Heir for Hire

by Jerry Cole

  “Here,” Basil said. “The Walker family has been here for generations. Why would we move when we own all the pulp mills around here?”

  Trevor nodded. “Your sister said something about that. Is it true you were both born in the Walker mansion?”

  “Yes,” Basil replied. “I’m surprised she told you that. It’s a little weird.”

  “Whatever,” Trevor said. He took a sip of his cocktail—something light yellow with a lime on it that Basil couldn’t remember the name of. “No one expects the rich to be, y’know, normal.”

  Basil looked up. “I feel like I should be offended by that.”

  “Yeah, you’re going to cry all the way to the bank,” Trevor said.

  “I’m not crazy,” Basil said quietly.

  Trevor looked around them, and Basil cracked a smile. He didn’t want to laugh at himself, he didn’t think it was funny, but Trevor was right. The situation had gone beyond absurd at that point.

  “A little crazy, maybe,” Basil said. “What about you? Where are you from?”

  “Illinois,” Trevor said. “Some shithole town you’ve never heard of. I moved to Taher because, well, I wanted to study. I also wanted to get away from my parents.”

  Basil sipped on his Corona with lime. “Not a good relationship?”

  “Oh, no, don’t get me wrong,” Trevor said. “I love my parents. They’re great people. Super hardworking.”

  “I love my parents too,” Basil said, shrugging. “I still hired you.”

  Trevor smiled. “It’s not that kind of thing,” he said. “I have no problem being honest with my parents about, who I am or anything like that. They’re just…they just worry about me. They already have enough to worry about with my sisters and stuff so I don’t want to make it any worse.”

  “They worry about you?”

  “They just…they don’t understand my life,” Trevor said, looking away from Basil. “It’s not a bad thing or anything, but like, I’m gay and they don’t get it. I want to be an actor and they don’t get it. They have nothing against it, I mean, I don’t think so.”

  Basil raised his eyebrows. “You don’t think so?”

  “Well, they don’t think it’s the most dignified profession or anything,” Trevor said. “They also know it’s a lot of competition.”

  “They’re not wrong,” Basil said. He took another sip of his drink and watched as Trevor considered what Basil had just told him.

  “I guess they aren’t,” Trevor finally replied. “They’re rarely wrong. Still, it’s kind of my job to prove them wrong, isn’t it?”

  Basil licked his lips. “I guess.”

  “I already have a good relationship with them,” Trevor said. “You know, for what it’s worth. I just don’t want to be an extra burden.”

  “I doubt they consider you a burden,” Basil said quickly, quietly. He wasn’t sure why he had said that, but it was making Trevor smile. He quickly realized his heart started to beat faster every time Trevor grinned at him and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he was nervous. Everything about this situation was making him nervous. It probably had nothing to do with Trevor.

  “You’re sweet,” Trevor said. He concentrated on his cocktail for a few seconds. When he spoke, his voice was so quiet Basil had to strain to hear him. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” Basil replied. “You can ask me anything.”

  “You’re…why didn’t you ever try to get a boyfriend? Like a real one?”

  Basil looked up at the ceiling. “I’m not gay,” he said. “I just want my parents to get off my back. I thought that much was clear when I hired you.”

  Trevor nodded, averting his gaze when Basil tried to catch it.

  “Why?”

  Trevor opened his mouth then shut it. Basil wondered what he was thinking, but he had already asked and he didn’t think that he could ask again.

  “It’s nothing,” Trevor said. “I just…I thought something, but I was wrong. So, anyway. Are we going to order appetizers? I hear they are out of this world in this restaurant.”

  Trevor smiled at Basil again and Basil forgot everything else he wanted to ask him.

  Chapter Ten

  Trevor had been able to clock a bottom from fifty feet away ever since he was seventeen years old. That was what was so fucking confusing about Basil. At first, he hadn’t even pinged on his gaydar—not even an ‘oh, this guy might be queer.’ It had been deadly silent. Trevor didn’t make it a habit to go for unattainable guys. He liked feeling wanted, desirable. In fact, he had rarely been the pursuer in his prior relationships. His first boyfriend had been a quiet kid in high school who dealt weed on the side and started putting candy in his backpack whenever he wasn’t looking. When Brad finally approached to tell him it had been him, Trevor was more than ready to date him. Once Brad lost interest in wooing him, Trevor lost interest in him.

  Trevor liked being pursued. He was pretty sure this didn’t count as being pursued.

  Something happened when he had been talking to Basil at the restaurant. He had seen something in Basil’s eyes. It happened very quickly, it almost wasn’t there, but Trevor was pretty sure he had seen something. He was trying not to think about it too much. This was a job. He knew there was no chance he could get through the year if he didn’t keep thinking of it as a job. One flash of something—Trevor wasn’t sure what it was—in Basil’s eyes meant absolutely nothing. Trevor reminded himself he barely knew Basil in the first place. Not just that. Basil was his boss. Even if he was his pretend boyfriend, Basil was still his boss.

  All that Trevor had to prove that Basil would actually pay him for the year, even if the yearly contract wasn’t fulfilled, was Basil’s word. He knew he still had to sign a contract and he assumed Basil had arranged that for the next week, but anything could happen. Basil could get sick of him. Worse of all, he could find a wife and Trevor would be left jobless and alone. He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat.

  He was thinking about all these things as he was about to get into Basil’s car, which was much nicer than his own, and Trevor felt like the cocktail had gone to his head. He definitely didn’t want to drive. Basil asked him if he wanted a ride home, and he knew he couldn’t just say no. It fell as part of his obligations to say yes when his boyfriend offered him a ride. He was pretty sure of that.

  “Trevor,” Basil said. “Are you getting in?”

  “Sure,” Trevor said. He got in and smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I was totally spacing out.”

  “It’s fine,” Basil said, smiling back at him. Basil looked weird without his glasses. He had always been good looking, but now that Trevor could actually see his eyes, there was something almost irresistible about him. Trevor kind of hated it. It would have been easier not to overanalyze everything Basil was doing if he didn’t just happen to find his new boss—his new boss and pretend boyfriend, he reminded himself—devastatingly attractive. He needed to get a grip on himself. He was drunk and he was lonely. It had been so long since he dated anyone properly, and it was easy to get his feelings confused.

  He was acting.

  This was just a job.

  He needed to stop thinking about it as anything other than a job.

  “Did you have fun tonight?” Basil said as he pulled out of the parking lot and into the street.

  “Yeah,” Trevor said. “A lot more than I thought I would.”

  He should have probably kept that to himself. It didn’t matter, though, because Basil seemed to think it was funny.

  “I had a lot more fun than I thought I would too,” Basil said. Trevor could hear the engine noise from the car. Because Basil lived outside of the city and in a different town, they had to drive down a country road to get back to his apartment in Taher. He thought about his car, abandoned in the parking lot of the fancy French restaurant and groaned.

  “What’s the matter?” Basil asked.

  “Do you think I’m gonna get towed?”

  Basil frowned
. “I doubt it,” he said. “There’s plenty of parking there.”

  “My car is such a piece of junk,” Trevor said then laughed. “Seriously, I think they may not want it marring their perfect image. I did park in the back, y’know, just in case.”

  “You shouldn’t have to do that,” Basil said quietly.

  Trevor laughed again, this time throwing his head back. “Dude, have you seen my car?”

  “Good point,” Basil said. “Look, if they do tow it, don’t worry about it, okay? I got you covered.”

  Trevor gave him a long sideways look. His thoughts were too much. He needed to sober up and he needed to do it quickly. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes,” Basil said. “I do. You’re my boyfriend, right? I made you drive all the way out there and then I’m not even gonna pay for it? That would be extremely shitty.”

  Trevor shifted in his seat. “I don’t know if I can get used to this.”

  Basil winked at him. It made him feel a little sick. “I’ll take care of you,” Basil said. “I promise. It’s a clause in our contract, isn’t it?”

  Trevor wasn’t sure what to say, so he settled for nodding and stared at the street. He didn’t want to look at Basil anymore. He wasn’t sure why but he started to find it difficult.

  ***

  Trevor and Sage didn’t exactly live in a good part of town. They didn’t live in a bad one, either. It was middle of the road but close to school. It was definitely better than what Trevor would be able to afford on his own and he appreciated Sage letting him live with her, because ultimately, that was what she was doing. She could spin it in any way she wanted but Trevor wasn’t stupid enough to believe anything else. Basil parked on their street, near the curb. Trevor’s street was always busy. He imagined it was much busier than most of the streets Basil had to deal with.

  Basil was struggling to parallel park. Trevor couldn’t exactly blame him, but he still had to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to be rude when Basil was going out of his way to be nice to him. When he finally managed to fit into the spot, Trevor smiled at him.

  “Are you coming in for a night cap?”

  Basil cocked his head. “Do you want me to?”

  “Sure,” Trevor said. “I mean, you’re already here, aren’t you?”

  Basil didn’t say anything. Trevor smiled.

  “Look,” he said. “If your sister knew you were here and you hadn’t even stepped into our apartment, she would probably be mad at both of us.”

  Basil bit his lower lip. “I feel like you’re quickly turning into a bad influence, Trevor.”

  “Probably. I mean, what else are fake boyfriends for?”

  Basil shook his head.

  “You can call me Trev,” Trevor said.

  “Do people call you that?”

  Trevor chuckled. “Only the ones I like,” he said. “And, y’know, boyfriends are usually included in that.”

  “As they should be,” Basil said.

  “Fact,” Trevor replied, opening the door and letting the cool air flood the car. “Come on. Let’s go in.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “He’s so drunk,” Sage said between giggles. She was drunk too. They were sitting around in a semi-circle and Basil drank so much he was leaning on Trevor’s shoulder. The night cap Trevor offered him originally had turned into more than a few beers and Sage had broken the rum open. It was a cheap bottle of rum, but it had done plenty to get everyone hammered. Basil seemed to be the one who was affected the most—it made sense, since Basil was the one who said he drank the least.

  Whenever Trevor and Sage got to hang out, they would put bottle after bottle away. Trevor didn’t think Basil got the opportunity to do that nearly as often as they did. Trevor wondered what Basil did when he had free nights. He thought he might ask him some other time, when they weren’t getting incredibly drunk right in front of Basil’s sister.

  Basil flashed them both a toothy smile. “You know, I’m right here,” he said. “I’m totally fine, by the way.”

  Sage chuckled. “Do you want another drink?”

  Trevor shook his head. “He does not.”

  Basil narrowed his eyes. “You don’t speak for me!”

  “You’re really drunk,” Trevor said. “And unless you want me to take care of you all damn night, then hell yeah, I do speak for you.”

  Basil glanced at him, his eyes glassy. His hair was disheveled from when he had his head on Trevor’s shoulder, and he looked younger than Trevor had ever seen him. Trevor tried to ignore the growing knot in his stomach. He was drunk too. Getting drunker had definitely not been the brightest idea he ever had. He had gone into his apartment fully intending to sober up. Then Sage decided they needed to celebrate by giving them some bullshit excuse and Trevor had been roped into it even though he knew better. There was something so tempting about her offer. It had been too hard to turn her down.

  Well, probably. He hadn’t actually tried very hard at all.

  “We should get him to bed,” Trevor said.

  “Wait,” Sage replied. “Before you do, maybe I should take a couple of pictures of you guys.”

  Trevor cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. He had been having a lot of fun. While he hadn’t forgotten the reason Basil was there in the first place, it was certainly not something he had stopped to think about. At least not until Sage had said that.

  “That’s a great idea,” Basil said breathlessly. “You should. Does cousin Louise follow you on Instagram?”

  “She does,” Sage said, smiling. Her blue hair was up in a messy bun and she wasn’t wearing any make-up. “She’s totally going to call Mom.”

  “Oh, cousin Louise is the family gossip,” Basil said when he saw the look on Trevor’s face. “She would make sure this got back to the family.”

  Trevor grimaced. He knew this was just a job, there was no reason for him to be upset about this and yet there he was, feeling unsteady. He closed his eyes and reminded himself this was his job. He was supposed to be doing his job.

  Basil seemed to sense something was wrong. He grabbed Trevor’s hand and squeezed it. It was the sort of thing only people he dated had done, never any other male friends of his, and it almost made him throw up. Basil smiled at him as he let him go, obviously completely unaware of what his touch was doing to Trevor.

  Trevor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to get laid. The moment he got laid, he would be able to continue performing his duties without having to worry he might be messing things up with Basil. With his job. With his livelihood.

  Trevor’s eyes shot open as he felt Basil lean his head on Trevor’s shoulder again. Trevor’s heart was jackhammering in his chest.

  He couldn’t let some school boy crush ruin the first really good thing that had happened to him ever since he had left home, at least financially speaking.

  “Don’t worry,” Basil said, his voice coated with sleep. “We totally don’t have to do anything. I can just…”

  He didn’t finish the sentence. Trevor wondered if he wanted him to.

  “This is great, anyway,” Sage said. “There’s the perfect amount of intimacy here. Trev isn’t too shitfaced so this will look perfectly legit on the internet. God, this might actually work. I thought it was so stupid when Basil first told me about it, but now I’m getting so freakin’ excited.”

  Trevor glowered at her, unsure of why he was doing so. She didn’t even have time to question him. She searched her bag for her phone while Trevor decided whether to put his arm around Basil. He was only holding him upright. He just didn’t want him to fall to his face. There was nothing friendly or romantic about what he was doing, he told himself. This was just a job.

  “Perfect,” Sage said. “You two stay like that, okay?”

  Trevor didn’t say anything. He didn’t even nod. Basil edged slightly closer to him so their legs were touching. Even though they were separated by several layers of clothes, Trevor still felt a surge of electricity ema
nating from where Basil was touching him. It was weird, and it was wrong. It made him want to jerk away from Basil, not because Basil had done anything wrong, but because Basil was tempting Trevor. Not in a good way. In a way that put everything at risk.

  Sage took a few pictures, the artificial shutter camera noise coming from her phone piercing in the otherwise silent room. She smiled triumphantly and Trevor’s stomach churned.

  He shook his head, slightly but enough that his roommate obviously noticed it.

  “Tilt your head up,” Trevor said to Basil, his tone uneven.

  Basil looked at him, his eyes watery. “What?”

  Trevor exhaled sharply. “Do you want me to do this?”

  Basil tilted his head. “What?”

  “Kiss you,” Trevor said. Basil’s breath smelled like rum and beer and the way he was acting wasn’t exactly encouraging Trevor. He was far too drunk for this. They both were.

  Trevor was pretty sure Basil was going to reply he didn’t want Trevor to kiss him. Instead, he stared. Trevor squirmed a little as Basil’s face approached his own, his eyes huge. Trevor’s own eyes were still open when Basil’s lips barely grazed his own. The kiss was soft, warm, and so brief that Trevor barely had any time to process it. Basil moved away from him before Trevor could kiss him back, before he could jerk away. Before he could do anything.

  “Shit,” Sage said. “I didn’t get that.”

  Basil leaned into him again, saying nothing. This time, he gave Trevor a chance to react. Basil pressed his soft warm lips against Trevor’s own, and Trevor parted his mouth so their tongues could meet. The kiss was prolonged and electric. It wasn’t just deep and passionate, it was perfect. Basil’s hand on Trevor’s face made it better somehow, his palm hot against the skin on Trevor’s cheek.

  When Basil broke off the kiss, he grinned at Trevor, whose heart was jackhammering in his chest. Trevor smiled back at him, though he was sure his smile looked thin, tentative.

  Basil turned his face away from him. When he spoke, he addressed Sage. “Did you get that?”