Naughty Temptations

Chapter One

Chapter One

Hugh leaned against the wall of the surf store and watched his son, Orion, choosing board shorts. Okay, it might have been twenty-four years ago, but Hugh was pretty sure that when he was six, he’d have grabbed the first red pair off the rack. His son, however, was taking the decision very seriously, choosing pair after pair off the rack, holding them up to the light, looking at the pockets and waistband, measuring them against his legs then putting them into two different piles. When he reached the end of the section, Orion hung the ones in the larger pile back on the rack before sorting through the smaller pile again, gradually reducing it to three pairs—one red, one blue, and one green.

After many long moments of silence, Orion replaced the blue pair on the rack with all the other ones he’d rejected. Hugh remained silent and watched. Twice Orion went to replace the green pair then hesitated. Finally, Hugh said, “How about we buy both pairs? You seem to be finding the final elimination round pretty tough.”

“Could I really have them both, Dad? I really like the green ones, but your boardies are red, and I want to match you.”

Hugh’s heart almost burst with love for his boy in that moment. His kid wanted to be like him!

Hugh gave Orion a hug, a far more restrained hug than he would have liked to give, but their relationship was still fragile and they were in a*****e. Then he replied, “Of course you can have both. If we go swimming often this summer, likely you’ll need two pairs. I should have thought of that myself.”

“Have you got two pairs, Dad?”

“Yeah, I have a spare pair somewhere. Might have to hunt through the closet to find them though.”

Hugh and Orion walked up to the checkout and stood in line. Right by the cash register was a rack of swim goggles. “You’d better pick up a pair of goggles, too, so you can open your eyes underwater without making them sore,” he suggested. There were three people in front of them in the line. Hugh hoped Orion could make his choice before they reached the cashier. Fortunately, this time Orion chose a silver pair instantly.

“The lightning flashes on my boardies are silver. These goggles will match both pairs,” the child said triumphantly.

Hugh ruffled his son’s flaming-red hair. “Good decision.”

The man in front of them in the line turned to grin at Hugh and Orion. “You have more fashion sense than many adults,” he said to Orion, pointing to the black board shorts and yellow goggles he was holding. Then he put the yellow goggles back on the rack and picked out a black pair.

“Mom says it’s important to be color coordinated.”

“Smart woman, your mom,” responded the man.

“Maybe.” Suddenly Orion looked much younger and insecure. Hugh rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Orion looked up at him with a worried frown.

“We’ll cope. We’ll get it all sorted. I love you,” said Hugh softly.

“I’m sorry. I—” Now the man looked worried as if he’d realized he’d brought up an unwelcome topic.

“It’s fine,” said Hugh, just as the checkout operator said impatiently, “Next!”

“Shall we go to the swimming pool this afternoon, just to look around and find out where everything is, instead of waiting for Monday?” suggested Hugh.

“Can I wear my new boardies?”

“Of course.”

*****

After returning home for a quick meal and a hunt through the closet for Hugh’s swimwear, they put on their red board shorts, collected towels, goggles, and sandals, then headed to the local swimming pool, which was a ten-minute drive from Hugh’s apartment.

In the two months since his ex-wife, Tallulah, had decided she no longer wanted custody of their son, Hugh had gained a whole new outlook on the neighborhood in which he lived. He’d chosen his apartment because it had a reserved basement parking space, was affordable, and was an easy commute to his job. When Tallulah had phoned and told him the new man in her life wanted kids of his own, not someone else’s child to rear, Hugh had been overjoyed. It had broken his heart to leave Orion behind when the marriage had collapsed, but Orion wasn’t yet two, and Hugh knew a baby needed his mother. Tallulah had been fair about sending the boy to him for vacations and access visits.

Now suddenly he’d found himself checking out schools, Little League clubs, and wondering how the hell he was supposed to look after a child during the summer vacation. Thank God he hadn’t taken any vacation time in two years, so he’d be able to spend a lot of the time off work. Still, he couldn’t help wondering what they’d do all day long in a two-bedroom apartment that seemed so much smaller with the addition of a little boy.

A trip to the local community center had resulted in Orion happily signing up to learn archery one afternoon a week for the next six weeks. The local library had a weekly story-and-craft time aimed at four to eight-year-olds so that filled in another morning each week, and Orion seemed to like reading, so they’d borrowed an armload of books for him during their visit, as well.

After Orion was in bed one night, Hugh had Googled his neighborhood and ended up with a list of things they both might be interested in doing together. The stand-out activity was the local swimming pool.

Hugh smiled as they drove to the pool, remembering. Even as a teenager, he’d been equally attracted to men and women. But he’d always imagined himself getting married and having a couple of kids, so he’d assumed Ms. Right would turn up one day and he’d fall in love.

Instead, he’d had a very brief affair with Tallulah, fallen asleep inside her instead of pulling out and disposing of the condom, and three weeks later she’d found out she was pregnant. He’d been thrilled at the idea of a child of his own, and they’d gotten married in less than a month.

The only good part of their marriage had been Orion. The moment the baby’s red head had appeared he’d named him Orion, “Son of Fire, Son of Light”, and the child had been the light of his life for the next two years.

His very first Father’s Day had been the second best day in his life, after the day Orion was born, until this Father’s Day just past, when he’d had Orion living with him again.

Tallulah had been a conscientious, caring mom, but their personal relationship had never moved past casual friendship and an occasional fast f**k. Tallulah had decided she wanted to get on with her life, and reluctantly Hugh’d agreed, but leaving Orion behind had devastated him.

Now that the child was living with him permanently, the bridges between the two of them were being rebuilt. Hugh hoped that once they began swimming lessons together, some distant memories might surface in Orion of the times he’d taken the baby to infant swimming classes. They’d swum together every Saturday morning for the twelve months before he’d left.

Hugh also understood, now that he had a child to rear by himself, that any chance of him finding his Mr. or Ms. Right had vanished. That was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make because of the joy of being with his son full-time again, at last.

*****

The children’s pool was a pretty amazing place, Hugh thought, looking around. Way different from what he remembered as a kid himself, and considerably better than the place he’d taken baby Orion to only five years ago.

One end had white tiles with no step in or anything, and the water was only an inch deep. This was called “the beach”. Gradually a few blue tiles appeared among the white, then the tiles were a mixture of blue and white, and finally, they were only blue. At that point, the pool had sides and the water was almost up to his knees. Hugh sat on the edge of the pool and watched as Orion joined some other children playing under a series of poles on which brightly colored “buckets” were mounted. One by one, the buckets would empty onto the screaming children, who thought it a wonderful game.

Then Orion moved across to the fountain, a series of bubble blowers on the floor of the white-tiled section. One or another of them would shoot water up into the air in a random pattern as the children played within the jetting sprays.

Hugh envied the children’s ability to become instant friends at such a simple activity. His life was sadly lacking in such friendship at the moment.

A pair of long, tanned legs with just the faintest smattering of black hair appeared in his peripheral vision, then a figure in black board shorts sat down next to him.

Hugh looked up into a kindly, intelligent face with sparkling brown eyes and a worried frown creasing the forehead. It was the man who’d spoken to them at the surf store. “Name’s Quigley. I do hope you don’t think I’m stalking you, but I wanted to apologize for putting both feet in my mouth this morning. I’m awfully sorry. I’m not usually so insensitive and inept.”

Hugh shook hands with Quigley and then laughed as they both wiped wet hands on equally wet swimwear.

“No, not at all. It was a natural thing to say to the kid. He’s only come to live with me in the last few months. His mom’s gotten a new man in her life who didn’t want Orion hanging around. I’m thrilled to have him living with me. It’s...different...but we’ll adjust. I do want him.”

Hugh saw Quigley’s gaze resting on the children, who were now lying on their stomachs under the buckets. “I’ve always loved kids but knew I’d never have one of my own because I’m gay,” said Quigley simply. Then he rushed on. “I sponsor a couple of little girls in a third-world country through a charity. Girls in those places don’t seem to get much of a life unless someone helps. Sending them to school gives them the hope of getting a job, and with a job, they can avoid being married at puberty to some middle-aged man.”

“I’d never thought of it like that before. We’ll do that too. I’ll get Orion to help me choose a girl to be his sponsored sister. We can write letters and exchange pictures and stuff.”

“It’s very fulfilling and worthwhile both for the girls and for me. I have their photographs and artwork on my refrigerator like any other dad,” said Quigley.

Both men sat silently for a while, then Quigley said, “Orion. Interesting name for the boy. You named him for the constellation?”

“Son of fire, son of light. The moment he was born and I saw his flame-red hair, I knew the name was perfect for him.”

“Not really surprising. Your hair is brownish-red. I bet you were a redheaded kid.”

The men chatted about their lives and jobs for a while until a mother came to call the other children. Hugh waved to Orion, and the boy splashed through the pool to where Hugh sat with Quigley.

“Hey, you were in the store where we bought my boardies,” Orion said, looking at Quigley.

“Yes. I heard your dad say you were coming to the swimming pool this afternoon, and I wanted to apologize to you for hurting your feelings.”

“Wow! You came to the pool just for me? Didn’t you want to swim in your new boardies yourself?”

“I have two weeks vacation, so I thought I might go to the beach for a few days. Now I think I may stay home and come to this swimming pool instead. It’s really nice here.”

“Dad, can we go into the big pool now? Please? Kids are only allowed there with a grownup.” Orion turned to Quigley and smiled. “You can come, too, if you wanna. You know, test-drive your new boardies and all.”

“Thank you. I’d like that.” Quigley stretched out his hand, and Orion shook it. “My name’s Quigley. Pleased to meet you, Orion.”

Orion nodded then bounced up and down in the water, splashing to the edge as the men followed him through the complex, past the lap pool, to the deeper pool where swimming and play were both permitted.

The three of them spent the next half hour doing a little swimming, a little floating, and a lot of laughing as they splashed and played, dunking each other and towing Orion around the pool. Hugh was thrilled that the boy was confident and at ease in the water, although only the most doting of fathers would have called the boy’s arm and leg movements “swimming”. Still, he stayed upright in the water, and that was good enough for them all. Maybe those infant swimming lessons had given him a head start after all.

Hugh was also impressed with Quigley. The man had come to apologize to a child—something few adults would have bothered to do—and stayed for the entire afternoon, entertaining the boy and his father. He seemed to be a genuinely nice person, upset that he’d hurt the feelings of a kid. He’d come prepared to apologize and now happily relaxed with them in the pool.

I like him, and I’d enjoy spending more time with him. But wasn’t he planning to go on vacation? Or did he say he’d spend time at the swimming pool? Well, I’m pretty sure he said he had two weeks vacation, anyway. And wow! What I wouldn’t give to spend a bit of that two weeks with him. Who knew adults could make friends as easily as kids? Or is Orion the catalyst that breaks down barriers?

As they stood under the showers together, Hugh was trying to think of a way to ask if Quigley would be coming back to the pool again when Orion did it for him.

“Mr. Quigley, on Tuesday I go to craft class, and Dad said we also need to stock up on groceries. Will you be coming to the swimming pool at all on Monday or Wednesday?”

“You can call me Quigley, Orion. It’s my first name. No need for the mister. I’m on vacation for two weeks, so I’m a free man and can choose my activities. I’d like to meet you and your dad here again on Monday and Wednesday.”

“Dad took a week off work when I first came to live with him. That’s two months ago. He has six whole weeks off now. When he goes back to work, I’m going to summer camp. Mom sent me to summer camp last year, but this will be a different summer camp. They have kayaks, and I’m going to learn how to paddle them. By then I’ll be able to swim real good because Dad is going to teach me how. Aren’t you, Dad?”

“Absolutely. You can already float. What say we all meet here at two on Monday, then? That work for you?”

“Sounds like a plan.”