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Heir for Hire

Page 11

by Jerry Cole


  “You don’t know that,” Trevor replied. “You can’t know that for sure.”

  Basil had scoffed then. The moment he had, Trevor had known he had reached the limit of his patience. Trevor wasn’t going to be able to convince him of anything—that much became clear right then. Even if Basil enjoyed kissing him, something that played constantly in the back of Trevor’s mind lately, it obviously didn’t mean anything. Basil wasn’t queer, or if he was, he was so deeply in denial that his queerness might as well have been non-existent. Trevor wasn’t going to be able to get him to empathize with the shared queer experience just by talking to him. Basil hired the opposite of a beard, for fuck’s sake. He had been stupid to think he could even convince him it was a bad idea in the first place.

  “Look,” Basil had finally said, after a long moment of silence. “We signed a contract.”

  Trevor had sighed. “We defined boundaries too and look where that got us.”

  “That’s not the same thing,” Basil had said, a little meekly. Trevor could tell he didn’t quite believe what he was saying and he couldn’t help but smirk about that. His voice had come back a little more clear and sure the next time he spoke. “You know it’s not the same thing. This is the reason I hired you, Trevor.”

  “I know,” Trevor had said. “I think if you prepare them first, it will be easier.”

  “If I prepare them first,” Basil had replied. “I’ll chicken out. Look, I’ll pay you doub—”

  “No,” Trevor had said, instantly offended. “I don’t want you to pay me double. You’re right, this is my job and I should stop confusing it for something else. I’ll do it.”

  “Really?”

  “Fuck yes,” Trevor replied. “It’s your funeral. I just hope your parents have no contacts in the entertainment industry.”

  Basil laughed but Trevor didn’t join him. He didn’t feel like laughing at all. “Look, I’ll protect you, okay? If anything happens. I promise I’ll protect you.”

  Trevor sighed heavily, trying to ignore the growing dread in his stomach. People in his neighborhood got beaten for acting a little gay. The only reason he had escaped that was because he had been blessed with enough good looks that girls were always all over him, despite the fact they knew he would never get with them. That was how he made some friendships he was sure were going to last for the rest of his life.

  When Trevor came out, his opinion on boys suddenly became extremely important to his friends. If anyone ever bullied him or even gave him a look he didn’t like, Trevor could easily ruin that boy’s chances with any of the girls at school. He had become weirdly popular despite himself, because boys often thought impressing Trevor meant impressing the girls around him.

  Trevor learned to box because he knew he had to defend himself if bullies did happen to come up to him. He also happened to have defended a couple of his gay friends—and a boyfriend—who were very obviously queer and not nearly as intimidating or as popular as he was.

  Those hadn’t been fun experiences. Coming out with Basil—worse than that, pretend coming out with Basil—wasn’t just ridiculous, it felt like an insult to all the people who he had known and loved before Basil had come along to offer him the job. He hadn’t realized it would feel like a massive betrayal, especially as he was about to walk into the lion’s den.

  But a job was a job, he reminded himself.

  And Basil paying him to be his pretend boyfriend, well, that was the best job he ever had. It was only a year, he told himself. Then again, only two weeks had passed. Trevor felt like his life was divided between being in Basil’s employ and before that.

  He liked being able to pay his bills on time. He just wished his appreciation for himself had been equally heightened. His phone vibrated in his hands and he watched as Basil’s contact card came up on the tiny screen.

  Trevor insisted they take a photo especially for the occasion. He also said everything that referred to their arrangement should be something they only spoke about instead of text each other about. When he received a text from Basil, it was easy to forget Basil was only his pretend boyfriend.

  Basil asked him how he was doing. He asked him about his day. He sent him pictures of his lunch and once, he had even sent him a gym selfie. Trevor had sent a text back that just said the word “gay,” which got him ten kissy emojis. If this hadn’t been a job, Trevor would have been almost completely sure Basil was into him. But he wasn’t. That much was obvious because Basil was asking him to help him come out in the most ridiculous way to parents who would hate him. That was the reason he had been hired in the first place, Trevor told himself.

  And a job was still just a fucking job.

  ***

  Basil picked Trevor up at six-thirty. He told him they would watch movies and play video games in his apartment, so he should dress comfortably but still make an effort in case Basil’s parents happened to spot him going in and out of Basil’s apartment. Trevor couldn’t help but wonder how close Basil’s apartment was to his parents’ house. He knew it was part of the estate because Basil never kept that a secret, but he wondered if it was attached to his parents’ actual house. It was obvious Basil was a daddy’s boy, otherwise he wouldn’t have hired Trevor in the first place. He wondered how far that went.

  He hoped he wouldn’t have to pretend to sleep, or worse, sleep in the same bed as Basil. That would be torture. He didn’t like admitting it to himself, but he had more than a couple of dreams about Basil since they had kissed on the beach. He had done quite a good job at suppressing the feelings, though he noticed lately all the porn actors who he liked to watch were tall and slim, and they just happened to be wearing nerdy glasses. Basil hadn’t worn glasses on the first date, but after he stayed over at Trevor’s apartment and he hadn’t been able to take his contacts out while getting shitfaced, he opted for wearing his glasses on dates instead. Trevor liked Basil’s glasses, he thought they suited him nicely, but he hadn’t really had a fucking eyeglass fetish before he started going out with his stupid fake boyfriend.

  He hadn’t been able to hold back at the beach and he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to hold back now. He also didn’t know how far Basil would go with him and that was another concern. Basil hadn’t been the one who had stopped them last time, it had been Trevor, and Trevor had only stopped kissing Basil because he had been thinking about that talk Basil initiated, the one on boundaries. He didn’t want to freak Basil out by being too forward. He was surprised that hadn’t already happened.

  “This is a bad idea,” he said once he was done messing with the dials on the radio.

  “Chill out,” Basil replied. “What are we listening to?”

  “EDM,” Trevor said. “Songs with lyrics stress me out when I’m already anxious.”

  “What’s EDM?”

  “Relax,” Trevor said. “It’s gay.”

  “That means I should like it?”

  “That means you should at least pretend to like it,” Trevor said. “Or take an interest in it. You know, it’s not just about liking cock, right? There’s like a whole LGBTQ+ culture.”

  “But there are straight-acting people,” Basil replied.

  “Sure,” Trevor said. “Just like there are straight people who act like they’re gay. The point is, you should have done your homework. You should have found a couple of things about gay culture you enjoyed if you wanted it to be convincing you were actually gay.”

  “There are gay things I enjoy,” Basil said.

  “Yeah, name one.”

  “I like eighties music,” Basil said.

  “Hair metal doesn’t count,” Trevor replied, smiling. “I mean, it almost counts, but it doesn’t count. It’s not really gay enough.”

  “I like some reality shows,” Basil said.

  “The Amazing Race is not Ru Paul’s Drag Race, Basil,” Trevor said. “There’s a huge difference. Which you would know if you had done your research.”

  “Fuck, I don’t know,” he said. “I
like literature?”

  Trevor smiled. “That’s more like it.”

  “I didn’t realize gay people were such huge nerds.”

  Trevor shook his head as he laughed. “No, you’re a huge nerd, you just happen to be a huge nerd who is also gay,” he said. “See, you just needed to find the gay nerdy things.”

  Basil smiled, shaking his head. “I thought I was hiring a fake boyfriend,” he said. “Not a life coach.”

  “If you need to hire a fake boyfriend, you definitely need a life coach,” Trevor said. “You should be grateful I’m volunteering to act as the latter.”

  Basil shook his head. “Trevor.”

  “What?”

  “You know you can be a bit of a dick sometimes, right?”

  “I’m sorry,” Trevor said. “I’ll chill out. I’m kind of struggling with all this. I’m going to meet your parents and we’re going to pretend to be a couple and—”

  “There’s something else I like, for the record,” Basil said.

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Y’know, something gay,” Basil said.

  “Oh,” Trevor replied. He didn’t appreciate being interrupted just for that, not when he was talking about his insecurities. If he had to put up with his boss being a jerk, that just came with the job. Basil was his boss. Basil was not his boyfriend.

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?

  “You,” Basil said. “I’m talking about you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Basil realized Trevor had never been to his apartment when he drove past the iron gates of the Walker estate. One gate had an intricate ‘W’ in gold framing engraved in the middle, the other gate an ‘E’ in an equally fancy design. As Basil pressed the button to open the gates, he glanced at Trevor. He wondered why his sister had never brought Trevor to the estate, since she often brought her friends for overnight camping trips and bonfires. The grounds of the Walker estate were extensive and their parents were too busy to care about what Sage and her friends were doing, so they would get drunk and go swimming in the lake, streak, or smoke weed around the fire when it got cold. As long as they cleaned up after themselves, Basil and Sage’s parents were permissive when it came to the people who they could invite to the estate.

  They were a little pickier about who got to go in the mansion. That wasn’t ever really an issue. There was a pool house with perfectly nice bathrooms and beds for when it got too cold, and before Basil moved into the apartment above the garage, their friends could also stay there. When Basil and Sage were in prep school together and were sent back to spend the summer at home, they would bring a host of friends with them and spend the night getting drunk in one of the other properties around the estate.

  Now that they were adults, it was a perk neither one of them really took advantage of. It made sense with Sage because she didn’t even live at home, but it was different for Basil. He loved having his space to himself, but the grounds of the estate were so big and impressive it was almost a shame he was a bit of a loner.

  He knew they made a great location for parties.

  As he turned right, he caught a glimpse of Trevor’s expression from the corner of his eye. Trevor was moving his head, his eyes wide, and his mouth half-open.

  “What?”

  “I knew you guys were rich,” Trevor said.

  “Just, not this rich?”

  Trevor shook his head as Basil pulled up to the covered parking spot next to his apartment. He killed the engine and turned to Trevor, hoping to find something reassuring to say. He knew the first time in the estate was a little intimidating for most people, and everyone had different reactions to it.

  “I don’t live there,” Basil said, pointing to his parents’ house.

  “You don’t live in the mansion?”

  Basil shrugged. When he was growing up, people often called his parents’ house the Walker mansion, but that felt wrong. To him, it was just his childhood home. Sure, it happened to be a little big, and every floor had an intercom installed in it just in case, but to Basil, it was just where he had grown up.

  “That’s where I grew up,” he said. He pointed to the converted apartment above the garage. “That’s where I live now. Not at home. Just on the estate.”

  “Right,” Trevor said. “I mean, even if you did live at home, I guess you wouldn’t see your parents very often.”

  Basil smiled. “I actually see my parents a lot.”

  “Weird,” Trevor said. “I would’ve thought growing up in a house like this, you’d know exactly where to hide.”

  “Cute,” Basil said. “You know, they aren’t monsters. I don’t have to hide from them.”

  Trevor gave him a long sideways look. “Yeah,” he said. “I can see that.”

  Basil rolled his eyes. “This is different.”

  “Okay,” Trevor said simply.

  Basil sighed. He didn’t want to get into an argument with Trevor. He got out of the car and when Trevor didn’t, he wondered what was going on. He realized what Trevor wanted as he looked into the car and he remained unmoving on the passenger seat.

  Basil walked around the car, opened the door, and offered Trevor his hand. Trevor met his eyes and smiled, winking playfully at him.

  Basil swallowed. He hoped it wasn’t audible. Basil waited for Trevor as he closed the door behind him and Trevor grabbed Basil’s hand again, his fingers interlocking with Basil’s own. His touch was soft, warm, and it was enough to drive Basil a little bit crazy.

  Trevor caught his gaze again and his smile widened. Basil smiled back at him, his heart beating fast in his chest. For a second, just a fleeting second, he wondered if his parents were outside and could see this. Then he decided it didn’t matter when he got to his door, letting go of Trevor’s hand to fish his keys out of his pocket.

  ***

  It had been a long time since Basil brought a date back to his place. When the girls who he was with walked in, he was normally already busy undoing their zippers or getting rid of his belt when they walked through the door. With Trevor, it wasn’t anything like that. When he let Trevor go in before him, he wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. Trevor walked upstairs, took off his coat, and put it on the hook near the door. He hadn’t waited for Basil and he hadn’t extended his hand to grab Basil’s again. He supposed that made sense—it wasn’t as if they were actually dating—but without Trevor’s hand holding onto his own, Basil felt like something was wrong.

  He wasn’t sure what it was, and he was struggling to put his finger on it. Trevor had done his job. In fact, Trevor had done his job so well he had been the one to prompt Basil’s participation in the first place. Basil couldn’t exactly tell Trevor he wanted him to keep holding his hand, not when they were only doing it for the sake of performance.

  Trevor was performing, he reminded himself.

  It hadn’t felt like Trevor had been performing when he kissed him. His kisses had been so sweet, so deep, and so passionate, that Basil had trouble catching his breath when Trevor had pulled away. He had been having trouble not thinking about them ever since. He had been having trouble not thinking about Trevor no matter what.

  He didn’t think Trevor sounded particularly enthusiastic about meeting his parents and he almost let Sage talk him out of it, but he was sure this was what he needed. He had a plan and he expected to see it through. Yes, Trevor had been a bit of a wild card, things had changed because of him, but it certainly hadn’t been enough to put him off his plan. His resolve had only solidified when he had been hanging out with his parents.

  Backing out then wouldn’t just be silly, it would be foolish.

  He watched as Trevor walked to the sofa and sat down, stretching.

  “Would you like a drink?” Basil asked.

  Trevor turned to look at him. “Sure,” he said. “What do you have?”

  “Beer,” Basil replied as he took a peek into his fridge. “Water. Juice. Spirits.”

  “Beer is fine,” Trevor said
. “What are you drinking?”

  “Beer,” Basil replied. He grabbed two cold bottles of Corona out of his fridge, which was woefully understocked except for the variety of drinks he just offered Trevor, and went to sit down next to him. He took his keychain out of his pocket because it had a bottle opener on it and cracked both beers open, handing one to Trevor, who was sitting next to him and watching him with an expression Basil couldn’t quite read.

  “So, what do you want to do?” Basil asked Trevor after taking a sip of his drink.

  “I…I thought we were going to practice,” Trevor replied. “Isn’t that what you brought me here for?”

  “Practice what?”

  “Y’know,” Trevor said. “What we’re going to say to your parents. How you want to come across.”

  Basil tried to swallow down the knot in his throat. For some reason, though he wasn’t sure why, his feelings were hurt. He guessed he thought they would just be hanging out, like they normally did, instead of preparing for a performance. This made sense, though.

  They had a big show the next day and this was Trevor’s job. Of course he would want to rehearse.

  Basil took another long sip of his beer as he thought. “Can’t we just come across the way we have so far?”

  Trevor furrowed his brow. “You want to get drunk and make out in front of your parents?”

  “No!” Basil said. “God, no.”

  “Okay,” Trevor said. “Good. That would have been weird.”

  “I just…I just want it to come across as legit,” Basil replied. “What do we have to do to make it legit?”

  Trevor shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose we have to get our story straight.”

  “That makes sense,” Basil said. “Okay, so where did we meet?”

  “That one is easy,” Trevor replied, smiling. “I’m Sage’s roommate. She introduced us at a party.”

  “Which party? Do we have to make up a party?”

  “No,” Trevor replied, smiling. “We don’t have to make up a party. We did meet at a party a couple of years ago, remember? Sage wanted to do Friendsgiving because a bunch of our friends are orphans by choice and she invited you along. I was drinking wine in the kitchen, flirting with this blond guy, and you came up to me and introduced yourself. Do you remember?”

 

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