearing sunglasses all day.”

Kevin sat on the bed and rubbed his arms.

“I’ll go get some ice,” Nick offered.

He left the room with the ice bucket and returned with it full, plus a small paper bag from a nearby Walgreens.

“Where did you go for the ice? Alaska?” Kevin asked.

Nick threw the bag at him. Kevin peered inside and his expression softened.

“Thanks, Nick,” he said. He held up a bottle of aloe vera.

“No problem.”

Nick busied himself filling a washcloth with ice and Kevin slipped off his shirt and started applying the cool cream.

“You missed a spot,” Nick said. He took the aloe and squeezed some onto his hands. “Turn around.”

Kevin turned, and Nick pressed his fingers against the hot skin of Kevin’s neck. He felt Kevin shiver, and at the same time, he felt a familiar heat low in his belly. He moved his hands along Kevin’s shoulders, down his arms and then up his back.

“Nick,” Kevin said, his voice a whisper.

“Huh?”

“What are you doing?”

“What?”

“My back’s not burned.”

Nick jerked away and blushed.

“Sorry.”

“No,“ Kevin said, turning around, “it was. . .nice.”

Nick gulped hard. His brain clouded, and he felt himself take a step closer to Kevin. He gripped Kevin’s waist and then leaned in, claiming Kevin’s mouth in a hungry kiss.

When Kevin didn’t push him away or deck him, Nick darted his tongue inside Kevin’s mouth.

They broke apart and Nick licked his lips.

“Nick?”

“Yeah?”

Kevin stared directly into Nick’s eyes, and Nick saw an emotion that he’d never had directed at him but had always wanted.

Lust.

“Kev?”

“Nick.”

“Umm.”

Then Nick let out a started yelp as Kevin pushed him onto the bed. Nick made a mental note to thank the others for not wanting to come with him on this trip.

~end