Page 6 of Something Like Forever

Tim summoned another taxito make this wish a reality. Once they were in the hotel lobby,they consulted each other for direction.

“The pool here has a highdive, doesn’t it?” William asked.

“Saw that coming,” Jasonsaid. “Looks like we’re going swimming. Again. Don’t you ever gettired of the water?”

“It’slike that movie,Splash,” Ben said.

Tim laughed. The other two looked at themblankly.

“Daryl Hannah?” Ben tried.“She’s a mermaid who goes to the city and gets legs, but she has tosoak in a bathtub occasionally to stay healthy.”

“Must be before our time,”Jason said with a snort.

“Whatever,” Ben said. “I’msure it’ll get remade soon enough, and then you can seeit.”

“That’s right,” Tim said,backing him up. “We actually had original ideas back in ourday.”

Jason held up a palm. “You guys have funwatching silent movies in your room. We’re going swimming.”

Tim waited until he and Ben were in theelevator alone before he laughed. “I love that boy.”

“I do too,” Ben said. “I’mso glad we brought them with us.”

“Me too, although privacyis nice.”

“Yes,” Ben said wistfully.“It can be.”

Looks like they wouldindeed be having sex every day of their honeymoon. Not that Tim waskeeping track. Okay, he was. He knew quality beat quantity, but hewas thrilled nonetheless. Except when they got back to their room,Ben turned around at the door like someone saying goodnight at theend of a date.

“I think I need a littleDaryl Hannah time,” he said.

“You want abath?”

“Yeah.”

Tim nodded. “No problem! I’ll run one foryou.”

Ben remained motionless.

“Oh.” Tim said. “You needsome alone time.”

“Just a little,” Ben said.“The quiet sounds good. That way I’m ready for tonight.”

Tim wanted to pout and begfor sex or at least ask to sit on the toilet and keep Ben company,but he had learned that the payoff was double if he played it cool.Even if that wasn’t his first instinct. “No problem,” he said.“I’ll join the boys at the pool.”

“No flips or anythingfancy!” Ben scolded.

Tim just grinned. If Ben didn’t love him, hewouldn’t be so worried all the time. “Enjoy yourself,” he said,stealing a kiss. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

Before he left, he changedinto his swimsuit, which involved walking into the bathroom nakedto fetch it from the shower rod where he had hung it to dry. Hecould have gotten it before undressing, but he wanted to remind Benof what he was missing. He hoped it worked like subliminaladvertising. A flash of the wiener now might lead to a trip to theconcession stand later for a hot dog.

After leaving the hotelroom, Tim banished such thoughts from his mind and instead lookedforward to diving into cool water. Texas was hot, but Mexico washotter, and even he was getting a little tired of the sun. He tookthe stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, only hesitatingwhen nearing the indoor pool. What if Jason and William wereenjoying their privacy? Without the parents around, so to speak.Tim shook his head. Nothing figurative about it! He was a parentnow, meaning his presence was probably a big downer. The door tothe pool area had a diamond-shaped window, so he peeked through it.William was climbing the ladder to the diving board. Jason wassitting on one of the deck chairs, skin and hair dry despitewearing swim trunks. Buds were in his ears, the green wires snakingdown to his phone, which was no doubt streaming a horror movie ormaybe a YouTube video.

Future, meet your past,because the scene wasn’t so different from what he and Ben oftendid. Hanging out together while engaged in separate tasks, althoughBen would be reading by the pool instead of watching videos. Nolonger feeling he would ruin a romantic moment, Tim pushed open thedoor. Jason wasn’t surprised to see him, nodding before lookingback at his phone. William’s reaction was a little moreenthusiastic, a sheepish grin followed by blushing cheeks. On thistrip, he had done the same thing every time Tim showed up in aswimsuit. The reaction was flattering, and frankly, if Tim wasn’talready happily married and Jason wasn’t so in love with William,he would have no trouble returning the attention. As it was, heconsidered whatever fleeting attraction William had as harmless andcute.

“Learn any tricks watchingthose divers?” he asked.

William perked up. “Theymake it look easy, don’t they? I tried doing a flip and failedmiserably.”