by HJ Welch
Well…what he really wanted was a boyfriend. But seeing as Corey couldn’t be that, this was the next best thing. Undoubtedly, this was a complicated situation Reyse had gotten himself involved in. But as the plane touched down at Sacramento International, he found his worries over Corey giving way to his concerns about what was about to come.
“This is it,” Reyse murmured.
Corey took his hand. Although there were a handful of other free seats, it was just the two of them on the tiny aircraft aside from the small crew. The one flight attendant that had looked after them for the past hour and a half wasn’t currently hovering over them. Reyse appreciated the brief moment of contact.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked Corey.
Corey snorted. “No, probably not,” he said with a grin. “But let’s give it a try anyway. Your folks know I’m gonna be there with you?”
Reyse nodded. He probably should have talked this through with Corey earlier. “I told Mom you’re a friend,” he said while the airplane completed its short taxi, slowly coming to a halt on the tarmac. “I told a bit of a white lie,” he admitted. “I said you did catering on my last tour and we just really clicked. That you treated me like a normal guy. I hope that’s all right?”
Corey nodded. “Clever,” he said. “You wouldn’t want to make me a school friend or anything. I’d be expected to know too much about you.”
Reyse glanced at the flight attendant at the back of the small plane. He didn’t appear to be listening in. “It doesn’t bother you?” Reyse muttered. “All these complications?”
Corey shrugged and smiled. “It is what it is, right? No sense getting my panties in a twist if I can’t do anything about it.”
Reyse sighed, resting his head on the seat, tilting it to take Corey in. “You do make me feel like a regular guy, you know,” he said appreciatively. “That part is true.”
Corey regarded him. They were sitting across the small aisle from one another. Corey had worn a forest-green T-shirt with a logo Reyse thought might be from a video game and a new-looking pair of jeans. His thick, dark hair defied gravity as usual, standing up to attention like a hurricane couldn’t flatten it down. He was gorgeous.
Even more so when he licked his lips and leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner to whisper to Reyse. “I hate to break it to you, bro,” he said quietly, “but nothing about you is regular.”
Reyse blushed and gave Corey a shy smile. He could have meant any number of things, but Reyse’s mind immediately provided the memory of Corey on top of him, his cock buried deep inside his ass as they both shuddered in the wake of their orgasms. Judging by the smug look on Corey’s face, that was exactly the moment he had been thinking of, too.
The flight attendant bustled through the plane, which Reyse realized had come to a full and complete stop. He gathered up his belongings as the steward opened the door out onto the wheeled stairs that had been positioned by the plane. “There we are, gentlemen,” he said with a professional smile. “Thank you for flying with us today, Mr. Hickson.”
And Mr. Sheppard, Reyse wanted to say, but he didn’t want to embarrass Corey any further. People often liked to pretend those around Reyse were invisible. Whether due to spite or jealousy, Reyse couldn’t always tell. This guy was giving him petty vibes, though. Maybe he was envious of Corey for monopolizing Reyse’s time?
Reyse put it from his mind. He soon forgot about the flight attendant as he and Corey walked down the stairs to meet the ground crew who had removed their luggage from the hold for them. He said a little prayer in thanksgiving for airport security. He didn’t have to brave the main belly of the building, so for once there weren’t any fans waiting for him with cell phones and things for him to autograph. There was a private car on the asphalt, however.
“Wow,” Corey said as the driver ran to take their suitcases from them and load them into the trunk. “A guy could get used to this.”
Reyse hummed. It was true, he didn’t feel shocked at this treatment anymore. It was no longer out of the ordinary. But he couldn’t say he loved it. He’d rather jump in a car and drive upstate or fly coach like normal folks. But, like Corey had wisely said, it was what it was. Reyse couldn’t make himself be un-famous, so he just had to get on with it. He hoped Corey got a kick out of it, at least.
It was about a twenty-minute drive to his parents’ new house. Reyse had only made this particular journey a few times, so he didn’t know the route all that well. But he could tell when they were getting closer to Fort Ladrillo. His guts were in knots. It was only when Corey took hold of his hand that Reyse realized he hadn’t spoken a word for the past ten minutes.
“Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess I’m kind of nervous.”
“Why?” Corey enquired. “I hope you don’t mind me asking.”
Reyse scoffed and shook his head, running his thumb against Corey’s hand. God, it felt good to hold him. They had tinted windows in the car, so they were relatively safe, even from the driver’s backwards glances.
“Of course not,” Reyse said, looking out the window again. “You’re in the middle of this now. You deserve to know what’s going on.”
Fort Ladrillo had a real mix-match of architecture. There were plenty of one- and two-story houses that looked like a lot of towns across the west coast, nicer-than-average trailer parks and high-rises uptown that might even be called skyscrapers. But his folks’ neighborhood was downtown. The center there was full of Victorian buildings with triangular roofs all bunched together on three- or four-story buildings that looked like haunted mansions right out of Disneyland. Reyse noted that since his last visit the clock on the tower in the cobblestone main square had stopped working at eight sixteen.
“This thing with my dad is so stupid,” Reyse admitted, feeling a bit like a fool. “It’s not…my folks don’t know about…you know.” He squeezed Corey’s hand. Of course he hadn’t come out as gay to his mom and dad. That would be insane.
“So…” Corey said, stretching out the word. “It’s the phenomenally successful career and stacks of cash that’s really bummed them out?”
Reyse sighed, feeling sick. “Kind of, yeah,” he admitted. “My dad was in the Army. I’m an only child. He was never really home, but when he was, he talked a lot about me enlisting and defending my country, too. It took a long time for him to understand that I was never that kind of guy.” Reyse grimaced. “Even then, he didn’t understand. I think he felt betrayed that I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps, you know? And I felt less of a man…” He swallowed, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him now. But the shame was still there. “When I left home it just got worse, even when he was honorably discharged a few years ago and retired. We just…never have a single thing to say to each other.”
“You think your success made him feel like he’d gotten it wrong or something?” Corey asked. Reyse gave him an inquisitive look. “Like, you were right not to follow in his footsteps, and being a big star just reminds him of that?”
Reyse blinked. He wasn’t sure he’d ever thought of it like that before. “You know,” he said with a cautious smile. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a lot smarter than you make yourself out to be.”
Corey grinned at him, though, rubbing his thumb over Reyse’s palm where their fingers were linked, making him shiver. “I don’t know what you mean,” Corey murmured, probably knowing exactly what Reyse meant.
“So, what’s your deal?” Reyse asked, figuring he should make an effort to know something about the guy he was shortly going to be introducing to his parents. “Do you see your family much? Are you close?”
“Ah,” Corey said ruefully. Reyse could tell immediately he’d asked a tricky question, but Corey didn’t look too upset about answering. Just maybe about the answer itself. “I’d have to have a family to be close to them in the first place.”
“I’m sorry,” Reyse said automatically. Shit, he felt like a jerk, moaning
about not being best friends with his dad when Corey had, what? Nothing?
Corey shrugged. “I was adopted when I was a baby,” he explained, “so it started out well. But then my new mom and dad got killed in a car crash when I was three.” He sucked on his teeth and smiled, but it was more of a grimace. “Went into the system until I was eighteen. Bounced around several homes that never stuck. Apparently, I was a difficult child.” He winked at Reyse, like he was letting him in on some joke, but Reyse didn’t find the situation very funny.
“You really didn’t have anyone looking out for you?” he asked.
Again, Corey shrugged. Reyse sensed he was trying to make light of his situation. “I had some buddies at school, but they were straight, didn’t get the home situation, and went off to college. I don’t know. It always seemed easier to look after myself.”
“How old are you?” Reyse asked.
It was pure coincidence they were driving past his own former high school. He didn’t have much love for the place, but he’d opened up a new theater for them a couple of years ago that he’d paid for. So he always thought fondly about the arts kids that had somewhere to go now.
“Twenty-eight,” Corey said, surprising Reyse. He’d assumed he was closer to his own age, if not older from the way he’d looked after Reyse and taken charge. “You?”
“Thirty-two,” Reyse said. “Weren’t there other gay kids you could hang out with?”
Cory shrugged. “I’m bi, so it was hard to feel ‘gay enough’ at that age.”
That hit Reyse a bit like a sucker punch. “You’re bi?” he said. For some completely irrational reason, he felt fractionally betrayed by that. Like he’d lost a comrade. But that was dumb as all hell. Corey was still here with him, wasn’t he? But still, Reyse had to ask. “Why not just date women?”
Corey smiled like he’d heard that question a hundred times before. “Because I like men, too,” he said, rubbing the back of Reyse’s hand. “Why deny myself half the people I could be seeing?”
“Sorry,” Reyse mumbled.
“Don’t be,” Corey replied. “I’m sure you’d appreciate the opportunity to be attracted to women as well, right?”
Reyse’s managed a small smile. Corey was very insightful. But then I might not have met you, he thought with a pang.
Even if they were just going to stay as friends for this trip, Reyse was glad he’d gotten the opportunity to meet Corey, even just for a short while.
It felt so soothing just sitting holding hands, with no pressure of anything else. Fuck, Reyse wished they could do this all the time. But the fact they were drawing nearer to his parents’ place reminded him that they couldn’t.
Corey still knew how to ease his tension a little bit, though. “See,” he said sagely. “Now we know all kinds of things about each other. We’re practically BFFs.”
Reyse laughed. “Definitely,” he said.
He even sort of meant it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been this open with the guys when they’d been in the band together. All those years on the road and Reyse had been too ashamed to admit why he never wanted to call home. That it would have been better if he’d been phoning from some base in Iraq rather than a European tour.
If he was going to know enough about Corey to be his best friend, now was the time. Their driver swung up to the entrance gate of Reyse’s parents’ neighborhood, buzzing his way inside.
Corey squeezed Reyse’s hand as they passed through the gate. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Reyse thought of how he’d asked if he was okay after sex. If anything, the question was harder to answer now. But Reyse nodded. “I’m all right,” he said, mostly telling the truth. “Thanks for, you know…”
Being here. For some reason, the words were too difficult to say.
Corey nodded and gave Reyse’s hand one last squeeze before the car swung into his mom and dad’s driveway. Then Corey let him go.
“Anytime,” he said, smoothing down his jeans as the driver killed the ignition. “Okay, what do you say we go and face the music?” he asked.
Reyse nodded. It was now or never.
“Let’s do it.”
10
Corey
Corey was trying to put on a brave face for Reyse. But damn, what the hell had he been thinking? A guy like him did not belong in a place like this. Reyse’s mom was going to take one look at him and sense the fact he used to deliver pizzas to this kind of neighborhood.
What did he care what she thought, though, really? He wasn’t there as Reyse’s boyfriend. Just a friend. Still, he didn’t want to shame the man. As the car swung into the circular driveway, Corey attempted to flatten his unruly hair.
But Reyse glanced over at him with a kind smile. “You look great,” he murmured.
Corey felt a flair of rage at the situation they were in. If Reyse was a regular guy off the street, they wouldn’t have to pull their hands apart like they had now. They could entertain the idea of maybe dating, of seeing if they made a good couple after the novelty of amazing sex wore off. If it even did.
As it was, they stepped out either side of the car, acting as if they were just buddies. Nothing more. One bro looking after the other while his dad was in the hospital, hanging on by a thread.
Jesus. Corey was selfish for even thinking about this relationship stuff while Reyse had so much going on. He may not be close with his dad – or at all from the sounds of it – but he obviously cared that he might die without them being able to sort their shit out. Corey got that. He needed to stop thinking with his dick and think with his heart. Reyse just needed a friend right now to make sure he didn’t fall apart.
Corey had to say, he was pretty honored to be that friend. This time yesterday, he’d thought he wasn’t going to see Reyse again. Now here he was, rolling up to his parents’ home.
He looked up as they made their approach. The house was set a few dozen feet back from the street, the lawn circular and meticulously maintained. Leafy green trees swayed in the afternoon sunshine, surrounding the property in a way Corey suspected was intended to keep anyone from trying to look too closely inside. He felt a pang for Reyse’s folks. They probably had to deal with all kind of security issues thanks to Reyse’s fame.
The house loomed over him and Reyse as they closed the car doors, their driver materializing with their luggage, then slipping back behind the wheel like a silent ghost. Corey was too busy gaping to pay much attention to someone who was being purposefully discreet. Before he knew it, the car was driving around the other side of the circular driveway, leaving them alone.
Reyse’s parents’ place had three stories visible from the front, but from the way the ground sloped on either side, Corey would bet there was another basement level that opened up to the backyard. The first-floor walls were roughcast and the rest of the walls painted a coffee-cream color. The tiles on the roof and awnings between floors were a rich brown, as was the wood on the massive front door and window frames.
“So, this is where you grew up, huh?” Corey asked to deflect away from his nerves. How much did a pile of bricks like this cost, anyway?
“Oh, no,” Reyse said. He slowed his walk as they climbed the couple of steps that led to the front porch. “I grew up in town, about fifteen-minutes’ drive from here. I bought this place for my folks a couple of years ago.”
The idea that someone his age could afford somewhere like this for someone else, not even themselves, was mind-boggling to Corey. But Reyse wasn’t just well-off. He was mega rich. Corey needed to not freak out, otherwise he was going to make Reyse feel like a jerk.
“Wow,” Corey said with a grin and an appreciative tilt of the head. “Must have been an awesome Christmas present for them,” he said sincerely.
Reyse gave him a tight smile, resting his suitcase on the slate stone porch and looking at the doorbell. “Mom likes it at least, I think,” he said.
Corey frowned. Before he could dwell too much on who wouldn’t like being given a house lik
e this, Reyse reached up and pressed the bell. Rather than continue their conversation, Corey clutched at the strap of his old backpack over his shoulder. It was hard not to compare it to Reyse’s top-of-the-line suitcase and carry-on set that had probably come from Europe and cost several hundred dollars.
Corey remembered the days when he moved from house to house with a black trash bag full of all his worldly possessions. At least the backpack was a step up from that.
“I-” Reyse said, catching his attention. But then the door clicked and swung inwards, making them both look at who was on the other side.
“Uncle Dave?” Reyse spluttered.
He was clearly thrown by the gray-haired man who had come to meet them. Dave was even taller than Corey, so well over six foot, with a solid build that suggested he was still fit even if he was in his late fifties or early sixties. He wore cream pants and a navy polo shirt, and had a no-nonsense air about him. Corey looked to Reyse for a reaction. Because this was the kind of guy Corey was sure he didn’t blend well with.
“I – what are you doing here?” Reyse asked. “Not that it isn’t good to see you, sir.”
Sir? Corey got even more of a bad feeling about this.
Dave nodded. “The family wanted to be there for your mom, son,” he said sagely. “I have to say it’s a pleasant surprise to see you.” Reyse’s eyes dropped to the ground in shame. Corey felt that him implying Reyse wouldn’t come when his dad was on death’s door was a dick move. “Come on in, why don’t you,” Dave said.
“Uh, sure,” Reyse said, looking back up. If he felt anything like Corey, he was probably kind of pissed at his uncle ‘allowing’ him into the damn house he bought. “This is my friend, Corey Sheppard. He’s been a real rock.”