Chapter 8: Boundaries, or Lack There Of...

My head slammed into the window as we drove down the road to Beaver Lake. Having taken the maximum dose of motion sickness pills, I didn't feel nauseous, but the massive bruise forming on the side of my head was making up for it. Looking out the window, I potted the specks of blue between the trees.

"Thank god," I breathed.

"I thought you said you were feeling alright?"

"I am, besides being thrown into the windshield."

My dad flashed me a grin and continued down the hole-ridden road. He pulled up next to the shed. I hopped out and walked around to his side.

He handed me the keys through the window. "I'll be back at four. Same thing as last time."

"Sounds good." I took a deep breath.

"Alright, be careful Aden."

"I'll be fine. I'll stay away from the dogs."

"That's my boy," he teased, before putting the truck in gear and driving away.

I walked to the shed and unlocked the door. Grabbing my regular cleaning tools, I headed for the water pump. After filling my bucket, I went to the first bathroom and pull back 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 even have time to respond before being attacked from behind. The absence of a shirt told me exactly who had me trapped in a bear hug.

"Titus, we went over this." I tugged on his arms.

He finally let go but kept an arm around my shoulders. "Do you like it? I cleaned it for you."

Staring at the floor, I tried to hide that my face was red. I didn't quite understand why I was blushing. Maybe because I judged Titus too quickly. He just needed a friend, and for the summer, I guess I'd be that friend.

"You didn't have to do that."

"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 unlocked the box.

"I already did the fire pits." He smiled. "And I can hurry and do all the other restrooms if you want?"

"That's alright. I feel bad enough that I'm getting paid for something you did."

"Then you're going to have to make it up to me." Titus raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face.

I laughed hesitantly. "I guess so." I looped the rolls onto the metal bar.

"You're taking forever." His hand slipped into my back pocket. Snatching my keys, he grabbed the bag of toilet paper and ran off.

"Titus!"

He was already long gone. I didn't know whether I was madder about him stealing my keys or violating me. Either way, I wasn't happy. After clicking the lock shut, I sat down outside to wait for him to come back.

About fifteen minutes later, Titus came jogging toward me with that smug grin on his face. "See, I'm a lot faster than you."

"Whatever." I snatched the keys out of his hand. "Give me that." Taking the rest of the toilet paper from him, I marched back to the shed and tossed it inside. "So"—I turned to face him—"since you've done all my jobs for me, we can do whatever you have planned."

"You're going to love this." Titus's smile got even bigger. Grabbing my wrist, he led me into the forest.

***

I couldn't breathe. I swear I was going to pass out if I had to take another step. We reached a fence and Titus stopped.

"Thank god." Collapsing, I sprawled out across the ground and gasped for air. It had been confirmed, I needed to workout more. "This was fun." I wiped the sweat off my forehead. "But I'm ready to go back."

"We're not there yet." Titus walked over to the fence.

Sitting up, I glared at him. "What?"

"It's about another mile or so before we get there."

"Sorry to tell you, I'm done and ready for the downhill portion." I glanced at the trail we had walked up.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're tired from that?"

I really wanted to throw a rock at his head. Unlike him, I wasn't part mountain goat. "Well, sorry to disappoint you but the sign says no trespassing." I pointed to it. "Too bad."

"It's my territory. I can go wherever I want." He helped me up. "And since you're with me, it doesn't apply to you, either."

His family must be super rich or overly proud of their land to have fenced off the whole area. Going off the fact he didn't have a shirt or shoes, I decided it was the second one.

"Come here, and I'll help you over." He grabbed my hips.

I panicked. "Titus, stop!" My limbs flailed as I tried to escape.

"Calm down and lift your legs. It's not that big of a deal."

I did so and he easily set me on the other side. Folding my arms, I couldn't look at him. My face was bright red and that was the last thing I wanted him to see.

"Is this one of those personal boundary things?" Titus used one of the posts to help him jumped over.

I clenched my jaw and shook my head. "Let's just go. I'd rather not talk about it."

Titus leaned down to my level. "Aden?"

I pushed him away. "Knock it off."

He laughed. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"I said I didn't want to talk about it." I started marching down the mountain.

"Aden," Titus called.

"What?!"

"It's this way." He pointed to the nearby trees.

I spun around and hurried off in that direction. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Laughing, Titus took the lead. I didn't say anything more than an occasional 'I'm fine' as we walked along the mountainside. The sun was getting higher in the sky, and I was feeling the heat. When I thought of doing something fun today, it didn't involve being dragged through the mountains. We skidded down a small embankment. I slipped and ended up sliding down on my butt.

"We're here!" announced Titus.

"Finally." With a sigh, I took off my shoe. I was going to be so sore in the morning.

"What are you doing? It's over here."

"I'm resting. I'll be there in a minute." I started to take off my other one. "My feet are killing me."

"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'll be there in a second." I struggled to get his hands off me.

He didn't let go. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way." Yanking me to his chest, he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

"Titus!" I slammed my fists against his back. "Put me down! This is way past the personal boundary thing we talked about."

"You said you were tired. I'm simply helping you."

Casually picking up my shoes, Titus carried me through the trees. 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 said through clenched teeth.

"Turn around and see for yourself."

I did and saw a cloud of steam rising off the water. A small waterfall poured into a large pool of water. "Wow... How warm is it?" I glanced at Titus.

"Like bathwater." He walked to the edge and began untying his shorts.

My eyes went wide and I turned around just as he let them drop. "Titus, I..." I bit my lip.

"It's called skinny-dipping for a reason, Aden."

I heard a splash but didn't dare look. "I've never done this before."

"You could keep your clothes on, but it would be a long and uncomfortable walk back."

I shot him a heated glare over my shoulder. The water level was above his mouth, yet I could still tell that he was smiling.

"I don't see what the problem is. 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.

He started laughing.

"Are you really going to just sit there? The water is really nice and it will help loosen you up."

It did look nice. I played with the bottom of my shirt. We were both guys, so it shouldn't be a problem. Scanning the area, I spotted a group of large boulders near the waterfall. "Give me a minute." I stood and hurried behind them. "I'll swim but don't look until I'm in the water."

"Deal." He floated over to the other side and reclined on some rocks.

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.

I was being ridiculous. The locker room was ten times worse, but something about this boy made me feel awkward. Maybe because compared to him, I wasn't exactly impressive. I hurried into the water to my waist. Titus didn't move, even though I was sure he heard my loud entry. He was right; the water did feel amazing. As I walked farther out, the ground fell away and I had to swim to get to the other side. It was kind of annoying since I had watched Titus walk across. Sitting on a submerged rock, I let the water wash over 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. He followed. My back hit a boulder and I was trapped. Titus stood in front of me as I pressed myself into the small crevice. He hovered over my head. I pulled my arms in and held my breath. This was way too close.

"I'm not going to do anything," he teased. "Unless you want me to." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and move back.

With a nervous laugh, I splashed water at him. "Jerk."

He wiped his face with a smile. "You're so shy."

"I am not," I snapped. "I'm just not a fan of people being so close. It's a space issue."

"You've been in a relationship before, right?" He inched toward me and braced an arm on the boulder by my head.

"Yeah, I've had a couple girlfriends." I laid flat against the rock.

"Did you ever kiss any of them?" His body was barely not touching mine.

I sucked in my stomach. "Of course, we'd kissed."

He locked eyes with me, our chests centimeters apart. "Than why is this a problem?"

"B—because," I breathed. "You're a guy."

I ducked under his arm and escape to the middle of the pool. The water moved behind me, and Titus grabbed my arm. He swung me around. I quickly brace my hands on his shoulders to keep our bodies from touching.

"Is this really bothering you?"

"I'm just not used to it." I strained to keep us apart.

Frowning, he lowered his head. "Okay." Taking my arm, he pulled me back to where we'd been sitting. Putting a good amount of space between us, he sprawled out to soak in the sun.

I pulled my knees to my chest. I didn't really understand what any of that meant.

***

The walk back had been awkward. Neither of us said much even when we reached the campground.

I glanced at Titus. "It was fun today. Thanks for showing me the hot pools.

Titus stared at his feet as he mumbled a few words that sort of sounded like 'yeah, it was.'

I spotted my dad's truck as it turned the corner along the mountain. "I'll see you Monday, then?"

He peeked up at me. "You still want to hang out?"

"You do things a little different than what I'm used to, but you're still fun to be around."

He stood up straight with a grin on his face. "I'll see you then."

I flinched when he lunged forward and hugged me. After a few seconds, I relaxed and hugged him back.

"Bye," he whispered in my ear, before wandering off into the trees.

I stood there, stunned, for a moment. Snapping out of it, I spun around. "Bye," I replied even though Titus had already disappeared into the woods. "I'll see you Monday," I whispered with a smile.