Chapter eight
Boundaries, or Lack There Of…
My head slammed into the window as we once again maneuvered over the weathered road towards Beaver Lake. Having taken the maximum dose of motion sickness pills, I was at least not feel nauseous. The massive bruise that was now forming on my skull was another story. I kept my eye on the window, hoping to see the lake and put an end to my misery. When the sparkling waters broke through the trees, I let out a sigh of relief.
When we got there, my dad pulled up to the shed and handed me the keys. “I’ll be back at four. Something as last time.”
“Sounds good,” I replied, opening the door and getting out.
“Alright, be careful Aden.”
“I will.” I closed the door and walked around the front of the truck towards the shed.
The cloud of dust that washed over me, as I unlocked the door, signaled my dad had left. I grabbed my regular cleaning tools and headed for the water pump. With my bucket filled, I went to the first bathroom and yanked open the door. I stood there for a moment and stared at the clean floor. Even the used toilet rolls had been removed.
“You’re here!”
I didn’t have time to even brace myself before someone attacked me from behind. The absence of a shirt told me exactly who it was.
“Titus, we went over this Saturday.” I tried to escape his embrace, but it was useless, so I just stood motionless until he decided to let go.
He finally stopped crushing me, but kept a arm around my shoulders. “Don’t you like it? I clean it for you already.”
Staring at the floor, I tried to hide the fact my cheek were red from embarrassment. I didn’t quite understand why I reacted this way. Maybe I felt bad for judging Titus, when he really was a nice guy that need a friend desperately. I guess for the summer I’d be that friend.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I muttered softly.
“I wanted to, so we’d have more time to hang out.” He took the bucket from me and dumped the water on the ground. “I even walked around and picked up all the garbage.”
“I still need to fill the toilet paper containers and check the fire pits,” I replied, unlocking the box.
“I already did the fire pits for you.” He smiled that same old grin. “And I can hurry and do all the other restroom if you want?”
“That’s alright. I feel bad enough that I’m getting paid for something you did.”
“Well then you’re just going to have to make it up to me.” He raised a eyebrow with a smirk on his face.
“I guess so,” I muttered, looping the rolls onto the metal bar.
“You’re taking forever.” He slipped his hand into my back pocket, took the keys, and grabbed the bag of toilet paper.
“Titus!” I yelled, but he was already gone. I didn’t know whether to be mad about him running off with my keys or violating me. Either way I wasn’t too happy. After clicking the lock back into place, I sat down outside to wait for him to return.
It took less time than I thought for Titus to come trotting back with a smug look on his face.
“See, I’m a lot faster than you.”
“Ya, ya, ya. Give me those.” I snatched the keys out of his hands and took the rest of the toilet paper from him. I marched back to the shed as Titus followed behind.
With everything put away, I faced him. “So since you’ve done all of my jobs, we can go do whatever you have planned.”
His big smile returned. He grabbed me by the forearm and dragged me into the forest. “You’re going to love this.”
***
I collapsed on the ground and concentrated on breathing. We stood beside a fence with no trespassing clearly written on it. Titus was waiting patiently for me to recover, not even winded at all.
“You didn’t tell me we were going to have to climb a mountain.”
“It was just a little walk. No big deal,” he said plainly.
I was tempted to throw the dirt clod next to my head at him. Unlike him, I wasn’t part mountain goat. “Well this has been fun, but I think it’s time to go back.”
“Why?” He turned to look at me. “We’re not even there yet.”
“The sign says no trespassing.” I pointed to it.
“It’s my territory, so it doesn’t applies to me.” He help me up. “And since you’re with me, it doesn’t apply to you either.”
He’s family must be either super rich or proud of their land to have fenced off the whole area. Going by the facts he still didn’t have a shirt or shoes on, I decided on proud of their land to be the more reasonably answer.
“Come here, and I’ll help you over.” He grabbed me under the arms.
“Titus stop.” I flailed my limbs.
“Calm down and lift your legs up. It’s not that big of deal.”
I did, and he easily set me on the other side. Folding my arms, I didn’t turned back to look at him. My face was burning red, and that was the last thing I wanted him to see.
“Is this one of those personal boundary things?” asked Titus as he hopped over.
I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “Let’s just go. I’d rather not talk about it.”
***
I was tired, hot, and relatively not in a good mood. The last thing I wanted to do today was be dragged through the mountains.
“We’re here,” announced Titus, pushing the branches of a bush to the side.
He continued on, but I stop right where I was and collapsed on the ground. Slowly rising to an upright position, I took off my left shoe and rubbed my foot. I was definitly going to be sore in the morning.
“What are you doing? It’s over here.” Titus marched towards me.
“I’m resting. I’ll be there in a minute. My feet hurt.” I started to take off my other shoe.
“It’s a good thing we’re here then. Now come on.” He grabbed my arm and tried to get me to stand.
“Titus, stop. I’m tired. I’ll be there in a second.” I struggled to get free.
He didn’t let go me. “Fine, we’ll do it my way.” Seizing both my arms, he lifted me into the air and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Titus!” I slammed my fist into his back. “Put me down now! This is way past the personal boundary thing we talked about.”
“You said you were tired. I’m simply helping you along.” He casually picked up my shoes, and carried me to wherever we were going.
He plopped me down on a rock, and I had to with-strain myself from not punching that smirk right off his face.
“Where are we?” I growled.
“Turn around and look for yourself.”
I peered over my shoulder to see clouds of steam rising off the water. A small waterfall poured into the rather large pool. “Wow… How warm is it?” I glanced back at Titus.
“Like bath water.” He walked towards the edge and began untying his shorts.
I turned around just as he let them drop. “Titus, don’t you have something you can wear.”
“They call it skinny-dipping for a reason.”
I heard a splash, but didn’t dare look. “I’m not exactly comfortable with this.”
“You could keep your clothes on, but it would be a long and uncomfortable walk back.”
I shot him a harsh glare over my shoulder. The water level was over his mouth, yet I could still tell that he was smiling.
“I don’t see what the problem is, Aden. We’re both guys. It’s not like you got something I haven’t seen before.”
“Doesn’t mean I want to show you,” I muttered to myself.
He started laughing, so I figured he heard me.
“Are you really just going to sit there. The water’s really nice, and it will help loosen you up.”
Looking around the area, I spotted a group of large boulders near the waterfall. I stood and started walking over to them. “Fine, but you can’t look until I’m in the water.”
“Deal.” He swam over to the other side and found a place to relax.
I watched him lay his head back and closed his eyes. Safely hidden behind the rocks, I undressed and peeked around the corner to make sure Titus wasn't watching. He was still sprawled out with a content look on his face. Taking my chance, I hurried into the water to my waist. Titus didn’t move, even though I was sure he heard my rather loud entry.
He was right, though, the water felt great. As I walked farther out the ground fell away, and I had to swim to get to the other side. It was kind of annoyed because I knew Titus had just walked across. After finding my own seat a reasonable distance away from him, I let the water wash over me to my shoulders.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Titus moved closer, and I mimicked his motions in the opposite way.
He scooted in my direction again. I pushed off his shoulder and floated farther away, making it clear I didn’t want him to be so close. He must’ve not got it because he kept on coming towards me. I soon found myself trapped in the crevice of two large rocks. Titus stopped a couple feet from me and face his body in my direction. Drawing my limbs in close, I stared forward.
“I’m not going to do anything, Aden,” he teased. “Unless you want me to.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
I splashed some water at him. “Jerk.”
He wiped his face, laughing the whole time. “You’re so shy.”
“I am not,” I retorted. “I’m just not of fan of people being so close to me. It’s a space issue.”
“You’ve been in a relationship before, right?” He inched towards me.
“Yea, I’ve had a couple girlfriends.” I laid as flat as I could against the boulder.
“Did you ever kiss them?” His body was barely not touching mine.
“Of course we kissed.”
He locked eyes with me, our chests centimeters apart. “Than why is this a problem.”
“Because you’re a guy.” I slipped to the side and managed to escape. I swam to the middle of the pool when I felt the water behind me move, and Titus grab my arm. I brace my hands on his shoulder to keep our bodies from touching.
“Is this really bothering you?” he asked, simply standing there, while every muscle in my arms were straining to keep him at a reasonable distance.
“I’m just not use to it.”
Frowning, he lowered his head. “Okay.” Taking my arm, he pulled me back to where we’d been sitting before. He put a good amount of space between us and laid back in his typical Titus position.
***
“It was fun today. Thanks for showing me the hot pools,” I said as we waiting by the shed for my dad.
Titus stared at his feet as he mumble a few words that sort of sound like ‘yeah it was’.
I spotted a truck as it turned the corner along the mountain. “I’ll see you Thursday then.”
He peeked up at me. “You still want to hang out with me?”
“You do things a little different than what I’m use to, but you’re still fun to be around.”
He stood up straight, and a grin returned to his face. “I’ll see you then.”
I was a little bit taken back when he lunged forward and hugged me tightly.
“Bye,” he whispered in my ear, before letting go and walking off into the trees.
I didn’t move, finding myself unable to respond to his sudden outburst of affection. “Bye,” I replied even though Titus had already disappeared into the trees.