Heir for Hire

by Jerry Cole

  “Got it and uploaded it,” she replied. “It’s already blowing up.”

  Trevor tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. “I’m going to get cleaned up,” he said. “Then I’m going to go to bed. Can you look after him?”

  Sage nodded when her phone buzzed in her hand. “Shit,” she said. “Amanda wants me to walk over to hers. Do you mind?”

  Trevor did mind. He really, really didn’t want to be left alone with Basil right then. He wanted to go to his room, put a pillow over his head, and think. Maybe scream. He definitely needed to be away from this situation.

  Basil chuckled. “He doesn’t mind,” he said, then dissolved into a fit of giggles.

  Sage bit her lips, obviously trying to stop herself from laughing. “He doesn’t?”

  “He’s my boyfriend,” Basil said then chuckled again. Trevor’s breath caught in his throat. Sage turned to regard him.

  “It’s fine,” Trevor said. “Go see her. She’ll probably do something crazy if you don’t.”

  Sage threw a throw pillow at him. He dodged it gracelessly and stuck his tongue out at her. He wondered if he could talk to her about this. He probably couldn’t. Sage was like family to him, but Basil was actually her family. He knew which side she was likely to land on if things went wrong. Shit, why hadn’t he even contemplated that? He thought his relationship with Sage was unbreakable, but of course her brother would be a determining factor.

  “You’re sure you’re okay here?” Sage said one last time.

  Trevor swallowed. Then he nodded. “Yup,” he said. “Totally fine.”

  “Okay,” she said. She grabbed her things, stuffed them in her purse, and stood up. She went for the door and waved at both of them before she opened it and stepped out into the night. Trevor noticed she wasn’t wearing a coat, all she was wearing was her flimsy gray cardigan. Any other time, he would have stopped her. Right then, he was furious at her. He just wished he knew why.

  Basil toppled over, face first into the soft plush carpet. He giggled into the floor and Trevor closed his eyes tightly. “Come on,” he said as he put his hand on Basil’s shoulder. “Get up. You can’t sleep like this.”

  Basil shook his head, his face brushing against the carpet. It must have tickled him because Basil kept giggling. Trevor resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

  “Yo,” he said. “Get up. Come on.”

  Basil groaned.

  “Come on, Basil,” Trevor said. His voice sounded way more irritated than he expected it to sound. “You need to get up. You can’t sleep like this.”

  Basil whimpered. Trevor rolled his eyes.

  “Okay, stick your arms up,” Trevor said. Basil did what he was told, barely. Trevor reached around to unzip his hoodie and slipped it off him, his fingertips touching Basil’s warm skin through the fabric of his button up as he did. Basil had borrowed Trevor’s hoodie because he left his jacket in the car and didn’t want to go and get it. Trevor’s hoodie fit him a little snuggly because Trevor worked out a lot and his arms were pretty big. It wasn’t that Basil didn’t work out, he obviously focused on staying lean instead of on building muscle.

  “Take your shirt off,” Trevor said.

  Basil giggled. “You said no sex.”

  “We’re not having sex,” Trevor replied, shaking his head. “This is a nice shirt and you don’t want to sleep in it. Plus, I imagine it’s not very comfortable.”

  Basil basically purred as Trevor shifted so he was sitting in front of him instead of behind. He didn’t want to undo Basil’s buttons but he didn’t see how he had much choice in the matter.

  He tried to go for the first button, but the way he was positioned made it pretty impossible to actually undo it.

  “I need you to help me,” Trevor said. He was trying very hard to keep his voice even but it was difficult. It was difficult to do anything with Basil nearly passed out next to him and obviously horny. He shook his head as Basil looked up at him with that horribly appealing toothy grin.

  Basil was straight, he reminded himself.

  Not just straight. He was his boss.

  “Okay, whatever,” Trevor said. “Sleep in this. See if I care.”

  Basil chuckled. “You care,” he said. “You care lots.”

  Trevor licked his lips. “I don’t,” he said. “Come on. We better at least get you on the couch.”

  Basil slumped against Trevor. It made Trevor’s job a little harder, but he was up to the task. It was a hundred times better than undressing him. He put his hand around Basil’s waist and rose to his feet, unsteadily and almost falling down to the floor when he tried to steady both of them. Luckily, Basil wasn’t stumbling that much and Trevor finally managed to deposit him on the sofa. It was a two-seater leather sofa Sage and Trevor had found by the dumpster a few years ago, so probably nothing as fancy as what he was used to but it would have to do for the night.

  “You okay?” Trevor said.

  Basil groaned. Trevor smiled. He went to the bottom of the couch, took Basil’s shoes off him, and noticed his socks were mismatched. His smile widened and he sighed as he frowned. What was he doing? He couldn’t let himself have feelings for this man. That was the easiest way to fall into a terrible trap he knew he wouldn’t be able to climb out of.

  He placed Basil’s shoes next to him. Then he skulked away to the bathroom, grabbed the bucket they kept under the sink, and took it to Basil. He would probably need it in the morning.

  Basil’s eyes were closed when Trevor got back to the living room. Despite himself, he approached Basil’s face. His black hair was plastered to his forehead, his mouth was open and he already had some drool slowly sliding down the side of his face.

  Trevor stuck his hand out and watched it hover near Basil’s face. A part of him was telling him he shouldn’t brush Basil’s hair away from his face, it was too personal. It crossed the boundaries of their agreement. Trevor was only a pretend boyfriend, not a real one. Pretend boyfriends didn’t do that kind of stuff. Did they?

  Basil stirred slightly and Trevor couldn’t help himself anymore. He knelt down on the sofa and brushed Basil’s wet hair away from his eyes.

  “You need a haircut,” Trevor said quietly, more to himself than to Basil.

  “You need a haircut,” Basil replied, giggling. Trevor rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help but smile.

  “I put a bucket next to you,” Trevor said. “In case you get sick.”

  “You like me,” Basil said, his eyes fluttering open. “You wouldn’t look after me this much if you didn’t like me.”

  “I do like you,” Trevor replied. The lump in his throat was growing bigger. “I like you enough not to want you to puke on yourself and die, so roll over on your side, will you?”

  Basil did as he was told, just enough that Trevor wasn’t worried anymore. His eyes fluttered open and he set his gaze on Trevor’s face. “Aren’t you going to kiss me good night?”

  Trevor swallowed. “I think I’m good,” he said.

  “Your loss,” Basil replied. “Good night, Trevo—good night, Trev.”

  “Good night, Basil,” Trevor said. He resisted the urge to stroke him again and walked into his bedroom, trying hard not to slam the door behind him.

  ***

  Every time Basil moved, his head felt like it was about to burst open, like it was an overstuffed handbag filled with annoying, noisy, and jagged knickknacks. He normally didn’t drink this much, at least not when he wasn’t around his sister. His sister had always been something of a bad influence on him, even as kids, despite the fact he was the older one. She was the only one who seemed to care about being independent, who dragged him to all sorts of events even though Basil would have loved to just stay at home and do nothing instead.

  Of course, his sister could get away with being rebellious. Basil could not. He spent time away from home when he had gone a little crazy, like the year he spent in Holland or the first semester of college, when he’d had that weird affair with the pr
ofessor and the husband that liked to watch. That was the furthest he had ever pushed the limits. In a comfortable cocoon, one he was sure his parents could easily bail him out of if things went too wrong. This was different. This was something he was doing explicitly to get his parents off his back, and he felt like he was lost. His parents didn’t check up with him too often or anything because that would be extremely weird, at least as far as Basil was concerned, but they did expect him to fulfill his obligations.

  Apparently, his obligations included giving them children with someone like Jennifer Burton. He shuddered at the thought. Or maybe he was just shuddering at the hangover.

  He found ibuprofen on the coffee table in the living room. He thought maybe Trevor left it out for him—like the bucket, which gratefully remained unused—but he was pretty sure his sister and her roommate used the coffee table in the living room as some sort of storage shelf. He grabbed the little bottle, opened it, poured two pills into his mouth, and swallowed them dry.

  He didn’t want to wake Trevor up. He felt bad about the night before, at least the bits and pieces he remembered. Thankfully, it wasn’t that much. All he could really recall was being fucking obnoxious and teasing Trevor, saying he liked him when there was no good reason why Trevor should like him.

  He sort of remembered a kiss that had been done for the sake of performance. It had been egged on by his sister and then…something had happened. There was a big black hole in his memory until Trevor was kneeling in front of him, touching him, with a look on his face Basil didn’t think was real. It was probably just his drunk mind making shit up.

  The least he could do was make him breakfast. Trevor had been nice to him, far too nice. He had gone way above and beyond his obligations as a fake boyfriend and as an employee. As Basil yawned, he thought about a talk he needed to have with Trevor. They obviously needed to define their boundaries a little more if this was going to work. Basil really needed it to work, so he hoped it would.

  He started looking in the cabinets in their kitchen. Normally, he wouldn’t have even bothered to do anything like this, since it would have felt like a violation of boundaries. This wasn’t just Trevor’s kitchen, it was Sage’s. Sage was family. Sage made herself at home whenever she went over to his apartment.

  He finally found an old box of pancake mix. He set it on the counter, went looking for eggs and milk—almond milk would have to do—and finally found syrup in the cupboard next to the fridge. He was relieved. There was no way he could make pancakes if there was nothing to put on them. He wondered if Trevor would understand the pancakes were supposed to be an apology.

  He wasn’t sure if he would. He tried to make as little noise as he could as he got a mixing bowl out and started to look for utensils. He hadn’t been to Sage’s place that much, so it wasn’t as if he knew where everything was already. He was being careful to not slam anything or make too much noise, because if Trevor’s hangover was even a fraction as bad as his own it was already torture and Basil didn’t want to make it any worse.

  He was startled when he heard someone at the door.

  “Hey,” Sage said. He turned around to look at her. She was wearing the same clothes she had the night before, except she had borrowed what had to be her girlfriend’s jacket. It was a little big on her but Basil thought it still looked pretty good. Sage always managed to pull off almost any look. Basil had to admit it was just another reason for him to be jealous of her.

  “Hey,” Basil said. “Did you have a good night?”

  She shrugged. “The sex was really good,” she said. “The rest of the night, not as much.”

  “Oh no,” Basil replied, smiling. “What happened?”

  “I’m not too sure,” Sage said. “We were hanging out, having a great time talking to each other, and then…she kind of just started to cry? It was really fucking weird.”

  “That sounds really weird.”

  “She’s so hot, though,” Sage said.

  “Obviously,” Basil replied. “You wouldn’t put up with any of this shit if she wasn’t. Do you want some pancakes?”

  “Sure,” Sage said, smiling at him. She went to the living room, sat down, and took off her borrowed jacket and her scarf. “I guess I could do with some food. Is Trev awake?”

  “Not yet,” Basil said as he whisked the eggs into the pancake mix. “I don’t think so anyway. I feel bad. I think I got a little too drunk last night.”

  Sage smirked. “A little too drunk? That was, by far, the drunkest I’ve ever seen you. Did you throw up?”

  “Thankfully, no,” Basil said. “I think that would have been far too much for poor Trevor to deal with. God knows he already had to put up with enough of my shit.”

  Sage laughed, which masked the sound of Trevor opening his door. “I feel like you guys are talking about me,” Trevor said.

  “We are,” Sage replied. “Only good things.”

  “Yes,” Basil said quietly as he set his gaze on Trevor. He was wearing blue and green checkered pajama bottoms and he was shirtless. Basil tried not to stare at him but it was hard. Trevor obviously worked out a lot and there were lines on his stomach that marked his abs. Trevor caught him staring and flashed him a questioning look. Basil looked away from him, his cheeks burning. He normally wouldn’t have looked at a man like that. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him.

  “Hey, Sage,” Trevor said. He went to sit down next to her in the living room and Basil felt a stab of something in his chest. It couldn’t be jealousy, because that would be ridiculous. “Did you have a good night?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said. Basil watched from the kitchen as she turned to face him, their legs touching. As Sage recounted her night and Trevor laughed, grimaced, and gasped in the right places, Basil’s jealousy got worse. He was sure it was jealousy this time and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He shook his head as he focused on putting a pan on the stove and swirling the butter around it.

  “Sounds like your night was much crazier than ours,” Trevor said when Sage was done. “Your brother pretty much passed out the moment you walked outside.”

  Sage chuckled and Basil smiled.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t my best moment,” he said. “Luckily, Trevor here was more than willing to look after me. He made sure I didn’t pass out in a pool of my own vomit.”

  “I just put a bucket next to you,” Trevor said as he walked up to Basil. Well, that was what Basil thought, until Trevor stopped in the kitchen. “Did you make coffee?”

  “No,” Basil replied. “Shit.”

  Trevor smiled. “It’s okay,” he said.

  “That just seems like the next logical step,” Basil said.

  “Well, it would have made more sense than making pancakes, but it doesn’t matter. How do you guys feel about lattes?”

  Basil stared at him. “You can make lattes?”

  “Well, I can’t, but the coffee shop down the street can,” Trevor said. “I could really do with some fresh air.”

  “Okay,” Sage said before Basil could protest. He didn’t see anything wrong with having regular coffee.

  Trevor turned around and Basil watched him as he walked back to the door of his bedroom. Before he could close his door, Basil shouted after him. “Your pancakes will be ready when you get back.”

  Trevor stopped in his tracks, but he didn’t turn around. He didn’t say anything. All he did was open the door and go inside his bedroom, saying absolutely nothing to Basil.

  “Do you think he wants pancakes?” Basil asked, though he was speaking more to himself than to his sister.

  Sage popped up next to him, startling him. “He’ll probably want pancakes,” she said. “He eats like four thousand calories a day.”

  “Great,” Basil replied through gritted teeth, his heart beating fast in his chest. “Then he should like this.”

  Sage cocked her head, brushed a wisp of hair behind her ear and watched him. Basil stared back at her. “What is it?”

  “You
just…you look a little off,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

  Basil stared at the pan with the now bubbling butter and nodded. “Yeah, I think my hangover is getting to me,” he said.

  “Weird,” Sage replied, raising her eyebrows. “Are you sure you’re doing okay?”

  “Yes,” Basil said, his voice an unattractive whine.

  Sage scoffed. “Fine,” she said. “Touchy. Oh, by the way, putting those pictures up on Instagram and stuff? Totally worked.”

  Basil turned to her, cocking his head and regarding his sister with no small amount of curiosity. “What do you mean?”

  “Everyone’s congratulating you on finally being true to who you are and shit,” Sage said then covered her mouth when she laughed. “It’s so funny. A little depressing, but mostly quite funny.”

  “How is it depressing?”

  “I haven’t come out,” Sage said. “I probably never will.”

  Basil didn’t say anything to that. He wasn’t sure if there was anything he could say that would sound appropriate.

  “Do you want jam on your pancakes too?”

  “No,” she said. “That’s fine. I’m going to go take a quick shower.”

  Basil focused on the pancakes. He only knew Trevor was leaving the apartment because of the click of the lock as he opened it.

  Chapter Twelve

  Trevor fidgeted in the coffee shop. There was a long line, for which he was grateful. He normally hated waiting in line, but he really needed some time to be away from his apartment, and to really think about what happened the night before. He had gotten so carried away and this had just been the first date.

  Pretend-date, he told himself as he shook his head. He really couldn’t afford to think of them as actual dates. This was his job. His job was pretending, it was acting, and while so far he was obviously doing a decent enough job, he was getting lost in the deception of it all. He was the last person who needed to buy it. He should have been able to draw a big black line between his actual life and his pretend life. That was the most basic aspect of his profession.

  And this had everything to do with his profession and nothing to do with his actual love life. Because, despite the kiss Basil had given him, despite everything Trevor had felt, it didn’t mean anything. It hadn’t meant anything. He had kissed plenty of people on stage before—girls and boys—and he knew the feeling was almost always one of awkwardness, not one of desire.