When we pulled up to Kane’s house, he had an area roped off for parking. I pulled into the grass and parked next to a white Cadillac. It was Don, a mutual friend of mine and Kane’s. He was still sitting in his car and we gave each other a wave. I was expecting to know maybe 15-20 people there. It was usually 80% the same crowd each year, and the rest was new faces. Kane and his wife and I had a few mutual friends, and I knew his family and some of his other close friends. The other probably 80 people who showed up would be nothing more than a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces to me.
As Don got out of his car, I shut my truck off. He stood behind his car waiting on me to get out. I looked over at Kay, checking her phone, and my mind wandered back to her texting Patrick. I thought back to just 20 minutes earlier, walking into the store to buy him a bottle of whiskey. It started to sink in that Kay had made me buy a gift for the guy she was planning to fuck tonight. I felt pretty small as I came back to reality and saw Don in my mirror still waiting on me. Kay and Alyssa’s doors opened. I followed suit and got out of the truck.
I greeted Don, and introduced him to Kay. “Have you two met? This is Kay,” I said, putting my arm around her. She said hello, and Don and her smiled at each other. Kay sort of wiggled out of my arm around her and said “get the cooler babe.” She looked back at Don and said, “and this is my friend Alyssa, by the way.” As I set the cooler down and stood up to close the tailgate, I looked over and Don was reaching for Alyssa’s hand. “Nice to meet you both,” he said, softly shaking her hand.
Don was holding a 6 pack, and Alyssa offered for him to put it in our cooler. “Sure!” he said. I opened the lid and he buried his beers in ice, then the four of us started walking toward the house. We made small talk while we walked. Don brought up another friend, “do you know if Wayne is coming?” “No, I haven’t talked to him in a while,” I replied. I saw Kay check her phone, and I kind of zoned out for the rest of the walk.
I didn’t know if she was checking her messages or what. But I thought of Patrick again. It started to hit me that, no one here knew about our lifestyle. Don’s beer was in the same cooler as Patrick’s whiskey. I was beginning to worry that some of my friends were going to learn something very personal and very embarrassing about me tonight. “I wonder if the guy even knows Kay and I are dating,” I thought to myself. It was eating at me.
“Does Patrick know we’re dating?” I asked Kay. I probably should have waited to ask, but something came over me and I had to know. “I don’t think so,” she started to say, but Don cut her off. “That guy is fucking wild… You’re talking about tall Patrick that was here last year?” I must have turned a little red. “Fuck, Don knows him,” I thought. Kay replied, “yeah, he’ll be here tonight.”
Don and Alyssa had been chatting it up a little while I was zoned out. He looked back at her and said, “definitely don’t play him in beer pong…or don’t bet on it if you do!” He chuckled, and Alyssa laughed with him. She replied, “uhh…should I find myself in that situation, I’ll let someone else make the bets.” They both chuckled again. Alyssa glanced my way with a smirk. “Fuuuuuck.” I thought to myself. I felt my dick twitch and grow slightly as a couple of scenarios played out in my head. But I was starting to become terrified at the same time. I don’t want all these people to know that I’m a cuck.
We walked past the house and around back where there was already a small fire going and 10-12 people standing around. It was still early. The band had just showed up and were still unloading their gear. By their looks, they’d definitely be playing country and maybe some classic rock. Kay wasn’t thrilled about that, I could tell.
Kane walked out of the house with a beer in his hand and walked over to say hello to me. He knew Kay, but not too well. She’d been there with a friend previously. He looked at her and said, “good to see you – is Jeanette coming or did we scare her off last year?” Kay laughed and replied, “she said she’ll be here, so I guess we’ll have to try harder this year.” Kane got a kind of cheesy smile on his face and said, “we can do that!” I spoke up and introduced Alyssa. Alyssa said, “I’m just her partner in crime for the night.” She made a head motion toward Kay as she said it and she threw me another devious little smirk. I felt my heart skip a beat and thought, “please shut up.” But I don’t think Kane thought much of it. Shortly after, he walked away, being summoned by some other folks.
I guess it was another hour or so before the party was really hopping. The band started playing and a lot more people showed up. Kane and his wife had set up all the food and there was a mob over by the food tent. Don was still hanging out with the three of us, waiting out the food crowd, when I first saw Patrick. I spotted him walking over from the food tent area. Kay had her back to him. I watched him and we locked eyes a couple of times as he walked toward our little crowd. He walked up behind Kay and squeezed in beside her, laying his hand on her lower back. She turned and looked up at him. “Oh hey!!” She said excitedly. She turned to face him. “I’m so glad you made it!” She said, looking up at him. He smirked at her smugly and said, “wouldn’t miss it. Who ya here with?” His right hand was still resting on her hip. Before she could answer, Don interrupted. “Hey man, good to see you,” Don said. He stepped toward Patrick and reached out to shake his hand, noticing where it was resting.
As Patrick acknowledged Don, Kay turned and stepped toward me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward Patrick. She answered, “I came with my boyfriend and my bestie of course,” pointing toward Alyssa with her free hand. Patrick turned and looked Alyssa over. “Hey, I’m Patrick,” he said. “Alyssa,” she replied. He looked back at me, and then at Kay. “I wasn’t aware you had a boyfriend,” he said. He didn’t break his gaze with Kay as he continued, “why did you bring him?” He said it with a straight face, which he held for a second. Just as Kay started to speak, “beca..” Patrick cut her off and started laughing. “I’m just messing with you,” he said. I was really uncomfortable and didn’t say anything. Kay laughed with him, still holding my hand. I looked at Don, who was giving me an awkward look, as Alyssa spoke up, “should we leave him at home next time?” Patrick laughed harder as he turned toward Alyssa and replied, “no, we might need a DD!”
Kay turned to me and wrapped her arms around me. “Aww, yes, he’s our DD!” She gave me a kiss and leaned into me. “You’re so fucked tonight,” she whispered in my ear, then moved back and winked at me.