by Z. Allora
13
Storm Breaks
“I’m glad Lafayette took care of things with the school so you can stay in my dorm with me.” Erick glanced over the book he was reading to grin.
Erick had a single that—with the magic of Beau’s help—was tricked out to make them both comfortable. Another wardrobe was added for Cassidy’s clothing, along with a bigger refrigerator, milk shake machine, and flat screen television.
While the upgrades were nice, Cassidy knew he’d stay anywhere with Erick to be close. “Me too. I’ve been impressed with the zombie network, though this is the first time it helped me.”
“I still think we should do the exchange, but I’ll give you time.” Erick sighed.
“Just until the end of the semester. Even though you think you don’t need the time, I appreciate you giving it to me. Besides, it’s only a few weeks.” Cassidy kept giving the same answer.
“Fine, but isn’t it time for a study break?” Erick lay on his stomach in bed. He kicked his legs back and forth as he asked Cassidy for the umpteenth time. For good measure he even added batting his long, mascaraed lashes.
“I told you when Lafayette pulled strings allowing me to stay in your room that I didn’t want to interfere with your classes or study time.” Cassidy would play the adult even if that meant ignoring his raging erection, though he might die if Erick wasn’t in his mouth within the next few minutes.
Erick slammed the thick Ethics volume shut and pushed it aside. “I hate prelaw.”
“I know, but even if you decide to transfer, finishing out the semester makes sense so you don’t lose the credits.” Cassidy rolled the desk chair to the bed. He held Erick’s acceptance letter and his own to another college with strong English and Psychology departments. “We need to decide what to do. We could take a semester off or—”
“No, you’ve waited forever to go to college. Imagine how much better your writing will get.”
“You don’t have to convince me. Not with this school being much closer to Club Zombie and your brother.”
Erick smiled. “He’s called me every day since we’ve been back. Did I show you the purple sparkly nail polish he sent me? I’m sure one of his mates helped him choose the color. It’s on the desk.”
“Wow, great color. I think he’s making good progress.” Cassidy had always believed Storm would accept Erick once he tried.
“Speaking of what’s good… I’m going into my finals with As in all my classes, and what’s excellent is I have an incredibly hot mate who plans on sucking me off right now.”
Cassidy licked his lips and Erick’s whimper made him confident and playful. “I am?”
Erick nodded and kicked his sweats to the floor. He turned to model the lavender lace panties he wore. “See, I’m wearing the angel space panties Beau sent. I adore them and with a little maneuvering… look what happens in the opening.”
Cassidy whistled, feeling maleness scramble to the surface of his consciousness when he saw Erick’s cock poke through the opening in the lace. “I know for a fact they scratch and are rather uncomfortable.”
Erick pulled off his T-shirt. The lace edging on the panties highlighted his attention-seeking cock. Gone was the shyness his mate used to have. Now in within a few short weeks, he simply owned his sexuality, gender identity, and the fuck-ton of power he wielded over Cassidy. “Beauty is painful. So is my erection….”
“It’s my job as your mate to ensure you endure as little discomfort as possible.” Cassidy tossed his T-shirt and jeans to the growing pile of discarded clothing. He stalked to the bed. “Maybe a study break is the best thing for you.”
Erick toyed with Cassidy’s nipple piercing. “Oh, so then I do get a mercy suck? I’ll take it.”
Cassidy moaned at the stimulation. “There’s no mercy about this.”
“I surrender.” Erick purred as he fell back onto the bed.
“Not what I meant, but I’ll go with it.” Cassidy surrounded Erick with love.
A couple of weeks later….
“You okay?” Cassidy caressed Erick’s hand, which gripped the gear stick.
The closer they got to his parents’ house, the quieter Erick became. About eighty miles back he’d stopped singing to the ’80s music he insisted on to further his understanding of his mate.
“Maybe I should postpone this visit.” Erick didn’t take his eyes off the road. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and gear stick.
“We can if you want.” If Erick needed more time, Cassidy certainly understood that. This would not be a pleasant visit.
Erick sighed. “No, I need to stop freaking out and do this.”
“It’s understandable.” Cassidy wanted to support him, but he knew what a minefield parents could be. “I think it’s brave you’re dealing with them at all.”
Erick glanced at him for a moment. “Thanks.”
He’d support Erick however he could. “We can stay for as long or as little as you want. I’ve got your back.”
After a few turns, Erick drove his car into a circular driveway with a two-tiered fountain in front of a white five-columned plantation mansion. Erick stated, “We’re here.”
The here instead of home hurt Cassidy’s heart. Not for the first time, he wished parents didn’t have the ability to rip their kids apart with a glance and scar them for life with their words.
“I’m with you. Storm is with you.” Cassidy jogged around to the car trunk, but Erick stopped him from opening it.
“Nah, leave the bags in the car.” Erick frowned. “Just in case.”
Probably a good idea. Cassidy wasn’t confident they’d survive the initial meet and greet. “You’ve got this.”
Exhaling hard, Erick whispered, “I need to internalize they no longer define me. I have to stop giving them power.”
They hiked what could only be considered a grand staircase to the huge wraparound porch. Pristine high-end furniture that probably never saw anyone’s backside graced the outside space. Cold perfection would be an apt description.
Erick pulled at his yellow polo shirt. He’d paired the crisp shirt with black chinos and a pair of loafers. His mate looked every bit of the Abercrombie & Fitch model, who belonged in this setting, while he did not.
After a minute, Erick still hadn’t opened the door or rung the doorbell. Cassidy pressed the buzzer. The chimes echoed off the inside walls.
A woman in her fifties, dressed in an immaculate navy suit and holding a drink in hand, answered the door with a frown on her face. “You’re early.”
“Sorry. I didn’t hit the usual traffic.” Erick apologized for being early.
She shook her head. “It’s fine. You’re here. Come in. Who’s this?”
“My friend. Mrs. McGrath, please meet Cassidy Frost.” Erick’s voice took on a careful, measured, formal tone.
Mrs. McGrath’s once-over assessment left Cassidy without a doubt that he had received the rejection stamp. His simple T-shirt, black jeans, and Vans on his feet were deemed inappropriate in her eyes. Ha, and this was even before she found out he and her son were together, as in significant other. Significant other. He let the warmth of that sentiment wrap him in happiness, because he could tell he’d need the boost to get through this visit.
“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. McGrath.” Cassidy stuck out his hand.
She pointedly ignored his extended hand. “Yes, well, dinner will be in two hours. Let’s join your father in his study.”
Erick’s mouth opened, maybe to defend him, but it wasn’t necessary. Cassidy tried to convey that through a hand on Erick’s back and a small smile. Sad, but he wasn’t bothered by Erick’s mother’s disrespect toward him. At least no one had thrown a punch… yet.
They trailed after Erick’s mother.
He stood in the office with Erick and Mrs. McGrath, waiting to be acknowledged by the man yelling into the phone. Erick’s father appeared to be an older version of the guy who played the lead on Mad Men. Handsome, well p
ut together, but if he could judge by the one-sided phone call, the guy would pretty much win the Prick of the Year award.
“I said get it done!” Slamming the phone down, he growled and frowned at the trio. Pointing at Cassidy, he demanded, “Who’s this?”
Erick wrung his hands and shifted from foot to foot. “Remember, I asked you both if I could bring a guest.”
His mother slurred something under her breath as she weaved to the bar. She added an ice cube to her glass, along with a lot more amber liquid from the decanter.
His father grimaced at his wife and shook his head. “I thought by guest you’d bring one of your girlfriends.”
“Um—”
The man popped out of his seat and extended his hand. “I’m Erick’s father.”
Cassidy couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief for Erick. This wasn’t the right time for Erick to come out, though from his experience there would never be a good time. There were too many steps to the front door.
“Cassidy Frost.” Ow! He wished Erick’s father ignored his hand like his mother had, because the guy might have broken a bone or two.
“Sit.” He gestured to the chairs on their side of the desk.
Erick’s mother stumbled to the sofa and dropped onto the cushions.
“How’re your classes going?” Erick’s father demanded.
Erick sat straighter. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you both about that.”
“Still straight As, right?” Erick’s father stated the high marks as a decree rather than a question.
“Yeah, but—”
Erick’s father waved a finger at him. “Is that professor you’re taking Ethics 101 with giving you his liberal bullshit? I’ll have him fired. The McGrath family has donated—”
“No, he’s fine. I have no problem with him… at all.” Erick let out the scramble of words as fast as he could.
“What, then?” his father demanded.
Erick ducked his head. “I think… no… I want to change my major. I don’t think I’m cut out for law.”
His voice had gotten softer at the end, but his mate stood his ground.
“What? Of course, you are. You’re not like your good-for-nothing brother….”
Erick gasped. “Don’t call him that.”
“I’ll call him whatever I want. Car crashes are God’s way of culling the morons out of the gene pool.” Mr. McGrath glared at Erick, daring him to disagree.
Oh dear God! Cassidy didn’t know what to do. This man was horrible.
Erick pressed his lips together against all the things he must have wanted to say. Erick had amazing control—more control than Cassidy, for sure.
“I don’t think I’d make a good lawyer.” Erick must have realized trying to force his father to change his position on Storm wasn’t a fight he could win, and one where the outcome didn’t matter.
“Nonsense, you just need to toughen up a bit.”
Shaking his head, he said, “No. I don’t want to be a lawyer.”
“Go change for dinner. Put on something less faggy. Yellow isn’t a color a man should wear. Then I’ll tell you about where you’re going to do your summer internship.”
“No.” Erick’s word knocked around the walls of the study as if the word had never been uttered from one sitting on this side of the desk.
“No, what? Have you already picked out an internship?”
Erick cleared his throat. “No. No, I’m not going to let you tell me where I’m going to do my internship. No, I’m not going to be a lawyer. And no, I will not change my clothing.”
His mother burst into a high-pitched cackle. “Stop being a prankster, and don’t try to show off for your friend. You know your father has no sense of humor.”
“No sense of humor? Ha, I married you, didn’t I?” Erick’s father continued to talk above his wife’s shrieking denial. “You will do as you’re told. What, is your friend here the bad influence that’s making you talk in this manner?”
“No. This is about who I am and what I want.” Erick’s denial might have been a little too quick.
Mr. McGrath slapped the desk and then tightened his hands into fists. “And who exactly do you think you’re going to be? One of the gays who prance around in yellow shirts doing what? Social work?”
Ignoring his father’s scoff, Erick replied, “I thought I’d get my PhD in psychology. Perhaps go into counseling.”
“Well, you thought wrong,” Mr. McGrath growled.
Mrs. McGrath sneered. “Didn’t hear him deny being gay, did you? I told you he was a fruit fly like his brother.”
“Absolutely not. I told your goddamn brother he’d better keep you normal or I’d kill you in front of him.”
Erick’s hand fluttered to his heart. “You what? You threatened Ethan?”
Cassidy went into high alert. He needed to get Erick the fuck out of here.
“You’re goddamned right I did. I didn’t raise no little faggots. You’ll be normal or else it won’t matter that your brother’s not here to watch!”
Cassidy’s mind imploded. Mr. McGrath threatened his son here and now.
His mother sighed from her place on the sofa. “Well, you did raise a fag. You should have listened to me. I told you he might be off.”
Off! Did that bitch call Cassidy’s mate off?
Mr. McGrath pointed a trembling finger at Erick. “Well, I’m not having that. Ethan’s job had been to make sure you stayed on the straight and narrow, but without him… look at you with your long hair. Is that your boyfriend?”
Instead of cowering, Erick stood ramrod straight. “Mother, Father you’re right, I’m queer. I’m also nonbinary. I’ll never be a lawyer. And Cassidy is the love of my life.”
Mr. McGrath started to sputter. Maybe the sounds were supposed to be words, but they didn’t work out that way.
His mother threw the empty glass at Erick’s head but thankfully missed. “Don’t come back here. Our preacher counseled us enough times if our offspring were deviant, we were to cast them out. Both of my sons are dead to me.”
“You’re cut off. If I ever see you again you’re going to wish you were never born. Or maybe I should just rid the world of you… now.” Mr. McGrath started rooting around in his desk drawer.
Erick gasped.
What was the guy looking for? A gun?
There were times to stand your ground and there were times to run the fuck away. This was the latter.
Why? Oh, why hadn’t he done the exchange with Erick when he had a chance? It had been reckless to wait.
“Come on.” Cassidy yanked Erick out of the room and to the front door. “Give me the keys.”
Shouting floated from the office, but Cassidy didn’t take the time to decipher what was being said.
With trembling hands, Erick passed him the keys.
Cassidy hurried him down the steps and into the passenger seat. He kept a watch on the front door.
Erick’s parents appeared on the porch.
His father yelled, “Don’t you dare come back here.”
Mrs. McGrath slurred, “Ever.”
Cassidy wished the engine had drowned out their words, but he knew by the look of devastation on Erick’s face he had heard each word loud and clear.
He needed to get Erick the hell out of there. Gunning the car, he sped along the driveway and onto the road. He didn’t stop watching in the rearview mirror until they were back on the highway.
Cassidy didn’t bother to ask if Erick was okay, because how could anyone be after that encounter? He focused on the practical matters. “Can you call Lafayette and put him on speaker?”
“Okay.” The fact Erick didn’t ask any questions suggested shock had set in.
The car transferred the call to the speakers. “Lafayette here.”
“Fayette, it’s Cassidy. I’m with Erick. You’re on speaker phone. Can you send some backup security to watch over Erick until he’s finished with his exams?”
Erick pulled
his knees up to his chin. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Cassidy spared a hand off the wheel to rub Erick’s head. “Erick, I love you. We’ll do the exchange immediately. Afterwards, even though your father won’t be able to kill you, he can hurt you. I can’t have that.”
“Cassidy, please clue me in on the situation.” Lafayette’s voice sounded strained but deadly calm.
Shaking his head, Erick said, “I don’t think—”
“I don’t want to offend you, but when someone tells you something like he said, believe them.” Cassidy’s heart hurt for his mate, but he needed to be protected.
Lafayette cleared his throat. “Are you in danger right now?”
“No.” Cassidy checked the rearview again.
“Cassidy? Of course you and Erick can have protection, but please fill me in on why you need to make such a request.”
Cassidy told Lafayette about the McGraths’ dismissal of their son and how it was tinged with threats and promises of violence.
Lafayette cleared his throat. “I’m very sorry you experienced that, Erick. Please come directly back to Club Zombie. We can arrange for you to take your remaining class sessions online, and you will take the exams—”
“How?”
“The same way Cassidy got granted special permission to stay in your room.” Lafayette’s tone suggested the less they knew, the better.
“I don’t understand.” Erick’s distress bled into his words.
“Erick, I know you’re new to all this, but let me reassure you the network of zombies has a wide and varied reach. Zombies are mixed into all places in society, doing all sorts of things and are always ready to help one another.” Lafayette kept his voice calm and soothing.
Erick shook his head. “I don’t want any special treatment.”
Lafayette inhaled and exhaled several times loudly as if he were doing a technique he’d been taught in court-ordered anger management. “Erick, my first priority is to keep you safe. I’ve got to be honest with you, my second is to ensure your mate and brother don’t lose their shit about you not being adequately protected. Will you help me do my job?”