in a circle. “Remember that scene at the ice cream parlor when they were, like, five? Oh. My. God.”
“Don’t remind me,” Mr. Knox—Jim—grimaced. “Though, now that you bring it up, ice cream sounds kinda good. I don’t suppose there’s any of that in the basket?” He winked at Susan.
“As it happens, we’ve got watermelon for dessert,” Susan scolded. “And healthy cupcakes with candles.”
“Sounds perfect to me.” Jesse patted his stomach. “Time to get back into shape.”
The day was ideal—sunny with fluffy white clouds and about eighty degrees. It was mild in the shade of the big oak tree where we’d laid out the blanket. We were having the picnic at a park near Jesse’s house, a quaint place with a red covered bridge over a river, lots of green lawn, and an elaborate jungle gym for kids, though Eli and Micah were more interested in the bubble wand.
I’d driven down from Minneapolis to Jesse’s farm to spend a week with him around the twins’ eleventh birthday. It would be the last trip of the summer. Next week, Jesse returned to Madison to start football practice. I’d be going back there myself in three weeks for the start of our senior year.
I was looking forward to us being in the same place again. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that’s true, but my heart couldn’t possibly grow any fonder, and it was hedging into frustration now. Over the summer, Jesse wanted to be home with his family to help out on the farm, and I had an IT job lined up at home in Minneapolis. So, we’d spent three months apart with the occasional visit.
For the Fourth of July, Jesse had driven up to Minneapolis and met my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We’d had a great time, staying in a large Airbnb rental on a lake. There’d been BBQs, water skiing, board games, a euchre tournament, and sitting around the firepit at night.
My female cousins were jealous as fuck. And they were right. Jesse Knox was fine.
It was the first time I’d ever had a boyfriend around my family like that, for a whole week, sharing a room and everything. It had been a little weird. I was the first gay person in my family. And I think Uncle Ray drank more that week than I’d ever noticed before. But overall, it had gone really well. My generation couldn’t care less, and I think that helped the older folks relax. My parents said Jesse was a “thoughtful, serious boy.” They liked him a lot.
This was my third trip to the Knox farm too. It was amazing in the summer—so green and abundant. Wildflowers grew along the driveway and barn. There was a pond for swimming, and the warm summer nights were alight with fireflies and more stars than I’d ever seen before, growing up in the city.
“Eli! Micah!” Susan called. “We’re gonna eat!”
The boys ignored her, continuing to run with the wand. The rest of us dove into the food. I knew by now that Susan would just let them play until they decided they were hungry and came over. As I’d heard her say many times—don’t sweat the small stuff.
“You have a heavy class load this coming semester?” Jim asked me as I was tearing into a fried chicken leg.
I nodded, trying to chew quickly. “Yeah. This chicken is amazing, by the way.” I smiled at Susan. Susan smiled back. “I have twenty hours. Full load. But I get to take an actual game design class, so I’m excited about that. We create a little game for our final project.”
“That sounds like fun,” Jim said politely, though I figured he was not the gaming type.
Jesse blew out a breath. “My semester’s gonna be baked between football and my internship.”
Jesse’s BSN program required that he intern his senior year. He was going to work at a Madison hospital. I knew he was looking forward to that, nursing real patients, even if it would be a lot to wrangle.
“Look at the bright side,” I said. “You don’t have to do Quiz Bowl this year.”
Jesse gave me a private smile. “You know? I’ll actually miss it.”
“Yeah right,” I scoffed, nudging his shoulder with mine.
“Well,” he admitted, “I’ll miss you firing random questions at me constantly.”
“Oh, I see,” I teased. “Well, if that really does it for you, we might be able to arrange something.”
Jesse laughed—and blushed—and I busied myself with eating chips. Probably best to hold down the sexual