Chapter 18
Gordon
“Maybe I should have stayed home,” Beau commented when I parked my car at the front of Eric’s yard.
I killed the engine and glanced at him. He was rubbing at his temples as though he was developing a headache. It was all my fault. My nervous energy was hitting him the wrong way, and now he was hesitant too about us dropping by Eric’s for the game.
“No, I want you here,” I told him. Even saying it made me a little queasy but not because I didn’t want him here with me. I could have asked him to sit this one out and make up an excuse to tell Eric why he didn’t show, but that was the coward’s way out. Plus, if I wanted to key in my family and friends about my feelings for Beau, it was best that they got accustomed to seeing me with him.
“Are you sure?” he fretted. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I won’t be. All he’ll see are two friends. Come on.”
I stretched across the seat to peck him on the lips. I loved doing that and seeing his eyes light up afterward. He wasn’t smiling now though but looked a little lost. He had this same expression since we ran into Eric at the supermarket. I didn’t like this aloof side of him.
We exited the car, and I closed the door while Beau retrieved the six-pack from the back seat. Side by side, we walked. I guided him to the backyard where my nose led me. The aroma of burgers on the grill reminded me I had very little to eat today.
“You hungry?” I asked Beau. “Eric is a pro on the grill.”
“A little,” he answered. I squeezed his ass before we rounded the house and Eric materialized before us. His backyard was beautiful with a rectangular pool. Chairs were lined up on the lawn, and his grill was already fired up. He had a beer in one hand while flipping burgers with the other.
“I thought I heard you pull up,” he said with a grin when he saw us. “You guys came together?”
I’d at least prepared for that question. “Yeah, it made sense rather than risk Beau getting lost.”
Eric scoffed. “Not much around here for you to get lost.”
Eric nodded to Beau. “Go in and stack the beers in the fridge. My house is an open place. Feel free to come and go as you please.”
“Thanks, man.”
I watched Beau walk through the sliding doors and disappeared into the house. I turned back to Eric to find him watching me.
“What’s up with that guy?” he inquired. “How’d you meet him? Something about him seems a little off.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked, toeing off my trainers to sit by the pool with my feet dangling in the water. Eric opened a bottle of beer from the igloo packed with ice which was beside him. He handed it to me.
“Don’t know. Just a feeling. How’d you know him?”
“Would you believe me if I told you he’s Charlie’s French teacher?” I asked. The blood was rushing in my ears, but I was proud of the way I kept my shit together and answered his questions nonchalantly.
“No kidding!” he exclaimed. “So you're making friends with Charlie’s teachers now? Can’t be a bad thing for her grades.”
I scowled at him. “Of course not, but the guy’s from France.” I shrugged and left it at that. I owed him nor anyone else explanations.
“That explains the accent. Gotcha.”
If he’d wanted to say something else, Beau chose that minute to return, so he didn’t. Beau must have picked up that we had been discussing him because he gave me a questioning look.
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked Eric. I hadn’t even volunteered. He was just too sweet, but Eric wouldn’t let anyone around his precious grill.
“As a matter of fact, you can.” I frowned, wondering what he was up to when he handed Beau the spatula. “Flip the burgers for me, will you? They’re almost done. I need to go inside for a minute and make a call.”
When he entered the house, Beau spun toward me and waved the spatula. “Will you take over this thing? I’ve never flipped burgers before.”
I chuckled, relaxed now that we were alone. I pulled my feet out of the pool and got up. “You’ve never flipped burgers before? How come?” I removed the spatula from his hand, checked to ensure we were still alone before I kissed him. He smelled good with just a hint of smoke from the grill. I growled into his mouth, sucking his bottom lip into my mouth. Between our bodies, his cock began to harden against my thigh.
“You’ve got to stop kissing me like that Gordon,” he whispered. “You’re being a tease and knowing I can’t do anything about it. You’re working hard on being fucked, aren’t you?”
“Promises. Promises. Promises.”
His lips twitched. “We’ll see when I get you back to my place.”
“You’re on.”
If anyone had told me even a month ago that I would be flirting with another man about him making love to me, I would have laughed in their face. Now smiling at Beau, I couldn’t think of anything else in the world that I would want.
“For fuck’s sake, you’re burning the goddamn burgers!”
Eric’s shout brought me back to the present and damned right if I didn’t smell the burgers. He whisked the spatula from me.
“I don’t mind eating the burnt ones,” I offered, cringing when he shot me a glare.
“What was so damn important you forgot about our food?” he asked.
We all heard the car driving into the yard which was perfectly timed to avoid answering his question. Eric removed the burgers and placed them on a platter. He returned the tray to the table by the grill.
“Are you expecting company?” I asked him.
“Yeah, that would be a few guys from work,” he answered. “Did you think we were gonna eat all these burgers by ourselves?”
I grabbed his arm before he could move off to greet his other guests who were parking. “Hey man, I thought you meant just us. I didn’t know this was gonna be a party.”
“Eight people hardly make a party,” he answered and turned to Beau. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Beau looked uncomfortable but shook his head. “Not at all.”
We stood our ground and watched the small gang that walked around to the backyard where we were. Two of the other guys I knew from his work. Carlos, the Latino guy, was his partner. I had met Drew, the red-headed cop at a party once. The third guy, who was short and stocky was unfamiliar. After greeting them with fist bumps and shoulder slaps, Eric introduced him as Rocky, then included the one woman who had traveled with them. Celeste was introduced to us as a member of the police department as well. She worked in dispatch. From the way she was eyeing me, I knew Eric had whispered a bug in her ear.
The ‘not-quite-a party’ was almost as loud as one with so many men in the yard. We were forced to listen to cop jokes and details about their job. Beau didn’t speak much, and I was conscious of him the whole time we sat in the backyard eating. Everyone just grabbed a folding chair and took over a spot. He sat with Carlos and Drew. I would have wanted him to sit beside me, but as soon as I perched on a chair, Celeste occupied the seat I was saving for Beau.
“Eric speaks a lot about you,” she said, distracting me from the story Drew was telling.
“Wish he had told me about you,” I remarked before I could stop myself. I thought she would be offended, but she took my words the opposite way. The truth was, if I had known what Eric had up his sleeve, I would have turned down his offer when he had made it.
Celeste leaned closer to me and trailed her fingertips over my forearm. I fought not to pull away from her. Her flirtation would have been amusing except when I glanced over at Beau, he was bothered by it. He was frowning at us, his eyes shooting daggers at Celeste. My heart skipped a beat to see him so possessive. It felt good that he wanted me all for himself.
“There’s plenty of time to get to know me tonight,” she answered and shifted her head, so her long brown hair cascaded down one shoulder. She was a hot woman and knew it. She had excellent features and the cutest set of dimples that any straight man would find hard to resist.
“Eric’s got a thing about talking through the game,” I told her. “I doubt we’ll learn much.”
She continued flirting with me while I deadpanned her. It took her another fifteen minutes before she gave up, realizing I wasn’t interested. I was relieved when she got up from beside me, but as soon as we settled in front of Eric’s sizeable curved TV, she situated herself on the arm of Beau’s chair.
Beau managed to be amused, and they chatted in low tones not to disrupt us who were concentrating on the game. I cocked my ears trying to listen in on their conversation. If I didn’t know Beau was gay, I would have thought he was falling for her charms.
“Make yourselves useful and bring us more beer,” Eric told them, offended that they didn’t take the game more seriously than they should. Beau didn’t protest but looked relieved. He and Celeste disappeared into the kitchen. They returned with chips and beer and passed to everyone. My fingers brushed Beau’s when he handed me the bottle, and I tipped him with it. He smiled, his eyes full of love and I wanted to burst it out then, that I was fucking gay and didn’t care what anyone thought.
My phone rang and rather than risking Eric’s foul-mouthed cussing, I excused myself to the kitchen to take the call. It was from Charlie.
“Hey honey, how’s your stay at your aunt’s?” I asked her.
“It’s boring here,” she answered. “But it’s nice to see grandma again. She doesn’t remember that mom isn’t still alive.”
Alarm speared through me. “Oh no. I’m sorry about that. Do you want me to come get you tomorrow?” I couldn’t imagine what it must be doing to her for her to hear her grandmother talk about her mother constantly.
“Oh no, dad,” she replied. “At first it hurt, but it’s getting better. I’m learning all these cool things about mom. Did you know she won Little Miss Lake Charles?” For someone who was bored, she sure chattered a lot, but I allowed her. These past weeks had been a great bounce back for her, and I was proud that she was dealing with her grief.
“And how is Ollie taking everything?” I asked her.
“Um, well he spends most of his time in his room. I think he only came to escape you. Sorry, dad.”
Ouch. “No, that’s fine. As long as he isn’t in trouble.”
Eric stalked into the kitchen then and pointed at me. “You and I need to talk. Now.” His face was red from whatever had him upset.
“Charlie, I have to go,” I told her. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay, dad. Bye.”
I hung up the phone and turned to Eric, my defenses going up. “Something wrong?”
“Damn right something is wrong,” he grated out in urgent but hushed tones. “Your boy ain’t right, Gordon. He needs to go.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying not to show how much I was shaking inside.
“He’s fucking gay!” he exclaimed. “How can you not know, and you’ve spent the longest time with him.”
“Who says he is gay?”
“He practically just admitted to everyone when Celeste asked him if he had a girlfriend.”
Damn. I could feel the pressure building between my eyes. “So what if he’s gay?” The words came out despite the numbness of my lips.
“What do you mean fucking so what?” he bellowed. “This is Lacovia, not fucking Hollyweird! We don’t want his kind around here.”
I could sense myself getting pale, and I gripped the table at my back for support. The disdain in his voice gave me the urge to throw up the food he had just fed us. The vehemence in his tone was shocking. I had heard him joke about gays before, but many people around Lacovia did. I usually took it with a grain of salt.
“That’s a homophobic thing to say, Eric,” I tried to reason with him. “What does it matter if he likes men or women? This is the twenty-first century for fuck’s sake, and it’s about time Lacovia catches up with the rest of the world.”
“I don’t give a damn what he does, but I don’t want him under my roof. I don’t want that goddamn bullshit in my house.”
“I can’t believe you right now!” We never had cause to talk about gay people in a serious manner before, so I had no idea how much his hatred would run. During high school there were the odd teasing and labeling effeminate guys as gay. There may have been some offensive comments from him as well when he saw gay content, but this was Lacovia. It was rare for someone to bring up a topic about gay people. It was a topic I usually avoided and steered clear of because it struck too close to home. His eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared.
“It’s alright, Gordon,” Beau stated, showing up at the entrance of the kitchen. “It’s not a problem for me to leave.” He gave a sad smile to Eric. “Thanks for inviting me.”
He turned to leave, and as I watched him turn, it was as though everything was happening in slow motion. I couldn’t let him go like this.
“If he goes, so will I.”