by TJ Klune
Yes, I wanted to snarl at him. “No,” I said. “Just… talking with Jeremy here.”
“Hey, Griffin,” Jeremy said. “This is my friend Corey. We work together. He came out tonight to support me.”
Griffin. Griffin. Even his name was hot. Fuck this guy. He looked to be around Jeremy’s age, and his muscles had muscles. I thought about flexing and sticking out my chest, but I would probably look like a twelve-year-old wearing a dead animal, so I didn’t.
“A tourist, huh?” Griffin said, and while he wasn’t mean about it, it still rankled me. “That’s awesome. I like your top.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, feeling uncomfortable. “Charlie gave it to me.”
Griffin looked taken aback. “Daddy Charlie? That Charlie?”
“Yeah. You know him?”
“Everyone knows him,” Griffin said. “He’s a legend.”
Damn right he was. “He’s part of my family. He brought us tonight so we could see Jeremy.”
“And he’s dating my dad,” Jeremy said.
“Wow,” Griffin said. “That’s… wonderful.” Griffin shook his head. “He’s good people. Hella intimidating, but still.”
Hella, I mouthed to myself.
“Did you need something?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah, the photog needs us again for more shots. Wants to get some of us a little more… undressed.” Griffin waggled his eyebrows. “What say you, former Mr. Leatherman? Feel like loosening your tie a little?”
Jeremy sighed. “Sure. Sounds fine. Give me a minute, okay?”
Griffin nodded. He glanced at me. “Nice to meet you, Corey. I’ll take care of Jeremy. It’s good to see someone coming in to support him.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Sure. Thanks. You too.”
Griffin gave a lingering look at Jeremy before he went back inside, the door closing behind him.
We sat in silence for a moment. I finally said, “He seems… nice.” I almost said alive but realized that wasn’t exactly a compliment.
“He is,” Jeremy said, staring out into the parking lot. “Been in the scene for a while. Good guy.” He shook his head. “I better get back in.”
“Right. You have to go get… naked. Or whatever.”
Jeremy laughed. “Nah. I’ll just have to unbutton my shirt. I’m not really into public nudity when there’s so much… public around. You want to come back in?”
My eyes bulged. “To watch you unbutton your shirt?”
He glanced at me with an unreadable expression. “If that’s what you want.”
I forced out a laugh, reminding myself that we were just two guys being friends. “Nah, bro,” I said, punching his shoulder. “That’s not my ish.”
He tilted his head. “That’s not your what?”
I had no idea. “Um, you’re white. It’s not for you to understand. Just roll with it.”
He stood, leather squeaking. But this time it wasn’t funny, because the toes of his boots were pressed against mine and I was eye level with his crotch. I gulped as I looked up slowly, my gaze running over his stomach and chest until I got to his face. It should not have been as hot as it was, being in such a seemingly submissive position. My porn brain wondered if anyone had ever been in this exact position and called him Daddy. It wasn’t my kink, but I could see why it could be.
“If you’re sure,” he said, voice deeper than it’d been just a moment ago. He was once again in Mr. Leatherman mode, and I snapped my mouth closed to keep from drooling.
I nodded.
“Okay. You going to stay, or…?”
I shrugged. “Might call it a night. Have to work in the morning.”
His teeth flashed as he smiled. “I know.”
Of course he did. “Right. Well. My boss is big on punctuality. Bright and early, and all that.”
“Is he? Sounds like a hardass.”
“You have no idea,” I said honestly.
Jeremy chuckled. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint your boss, then.”
“No,” I said quietly. “I wouldn’t want to do that.”
He looked down at me for a moment longer before shaking his head. “I’ll probably head on home after I get done with the photos. Do you want me to tell the others you’re out here?”
“If you could.”
“Yeah.” He stepped back, and I found the strength to breathe. “Just… thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being here. For me. It means a lot.”
“What are friends for?”
He nodded, and something crossed his face that was gone before I could figure it out. “Yeah. Friends.” And then he did the damnedest thing. He reached out and touched the side of my head. “I like the hair. Looks good on you.” He looked at me for a moment longer before heading for the door.
I should have been relieved.
I was disappointed instead.
He stopped with a hand on the doorknob. “As a friend, can I tell you something?”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Go for it.”
“The leather suits you like you wouldn’t believe. But you don’t have to do that for me. I like you just the way you are.”
And then he was gone, leaving me to gape after him.
It took me a full minute to finally say, “What in the fucking fuck.”
Chapter 10: Men and Their Meat
COREY: WE HAVE TO HAVE A BARBECUE NEXT SATURDAY
MadMatty: WHAT? WHY? WHAT HAPPENED?
NanaBanana: lmao! brb!!!
LarryBerry: I thought we talked about caps
MadMatty: WE DID. WHY A BBQ?
Corey: SOMETHING HAPPENED. I DON’T KNOW WHAT.
PaulyShore: This is not a Monday morning conversation.
SoVainDarrenMayne: Why am I in this thread?
IDreamOfVince: Paul >_< u kno wut dat is
PaulyShore: Yes, Vince. I know what that is
IDreamOfVince: sexface.
NanaBanana: ha! Idek
Queen4Life: Is this why you were panicking last night?
Corey: YES. I ACCIDENTALLY INVITED JEREMY + ROBERT FOR A BBQ. I DON’T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. FUCK
NanaBanana: ikr =D afk
LarryBerry: Language!
MadMatty: THAT’S FINE. SATURDAY WORKS. WE CAN HAVE IT AT THE HOUSE.
SoVainDarrenMayne: I’m busy on Saturday
Queen4Life: No you’re not. You will be there
NanaBanana: wtf
IDreamOfVince: sat is kewl w/ us
PaulyShore: God I love it when you speak for me
IDreamOfVince: {MISSING SYMBOL Wide-headed rightwards arrow} {MISSING SYMBOL Wide-headed rightwards arrow} {MISSING SYMBOL Wide-headed rightwards arrow} dis way 2 sexface >_<
SoVainDarrenMayne; I’m being serious. Drop me from this thread
NanaBanana: n00b ily
LarryBerry: Everyone will be there. Darren, that means you
SoVainDarrenMayne: Fine
NanaBanana: fierce af
Corey: EVERYONE HAS TO BE ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOR.
PaulyShore: lol
Queen4Life: lol
MadMatty: LOL
LarryBerry: lol
SoVainDarrenMayne: lol
IDreamOfVince: lol
NanaBanana: Why did everyone type that? I don’t get. brb afk
Corey: NEVER MIND. I CHANGED MY MIND. THIS IS CANCELED
MadMatty: TOO LATE. ALREADY TEXTED CHARLIE. SATURDAY IS A GO
Corey: Fuck
LarryBerry; Language!
“PAUL USES an ice cream truck to lure children!”
“Did you know that parrots can live for up to seventy-five years?” Nana asked us from her recliner. She was wearing a muumuu with pictures of Sylvester Stallone’s face ironed onto it. I learned early on it was better not to ask. “Some even longer.”
“And some a hell of a lot shorter,” Paul muttered as he walked toward the kitchen carrying a pan covered in tinfoil.
“You better not be threatening my bird!” she shouted after him.
“It wasn’t a threat!” Paul called back. “It was a promise!”
“Pay him no attention,” Nana cooed to Johnny Depp. He was sitting on a perch next to her recliner. “He just doesn’t understand how special you are. And how smart. Who is the smartest bird in all the world? Yes, it’s you.”
Vince leaned down and kissed Nana on the forehead. “Hi, Nana.”
“Pretty!” Johnny Depp cried. “Pretty, pretty!”
Vince leaned over Nana to kiss Johnny Depp on his beak. The bird ruffled up its feathers as if pleased. “And hello to you too. I’m going to go see if they need help in the kitchen.”
I set Wheels down, and he began to run around, his cart squeaking behind him. Johnny Depp shuffled on his perch before lifting his leg and pointing his talons at Wheels. “Baaad dog,” he said. “Baaaaaaad dog.”
Wheels ignored him, sniffing everything he could find.
“You look stressed,” Nana told me, hands folded on her stomach. “Tough week?”
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
“We could always go in for another massage, if you think that would help. This time I think we should pretend that you’re the sugar daddy and I’m the gold digger. We can ask Sandy for a wig and everything. We can’t go to the same spa, of course. I’m sure they have our pictures up at the front desk. That’s the seventeenth business I’m not allowed to come back to in Tucson.” She grinned gleefully. “I’m aiming for twenty by the end of the year.”
I sighed. “I don’t think that will help.”
She scoffed. “Says you. I’m older than you, kiddo.” She looked me up and down. “Love the dress. It fits you well.”
I looked away. “Sandy got it for me.” It was… pretty. It made me feel good. It was a white skater dress cut just above the knees. It had blue splotches on it like it’d been brushed with paint.
Nana sniffed. “He has good taste. It’s very summery. Goes well with your skin too. I should have him take me shopping.”
“He tried that,” I reminded her. “Remember? The police were called.”
Nana waved a hand at me. “The manager and I had a disagreement.”
“You told him that you would find out where he lived and burn his house down.”
“Like I actually would. My days of pyromania are firmly behind me. Ever since Miami.” Her eyes shifted side to side. “But since I can’t talk about that by court order, why don’t you tell me what’s got you all in a tizzy, my lovely girl.” She craned her neck over her shoulder. “And where are Sandy and Darren?”
“In the car,” I muttered. “It was decided that Darren would look better with Sandy attached to his face.”
“Young love,” Nana said with a dreamy sigh.
“I was sitting between them in the back seat,” I growled. “They could have waited. I barely escaped with my life!”
Nana smiled knowingly. “You’re so overdramatic. As your grandmother, I approve.”
That struck me more than I expected. I knew the Austers considered me to be part of their family, but to hear it spoken aloud still managed to knock me for a loop. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into them. And Paul and Vince. You don’t know the things I’ve heard. It’s like living in a house of horrors filled with dogs in heat.”
“They’re happy,” Nana pointed out. “That’s a good thing.”
I slumped down onto the arm of her recliner. “I know. I’m just….” I didn’t know how to finish that.
She patted my knee. “You’re the thing that we talked about at the spa that you don’t like to hear.”
“I’m not lonely—”
“And even if you were the thing,” Nana said as if I hadn’t spoken at all, “it’s okay to feel that way, so long as you remember that no one is going anywhere. Just because some people are caught up in their happiness doesn’t mean they’ll forget you exist. No one gets left behind. Not here. And not ever.”
“Things are changing,” I whispered as I looked down at my hands.
“They are,” she agreed. “But that’s how life works. If we don’t grow with our surroundings and new situations, we get stuck and become stagnant.”
She had a point. I didn’t know if that was exactly what I was feeling, but it felt close. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t find a way to refute it. I didn’t feel stuck, not with everything I had going on, but there were times when I felt like everyone was moving quickly around me and that I was in slow motion. Every now and then time would snap back in place and I’d be struggling to catch up with all that had happened. “I don’t know what to do,” I admitted. “I don’t know if there is anything I can do.”
“I don’t know if there is either,” she said. “But as long as you see it for what it is, you’re doing okay. You’ve got a lot going on, Kori. Your future is almost here. Everything you’ve worked so hard for. It’s not uncommon for people in your position to feel overwhelmed. It’s the whole about-to-face-the-rest-of-your-life thing. It can be intimidating for anyone.”
I looked down at her. “How do I know if I’m doing the right thing?”
She shrugged. “You’ll know. Or you won’t, and you’ll have to course-correct at some point. But there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not a mistake necessarily. It’s just… a road you don’t know you’re going to travel.”
I leaned over gracelessly and kissed the top of her head. “You’re pretty smart.”
She snorted. “It was the drugs I took as part of a government testing program in the sixties. They said it was LSD, but that was a lie.”
Before I could follow up on that, the front door opened and Sandy walked in, his lips swollen, his eyes bright. Darren followed, looking smug.
“Gross,” Nana and I muttered at the same time.
Sandy’s eyes narrowed. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” Nana said. “Kori was telling me about this dress you got for her. It’s beautiful.” Jesus, did she know how to play Sandy well.
“Isn’t it?” Sandy said. “I have impeccable taste. I even got Darren to throw away his seventeen pairs of cargo shorts.”
“It was four pairs,” Darren said dryly. “And you didn’t get me to do anything. I came home to find you’d broken in and replaced them.”
“Look at your thighs,” Sandy demanded. “They deserve to be seen. And no one needs clothing that has more than four pockets on a single garment.”
Sandy had a point. Darren was wearing pink chino shorts cut high up on his strong legs. If Darren was anyone else, I might have drooled over him. But since he was the Homo Jock King… ah, hell. I still drooled a little. He looked good.
Darren rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to go get a beer.”
“Men,” Sandy said as he ogled his boyfriend’s ass as he walked away. “Useless until I actually need to use them.” He turned back to Nana and me, and I didn’t like the glint in his eyes. “Charlie’s here. And he brought Jeremy and Robert! Isn’t that fun?”
“Ow!” Nana hissed, jerking away from me. “Kori, you are a hell of a lot stronger than you look.”
I glanced down to see I was gripping her arm. “Shit,” I said as I stood. “Sorry. Are you all right?”
She rubbed her arm. “Fine. I’m very delicate, in case you didn’t know.”
“Paul’s a candy ass!” Johnny Depp shrieked.
“I am not!” Paul yelled from the kitchen. “Nana, I swear to god, I will fucking destroy that goddamn bird if you keep teaching it stupid shit!”
“I don’t!” Nana bellowed back. “And everyone knows that harming animals is the first sign of a serial killer. Along with head injuries as a child and a propensity for wetting the bed, which describes the entire summer you were seven! We had to buy rubber sheets because you kept flooding your—oh, Charlie! Come in. Come in. I need to ooh and ahh over your gentleman.” She grunted as she pushed herself up from the recliner, smoothing down her muumuu.
I turned slowly to look at the doorway. Charlie stood just
inside the entryway, Robert at his side, looking as dapper as always. He took off his tan Havana hat and handed it to Charlie, who hung it on the coatrack.
Charlie leaned down and kissed Nana on the cheek. “Hello, dear. You’re looking sprightly.”
Nana blushed as she giggled. “Oh, you old flirt. Stop it before Robert gets the wrong idea.”
“I wouldn’t blame him,” Robert said. “Geraldine, you are a vision.”
It took me a second to figure out who the fuck Geraldine was, until I remembered that Nana wasn’t actually her name.
“Oh, this old thing?” Nana said, and for some reason she curtsied, and quite ably. “It’s just something I had in the closet. I made it for the premiere of Rambo: First Blood Part II back in 1985. I was convinced that Sylvester would see me and decide he needed to hack his way through my jungle. Alas, it didn’t happen.”
“He didn’t like it?” Robert asked.
“Oh, I wouldn’t know,” Nana said. “His security team made it quite clear I wasn’t allowed anywhere near him. You know how it is. Did you know he made a soft-core porn film before he made it big? He played a character called Stud. But enough about me. How are you? I haven’t seen you since we were introduced at Paul and Vince’s wedding. I fear that must have been intentional by those in power.”
“This might have been a very bad idea,” I breathed.
“You say something, Kori?” Charlie asked me.
I shook my head. “Nope, just… realizing that my choices have ramifications I didn’t expect.”
“She’s having an existential crisis,” Nana confided to Robert. “I was giving her sound advice before your arrival.”
Robert looked over at me, frowning slightly. “I hope everything is all right.”
“Oh, I imagine it is,” Nana said. “Speaking of making things all right, where is that son of yours who I still haven’t met? I have a feeling that he’ll do wonders for the current situation.”
“He’s getting the—here he is. Jeremy, come here and meet Geraldine. She’s Paul’s grandmother?” The last was a question directed toward Nana, who nodded. “Paul’s grandmother.”
Jeremy stepped through the doorway. He was wearing a blue short-sleeved button-down over blue-and-white checkered dress shorts that were, if possible, tighter and smaller than Darren’s. And while his thighs weren’t as big as Darren’s, they were still a gift from god.
