The next morning, Colton picked Parker up for school again. He had lunch with Colton and his friends, but this time Shell made other plans. Parker felt bad, like he had ditched his best friend, but she insisted that he go. Parker suspected that she was probably interested in a new guy.
After cheer practice, Parker waited for football practice to finish up. When Colton asked him if he wanted to hang out for awhile, Parker quickly agreed.
Colton drove to the mall and they went to the food court. Colton bought each of them a cherry slushie and they shared a big soft pretzel with extra salt and cheddar cheese to dip it in. They found an empty table and sat down across from each other. As soon as they sat down, Colton stretched his legs out, trapping Parker's in between.
Parker let out an embarrassing laugh that sounded perilously close to a nervous giggle and Colton smiled at him. Colton had a way of putting Parker at ease. Parker was able to relax and enjoy himself.
After they finished their snack, they made their way through the mall, and Colton obviously had a destination in mind.
"Where are we going?" Parker asked.
"We're gonna play slot racers."
Parker looked up at Colton skeptically, but decided to go with it. He followed Colton into the slot racer shop. The store was one huge race track, which zipped and curved all around an elaborate miniature town. The little slot cars were remote operated and they sat on top of the grooved track. Aside from the shop's clerk, they were the only two in the store.
Colton paid for their time and they both picked out their cars. Parker chose a little red convertible, while Colton went for a yellow muscle car.
"Ready, pup?" Colton asked.
Parker nodded. When the light changed to green and the horn sounded, Parker pulled the accelerator trigger and his car took off.
It was a lot of fun. He and Colton were both laughing their asses off. They shoved each other with their shoulders while talking smack.
When the heat time was up, Parker's car was a fraction of a second ahead of Colton's. He jumped up and let out a whoop. "Yes! Eat my dust."
Colton growled. "Let's play again."
"Someone's a sore loser," Parker joked.
Colton didn't reply back, his mind was already concentrating on the game.
They played again, but this time Colton smoked his ass. Parker hadn't realized how competitive his new boyfriend was, but he should have known. They played three more heats and each time, Colton won. Colton didn't gloat, but he smiled smugly, clearly pleased with himself.
Parker poked his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. "You're supposed to let me win if you want me to put out."
Colton stared down at Parker with that intense gaze. "You'll put out either way."
Parker smiled. "Are you so sure of that?"
The corner of Colton's mouth turned up as he struggled to keep a straight face. "Yes."
Of course Colton was right. Parker laughed and Colton finally broke out in a smile.
Colton dipped his head down towards Parker's face. His voice was a husky whisper, forcing Parker to move in slightly to hear him. "What if I leaned down and kissed you right here, right now? Would you still let me, even though I just whooped your ass?"
Parker's face flushed and his laughter turned into a nervous chuckle. He cut his eyes sideways towards the clerk. His tongue darted out over his lips.
"One more game," Parker whispered.
They played one more game. This time, Colton pulled back at the last second and let Parker win. And when Colton took Parker home, he made sure their on-the-couch make-out session was hot enough to make Colton's loss worth it.
* * *
Somehow Parker managed to make it through the week. He was more than ready for his birthday party. He couldn't remember the last time he was anticipating a birthday this much. He wasn't sure what Shell had planned, but he was excited because it would be the first time that he and Colton would be hanging out together with other people outside of school.
Sure, everyone knew that they were dating. That was apparent on Monday morning and it didn't take long for the entire student body to know. He went to school with Colton every day, had lunch with him and then hung out after school. After just a couple of days, he seemed to fall in line with Colton's friends like he was born to the position. And Parker noticed that it was always the same configuration: with Parker always on Colton's right side, standing in between Colton and big Jed. Trey flanked Colton's left side.
Parker loved his time spent with Colton. The big guy was surprisingly sweet when the two of them were alone. While in public, he had a bad-ass persona to maintain, but he never treated Parker like he was a side-piece trick. In fact, he treated Parker like he was the most important thing in his world. Parker soaked up the attention like a sponge.
Parker took extra time getting ready for the party. He quickly decided on a pair of jeans that were a little tight in the butt. They also made his package look pretty good. He tried on a bunch of shirts before deciding to go with a simple t-shirt.
After several heavy make-out sessions with Colton, he was pretty sure that tonight, things would be going further. And Parker was so ready. He was eighteen years old now, officially an adult.
Tonight, he was going to get some dick.
And something told him that Colton would be more than willing to give it to him.
"Parker, can you come down here?"
Parker grabbed his phone and headed downstairs towards his mom's voice, following it into the kitchen.
His mother and father were standing at the kitchen table smiling. "Happy birthday!" they both exclaimed. On the table was a small chocolate cake with a single lit candle and an envelope.
He gave them both a hug. "Thank you."
Parker leaned down and blew out the candle. The cake clearly came from a grocery store and said "Happy Birthday" on it. It was the same thing he got every year. Parker didn't really mind. The grocery store cakes were a lot better than what his mom could have made, not that she ever attempted to bake anything.
While his mother sliced the cake, Parker opened his birthday card. It was your standard boring 'happy eighteen' card with a picture of a cake on the front and a pre-printed 'happy birthday' message inside. But also included was $300 dollars in three crisp one hundred dollar bills.
"Thank you," Parker said, giving each of his parents another hug.
The three sat down at the table and enjoyed a piece of cake.
"What time is Michelle picking you up for your party?" his mother asked, setting aside her cake after two bites.
