As a forty year old single father I had gotten used to a quiet life. Everyday went the same way, like clockwork. I woke up at 7 am, took my morning shower, got dressed, cooked breakfast, got my son ready for school, worked my 9-5 office job, cooked dinner and was in bed by 10 pm most nights. I absolutely never expected that I would be sitting up at 3am on a Sunday morning in my underwear and getting wasted with my eighteen year old son's best friend, especially since this was meant to be my son's party.
I had been surprised at how quickly James had made friends at his new school. In fact when my boss first told me that I would be transferred to Los Angeles my biggest concern was how my son would handle life at a new school. He had always been a shy boy and was far from popular at his old school, and his mother's death six years ago had made him retreat even further into his shell.
But when he began attending Hester High School at the start of the year he was convinced by his drama teacher to join the school's drama group, where his talent apparently caused his popularity to sky rocket. In less than a week he had become exceptionally close with two of his fellow drama nerds, an obviously gay Latino kid named Danny Rodriguez and an incredibly pretty Asian girl named Erica Lee. All three of them were eighteen and in their final year of high school. Ever since they met it seemed that the three were inseparable and, a few months later, it became apparent that James and Erica were now a couple.
Earlier this evening I had gone to see the three of them in their school's production of 'Beauty and the Beast' (Not to brag or anything but James had been cast as the Beast). After the show had finished I met James to congratulate him on the success of the show and give him a lift home but was surprised when he asked if he could invite the rest of the cast back to our house for the after party. Having met most of his drama friends I knew that they were a good group of kids and gave him permission to host the party. I decided that I would let the kids have their fun while I would stay in my room and binge watch 'Friends' on Netflix.
I must have dozed off because I woke up at 2:30 am and immediately noticed that the music was no longer blaring and I couldn't hear anyone moving around. Finding myself with a strange craving for practically anything edible I made my way down to the kitchen. I turned on the light and jumped slightly when I saw a figure sitting at the table, one hand wrapped around a beer bottle and the other holding a slice of pizza.
"Hey, Mr. Smith," Danny said, flashing a smile in my direction and clearly quite drunk. "Sorry if I startled you."
"It's fine, Danny. I just didn't realise anyone was still here." I replied, standing in the doorway.
"Well, everyone apart from me and Erica left about half an hour ago," Danny replied "But I got the feeling that she and James wanted some alone time so I thought I might as well get something to eat. I hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all," I said, "Actually, do you mind if I join you?"
"Not at all," Danny said, still smiling.
I grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge, twisted off the cap, sat down across from Danny and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box in the middle of the table. Danny and I spent the next half hour or so making small talk before I noticed that Danny looked somewhat tense, as if he was preparing himself to do something. I mostly asked him questions about the show and rehearsals but he slowly began to turn the conversation towards mine and James's life before we moved here. I must have went through quite a few beers because before I knew it I could feel the buzz of intoxication set in.
"So, Mr. Smith," Danny said, sitting up slightly straighter in his chair, "I hope this doesn't sound too forward but... is it true what they say about you?"
"What they say about me?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah. That you're... you know... bisexual?" Danny asked, his cheeks turning redder by the second.
"Oh," I replied, certainly not expecting that question "Yeah, it's true."
"Wow," Danny said, looking surprised, "Did your wife know?"
"Yes, she was bisexual too actually," I replied casually.
"Really?" Danny asked, looking even more surprised "Does James know about you guys?"
"Yeah, we were never ashamed of it or anything," I said, before taking another swig of beer.
"Wow," Danny continued "I hope you don't mind me asking but... did you guys ever try... like, swinging?"
"Oh yeah," I replied, extracting another shocked look from Danny "We used back when we were first married, but after we had James we kind of stopped and tried to settle into a more traditional kind of lifestyle. Although we still did it every now and again."
"Oh, my God," Danny said to himself in disbelief "You know that's... kind of hot."
Suddenly, Danny stood up and slowly walked towards me.
