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Elio looked up and gave him a fond look. “Plenty of them, but only the timber rattlesnakes are venomous. Because of human changes to their habitats, most species around here are endangered. The chances are, if you see a snake, it’s far more afraid of you than you are of it.”
James managed a strangled laugh. “I wouldn’t count on that.”
“If you see a snake, just back away slowly and give it space. They’re not trying to get you, just live in peace.”
“Do you think we’ll see any?” Mikey asked hopefully.
“Maybe if we’re lucky, and very quiet,” Elio told him. “They mostly hide from people.”
James wasn’t going to sleep tonight until he’d shaken out every single item in the tent.
When the kids stood up and raced ahead with Calvin, Elio hung back with James. “Not a snake fan?”
“You could say that.”
Elio glanced at the kids, who had just rounded a curve, and then laced their fingers together. “I’ll keep you safe, Daddy.”
James rolled his eyes. It was probably ridiculous. Both his fear… and the fact that Elio saying that made him feel a thousand percent safer. The touch of Elio’s hand made his heart pound.
He was holding hands. In quasi-public. With another man.
Why was this as terrifying as a snake, when he’d bought gifts for colleagues’ gay weddings and had them over for dinner with their partners?
Because it was him.
And he was… if not gay, at least really, really attracted to men.
One man.
It was scary and exciting at the same time.
“You’re still thinking about the snakes, aren’t you?” Elio asked.
“Maybe?” James suggested.
“If it helps, some wildly high percentage of all snakebites in the world occur on the hands of teenage males, often while drunk. So… basically, don’t try to poke them or pick them up, and you’ll be fine. But if you do want to pick one up…”
“No! Don’t tell me. You’re not allowed to be one of those statistics.”
Elio laughed. “Alright, Daddy.”
“Sorry, that was probably inappropriate. I wasn’t trying to, I don’t know, control you or something.”
Elio pulled him to a stop, chests pressed together. “That’s good, Daddy,” he cooed. “Because I happen to like being in control.”
James let out a sound that was probably a whimper.
“But only in bed. The rest of the time, I prefer an equal partner.”
That idea made James shiver in an entirely different way. One that invited dreams of lazy weekend mornings and shared carpool schedules for the kids.
Elio pulled him back into an easy walk.
“You would… be a good partner to anyone,” James told him, hoping that was the right response, even if he kept thinking what if… So, better to turn the conversation. “At the risk of sounding ageist, I’m constantly impressed by pretty much everything about you. Is there anything you don’t know how to do?” He was half teasing and half serious.
“Ha! I think I’ve got you fooled. I can’t play any sports except ultimate frisbee and swimming, if either of those count. I think I’m drawn to computer mapping because I can’t draw for shit. Um… my friend and I tried to write a novel together once, but he fired me after the second chapter because apparently, I write sci-fi like a textbook.” Elio laughed, cheerfully. “And I’m already nervous about doing job interviews in the spring, because the only jobs I’ve ever had were scooping ice cream, being a camp counselor, and working in the university lab. I like to think that academia’s preparing me for something, but it’s a protected little bubble, you know?”
Those didn’t sound like issues. James couldn’t do any of that either. Or sing. Or cook banquets over a fire. Or correctly hold venomous snakes. “I could help you with job interviews,” James told him, before he realized how weird that was with a casual fling.
