and grabbed his dick. This was becoming a serious problem. He couldn’t keep his hands off
Chad. He tried to control himself, but all he wanted to do was drop to the floor, open his mouth,
and swing from between Chad’s legs. Evidently, Chad enjoyed the attention. Though he was soft
at first, Ricky felt it growing in his hand the minute he touched it.
But Chad stepped back and pointed to the table. “Eat your breakfast. You’re a growing
boy and you need to replenish all the energy you used last night.” Then he sat down at the table
across from Ricky and sighed.
Ricky ate half a slice of burnt toast in two bites and washed down the bitter charcoal taste
with orange juice, forcing a smile so he wouldn’t offend Chad. Good thing Chad looked like Keanu Reeves, because he would have starved to death as a cook. “What’s the story with you
and Carson the pimp?” He turned to the side and looked down, hoping to see if the plaid shirt
had risen and exposed Chad’s dick. There were moments that morning when Ricky still felt as if
he were in a dream. It was hard to believe a strong, dark-haired stud was sitting across from him
half naked. But more than that, they were talking and relating as if they’d known each other all
their lives.
Chad just frowned and took a sip of black coffee. “I quit and Carson’s pissed.”
“Why did you quit?” He couldn’t see anything. The shirt was at the top of his hips. But
his genitals were completely covered.
Chad sat back and lifted the shirt. When he exposed his right side, Ricky forgot all about
his dick and stared in amazement. There was a large black-and-blue bruise just below his
waistline. Ricky hadn’t noticed it before. They’d only been together in the dark and he’d been so
excited he hadn’t bothered to fully examine Chad’s body.
“He beat you?” Ricky asked. He reached out and brushed his fingers across the bruise
with gentle strokes. He made a fist with the other hand. The thought of anyone hurting Chad
made him want to kick walls.
Chad shrugged. “It’s a long story. But when you work for a sleazy guy like Carson and
you don’t do whatever he wants, he sends over his guys to set you straight, so to speak. And I
decided I wasn’t going to take anymore of his bullshit, Ricky. So I quit, he got pissed off, and he
sent these guys over to teach me a lesson. Carson was already pissed at me in the first place, so
my quitting only made it worse. I’m sure by now he’s taken my clothes, everything I own, and
he’s locked me out of my apartment. Carson likes to control everything, at all times.” “What did you do to piss him off so much?” This entire way of life was all new to Ricky.
He wasn’t sure how to react or when to respond. “Was it just because you wanted to quit?”
“I owe him money for hospital bills,” Chad said. “And I haven’t paid him on time.” He
stared down at his lap and bit the right side of his face.
“You were sick?”
Chad shrugged again and placed his palm over his chest. “About six months ago, I
thought I was having a heart attack. I’d just left one of my tricks and I was getting into a cab,
when all of a sudden I felt lightheaded and my heart started to pound so hard I almost passed out.
I felt like running, but couldn’t move my legs.” He took another sip of coffee and smiled. “The
doctors said it was an anxiety attack, just nerves. Carson paid the bill when he came to pick me
up, and he told me I’d owe him the money. He had me to working for nothing until it was paid
off. So I started doing some freelance work on my own to get cash, Carson found out about it,
and he really got mad.”
As Ricky was about to speak, a horn honked outside the house. He stood up and smiled.
“Thanks for cooking breakfast. It was really good.” He could still taste the salty eggs.
“I love to cook,” Chad said. “I feel so calm and relaxed when I’m standing at the stove.
Cooking is so precise and organized—you know what you’re getting all the time. Besides, I
wanted to do something nice for you for being so nice to me last night in bed.” He picked up a
piece of silverware and examined it from top to bottom.
Ricky’s stomach pulled when he saw the way Chad was checking out his mother’s
silverware, so he smiled again and said, “I have to go to school now.” He wiped his chin and
squared his shoulders. “I have to ask you to leave.” Chad sat back and pouted. When his head went down, Ricky noticed an adorable little
cleft in the center of his chin.
“I’m sorry, buddy,” Ricky said in a soft, sincere voice. This was killing him.
“I thought you’d let me stay for a while.” He was still pouting, but now he was looking
up at Ricky with those dark, easy eyes.
Ricky’s face felt hot and he found it hard to speak. “I’m really, really sorry. I have to go
to school now.”
Chad finished his coffee and rubbed his thighs. His legs were spread apart but his crotch
was still covered with the tail of the long plaid shirt. “I’m sorry, too, Ricky. I thought you were
different. I thought just once I could depend on someone.”
The horn went off again, three times. Only louder, with a sense of urgency. Ricky raised
his right hand and said, “I’ll be right back,” as he turned and jogged to the front door.
When he stepped outside, Leyland was waiting for him in the driveway. He was driving
his mother’s brown minivan and there was loud, obnoxious music blaring from the radio. All of a
sudden, Leyland seemed so much younger and inexperienced. Ricky waved and said, “You go
ahead without me.”
Leyland lifted his hands from the steering wheel and asked, “He didn’t leave?”
Ricky knew he was talking about Chad. “He can’t leave.” He didn’t want to go into
details with Leyland. He wouldn’t have understood what Ricky was feeling and experiencing. To
Leyland, Chad was nothing more than a common prostitute and Ricky didn’t feel like standing
there and defending him in the middle of the driveway.
“He can’t leave?” “Just go without me,” Ricky said. “I’ll see you later today.” Then he ran back inside the
house, hoping he’d figure out what to do with Chad so he could go to school and get into a good
college.
If this had been anyone else, like Dawn the she-male or another prostitute, Ricky would
have been firmer. He would have lowered his voice, pointed to the front door, and demanded he
leave. But he couldn’t seem to do this with Chad. When he looked into Chad’s deep brown eyes,
the only thing he wanted to do was put his arms around him and protect him. This protective
instinct trumped sex and all the passion still surging through his body. And when Ricky thought
about Chad being beaten, he imagined his fist going down Carson’s throat.
But he had to do something about Chad, so he crossed into the kitchen, where he found
Chad washing the breakfast dishes, and he said, “I just want to go back to normal. I want my life
back and I want my angel back. Is that too much to ask?”
Chad turned and leaned against the sink. He smiled and asked, “Did you enjoy last night,
and the night before that?”
Ricky stared down at his shoes. “Are you talking about, you know, what we did in bed?”
His voice was so soft it was almost a whisper. He felt a rush of embarrassment and he wasn’t
sure where to look.
“Yes. Did you enjoy it?”
Before Ricky could think about controlling his lips, a gentle, easy feeling filled his body
and he smiled so wide his dimples turned into lines. His voice went up and his face felt hot again.
“I had the best time I’ve ever had, seriously. I’ve never met anyone like you.” Then Ricky
remembered Chad had sex with guys for money and he frowned. He felt a pull in his stomach.
How could he be so dumb? “Don’t tell me I now owe you even more money for last night.” Chad sent him a seething glare. He arched one of his dark black eyebrows. “Did I say you
owe me any money for last night? I don’t remember asking you for money.” He didn’t speak
with an angry tone, but there was a strong hint of disappointment, as if Ricky had let him down.
He turned his back on Ricky and went into the dining room to clear the rest of the breakfast
dishes from the table.
Ricky followed him. “What about my mother’s putto?”
“Could we please call it an angel, Ricky?” Chad said, carrying a stack of dishes to the
sink. “It sounds like you’re talking about your mother’s pussy.”
“That’s disgusting,” Ricky said. “And what about it? How do I get it back?”
“You’re the genius. You should be able to figure it out better than I can.” While Chad
rinsed the dishes, Ricky paced the kitchen floor. “What do you want from me? And how can I
get my mother’s
angel
back?” But he knew, deep down, this affair with Chad wasn’t just about
his mother’s putto. There was a connection between them Ricky couldn’t ignore. And even
though he was not about to be taken advantage of again, and Chad still had a long way to go to
prove he could be trusted, Ricky couldn’t throw him out on the street under these conditions.
Chad smiled and bent over to adjust a dish at the back end of the dishwasher. When he
did, the shirt rose up and exposed his entire ass. This time Ricky knew it wasn’t an accident.
Chad spread his legs too wide and lingered there too long. As he was bending over, he turned
back and looked into Ricky’s eyes. He grabbed his balls and said, “I just need some time to
figure out what I’m going to do. I can’t get into my apartment and I can’t get the angel until I can
get into it. I just need time, is all.”
Ricky looked at the Castilian clock above his mother’s little blackboard where she wrote
notes to herself all the time. It was getting late. If he didn’t leave soon, he’d miss an important exam he was taking this morning. So he lifted his arm and pointed to Chad. He raised his voice
and said, “Okay, I’m going to school. I’m going to trust you. Don’t steal anything else.” He
walked backwards and shook his finger. “I’m not joking. Don’t steal anything, because if you do,
I’m calling the police.” His voice went higher, giving away his innocence and his feelings for
Chad at the same time. “I’m not joking, Chad. Don’t steal anything. I like you a lot, but I’ll call
the cops. I swear I will.”
Chad stood up and unbuttoned the plaid shirt. He let it drop form his shoulders and hit the
floor. Then he crossed to where Ricky was standing, stark naked, and reached for Ricky’s face
with both hands. He cupped Ricky’s jaw and kissed him on the lips. Then he stepped back and
said, “Be a good boy and go to school now.”
But Ricky wanted to enforce his stand. He pointed again and said, “Don’t steal anything
while I’m gone. Just because you’re good looking, and you think you can get away with anything
just by looking at me with those eyes, doesn’t mean I’m just some dumb kid you can take
advantage of and have your way with whenever you want. I’m serious, Chad. I mean it.”
Chad put down the dish rag and exhaled. “Ricky, just go to school and stop worrying so
much.”
Chapter Ten
Ricky ran all the way to school, up the front steps, and down the hall to his classroom. A
second before he sat down, the teacher dropped an exam on his desk without even noticing he
was late. After the test, he went to his next class and sat at his desk wondering what Chad was
doing at the house alone, as his teacher explained why William Shakespeare was considered a
highly commercial author during his time. The rest of the day seemed to linger in a slow daze.
The only fun he had was during gym class when he had to wrestle with Leyland. He knew how
to press Leyland’s buttons and tease him. Without anyone else knowing what he was doing,
Ricky reached between Leyland’s legs, grabbed his balls, and started squeezing them. It made
Ricky smile when he climbed on top of Leyland and pinned him to the mat. And it made him
laugh and double over when Leyland couldn’t get up from the mat because Ricky had given him
an erection.
To make the day seem even longer, Ricky had to remain after school an extra half hour to
speak with his guidance counselor. He never thought he’d get home. As he sat and listened to his
counselor ramble on about different college choices, SAT scores, and how important
extracurricular activities were, he nodded and smiled. He sat on the edge of the seat, with his
back straight and his eyes wide, thinking about Chad the entire time.
When it was finally time to leave, he bolted out of school and ran home just as fast as
he’d run to school earlier that morning. He passed the hot blond UPS guy on his way and waved.
The UPS guy was standing in the back of his brown truck, smiling. He watched Ricky’s legs move, licking his bottom lip at the same time. He even stepped forward and asked, “Where’s the
