Unexpected

You check yourself in the mirror, pop a little mint candy into your mouth in case Allison’s pussy was still on your breath, and give yourself a once over to make sure you were presentable. If only you’d dressed up a bit better. Too late for that. The sweaty palms, the dry mouth, the rapid heartbeat intensify yet your will to see her was resolute.

Getting out of the car you walk toward the house. The sigh of breeze through the trees and the pleasant trill of songbirds nearly the only sound on this quiet street. It was such a nice neighborhood. As you summon your courage and approach her door another sound catches your ear. Voices, laughter, coming from the backyard. She had company over.

“Damn.” You mutter under your breath. Looking back to the car you wonder if you should come back another time. You didn’t want to intrude. Yet…you simply had to see her. You decide to just pop your head around the corner and say hi.

Instead of stepping up to the front door you walk around the side of the house and pass through gate into the narrow space along the house. The voices get louder, you had yet to hear Casey’s yet. Maybe Felix, her roommate, was the one with visitors over.

Just before stepping around the corner you loudly clear your throat to announce your arrival. The voices quell and heads turn as you walk out into the yard proper.

There were six people there, one woman and five men, and all about your age. Felix you knew of course and one or two of the others were familiar to you though distantly, they were friends of Casey’s you’d only met in passing. The group stood around at one end of the yard holding tall glasses of some sort of brightly colored summer cocktails. In the center of the yard were a collection of balls of red and blue scattered around seemingly at random with a smaller white ball among them.

“Jesse?” Felix smiles, a terse nervous smile. “Uh…hey man. This is unexpected.”

They try to hide it but you catch a quick look of concern pass between Felix and the woman, some unspoken message shared between them. The four men however seemed happy to see you for some reason.

“So this is Jesse Bailey!” One of them with jet black hair exclaims. “Ha ha!”

Your reputation preceded you it seems. Weird.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt.” You say. “I was in the area and I thought I’d come say hi.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Felix says. Whatever communication had passed between him and the woman in that glance spurs them into action. Felix makes a beeline for you, clearly moving to block you from coming deeper into the yard despite his friendly tone, as the woman walks swiftly toward the back door. “Casey is just…”

Just then the back door opens up and out jogs a handsome slender man in a slim fitting t shirt, shorts, and a tweed flat cap. It was only when you saw the long bright red hair held back in a ponytail that you realized who it was.

“Sorry! I’m back.” Casey says with a hop down the stairs. “Is it my throw?” Seeing everyone looking one way Casey’s eyes follow theirs. You see not joy…but fear in those glimmering green eyes. There is a gasp. “Jesse!”

You pause longer than you mean to before saying. “Hey Casey.”

“Jesse…I…” Looking at you and then around to the others. “I…hey…I wasn’t expecting you.”

There is a long cringe inducing moment of silence as the pair of you stare at each other.

You had seen Casey twice before as a man and each time it had been unexpected and jarring. Not in a bad way per se, just a surprising one. You knew Casey was gender fluid of course, but you weren’t used to it yet. With your new romantic interest in each other this time felt different. You felt it and you could see Casey felt it. It then strikes you like a bolt that, if you wanted to be with Casey, this was something you would have to come to grips with. The woman Casey could pass with no issue. When the pair of you were out together nobody gave you a second look. But the man Casey…if you were out with him when he was masculine you would have to be ready to be seen as a gay couple. You didn’t know how you felt about that, you honestly hadn’t thought about it. You really were a fool sometimes.

“Sorry, I came at a bad time.” You say hastily…and your heart nearly siezes in your chest as you see just a hint of hurt cross Casey’s face. Your words coming across in exactly the wrong way. “That’s…that’s not how I meant it…I mean you have company…I mean…” Now you were stammering too.

The woman swoops in to save this from getting even more awkward. “Casey, why don’t we get Jesse a drink?”

“Uhh…yeah.” Casey says with an embarrassed blush. The pair swoop straight back into the house.

“I should probably go.” You mutter, not sure of what to do.

“Go?” Says the guy from earlier. “No way! You make 8. We need another for even teams.”

“Besides.” Says another. “I want to get to know this Jesse we’ve been hearing about.” Another of the guys elbows this one in the ribs and they all laugh. There had been talk about you, that much was clear.

Felix steps forward and pats your shoulder. “It’s cool.” He assures you, his intense expression urging you not to go. “Come on.”

You glance toward the door, wishing you’d said or done the right thing instead of being a bumbling idiot, but what was done was done. Leaving now would only make it worse. You nod and accept the invitation. “Thanks.”

You join the guys and learn their names were Sean, Jermaine, Jamil, and the big one with jet black hair Anthony, the woman inside with Casey was Bianca. All of them but Felix students from the Drama program. Sean and Jermaine were a couple as were Anthony and Bianca. You also learn that they had gotten together today to socialize and play Bocce, something they did quite often by the sounds of it.

Before long Bianca and Casey return, Casey carrying a tall frosty Mojito intended for you. They had both changed into bright breezy sundresses, Casey had clearly done her hair and applied a hint of make up to transform herself into the woman you had come here to see.

“Vavoom!” Anthony hoots. “Looking gooooood!”

Bianca winks at her boyfriend and gives him a twirl to show off her thick but shapely legs, she then hurries forward to introduce herself. Her icy blue eyes studying you intently, protectively, as you shook hands. Introductions had you finally get a chance to look at the vision you’d been yearning for. Casey looking as elegant and luminous as you’d ever seen her approaches and offers you the drink. You take it with a smile.

“Thank you.”

She blushes, her head down, her eyes not able to meet yours. “Your welcome.”

She was so nervous! You could practically feel the jittery energy radiating off of her. A reflection of your own jangled nerves. The pair of you had hung out so naturally so many times before. But things had changed. Everything had changed. In expressing interest in one another a line was crossed last night. No matter what happened going forward you sensed there would be no going back to those days as simply pals.

“Thank you for staying.” She says softly, her dainty bare feet nervously gripping the grass between her toes.

“Casey…you didn’t have to…” Your voice fades as at last she looks up into your eyes.

Woah!

“Jesse’s on our team!” Anthony says loudly with a slap to your back, utterly pulverizing the fragile moment. “You know how to play?”

“ANTHONY!” The others all exclaim.

He laughs and claps his hands. “Are we here to play or aren’t we? Let’s play ball!”

There are groans and laughter but the awkward tension was gone.