Page 69 of Governor

Together…

Carter is a study in contradictions. You’d think a guy with his history, his experiences, would be hard in mind and personality. Kick-ass, taking shit from no one. The Carter I’ve come to know is multi-faceted and full of mysteries whose depths I now realize I have yet to plumb. There is so much I don’t know about him.

He has a gentle, tender side that I suspect only Susa and I get to see.

“Okay.”

He doesn’t look up from the stove. “Okay,what?” It’s not snippy in tone, more matter of fact, and I realize what he’s looking for.

“Okay, Sir,” I say.

He smiles. “Myverygood boy.”

That feeling deep inside my gut tightens again, in a good way.

In a way that I want to continue feeling.

* * * *

Breakfast is, of course, delicious. Because, of course, it’s fricking Carter cooking it.

The other guys in the quad pod were disappointed when we told them we weren’t going to be there Sunday morning, but we told them they were welcomed to continue the Sunday Mornings With Carter tradition in our absence.

Seriously, if they can’t cook French toast and scrambled eggs on their own by now, they’re hopeless and deserve to starve.

I want Carter to myself tomorrow morning.

Especially now.

I am feeling reasonably better by the time we finish eating. Enough so that I offer to take care of the cleanup. Washing dishes actually makes me feel better because I don’t mind doing it. I’ve enjoyed some of the best conversations of my life during our times together while cooking and then following dinner, listening to Susa and Carter talking about politics or anything else while I stand at the sink.

Carter lounges against the counter and sips another cup of coffee as I wash dishes. “Let’s discuss some boundaries,” he says.

“Boundaries?”

“Limits.” He turns to me. “Hard limits, soft limits. For both of us.”

“Like what?”

“Like what we do can’t interfere with school. We both have to keep our grades up.”

I nod. “Okay. That’s easy.”

“No pictures. I mean, nothing compromising. That also goes both ways.”

“Agreed.” But I don’t understand how I could take a compromising picture of him if I’m the one who’s…whatever it is that I am.

“We’ll have different modes. Vanilla mode versus the rest of the time. Your default mode will be boy to my Sir.”

I need a moment to digest that and Carter doesn’t rush me. “How do I know the difference?”

“If one of us needs to flip into vanilla mode, we use the other’s name.”

“I feel like I’m missing something. That sounds too easy.”

“It doesn’t have to be difficult.”

We spend so much time around Susa, I suspect that vanilla mode will end up being our default soon enough.