* * * *
I went home and tried to put the meeting with Connor out of my mind, but I kept worrying about it. We’d never been close, not even by rent boy standards. What could he want to talk to me about?
While Wills was in the utility room cleaning out the litter pan, I brought it up.
“Babe, I ran into a boy I used to know today.”
He paused and looked up at me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. He wanted to meet me at the Ball Friday night.”
“I thought we weren’t going? Or did you want to go without me? It’s…it’s okay if you want to.”
“Is it?”
His shoulders slumped. “No. I’d hate it like hell, but…”
“Thanks, babe. For a second there I thought you were getting ready to brush me off.”
“As if.” He rose from his crouch.
“Besides, the new Le Roi has made it clear he doesn’t want former rent boys at any of his festivities.” I took the plastic bag from him, knotted it, and went into the kitchen, where I dropped it in the garbage. Then I took the bag out of its pail. “I’m gonna throw this out. Care to join me?”
“Always. And you’re okay with missing out on all the balls?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. I was getting tired of dodging all those daggers their eyes were throwing my way because I had you and they didn’t.”
“You sweet-talker, you. What did he want to see you about?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say.” I handed him the bag, and we left the apartment to take it to the can at the side of the driveway. “He isn’t happy, that’s for sure. The man who’s keeping him right now gave me the creeps. He’s older, and Connor calls him ‘Daddy.'”
“Ugh. I don’t blame you for getting the creeps.” He opened the front door, and we walked down the steps to the sidewalk. He paused to growl at the Mazda that was parked in the spot in front of his Dodge, and I coughed to cover my laugh. “Do you think—Connor?” He raised an eyebrow, and I nodded. “Do you think Connor wants out of the business?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “It would be smart if he got out, but not many of the boys think that way. The money is too big a lure. The jeans he wore run about a couple of hundred bucks, and so do his running shoes. You can’t buy clothes like that if you’re working for Sears, not even with the employee discount.”
“Does he do drugs?”
“He used to do coke.” I removed the lid of the garbage can, Wills dropped the bag into it, and I put the lid back on. The air was cold, and we hurried back along the sidewalk. “That’s why I wouldn’t keep him in our stable.”
“You said Tim was against drugs, and you followed his beliefs on that.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ever…Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
“What? Do coke? No.”
“No, not that.”
“Then what? Come on, babe, don’t clam up on me. Did I ever ‘what’?”
“I was just wondering…And if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”
“Wills.”
“I was wondering if you ever…well…slept with him.”
“Who, Tim? No. Not that he wasn’t hot.” And not that I wouldn’t have jumped at the opportunity if Tim had ever asked me. I might have even been willing to go for a threesome with Cris if that was what it would have taken to get Tim. And if Cris hadn’t been in the picture, I wouldn’t have waited for Tim to ask. But I had no intention of telling that to my lover.
Wills ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath, a little plume of white in the chill evening air. “Paul said you were in love with Tim.”
If Paul were here, I would have kicked his ass. “Tim took me in when I was at the lowest point in my life, Wills. I had forty dollars to my name, I thought I’d killed a man, and I was all alone in the big city. So yes, I loved Tim. But I was never in love with him.”
“And…and you’re in love with me?”
“You bet your ass.”
He squeezed my hand, opened the front door, and followed me into the house. I waited until he shut the door, then backed him into it, braced my forearms on either side of his head, and leaned into him for a kiss. His lips were cold, and my lips grazed back and forth over them, warming them, pressing lightly before parting so I could lick and nibble at his mouth.
Behind me, someone cleared his throat, and I found myself thrust behind Wills, who stood in a slight crouch, with his fists raised.
“Mind telling your friend to stand down, Sweetcheeks?”
“Theo,” Wills growled.
“Wills, it’s okay, babe. This is Thomas. He’s a…he used to be a…”
“I was just visiting Layla. You’re looking well, Theo. Very well.” He looked Wills over. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“No, sir.”