Something Like Winter (25 page)

Eric was having a party,
but Tim hadn’t committed yet, saying he needed to check the family
plans. “What are you guys doing for Christmas?”

“
Your father wants to see
snow. Isn’t that mean? He’s taking me to—”

Tim barely heard the rest
of the conversation. Once again, he would be on his own for the
holidays. What angered him most was that he kept getting his hopes
up, still caring if he saw his parents. Events played out like this
every year, and foolishly, he kept putting himself through it. Ella
kept chirping happy thoughts into the phone, Tim making just enough
noises to prove he was still there. Then Travis brushed past him on
the way to class. Maybe there was hope after all! As quick as he
could, Tim got off the phone and ran to catch up with
him.

“
Hey!”

Travis looked at him like
he was crazy. “Long time no see,” he said sarcastically. “What’s it
been? Half an hour?”

Tim grinned. “I know. You
should stop by my place sometime.”

“
We live
together.”

“
Do we?” Tim played dumb.
“Funny, I never noticed.” This earned him a smile, so he pressed
on. “My parents are bailing on me for Thanksgiving. Isn’t that
lame?”

“
Mine are being cheap,”
Travis replied. “They said they could either fly me home this week
or for Christmas, but not both, so I’ll have to drive up there to
see them.”

“
What is that, a
fifteen-hour drive?”

“
More like
eighteen.”

“
All that for some turkey.”
They stopped at a crosswalk, the morning traffic too heavy to cross
without the pedestrian light turning green. Tim wished it never
would. “You could hang here with me. A friend of mine is having a
party. It’ll be more fun than a long boring drive.”

“
Nah, I’m flying up there,”
Travis said. “Thanksgiving is the only time the whole family gets
together. My sister lives in Minnesota and doesn’t come down for
Christmas anymore, and my brother is heading to boot camp in
December. I’m thinking I might spend the winter break slowly
driving up there, maybe seeing the sights along the
way.”

“
Or you could stay with
me.” Tim said it with enough meaning that Travis’s expression
became guarded. They hadn’t slept together for weeks now—drunk or
sober—and Tim felt like he was trying to catch one big Kentucky
catfish with a shining, spinning lure made of sex. “I’ll get a
place for us, somewhere away from here. Somewhere secluded. Just
you and me.”

The light turned green.
Travis started crossing the street. Over the idling engines, Tim
just barely heard him say, “I’ll think about it.”

Tim let him go. To catch a
fish, sometimes you had to let up on the line before yanking it
in.

* * * * *

Eric’s kitchen had come to
life, pots bubbling and steaming, ovens baking and grills snapping.
There wasn’t a burner or surface not in use. Eric moved from spot
to spot with baster in hand, even when he wasn’t working on the
four turkeys, but before long he’d be back at the ovens, squirting
juice on the birds’ roasted skins.

“
It’s good that you came
early to help,” Eric said over the din.

Tim glanced at the small
army of caterers and cooks Eric had hired for the party. So far Tim
hadn’t been much use at all. “You owe me,” Tim said, hoping for a
laugh, but Eric had singed a finger and was sucking on it sullenly.
“I have big news.”

Eric pulled the finger from
his mouth. “Do tell!”

“
He said yes.” The way Tim
grinned, anyone would have thought he had successfully proposed,
but Eric understood.

“
Travis is letting you take
him on a trip?” Eric passed the baster to one of the cooks and
joined Tim at the kitchen’s edge, dragging along a stool to sit on.
“I know you said not to, but I called my friend about that cabin in
Colorado Springs. It’s still available.”

Tim had checked out the
website the first time Eric mentioned it to him. The cabin was
secluded and beautiful, perfect in all aspects except for one. “I’m
hoping to find something cheaper.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “I
told you I’d pay for it. It can be my Christmas present to
you.”

“
And I told you no. Get me
a pair of socks or something. I’m not letting you spend that kind
of money on me.”

“
The offer stands,” Eric
said with a shrug. Then he nudged him. “Well, it looks like you
have something to be thankful for today.”

“
It’s a Thanksgiving
miracle!” Tim said with exaggerated glee.

“
I mentioned the two
snowmobiles that belong to the cabin, didn’t I? Yes? Very well,
I’ll stop. Who has my turkey baster?”

Eric was on his feet and
dancing around the kitchen again. An hour later, Tim finally found
a way to make himself useful when the doorbell rang. Guests arrived
in droves, many of them men around Eric’s age, but a few younger
couples came too and a group of rowdy lesbians who kept grabbing
Tim’s ass and calling him k.d. lang. The guests took care of
themselves, for the most part. Waiters walked the room with
champagne and
hors d'œuvres,
and soon Tim didn’t have to rush to the door every
couple of minutes.

He mingled while waiting
for Eric to join the party, taking note of the guests’ different
reactions. Some of the older guys turned up their noses at him,
perhaps preempting the attitude they expected. There were a lot of
unfinished questions too, variations of “So you are Eric’s…
?”

“
Friend” was the only
answer he gave, although clearly most of Eric’s guests had already
assumed otherwise.

Then there were the guys
who hung on Tim’s every word, laughing a little too loud at his
jokes, eyes darting down his body when they thought he wouldn’t
notice. At least they were nice to him, even if it made him a
little uncomfortable.

This made him realize just
how rare someone like Eric was. He didn’t seem to want anything
from Tim except companionship. So far, he hadn’t made a move or
flirted seriously. He could have been straight, considering how
little he reacted to Tim’s appearance.

Unlike the guy eyeing him
from across the room right now. Tim was used to guys sneaking
peeks, but this man was shameless, leering at him even when Tim
looked his way.

The man was Eric’s age, but
hadn’t taken care of himself. He was heavy, bearing in weight a
lifetime of indulgence. His thick fingers were adorned by
jewel-encrusted rings, his suit finely tailored, and his dark hair
slicked back against natural curls, a few of which had broken free.
If Eric had an opposite, this man was it. Tim couldn’t stop looking
his way, mostly because he felt his constant gaze. This soon lured
the man over.

“
Marcello,” he said,
extending a warm and slightly sweaty palm.

“
Tim.”

“
Tim!” Marcello repeated.
“How nice to meet you. Eric said he had a new friend, but he failed
to mention how young and attractive you are.”

“
Maybe he was trying to
protect me,” Tim said.

Marcello barked laughter at
this, delighted at the subtle slight. “He may have been indeed.
Well, it’s too late now. The secret is out. Are you still in
college, Tim?”

Almost reluctantly, Tim
answered the basic questions about himself while Marcello
shamelessly sized him up like a prize bull. Tim wasn’t sure what to
make of him. The name sounded foreign, but Marcello’s husky voice
held no trace of accent.

“
I deal in multimedia,”
Marcello explained, swiping two glasses of champagne from a tray
passing by. He handed one to Tim. “Art, really, stationary images
or moving pictures. The Internet has revolutionized the way we
experience art, don’t you think?”

“
I’m not really sure.” The
room applauded as Eric finally made an appearance.

Marcello kept his attention
on Tim. “I mean that we don’t have to leave our homes to visit an
exhibit or museum. We can enjoy all kinds of imagery from the
privacy of our own homes, which of course has made people more
honest about what they want to see. That’s the blessing of
anonymity.”

“
Funny,” Tim said. “I’ve
found that the more anonymous a person is, the more free they feel
to lie. Ever read a personal ad?”

Marcello barked laughter
again. “Too true. I suppose anonymity makes people honest about
what they want, but not what they are. I’m sure you’ve never felt
the need to lie about your appearance, have you?”

“
Oh, hello, Marcello!” Eric
stepped between them. “So nice to see you. I’m afraid I need Tim’s
help in the kitchen for a moment.”

Marcello bowed as if to
royalty. “I’ve always said, Eric, that everyone enjoys your parties
except for you. Try not to work so hard.”

“
Tell me that again once
you taste the turkey!”

They chuckled together
politely before Eric led Tim down a hallway. “Sorry for
interrupting,” he said, “but I didn’t want you being taken
advantage of. Did he make you an offer already?”

“
An offer?” Tim shook his
head. “No.”

“
Oh, he will.”

“
That guy deals in porn,
doesn’t he?”

Eric stopped walking and
turned to face him. “Marcello has his fingers in a lot of pies. If
it has to do with exploiting beautiful men, Marcello makes money
from it.”

“
Don’t worry, I’m not doing
porn.”

“
Good, but Marcello doesn’t
deal only in pornography. He owns a modeling agency, for instance,
and you can make good money at a photo shoot. That’s what I wanted
to speak to you about. If he offers you a job, say no. At first.
Marcello goes to ridiculous lengths to get what he can’t have. He
won’t give up, so name an astronomical price. Money begins to lose
meaning when you have as much as he does. Play your cards right,
and you’ll easily be able to afford that cabin for
Travis.”

“
Think so?”

“
Yes. Or you can accept a
gift from me and not deal with Marcello at all.”

Tim shook his head. “I can
deal with Marcello. Why are you friends with a guy like that,
anyway?”

“
Oh, he’s not so bad. He
does a lot for the community, even when distracted by the latest
pretty thing. The charity balls he hosts every year raise so much
money that entire organizations depend on them.
But,
Marcello can be pushy. Don’t let
him be in charge of you.”

“
I won’t.”

They returned to the party
together, both ignoring a few knowing glances directed at
them.

“
Quite a turnout this
year,” Eric said.

Tim nodded. “I’m surprised
so many people came. Thanksgiving is usually a family
thing.”

“
Yes, but gay people choose
their families, especially when they get older. I’m sure everyone
here has parents or siblings they could be with, but there comes a
time when all relatives seem to talk about is their children or
grandchildren, problems at school, or parent-teacher conferences.
The list goes on.” Eric sighed. “Sometimes you just want to be
around others who are on the same page as you are, no matter how
little you might have in common.”

On second thought, Tim was
glad Travis wasn’t here, since this is exactly what he feared most.
Somehow Tim would have to give him the traditional family he
wanted. “Gay people can adopt.”

“
Yes, we can,” Eric said,
“and we have our own special way of doing that.”

Eric put an arm around
Tim’s shoulder. The gesture was proud, affectionate, not creepy or
lecherous. Forget kids! As Eric guided them both into the party,
Tim wondered if anyone had adopted someone as their father
before.

* * * * *

Five thousand dollars.
Five thousand dollars. Five freaking thousand dollars!

This mantra ran on a loop
through Tim’s mind. When modeling for Marcello, he had expected to
fend off unwanted advances and have his integrity repeatedly
tested. None of that had happened. What he hadn’t expected,
however, was hard work.

Currently he was posing in
front of a lake, wearing nothing but a swim suit while two
photographers stalked around him, grumbling.

“
Your stance isn’t natural
at all,” one of them complained.

“
Maybe because it’s the
middle of fucking winter!” Two weeks into December, in fact.
Shouldn’t he be decked out in burly sweaters, posing in front of a
Christmas tree? Tim glanced over at Marcello, who was bundled up
and toasty in a knee-length fur coat. Where were those PETA
activists when you needed them? “Can I at least sit in the car and
warm up for a minute?”

Marcello grunted. “The cold
is good; makes your skin tighter.”

Tim glanced down
self-consciously. What was wrong with his skin normally?

“
However,” Marcello
continued, “I think I’ll sit in the car until we’re finished
here.”

When Tim glared at him as
he wobbled away, one of the photographers gasped happily and began
turbo-snapping pictures.