Boyfriend for Rent (11 page)

“Bathroom’s free.”

He turned as Hunter spoke...and nearly choked. Water droplets dripped from Hunter’s new, short haircut onto his shoulders, then ran down his chest to soak into the towel around his waist. A towel that wrapped completely around Hunter’s waist but didn’t do anything to hide the bulge in the front.

Hunter walked over to where he laid his clothes on the bed. He didn’t look at Casey as h
e spoke. “We’re gonna be… sorry; we’re going to be late if you don’t get going.”

“Right.” Casey could barely get the word out as all of the blood in his head raced straight south. Shower. Right. Now.

He practically ran into the bathroom, shoving the door shut behind him. As he stripped off his clothes, he failed to notice that the door had bounced back open wide enough to catch Hunter’s attention. The clothes came off, revealing a lean body that had become more defined over the last couple of months. Hunter had seen Casey without his shirt, but this was different somehow. Then came the pants, giving Hunter his first look at those firm, pale globes.

Hunter swallowed hard as Casey climbed into the shower. The frosted glass obscured most of the view, but there was a thin crack that still offered more detailed glimpses of the beautiful body inside.

It was like time froze around them. Hunter couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. Each image was a moment captured and imprinted in his mind.

Soaped up, Casey’s ass cheeks pressed against the sliding glass door. The imprint lasted even after he stepped into the water.

Soap bubbles trailed from the top of Casey’s head down his spine and fell off his ass cheeks into the swirling puddle near the drain.

Hunter knew he shouldn’t be watching
, but it excited him in a way he didn’t think possible. He started to take off his towel, knowing he had to get dressed, but instead found himself touching his hardened bulge, the hotel towel rough against his palm.

What the fuck am I doing?
He thought, swiftly pulling his hand away. He tossed his towel over the back of a nearby chair and grabbed the new boxer briefs Casey had bought for tonight. Even with them on, he felt naked. He quickly pulled on the pants and white dress shirt, breathing a sigh of relief as he did so. Now he could focus. He turned towards the mirror and began to carefully comb his hair. Casey didn’t know it, but Hunter had worn his hair like this for years. Then when he’d caught his fiancée cheating on him, he’d stopped caring what he looked like or what other people thought of his appearance. Casey was the first person who Hunter actually wanted to have appreciate how he looked.

“You look nice,” Casey said, stepping out of the bathroom. He was buttoning the cufflinks on his arms
, but Hunter definitely caught his eye.

Hunter blushed. “I guess I clean
up good. I mean well. I clean up well.”

Casey smiled. “Nice catch!”

“You look good, too,” Hunter said, letting his gaze run over Casey’s body. The tux was perfectly tailored, showing off the newly-defined muscles in such a way that it made Hunter’s mind flash to earlier when he’d seen those muscles bare. After an almost awkward moment, he cleared his throat. “We'd better get going.”

On their way down
in the elevator, neither said a single word. Casey had adjusted the collar of his shirt so many times he was afraid the fabric had started to wear. Just looking at Hunter was making him sweat. The tux showcased Hunter’s muscular frame perfectly. Casey shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from pushing the emergency button so he could shove Hunter up against the wall and do some very non-platonic things to him. But the more Casey tried to ignore the feelings, the stronger they were. He also couldn’t escape the thought that this could all go horribly wrong.

“Hey,” Hunter said. “I got you. No worries.”

Hunter pulled Casey’s hand from a damp pocket and squeezed it tightly as the two of them left the elevator and headed for the real test.

_________ o _________

CHAPTER 31

A
ll eyes were on Casey and Hunter as they entered the ballroom. It was like stepping into the past, and Casey felt his stomach twist into knots. The entire room was decorated like the gymnasium had been for his senior prom: the ever-generic, “Enchanted Evening” theme. It looked exactly as he remembered it. A color theme of black and white and gray / silver reflected in the filmy cloth draped along the walls, each one lined with Christmas lights, giving a soft, ethereal glow to the whole room. The floor was covered with tiny, glittery stars that Casey was sure the school was paying extra to the hotel for the clean-up.

It hadn’t been an enchanted evening for him. He’d spent the entire night watching McDermott dance with one of the girls on the volleyball team and wondering what would happen if he just walked over and cut in. He hadn’t, of course. Things had gotten worse as the night wore on
, and the other guys started talking about the various places they were taking their dates to fool around. McDermott had joined right in, bragging about his parents not being home. When he’d left with his date, Casey had followed, waiting for McDermott to take her home so the two of them could be alone, but that moment never came. McDermott had taken her back to his house and they’d disappeared inside. Even now, McDermott had never told Casey what had happened that night, but Casey sometimes suspected that the stories McDermott had told in the locker room hadn’t been lies. Get a teenage boy horny enough and biology just took over.

His eyes skimmed the crowd that was turning and staring. Well, some were staring. Some were outright glaring. Mostly the nuns and priests. Casey recognized some of them, including ones who had looked the other
way when he’d been bullied. And of course, there were some of those bullies at the front of the throng, wearing suits that didn’t fit quite so well over the athletic bodies which were softening from too many college frat parties. At least two of them had already started losing their hair. Casey felt a stab of vindictive pleasure.

One of the men – Nick
, maybe – put his arm around the pretty blonde next to him as if he needed to shield her from the horror of seeing two men holding hands. A few of the other wives turned to their husbands with looks of disgust on their faces. Casey recognized many of them too. It hadn’t just been the guys who’d been cruel to him. He saw former prom queen Lisa Templeton, her skin almost orange with fake tan. Next to her was Tammy Wright, who looked very pretty in her cute black dress. Tammy was one of the women who wasn’t looking away or glaring. She and several others were actually staring at Hunter. Leering, actually, would’ve been more accurate.

Hunter stiffened as a word floated towards them, spoken from the shadows, the perpetrator hidden from sight, just like all cowards. Casey tipped his chin up. He was used to it, but he couldn’t put Hunter through this. Hunter should never have to be called that, not because of him.

“We never should have come,” Casey said quietly. He started to take a step back.

“I told you. I got you.” Hunter pulled Casey closer. He ignored the stares and began to walk straight for the dance floor. “Let’s dance.”

“But everyone’s looking,” Casey said.

“I don’t care,” Hunter rumbled in a low tone.

To Make You Feel My Love
by Garth Brooks started as the two of them reached the edge of the floor. Casey barely noticed the other couples whispering and pointing as Hunter turned so that they were face-to-face. A stab of horror went through Casey. He’d never thought to ask if Hunter could dance because he’d never thought it would be an option. Sure, there was the whole line dancing thing. But this was different. What if Hunter was awful and awkward? Or if he got all weird when he realized how close they would have to be?

All of the thoughts racing through Casey’s mind came to a screeching halt when Hunter put Casey’s hands around his neck and put his own hands around Casey’s waist. Hunter didn’t say a word as he pulled Casey close enough
so that the line of their bodies was touching. Casey’s heart pounded in his chest as they began to sway together. They’d taken only a few steps when it hit him. They were in perfect sync. Their bodies were moving as if they knew where the other would be and how to respond. He’d never felt such natural movement with anyone, not even after years with McDermott. The muscles in his back and neck gradually relaxed, and there, with the twinkling lights of the dance ball, Casey rested his head on Hunter’s chest and stopped caring what everyone else thought. He felt safe, protected—like he was home at last.

When the song ended, Hunter lifted Casey’s chin and stared into his eyes. Casey
caught his breath at what he thought he read in those blue depths. It was at that moment, they were rudely interrupted by a familiar face.

_________ o _________

CHAPTER 32

M
cDermott watched as the two of them pulled apart, his arms folded across his chest, his lips twisted into a scowl.

“Hey,” Casey said.

McDermott looked mortified. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What do you mean? I’m dancing with my boyfriend.” Casey let his voice sound innocent, but he knew exactly why McDermott was freaking out. He wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass.

“In front of everybody?” McDermott was obviously annoyed by his tone.

“Well, yeah. That’s what you do when you
bring your boyfriend to a dance,” Hunter smirked.

“Not at this school,” McDermott hissed.

“I don’t think that’s really your problem anymore, is it?” Casey could barely believe the words coming out of his mouth, much less how firm he sounded.

“Lower your voice!” McDermott took a step forward. “Do you want everyone looking?”

Hunter opened his mouth, but Casey squeezed the other man’s hand and shook his head. This was his fight and it was time he started acting like it. “You know what, McDermott? Fuck off. I like my voice. I like how I sound and how I look. And, you know what?  So does Hunter. So it doesn’t matter what you think.”

Casey could feel Hunter’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look from McDermott
, whose face had turned a grayish color. A rush of relief and pride went through him. He’d finally done it, finally stood up to McDermott and told him what he should have said years ago. McDermott opened his mouth to say something when a tall, blonde-haired woman interrupted.

“McDermott?”

He swallowed hard, looking back at the beautiful blonde behind him.

“Just a minute, Jessie.”

Casey’s jaw almost dropped to the shiny dance floor. Okay, that was a surprise – to say the least.

The apologetic look on McDermott’s face explained it all. “That’s what I tried to tell you,” he said.

“A girl?” Casey asked, as Jessie approached.

“Um, Jessie, this is my...friend.”

“Oh,” she said, the tone of her voice revealing her surprise as her eyes dropped to where Casey and Hunter’s hands were linked. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” Casey said, reluctantly shaking her hand.

Hunter looked from Jessie to McDermott. “Thought priests weren’t allowed to date, Father.”

A muscle in McDermott’s jaw twitched. “We’re not, but when I found Jessie, I knew I had to make a choice. I’m going to be transferring to an order that allows priests to marry.”

Casey waited to feel the pain that would come with McDermott’s announcement, but there was none. He didn’t care, Casey realized. He didn’t care that McDermott was willing to stand there with his beard and pretend to be giving something up for her. Casey felt a wave of pity for the pretty woman in the tight silver dress. Based on the way she was looking at McDermott, she had no idea he was pretending. And Casey knew McDermott was pretending, not because of the past, but because he could see the lust in McDermott’s eyes when he looked at Casey and Hunter together.

“Are you two together?” Jessie’s question drew Casey’s attention.

“Um...yeah, yeah.”

“Nice. Nice couple,” she said. She looked at Hunter. “You just don’t look ... you know.”

“Gay?” Hunter finished her sentence.

“Well, yeah.”

“And what does ‘gay’ look like to you?” Casey asked, an edge to his voice.

“Well, you know.”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you tell me?” Casey said, crossing his arms. He’d had about enough of this place and their stereotyping and homophobia. He wasn’t going to put up with it, not after he’d finally gotten the courage to tell off McDermott.

“Hey, cool it,” Hunter whispered in his ear. His breath was warm and tingled Casey’s skin.

“Let’s just let it go,” McDermott said to break the tension. “As usual, Casey, causing drama,” he mumbled.

“McDermott.” Casey kept his voice calm, but Hunter must’ve heard the tension because he put his hand on Casey’s shoulder and squeezed. Casey continued anyway, “Walk away if you want, but don’t you dare blame me. I’m through being your whipping boy.”