by Gerald Lopez
“I don’t see anything on my face,” I said.
He raised his hand and traced my deeply etched laugh lines.
“Manly,” he said, before grabbing my face with both hands and planting a hot passionate kiss on my mouth. Pushing his tongue through my lips, he found my tongue and started sucking on it. For a moment I lost myself in the heat of it all. It would’ve been so easy to stay lost there a while, but suddenly remembering where we were and the risk of it all, I pushed him away. The poor guy looked like a wounded puppy, his lips turning downward as he reached for the door. I grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Not where you work. No matter how horny you are. It’s not the best idea. And not in a bathroom where the local homophobic, redneck cop can arrest us both. Hell for all I know you could be a plant by the cops.”
“If you don’t want me, just say so, Layton.”
I still had my grip on his arm and pulled him to me. I pulled his hand down to my crotch. “Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
Jimmy smiled and I kissed him hard on the mouth then spoke. “What time do you get off work? I’ve got an empty bed just waiting for us.”
“In ten minutes, but I don’t have a car.”
“I’ve got my truck. I’ll wait out on the deck till you’re done, unless you need to be more discreet about leaving with a customer.”
“No. Not tonight. The boss lady isn’t around.” He unlocked the door and let himself out.
I needed to take a piss, and it was better if both of us didn’t leave the bathroom together anyway.
* * * *
I left the bathroom, and walked out to the spacious deck. There were a few occupied tables and a couple having drinks in the corner. Looking toward where I’d seen the blue light, I noticed that there were no boats in sight. Anjelica came out onto the deck with a drink in her hand, which she held out to me.
“Compliments of the house. I noticed you didn’t drink much of the wine so I brought you a ginger ale. Jimmy’s a lucky guy, if I may say so.”
“Is he also a big mouth?”
“Big enough, I’m sure, Sir,” she said, laughing. “But no, he’s not a big mouth, honest. Unfortunately, he can be a little obvious when friends are around and my mother, the boss is off for the night. But he doesn’t mean to be blabby, and there were a few of us who had our eyes on you. Have I talked too much or too freely?”
“No, it’s alright. Just keep it all in house, if you will, Anjelica. I don’t need the neighbors knowing. And call me Layton.”
“Ok, Layton. Poor Jimmy could learn a thing or two about discretion.”
“I’ll see what I can teach him,” I said. Anjelica and I both knew that’s not what I had in mind to teach Jimmy and we both laughed.
Ten minutes passed quickly and Jimmy came out to get me. We walked out to my truck and got in. While I was driving, Jimmy asked me what I was doing in Shelby. I told him that I was there to find out who was the heir to the Kennedy estate—after all, that’s what Leticia had told the lawyers, and by now all the pertinent people probably knew about me. Jimmy was impressed. When we stopped at one of the few stop lights in town he interlocked his fingers with mine and it felt sweet, and warm, and good. I took the opportunity to check him out more closely from the corner of my eye. He was thin, but solidly built, and older than I’d first thought… he caught me looking at him.
“I’m a very young looking twenty-nine. More than legal age for anything you might have in mind, Layton.”
In a few minutes we were in front of my motel. “Let’s see what kind of company car the client left for me,” I said.
I turned the corner and heard Jimmy gasp. “Damn, Layton! That’s a Jaguar, a black—freaking Jag.”
I parked the truck and Jimmy wasted no time walking to the Jaguar. I reached into the Manila envelope that I’d gotten from Leticia and pulled out the car keys with the attached clicker. A press of a button and the Jag’s doors unlocked. “Wanna go for a ride, little boy?” I said.
“Yeah, but not in the car.”
“Oh, good answer,” I said.
We headed upstairs to my room where we grabbed at each other’s clothes, practically tearing them off one another. Hungry mouths and hungry tongues found each other as I guided Jimmy toward the bathroom and turned on the shower. There was a desperation in me that caught me by surprise. Deep inside I needed this. We both shuddered as we felt the cold water on our hot bodies. I pulled Jimmy close to me with my back to the water to shield him from the cold. His back was to me and I wrapped my arms around him.
“You’re my big protector shielding me from the cold. I like that. I like that a lot, Layton.”
I nuzzled Jimmy’s lower neck, making my way to his ear while my hands roamed around his smooth, slick chest. His slender body was firm but lacked definition. On the other hand, his ass was perfect. In fact, it was the very definition of a “bubble butt”. The water was warm now, so I spun Jimmy around and we switched places so that his head was under the shower and he was facing the wall. This gave me a nice look at his perfect ass. I washed it with soap, rinsed it, then crouched down and kissed it. I could make a meal of him.
Jimmy turned around, pulled me up and kissed me hard before making his way downward, leaving behind a trail of small kisses. After a while we left the shower and finished getting to know each other in bed. Later, I lay on my back with his head on my chest, my arm was around him, and his fingers were playing with my light chest hair.
“Do I need to set the alarm for you, Jimmy?”
“No, thanks. I have tomorrow off. Does your question mean I’m invited to stay the whole night? I’m not getting booted onto the street now that we’re done.”
“No, you’re not getting booted out. And I don’t remember saying we were done. I should spank your butt for both those comments.”
“Let me make it easy for you, then,” he said.
He turned around, lifting his butt in the air and wiggled it my way. Just because I didn’t think he expected it, I gave his butt a quick slap then kissed it. He turned and we rolled around a bit in bed before getting more serious. In the end, we were wrapped in each other’s arms and Jimmy was fast asleep. Looking at him, I kissed his forehead. I had no delusions about what was going on here. It was nothing permanent or even short term, just two people keeping each other company and having fun.
The next morning I got up early, brushed my teeth, and sat at the table without bothering to dress. I grabbed the Manila envelope from last night and opened it. There was the aforementioned appointment card for the men’s clothing store and a plain white envelope. It contained a more than generous amount of cash—five grand to be exact. Damn! That would definitely buy a lot of wining and dining. But for now, it would buy breakfast for me and the sweet guy waking up in my bed.
Jimmy got up and stretched his slender body, arms reaching to the sky. I glanced at his nearly hairless body. It formed an almost perfectly straight line except for that ass. That did it. Now Jimmy wasn’t the only thing waking up in the room. His eyes caught sight of how my body was responding and he smiled in appreciation. “Good morning,” I said.
Silently, Jimmy walked over to me, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind and kissed my neck. Without letting loose, he slid around and sat on my lap. Wrapping his legs around mine, he began kissing me full on the lips. We were in the middle of tongue wrestling when he looked down and gave me a squeeze.
“And a good morning to you, too, Woody,” he said to my cock. “What are the plans for today, big guy?”
“Are you talking to me now, Jimmy? Well, after some morning sex to set the tone for the day—” I couldn’t help but laugh before continuing. I was happy at the moment and carefree. “If you’ve been really good, we’ll have breakfast then you can show me around the area.”
“If I’m really, really good can I see you try on your new suit?”
“Damn! You remember me telling you about that last night. You do have it bad for m
e.” I smiled at him. “You can come, but only if you’re really, really, really good.”
I wrapped my arms tightly around him, while his arms were around my neck and stood up. Then quickly transferring my hands to under his butt, I held him. He wrapped his legs around my waist and I walked us to the bed. Then Jimmy proceeded to be really, really, really good.
We showered jointly again, which was fun, and I looked for clothes. I grabbed a baby-blue Polo shirt, denim shorts and my blue flip-flops for myself. Jimmy was thinner than me, but I found some decent dark-blue drawstring shorts and a button-down, blue plaid shirt for him. After dressing, we were admiring ourselves in the mirror when I noticed that Jimmy was still barefoot. I walked to the side of the door, grabbed my brown flip-flops that I’d left there and tossed them his way.
“See if these fit. They’ll beat those work shoes you were wearing.”
He put them on and looked puzzled… they were a little big on him. I walked over and put my arm around him, then whispered in his ear. “Did I tell you how sexy I find a man in flip-flops? It’s a fetish of mine.”
I kissed his neck behind his ear and watched him looking down at his feet before he tried to walk in the flip-flops.
“I’ll manage,” Jimmy said, “and they do beat my clunky work shoes.”
I grabbed his hand and led him to the door. “I’ll treat you to breakfast wherever you want. That should make up for all your pain and suffering in my flip-flops.”
He laughed. “I’m looking forward to riding in your new wheels, Layton. I’ve never been in a Jag before.”
I locked the room and we headed down to the new car. Once we’d situated ourselves in the plush interior, Jimmy informed me I could treat him to his favorite place downtown.
* * * *
There were a few cars on the road and they were all heading in the same direction. When we arrived downtown, parking spaces were scarce. A car started leaving at the end of the street, so I drove up and quickly grabbed the space. We then got out and walked.
Jimmy tripped over his flip-flops on an uneven spot in the sidewalk, but didn’t fall.
“Damn! Layton, you’ve got some big feet.”
“You know what they say about big feet,” I grinned.
“Yes and I know it’s true… first hand.”
We both laughed and he pointed out our destination… in front of us stood a place that really took me by surprise.
Chapter 4
Surprises and Answers
It was a German bakery of all things. We entered and were greeted by a large man standing behind a glass display case filled with tasty looking pastries. He had long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing a white shirt with black pants.
“Hello, Jimmy,” he said, in a booming but friendly voice. “Who’s your handsome friend?”
“Down, boy, he’s all mine,” Jimmy said.
“I’m Layton Shane. Are all the men in town so friendly?”
“My name’s Hans, and I for one am friendly, but spoken for. There are a surprising amount of us friendly men in Shelby. In a small town like ours you’re bound to run into more of the type while you’re here.”
“Maybe,” I said, “but for now I think I have my hands full.” Glancing at Jimmy I saw him smile.
“I think you’re being a little too friendly, Hans,” Jimmy said. “I don’t want your partner Jerhome getting mad at me for bringing Layton in here. But what you said is true, in this place Layton could throw a stone and hit a gay guy. Oops maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I’ll have my usual. See anything you like, Layton?”
I couldn’t resist looking him up and down with my best come hither look and he blushed. “Everything looks good to me. Why don’t you pick out something for me to eat, Jimmy?”
“Besides you, he means,” Hans said, letting out a roar of a laugh, which made us both laugh.
“Two cinnamon rolls and two orange juices to go,” Jimmy said.
As we left the bakery with our bag of goodies in hand, Jimmy spotted a bench shaded by a tree close to the Jag. As we sat to eat our breakfast, he pointed out the men’s clothing store across the street located in a two story building.
“These cinnamon rolls are really good—homemade too. Reminds me of the ones my mom made when I was a kid,” I said. Closing my eyes I could see Mom in her white kitchen rolling out the dough for the rolls and sprinkling the fragrant cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of it.
“I never cease to be surprised in this place,” I said putting an arm casually around Jimmy’s shoulder. While taking another bite of my cinnamon roll I looked across the street at the clothing store. “Is that an apartment above the shop?”
“I don’t really know, Layton, it’s not my kind of place. I’m just a return visitor in these parts. Besides, clothes in that shop are well above what a waiter makes.”
“Then it’s probably also above my regular salary as a detective. Most of my clients don’t normally have such upscale needs. Usually my jeans and boots wardrobe fits the bill.”
We finished our breakfast and got back in the car. “Which way to the rich folks?” I said.
Jimmy directed me back the way we came, and once we’d headed out I decided to go back to work. There were questions I had about this town, lots of them.
“Ok, Jimmy. How about explaining to me how a German bakery and a nouvelle Italian cuisine restaurant end up in a ‘blink and you miss it’ Louisiana town?”
“That’s easy enough to explain. The town was founded by folks from Germany whose people had migrated from Italy. The rich families here go way back to the Roman legionnaires, or whatever they called them, and the people before them and so on and so on. I never was good at history, I just know that the people go way back.”
I drove past my motel.
“Keep going ‘till the road splits, then go left,” he said.
“So, how long have you been visiting this place?”
“Anjelica and I went to high school and college together back home in South Florida. She was one of the first people I told about my being gay. When I came out to my parents they weren’t quite as understanding, so Anjelica invited me to stay here at her family’s vacation home when off from high school for the summers. I was able to make spending money helping out at her family’s restaurant. Then it kind of became a tradition for me to come here whenever I was on a break from cooking school. It’s not like I would visit my family. The last place I worked closed, so I’m here until I find something better.”
He leaned his seat back and put his bare feet on the dashboard to stretch out. With my right hand I reached out and rubbed his foot.
“You do have a thing for feet, don’t you, detective?”
“Yep. So what do you do when you’re away from here, Jimmy?”
“Well, not much actually. Someday I want to open my own restaurant, that’s why I also got a degree in business. Anjelica told me I should get Cicero’s to let me try out some of the recipes I’d learned while at cooking school. As a matter of fact, I cooked the dessert you ate last night.”
“Good job, chef. You’ve got real talent in the kitchen. Tell me, what do you think of the folks here?”
“They’re extremely wealthy and they kind of stick to themselves. They seem to be trying to keep this town separate from the rest of the state; bringing in their own people like the Cicero family and the German bakery. I always found that a little strange… there’s something just not right about this place. Don’t get me wrong, people here are nice enough to me, but… I don’t know, there’s just something I can’t put my finger on.”
“How does the Kennedy family fit in around here?”
“They’re not the wealthiest people in Shelby, but they seem to be the most important. People here don’t really talk much about them, almost like they’re afraid to or something. This isn’t their regular hangout place. The son went to school away from here and then traveled with his older sister a lot, I’m not sure about the other sister.
When they’re in residence they pretty much stick to themselves and don’t ever come to the restaurant. They prefer the high-end members-only private club restaurant. Our turn’s coming up—left will take you to the road leading to the old Kennedy estate. The right turn will take you to the other homes and the clubhouse.”
We got to where the road split and stopped at the stop sign. While there were no other cars around I took the opportunity to reach over and give Jimmy a sloppy, wet kiss. I then turned left down yet another road canopied with moss-covered live oak trees. It was shady and beautiful. Reaching over, I squeezed Jimmy’s knee. “Can we get close to the house without being seen?”
“There’s a big gate in front and it’s the only house on this road. You’d better slow down, I’ll tell you when to stop. No one lives full-time in this house anymore—it’s used as guest quarters and to host parties. When the parents were still alive, there used to be a lot of important guests coming around. Now the people that come here are a little more unusual.”
It wasn’t a long road and it ended just in sight of a sizeable, ornate, wrought iron gate.
“Wow!” I said. “Gorgeous place.”
The house was impressive, surrounded by live oaks and situated well above flood level.
“It’s a raised up Greek revival style home built in 1850 or the mid 1850s I don’t remember the exact date,” Jimmy said. “I’ve heard about it for years. Anjelica’s mom loves to talk about it every time I come to visit. She lusts after this house. Those stunning wide steps leading up to the verandah are hell on the old folks, so a ramp was installed on the side for them to use. My favorite things are the fancy Corinthian columns with the painted white wrought iron in between them. There’s also a nice courtyard out back with a view of the bayou, which has some pretty notorious stories attached to it. You know… guests nude sunbathing when they thought no one was around, or midnight trysts between folks who weren’t married—not married to each other, but to others that were unaware of things. Lots of stuff to interest a detective.”
