"As far as sex goes," Evan said. "When it comes to getting emotionally involved with another man, that's completely different."
"Who said we're getting emotionally involved?" Carson asked. "Now you're being presumptuous. For all you know this could just be good old-fashioned boning."
"I'm sorry, you're right," he said. "It's just this is the first time I've ever dated anyone in this so-called open marriage thing Jeffery wanted."
Either Carson didn't want to know more about Evan's relationship with Jeffery, or he didn't care. He pulled out slowly and rubbed Evan's ass. "Let's shower, get dressed, and get something to eat. I'm starved and I know you haven't eaten. Then I'll take you home."
Evan stood up and kissed Carson on the lips. "You don't have to do that. I can get around in this city blindfolded. Trust me, when I was drinking I did get around blindfolded half the time."
"I want to do it," Carson said. "I had a good time tonight. And there's nothing emotional about that. It's just the right thing for a guy to do for someone he just boned."
Evan laughed louder that time. "Since you put it that way, I guess it's okay."
Though Evan felt awkward about Carson taking him home, he didn't argue the point. He let Carson take him by the hand and lead him back to the bathroom. It was nice for a change to be treated with that rare kind of concern. For Evan it was a novelty and he couldn't help but wonder what his doctor at Havilland would have thought if he could see him now. Jeffery had always been there to offer him anything he wanted in a material sense, but he'd never been there to offer his time. And that had always been the one of the things that Evan had needed the most.
Chapter Nine
Evan woke up early on Saturday morning and he took a long hot bath. He'd planned to go out for a three-mile run in the East Village. The blue sky and slightly warmer weather would have made it a perfect morning for running. But his legs were so sore from having sex with Carson the night before he decided to give his body a rest. After all, it wasn't every day he suffered from sex injuries. Of course they weren't serious, and he wasn't upset about them in the least. It was just that he hadn't had sex injuries in a while and he wanted to quietly enjoy them, and remember the time he'd spent with Carson before Kenny came home from Zack's house.
While Evan was in the tub soaking, with his head back, his eyes closed, and his hand on his dick, Kenny stormed into the apartment and slammed the front door. Evan had been thinking about how sexy Carson had looked in the locker room, sitting on the metal table, right before he'd gone into the ring to fight. There was something about a real jock that filled Evan with a sense of well being that he would never have admitted aloud to anyone.
Then Kenny pounded on the bathroom door and said, "Dad, have you seen the news this morning? You're going to love this."
Evan released his dick and sat up in the tub. He'd locked the door; force of habit. "What are you doing home so early? I didn't expect you until noon." It was a good thing Evan hadn't spent the night with Carson.
"I couldn't stay there," Kenny said. "It was too embarrassing. Seriously, Dad. "
This made no sense. "What was embarrassing? What are you talking about?" At first he thought this was just more of Kenny's teenage drama.
"You obviously haven't seen the news," Kenny said.
Evan detected a hint of desperation in his son's tone, so he stood up and said, "Give me a minute. Go make a pot of coffee and I'll be right out. I'm in the tub."
While he dried himself off, he glanced at the back of his legs in a full-length mirror on the bathroom door and smiled. There were a few black and blue marks from last night and he didn't want Kenny to see them. So he put on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt he'd been planning to dump in the hamper instead of the short robe he usually wore after a shower or bath. He didn't rush; he even took time to comb his hair and shave. He knew from experience his teenage son tended to exaggerate the smallest incident and this drama was probably nothing important. Kenny could turn a pimple on the end of his nose into a goiter that rivaled an avalanche.
When he stepped out of the bathroom he found Kenny in the living room with his eyes fixed on the TV. Evan smiled, sat down on a chair opposite the sofa in front of a fresh mug of black coffee, and asked, "So what's wrong?" He figured Zack and Evan had had an argument. They'd argued before over the same girl; he had a feeling it had happened once again.
Kenny was leaning forward, with his elbows on his knees and a mug of coffee in his hands. He stared at the TV and said, "That's what's wrong."
Evan picked up the coffee and turned to the TV. At the exact moment he went to take a sip he saw Jeffery's face on the screen and the coffee went up his nose. He started to choke and Kenny came over to pat his back. Though he couldn't hear what was happening because he was choking, he saw Jeffery's face and the word "scandal" on the TV screen.