Before they sat down, Kenny said, "I'm Kenny and this is my older brother, Evan."
The blonde said, "I'm Candy." She gestured to her two friends. "This is Lorraine and Grayson. We're students at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and we're hanging out in the city for the day."
Kenny flashed a huge smiled and squared his shoulders. "We go to NYU. We live downtown in Alphabet City."
In a deadpan tone, Evan sighed and said, "I'm older than my brother. I'm in grad school."
Before they sat down, Grayson stepped up to Evan and pulled out his chair. This set the tone for the duration of the meal and Evan had never been so uncomfortable in his life. He soon learned he wouldn't be able to sit quietly and observe. While Candy and Kenny talked about school, Lorraine giggled and she tried to flirt with Kenny, too. Both young women seemed so interested in Kenny, and Kenny seemed so interested in them, everyone forgot about Grayson and Evan sitting at the back of the table. No one even heard Grayson lean over and ask, "How long have you been out? I just came out last year, dude."
Evan gulped and said, "I've been out for a while." On the one hand, he admired the way Grayson seemed to so comfortable talking about being openly gay, but on the other he felt creepy sitting there with a guy in his first year of college. But more than that, he wondered how Grayson had been able to tell he was gay. Most of the time no one knew, at least not at first. These younger kids nowadays seemed to have extra hidden radar or something.
Evan grew even more uncomfortable when handsome young Grayson dropped his napkin on purpose, bent down to get it, and grabbed his ass under the table when the other three weren't looking. Evan remained solid and even. He wanted to pretend it never happened. He reached down and removed Grayson's hand from his ass and smacked him gently. But it didn't end there. Grayson continued to stare between Evan's lips and eyes. Grayson felt up Evan's legs, his arms, and even put his arm around him at one point. By the time the waiter handed them the check, Evan wanted to stand up and kiss the waiter for saving him from this aggressive young gay man who didn't seem to have any boundaries.
Before anyone else could say a word, Evan stood up, took the check from the waiter, and said, "This one's on me." Then he handed the waiter the full amount in cash, with a generous tip, and glanced down at his son. "We have to get moving now, little brother." He gritted his teeth because young Grayson was feeling up his leg and no one knew it. "We'll be late for that appointment we have with Mom and Dad."
Kenny shrugged and stood up. He clearly didn't want to leave yet, but he must have noticed the serious tone in Evan's voice.
Candy asked. "Are you guys free later tonight? There's this party we're all going to in Chelsea and you can come along."
That's when Evan took control. Not only was he too old to be getting felt up by a horny freshman in college, he thought Kenny was too young to be meeting a girl that much older than he was. Kenny was still in high school. It was fun while it lasted; Kenny got a chance to pretend. But enough was enough.
Evan grabbed his son's arm, pulled him away from the table, and said, "Thanks for the offer, but we really can't. Mom and Dad are taking us out to dinner tonight before they leave for an extended tour of Japan. It was nice meeting you, though." Then he yanked Kenny out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk, and hailed a taxi.
On the way home, Kenny poked him in the arm and said, "I think Grayson wanted to get into your pants. The guy has it bad for you."
"Don't be an idiot," Evan said. He felt his face getting warmer.
"I don't see anything wrong with it," Kenny said. He sounded as if he were teasing Evan.
But Evan gaped at his son. "Kenny. I can't believe you just said that. I'm turning thirty next week and I'm your father. Have you completely lost your mind?"
Kenny laughed and said, "Calm down, Dad. I think it's cool that I have such a young-looking dad. Seriously. How many other dads or moms get hit on by a guy in college? I can't wait to tell Dad about this."
Although Evan didn't want to encourage him, he started to laugh, too. He also took silent pleasure in imagining the expression on Jeffery's face when their son told him about how a college freshman tried to ask him out in a restaurant. "Okay, you've had your fun. But that's the last time I'm ever doing anything like that again. And from now on I'd prefer it if you got to know girls closer to your own age who are still in high school."
Kenny frowned. "We exchanged phone numbers. We might get together."
There wasn't that much of an age difference, and Kenny would be in college himself in less than a year, so Evan took a deep breath and said, "She seemed like a nice girl. Just be careful, if you know what I mean."