Foolish Me Read online

  “We can shut her in the kitchen for the time being. We won’t be that long.”

  “Wills, if we’re not that long, we’re not doing it right.”

  He gave a huff of laughter. “Let me get the Sherpa bag Dad and Jill gave her for Christmas.”

  “She gets Christmas presents too?” I crouched down and watched the kitten fastidiously lick her paws and clean her face and whiskers.

  “Oh, yeah, babe. And birthday presents, and any other occasion you can think of—Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s Day. It’s like having a baby.”

  I looked up quickly. Did Wills regret that we couldn’t have children? But he was sauntering out of the room, and the sight of his ass encased in that black silk drove everything else out of my mind.

  Was he wearing anything underneath those pants? Well, I thought, grinning to myself, I’ll find out soon enough.

  I stroked a finger over Miss Su’s tiny head, and she butted my hand, then made her way to the utility room beside the kitchen, where Wills had evidently put a litter pan. After she used it, she came back to me and rubbed her head against my leg.

  “Oh, Miss Su.” My own kitten. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms.

  By the time Wills returned, her eyes were closing. She uttered a soft, questioning “Mrrow?” when I put her into the bag, then curled into a ball on the blanket that was on the bottom and began to snore, a dainty little girl-kitty sound. When I’d thought Jasmine was coming to live with us, I’d done some reading about kittens. Being in the Sherpa bag at this point would help her feel secure.

  “Thank you, Wills.” I rose to my feet and kissed him again.

  “I’m so glad you like her. When I saw you with Faster Pussycat, I knew it was a safe bet to get you a kitten.”

  “You’ve been thinking about it since then?”

  “Well….” He gave me an innocent look, and I reached down and pinched his butt. “I was relieved to know you weren’t allergic.”

  If it had turned out that way, I’d have gone to see Dr. Rosen and gotten him to prescribe pills or give me shots. “Come on.”

  “We’re not going into the bedroom?”

  “Later.” Now was as good a time as any to give him his present. I ran my fingertips back and forth over one of his nipples. It plumped under my touch. “You sure I can’t talk you into a nipple ring?” He would look so good… so hot….

  “Nnnno.”

  “Will you ever tell me why not?” I paused in the doorway to the living room.

  He grinned and shook his head. Was it the thought of the pain that stopped him? It really wasn’t that bad.

  I realized I was nervous. Would he like the fireplace? I licked my lips and stepped back, allowing him to enter the room, then followed him, my gaze on his face.

  His eyes widened as he took in the fireplace, the rug in front of it, the tree with its fairy lights and the decorations his mother had chosen for him.

  “Theo?”

  “You wanted a fireplace. Your wish is my command. Merry Christmas, baby.”

  “Oh, Theo!” He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. “Thank you!”

  WE WERE naked, sprawled on the plush white rug, catching our breath. Christmas music played softly in the background. I felt sated and well loved. I knew I’d be limping in the morning, but I didn’t care, and the warmth radiating from the fireplace made our nudity comfortable.

  “I have a couple of pounds of chestnuts.” I nuzzled the skin under his jaw, and he angled his head so I had better access. “We can roast them tomorrow, if you like.”

  “Yes, please. This is a great present, Theo.”

  “I’m really glad you like it.”

  “I do. I don’t understand how you were able to keep it a secret, though. I’m supposed to be aware of things like a wall being torn out in my own home.”

  “Nothing that drastic, babe.” His own home. I sighed happily. I was so pleased that he thought of my apartment as his also. “This floor used to be the sleeping quarters for the original owner’s family, and there was a fireplace in each bedroom. They were bricked up when the house was turned into a boarding house around World War II. I didn’t see any need to have them opened when we first had the place renovated, but when you mentioned how much you’d enjoyed the fireplaces in Cambridge, I knew I wanted to do this for you.”

  “I still don’t understand how I never ran into any of the workmen.”

  “You were in St. Paul.”

  “Oh, yeah, right.” He leaned up on his elbow and looked down into my eyes. “So this is why you made love to me every time I started to come in here.”

  “I had to find some way to keep it a secret. No objections, I trust?”

  “None. Especially since I never would have thought of having you on the washing machine otherwise. God, that was amazing!” He settled himself beside me and put an arm around my shoulders.

  “Ah, yes. The wonders of the spin cycle.” I recalled the day he’d come home early. I’d been doing the laundry, and suddenly I’d found myself stripped and hoisted up onto the washer. Wills had dropped his trousers, rolled on a condom, and taken just enough time to make sure I was prepared before positioning my legs over his shoulders and slamming into me. Him over and in me, the movement of the washer beneath me as it spun excess water out of the clothes…. It hadn’t taken long for me to climax. “What got you so hot?”

  “You.”

  “Doing laundry?” That baffled me.

  “Seriously, babe. I nearly came just watching you. You were wearing headphones—”

  “So that was how you were able to sneak up on me.”

  He grinned. “—and dancing to the music on your Walkman. You have a way of moving your hips. Y’know something, babe? You’re the best present I’ve ever gotten.”

  “And you’re mine.” I wove a lock of his hair in and out of my fingers. “What would it have been like if we’d met when we were kids?”

  “It would have been awesome.”

  “Do you think we would have fooled around?”

  “Probably not. I was a late bloomer, if you’ll remember. I didn’t have my first girl until I went to college. And my first guy….”

  I remembered. “I’m glad you waited for me. That was more than I expected, more than I deserved….”

  “Don’t talk like that.” He placed his fingers over my lips. “What you didn’t deserve was what that bastard Franky did to you. I’m….” He blushed. “I know it’s a stupid cliché, but I’m glad I could come to you a virgin.”

  Touched beyond anything, I kissed his fingertips and moved his hand. “Would we have become friends?”

  “If we’d met as kids? Yeah.” He said that as if he had no doubt. “I wonder if we ever came close to meeting. My grandparents live in Florida, you know.”

  “I thought they were still living on Long Island.”

  “No, those are my dad’s folks. I have to bring you to Seaford some time to meet them.”

  I lowered my lashes so he wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes. Whatever gifts he might have for me in the boxes I knew he was hiding in his office, he’d just given me the best gift of all.

  I hugged him, and, unaware of where my thoughts had gone, he returned the hug. “My mom’s folks moved to Naples after she died,” he continued.

  “You never mentioned them.”

  “Didn’t I?” He shrugged, his expression sad in the firelight. “Second generation, and really strict from what Dad told me. They only wanted Mom to date Italian boys, and Uncle Tony couldn’t go out of state to college. He wanted to be a vet, but they insisted a people doctor paid better. He married an Italian girl, my aunt Angelina.”

  “So he did what his parents wanted instead of what he wanted.”

  “Yeah. Well, he was their only surviving son. My Uncle Greg was a cop. He was killed in the line of duty.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Thanks. He sounded like a really good guy, but I never knew him. That w
as before they moved to Seaford.”

  “Wills. Your dad isn’t Italian.”

  “No. See, that was the thing about my mom. She did what her head told her.” He gave a snort of laughter. “That was one of Grandma’s favorite sayings, and when she said it, we knew it wasn’t meant as a compliment. She and Grandpa were easygoing with me, though, maybe because they were in their late sixties when I was born. Dad let me fly down every summer to stay with them for a couple of weeks. Grandpa would take me out in the Everglades on a fan boat, or we’d go fishing in the gulf or he’d let me watch him make wine. Grandma always thought I wasn’t eating enough, so she’d cook up a storm. Sometimes my cousins would be there too, but not often. Uncle Tony blamed Dad for the accident that killed Mom, and he… he didn’t want his kids hanging out with me.”

  “That’s not fair! It wasn’t your fault.”

  “No, but that’s Uncle Tony. He was never a… a happy man. Dad said he was different when they were kids—he used to be Dad’s best friend—but he changed as he got older. After the accident, he wouldn’t even talk to Dad. Grandpa had a stroke a few years ago, and Grandma had gotten a little frail. She couldn’t take care of him by herself, so Uncle Tony sold his practice in the Hamptons and moved down there to take care of them both. I went to see them a couple of times, but it was uncomfortable. Grandma took me aside the last time and asked me not to come for a while. I haven’t seen them since.”

  “Oh, babe.” I knew how hard it was to be shut out by family.

  “Well, that’s families for you.” He shrugged as if it didn’t really matter, but I could see that it did, and I wanted to punch his uncle. Even if his father had been responsible for the accident that killed his mother, Wills had done nothing to deserve that. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m boring you with old family history,” he said.

  “Never boring.” I swallowed to clear the lump in my throat and tightened my grip on him in an attempt to convey what I couldn’t say. I’m your family now. I love you. “C’mon, Wills. Let’s go to bed.”

  “I guess we’d better, or Santa will never come.”

  “Well, that’s Mrs. Claus’s problem.”

  As I’d hoped, that lightened the mood, and he burst into laughter. “Let’s get the fire banked and check on Miss Su.” He got to his feet and held his hand out to me. I let him pull me up and against him, and he brushed a featherlight kiss across my lips. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Cool,” I said.

  And may you never be done with me, I prayed.

  Chapter 8

  IT WAS New Year’s Eve, and the next day, New Year’s Day, was my twenty-eighth birthday. During the time I’d been a rent boy, we hadn’t really celebrated birthdays except maybe an over-the-hill gag gift. Age wasn’t something that was on our side, and the older we got, the closer we came to being less in demand, until finally we were shit out of work. I’d been lucky—I looked a number of years younger than I actually was. When Wills and I had first met, he’d thought I was seventeen.

  But now it didn’t matter, and I knew Wills had something special planned. He had made reservations more than a month in advance for dinner at Raphael’s, and there were boxes in his office. I’d sneaked in and—not given them a shake, I was too adult for that—but I’d turned them over and over in an attempt to see if anything… rattled.

  I could tell that some were books or DVDs or CDs, but there was one box, about the size of a shirt box, but deeper. All I could guess for that one was a few shirts.

  “When can I open my presents, Wills?” I’d asked earlier in the day.

  “Delayed gratification, babe,” he’d singsonged. “When it’s your birthday.”

  After dinner, we were going to the New Year’s Eve Ball, the final escort ball of this year’s Le Roi. Charlemagne had pulled out all the stops, because for this one, escorts always brought their favorite clients, and although they might only stay for a few dances and a glass or two of champagne before moving on to the next party, Charlemagne wanted this to be the one they remembered, the highlight of the evening.

  “Who’d you bring, Theo?” Wills asked me.

  “Oh, it varied from year to year.” Was he jealous? I peeked through the bathroom door. No, he didn’t seem to be. I went back to the vanity and leaned against it, studying my reflection in the mirror. I looked pretty damn good for someone who was going to be twenty-eight in a few hours, I decided. “Sometimes an undersecretary at State,” I called in answer to his question. “Sometimes a Feeb…. That’s an FBI agent.”

  “I know what a Feeb is, babe. I watched X-Files.”

  “Sorry.” I laughed. “And sometimes the CFO of a blue-chip corporation.” Once I’d even brought John, my real estate agent. I smiled nostalgically at the thought of him and hoped his Bradley was treating him well. Had his holiday been as wonderful as mine?

  “I can’t believe it’s never made the newspapers. You know what a hotbed for gossip DC is.”

  “Yes, well, the New Year’s Eve Ball is this town’s best-kept secret. Whoever is Le Roi sends the owners and editors of every paper in town humongous gift baskets as an incentive to keep quiet about it. The food is amazing, and the alcohol is top-notch.”

  I came out of the bathroom to find him already dressed and standing in front of the mirror, fussing with his tie. It was watered silk, the same midnight blue as his tux.

  “Goddamned son of a bitch….” he snarled at it.

  I grinned at him. “Here, let me get that for you.” I finished tying the Pratt-Shelby knot, made sure the dimple was locked in, and smoothed my palms over his pleated shirt front. “Now, where’s your tie tack?” He handed it to me, an opal shot through with streaks of blue, purple, and green. His Uncle Pete, the Marine, had found it when he’d been passing through Australia and had sent it to Wills when he’d graduated from college. “There. Pretty enough to be kissed.” And I pinched his chin, leaned in, and brushed my lips over his.

  “Theo….” His eyes were closed, and he had that smile on his lips.

  All I was wearing was a towel knotted around my waist. A simple tug and my cock would be free. I pictured Wills on his knees before me….

  But he’d get wrinkles in the knees of his trousers. I sighed. “I’d better get dressed.”

  “Just one second. I want to give you this.” He handed me a box wrapped in birthday paper. It was the one that was deeper than a regular shirt box, and it had been lying on the bed. I’d been studiously pretending I wasn’t dying to know what was in it. “I know it won’t be your birthday officially for a few more hours, but… well… I can’t wait.”

  “What is it?”

  “Open it and see.”

  I tore off the wrapping paper, lifted the lid, and parted the tissue paper. Not shirts, as I’d expected. Silver mesh, so fine it slid through my fingers like water. It unfolded into a pair of briefs. Scattered on the waistband and the side seams were pieces of blue-green turquoise.

  “I… er… was hoping you’d wear these. They’re really comfortable, babe. I….” He blushed. “I tried on a pair. And I’d… I’d like you to wear them tonight. I want to know that under your tux, you’ll have these briefs on, and we’ll be the only two people at the Madison Arms who’ll know that.”

  “What about these?” Beneath the briefs was a cuff that would be worn over the biceps, and ankle and wrist cuffs, all of beaten silver, all also decorated with turquoise.

  “No, those are just for us, for later tonight.”

  “Dammit.”

  “You don’t like them?” He looked hurt.

  “I love them, babe! Look how much I love them!” I pulled off the towel to reveal my hard-on. “I’ll never get the briefs on!”

  “Oh. I can take care of that for you.” He started to drop to his knees.

  “Oh, no you can’t. You’ll wrinkle your trousers, and we don’t have time for me to pull out the ironing board and iron them.”

  “Hmm. But if I sit on the bed?” He backed tow
ard the bed, drawing me along with him. “And if you stand right in front of me? Yes, that’s perfect.” He spread his legs, and I stood between them. He closed his fingers over my asscheeks and squeezed rhythmically, then leaned forward, licked the tip of my cock, and swallowed it until it was lodged deep in his throat.

  My knees started to buckle, and he slid his palms under my ass to support my weight. I spread my legs and braced them, and watched as his head bobbed along the length of my cock, the spit-slicked shaft appearing and then disappearing into his mouth.

  I rocked gently forward, not wanting to hurt him. He tightened his hands on me, pulling me closer. His cheeks hollowed, and he sucked. God, he was good at this. If he ever went professional, they’d be lining up all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue for a chance to sample his mouth.

  But he was mine, and all those fools who hadn’t bothered to look past the nothing-special suits and the nothing-special haircut would never know what they were missing.

  I ran my fingers through his hair and massaged his scalp, and he hummed in pleasure. At the same time, he pressed his forefinger against my hole. The combination of that hum, that finger, and whatever it was he did with his tongue sent me over the edge.

  For the first time in my life, I passed out.

  “Theo?” Wills patted my cheeks and chafed my wrists and hands. “Come on, babe, you’re scaring me. Theo!”

  “Wow.” I blinked and opened my eyes. I was lying on the bed.

  “Jesus, are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I blinked again and stared up at him. “You’ve got the most amazing mouth! God, I love you!”

  “I know.”

  I know? Okay, I hadn’t expected him to make a big thing over my declaration of love—we were guys, after all, and I’d said it… once… before—but I’d expected more than “I know.”

  Well, I wasn’t going to get all girlie about it. I’d just come right out and ask him.

  “Wills—” The sound of a trill made me turn my head, and I stared into Miss Su’s blue eyes. “Wills?”