I had known Carter for a few years now. He worked in the same office as my mother and we had come into contact here and there at work functions. As much as I hated these functions, I very much enjoyed watching Carter. He’s awkward but in a way that only makes him hotter.
You know the kind, glasses, sweaters and that hair that can’t be tamed. He always looked like he had just gotten fucked and forgot to fix his hair afterwards. Only problem was, he was older, and he worked with my mom. That made him completely off limits.
“Hey, Dylan?” My mom stuck her head through my bedroom doorway a few nights ago. “How do you feel about making some extra money?”
My father had given me a car for my sixteenth birthday. It looked beautiful but the engine needed some work. Since then, I had been working a job at my father’s auto shop, as well as taking on random jobs here and there. I wanted to make sure that by the time I left for college, my car would be in perfect working order.
So, here I was. Looking from the address on the paper my mother had given me, up to the very large house in front of me. I am not sure exactly what Carter does for the company my mom works for, but he definitely makes more money than her. Unless, of course, he has some loaded wife.
I took a deep breath before knocking and waited.
“Dylan,” Carter opened the door and gave me a smile that was all teeth. I could feel my heart flutter at the sight of him. Not just how he smiled but for the fact that he seemed to be smiling with his entire face, his eyes crinkling up at the sides. “So glad you could make it.”
“Of course, man,” I stepped into the entryway when Carter gestured for me to do so. “Anything to make a few extra bucks. Plus, kids are pretty cool.”
“Joey is excited,” Carter shut the door behind us and then lead me further into the house. “His babysitter at his mother’s is a girl who spends most of her time on the phone. He is hoping a boy will spend more time with him. He has all his video games ready to go. I hope you don’t mind? You are not required to play video games.”
“I am very open to playing video games,” I smiled. This was going to be a piece of cake. If only all my money could come this easily.
Carter spent the next twenty minutes showing me around the house. He showed me the kitchen but then gave me thirty bucks to order a few pizzas and some soda for dinner. He then gave me a small list of rules and introduced me to Joey. Joey was the kid I was expecting. He was in love with video games but very smart, the kind of kid you would expect to come from Carter.
“I will have my cell phone on me in case you need to reach me,” Carter lead me to a room toward the end of the hall. “I will probably not be home until really late, so if you get tired, you can crash in the spare room.”
“Sounds good to me,” I nodded. I then reassured Carter that everything would be fine and that I would call him if I needed him. Once he was satisfied, Carter left me to it.
The rest of the night went by easily. I ordered pizza and Joey beat my ass a million times over in Call of Duty. Normally I was pretty good at games, but I had not played in a few years, so I was a little rusty. I didn’t mind losing to the kid though, it just made Joey happy and that was my job as a babysitter.
Ten o’clock came and I decided that it would be okay to let Joey stay up a little later than Carter had informed me. It did not last long though and by ten thirty, Joey was passed out on the couch. I let him sleep for a while, making sure he was fully asleep, before moving him to his bed for the night.
Once Joey was in bed, I grabbed myself another soda and settled in to watch some television. Three hundred channels and I was watching an infomercial, but hey, I was getting paid to watch that infomercial.
“Dylan,” I struggled to pull myself back to reality. It took me a few moments to realize that I was being woken up. I had tried not to fall asleep, but not everyone is successful all the time. “Hello, Dylan.”
I looked up at Carter, who was sitting down on the couch beside me. He looked amazing but at the same time, something was off about him. I looked a little harder and realized his eyes were red. Had Carter been crying?
“Everything okay, man?” I asked, sitting myself up, wanting to be supportive.
“Oh, yes,” Carter avoided making eye contact with me. “I will be fine, Dylan.”
“You sure?” I reached out and placed my hand on Carter’s thigh. “You can talk to me if you like.”
“I do not wish to burden you with my problems,” Carter shook his head at me but finally allowed for us to make eye contact.
“I really would not mind,” I reassured him, again and again, until Carter finally broke down.
“I went on a date this evening,” Carter admitted to me. I had never really asked what it was that he needed a babysitter for. “It did not go very well.”
“It was just a date, man,” I tried to help but I was not very good when it came to relationship stuff. I had told other people, including parts of my family, about my interest in guys. However, it was hard in their town to ever find a guy who was interested back.
“And I was horrible at it,” Carter stood up from the couch. “I have not been with anyone in three years. I finally ask someone out and she gets bored.”
“How do you know she was bored?” I asked seriously.
“She spent most of her time checking her phone,” Carter began to pace the living room, obviously working off some of the alcohol in his system. “It was like she was waiting for someone to send her a save message so she could leave. Finally, I asked for a check.”