“It's still money,” he said, eyes dancing across the faces of the rest of the crowd. This was a small town, so all the faces were familiar – even if he couldn't put a name to each of them. “But it's for something else entirely. In fact, I think… or in fact, I know I'm about to shock a good handful of you.”
Cole wasn't a particularly confident person, and he had never been a performer, but he still got a kick out of the murmurs that passed through the crowd now. He knew that this was probably one of the most important moments of his life, and he took a second's pause to let that sink in. He felt alive right now. He felt electric.
“Last year, we lost my mother,” he opened. “And I know you're all aware of what was going on in the months before she died. This is a small town, and word travels fast. I know it isn't news to any of you that my father was cheating on her. As my… beautiful, brave mother was battling cancer – slowly expiring, in need of his support… he was sleeping with another woman. Didn't even have the decency to wait until she died.”
He heard the muffled sound of his father's voice, but couldn't make out what he said. He didn't care to. There were more important things to say – and he, Cole, had the microphone right now. Everybody could damn well listen to him.
“Well, he didn't just lose my mother last year,” Cole told the crowd, brow furrowed. “He lost my respect. And with that respect goes a number of things. I don't feel I have to protect him or his reputation any more. I don't feel I owe him anything. And with that in mind, I'm proud to tell you all today that I'm gay.”
There were mixed reactions to this in the crowd. It was a small town, and he knew that not everybody would appreciate this announcement – but so too did he have friends out there. He met Claire's eyes, and was thrilled to see them brimming with the same pride he felt. But would she still be as proud when he had finished?
“That's not all,” he pressed on, before the murmuring could get too loud. “My father's behavior makes him repulsive to me. I know my sexuality will make me repulsive to him. I have no interest in living here in this town with him any longer. As such, in order to enable myself to leave, I will be auctioning off my virginity to the highest bidder.”
The crowd's murmuring rose to a roar, some people cheering and others indignant; he could see Claire's face pale with shock, and finally looked down with dislike at Pastor Berry. The man looked like he was about to vomit. Cole hoped that he did. He deserved every inch of the upset, the distress, the frustration and the humiliation that this rained down on him.
“Any man who is interested can place his bid at my website – ColeBerry.com. I look forward to seeing what you can come up with. The bidding closes in one week.”
With that, he abandoned both the microphone and the stage. As soon as he was out, the crowd swelled around him – but Claire's hand reached for him, and they headed away from the stage and the crowd together, Cole's exhilarated grin practically splitting his face wide open.
He had done it – and the look on his father's face?
Priceless.
Chapter Two
Well, well, well. Wasn't this year's town fair a little more exciting than usual?
Beckett Walsh raised two thick, handsome eyebrows at the hullabaloo of the crowd around him, his smile thin and serious. Nobody paid attention to the loner cowboy at the back of the crush of people, so he was able to judge their frantic response uninterrupted, and that was exactly how Beckett liked it.
Was it really so big of a deal? He couldn't believe that most of these people hadn't already guessed that Cole Berry was gay. He and Beck were by no means close, and certainly didn't know each other very well, but Cole did deliver his groceries. It had only taken that light interaction, perhaps two seconds in length, every week or so for Beckett to work it out himself. The boy was every inch a stereotypical twink.
Granted, many of the old folks in this town wouldn't even know what a twink was, but not everybody in this town was so distant from modern life. You didn't have to know the word 'twink' to recognize the type.
Admittedly, the idea of selling his virginity was a little more incendiary – if he was even serious about that, which Beckett suspected he wasn't. The kid clearly wanted to get revenge on his father, and he had certainly done that. Whether he would actually follow through and sleep with the highest bidder was another question entirely. Was the boy even really a virgin?
He was beautiful enough. Beckett wouldn't be surprised if, in truth, he had spent his high school years giving head to all the jocks and promising he'd never tell.
Maybe that was wishful thinking.
Needless to say, Cole Berry wasn't the only one who desired the same sex in this town. Beckett didn't exactly announce it to the world, as he knew fine well that would be a foolish way to lose business to more traditional farmers – but he wasn't ashamed of it, either. Not anymore. After years of lying to himself and trying to make a marriage with his ex-wife work, he had finally come to terms with the truth.
Frankly, he just felt happy for this young boy that he'd worked it out early enough to build a good and honest life for himself. If Beckett could have done the same, his life would be a lot less lonely right now.
Alright. Maybe there was still a little residual fear holding him back from looking for love, but he was a very busy man, in any case. This town fair was the first time he'd taken a day off in just about a month, and as soon as he got home he'd have more work to do on the ranch. He simply didn't have time for dating.
In that case, perhaps a little investment in the pastor's son would be a good way to cure his loneliness…?
No. Surely not. If he wanted to continue to keep his sexuality his own business in this town, then he could take no part in this bidding war. He may be able to afford the boy now, but what about five years down the line, if 40% of his business left to deal with a man that didn't offend their over-traditional values? It just wasn't a wise move, and he had to accept that right now before he developed any crazy ideas.
“See,” came a familiar voice from the other side of him. “I told you it'd be worth coming down for the fair.”
Beckett's smile grew, turning to meet his sister Bella's own wicked grin. “You didn't know this was going to happen, did you?”
“No,” she admitted. “But something dramatic always does. Now you won't feel out of the loop when you hear folks talking for the next two years – so you're welcome.”
“Yes,” said Beckett, arms folded and turning back to the crowd, his wry smile full of fondness for her. “Thank you for dragging me out here to watch the pastor die of shame.”
“I would have thought you'd enjoy that,” said Bella. It was true that there was no love lost between Beckett and the pastor, who had argued over Beck's divorce; back when it had happened, the pastor seemed to think that he should have worked harder to save his marriage. They were back on speaking terms now, but things were civil at best. Bella knew that better than anybody. Despite the slack-jawed, low-intelligence mood of the rest of this town, Beckett's sister was pretty well switched-on. She kept him sane. “That'll teach him to talk about other people's marriages.”
“I'm sure he'll be at the pulpit preaching fire and brimstone onto his own son soon enough,” Beckett assured her. “You know the type. Did you see him in the crowd, at all?”
“Sure did,” said Bella. “He was as red as the devil himself.”
“Fitting,” said Beckett, giving her a sly look sideways. “Anyway, it's all a useless display. The kid won't get any bids, if he's even serious. Not in a town like this.”
Bella wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I doubt it, Beck. There's no such thing as a conventional town. In places where you don't see anybody toeing the line, it just means people have gotten good at hiding it. You see how long the pastor hid his affair with Louise Benton?”
“True enough,” he admitted. “I just can't imagine there's a huge gay population in this town.”
“Well, he doesn't need a huge gay po
pulation,” she pointed out. “He only needs two to bid against each other, if they're ardent enough. He's a cute young kid; I'm sure there are plenty of withered old hearts burning up for a slice of Berry pie.”
“That's disgusting.”
“Is it?” she said. “I don't know. It's not so bad – not in my book. The kid wants to move out of town, and he can't afford to right now. He's selling his virginity, which is a commodity that… basically doesn't exist, and yet people seem to be willing to pay for. If he can get a few bucks out of some guy for a couple of minutes in the sack, why not?”
Beck glanced sideways at her, surprised. “You don't think it's creepy to pay a desperate 22-year-old kid for sex?”
“Come on,” she said. “The kid's not that desperate. He's not a coke addict; he's not exhausted all his other options. He stood up there – sober, sensible, smart enough – and he made his choice. Far as I'm concerned, anybody who makes a bid is just paying for a service. That's all.”
“Well, it depends who wins. I'm sure he's not crazy about the idea of screwing some wrinkly old farmer.”
“You think I'm crazy about the idea of putting my hands on Iris Vaughn's greasy head?” asked Bella, indignant; she was a hairdresser at the old local salon, and a damned good one at that. “It's still a service. I don't know. Good on the kid. Now, I'm sure he'd rather the winner was a younger, more handsome man...”
Her eyes lingered on Beckett just a little too long. Not for the first time, he was forced to wonder if she knew his secret. They had never spoken about it, and he never intended on doing so either – but sometimes he just got the impression that his sister understood him better than he'd like her to. Maybe there was something psychic in their shared dark head of hair, or their intense gray eyes.
In any case, Beck wasn't going to rise to her unspoken question. Instead, he cleared his throat and tried to catch a glimpse of the pastor – though he was sure he'd probably disappeared off somewhere by now. Couldn't really blame the guy, even if he was an ass. “I guess we'll hear what happens in a few days, either way.”
“We sure will,” said Bella. “And quite honestly, I think you'll be surprised by what you hear.”
Chapter Three
It felt like so much time had passed since Cole's big announcement – but in reality, it had been less than 24 hours. He was bundled up on Claire's couch now, ignoring the faint banging sounds from her room with a little assistance from the TV. Her new squeeze Ben was over, and – well, frankly, it was her house. He had no intention of interrupting what was going on in her life. Good for her, if she was getting laid.
He guessed that would be happening to him, soon enough. After years of denying himself a sexual identity, and then yet more of suppressing it, it was strange to think that he'd be consummating his desires in just over a week, with a man he had yet to meet. Despite the nerves, though, he was still confident he had made the right choice.
After all, his father seemed angry enough.
The phone calls from Pastor Berry simply hadn't stopped. He glanced sideways at his phone now, where it had been sitting on silent for the entire evening. Sure enough, the screen had lit up with yet another phone call, which he ignored as easily as he had ignored the rest. He had no intention of enduring Pastor Berry's anger, his sermons or his criticisms.
That man had earned everything he was now experiencing last year when he'd chosen to betray his wife. She was no longer on this earth to make him pay, but Cole would very gladly do it for her.
At long last, however, the banging stopped – and a couple of minutes later, the door to Claire's room opened, and he was no longer on his own. He grinned at Claire, who came to flop down beside him on the couch, and also turned to give a similar smile to Ben. Ben was inescapably handsome, and perpetually half-naked, and… frankly, if he had to share this house with anybody as well as Claire? He was glad it was somebody so pleasant to look at.
He had to remind himself that the man who bought his virginity almost certainly wouldn't look anything like that. In fact, he'd probably be faintly repulsive. Why else would he spend money on sex? Right?
“Hey, kiddo,” said Claire, ruffling up his hair. “Anything good on TV?”
“I stopped watching,” he admitted, nodding down at his phone. “I've just been keeping track of phone calls from the pastor. Look – there's another one...”
“How many is that?” asked Ben.
“That will be the thirty-fifth.”
“Jesus,” said Claire, stretching out on the couch as Ben came to perch on the arm of the chair beside her. “You'd think he'd get the message after, say… the thirty-second. The thirty-third. Have you been refusing the calls?”
“Nah,” he said. “Just letting it ring out. I don't want him to know I'm paying any attention – not even just to think that I'm refusing his calls. He's not a part of my life right now. He needs to come to terms with that.”
“I love rebellious new Cole,” said Claire, giving him a fond squeeze on the leg. “Where have you been all my life?”
“I'm rebellious too,” Ben said, playfully pretending to be jealous, and she reached across to pat his leg.
“Sure you are, honey.”
“I keep wanting to check if I've had any bids, but… that's crazy, isn't it? After less than a full day. Surely nobody's even thought about it yet.”
“I don't know,” said Claire. “I think it's worth a look.”
“I'd bid on you,” said Ben, which had the dual effect of encouraging Claire to swat his leg, and making a blush spread across Cole's face so fast it was like somebody had dropped ink in water. “I mean, like… if I wasn't dating Claire, and if I had the money, and if I was gay...”
“That's a lot of 'if's,” Cole pointed out, but Claire was already pulling her laptop up from the floor.
“Here,” she said. “Go ahead and check. I'm curious too.”
Cole grimaced, accepting the computer from her and tapping in his log-in details on the site. “But what if there haven't-”
But he had to cut the sentence off halfway. As soon as the website loaded, it became patently obvious that the thing he was worrying about need not be a concern. Already, there were a number of bids from four separate anonymous bidders – and the total was already at $5,000.
“Holy shit,” said Claire.
“What?” Ben craned his neck to see the screen, leaning in to see the amount. Meanwhile, Cole just read it over and over again. Could that amount really be correct? Wasn't it $50 instead, with the decimal point in the wrong place? “Wow. Fuck.”
“He will,” Claire teased, “but it's gonna cost you a minimum of $5001.”
“That can't be right,” said Cole, dumbfounded. “Who would pay that much just for me? Thousands of dollars…? I thought I'd be lucky to get $1000 after a week. I just wanted to embarrass my father; I didn't think anybody would really want me that seriously.”
“I mean, you can back out,” said Claire. “If you don't want to do it.”
“I do want to,” he confirmed – and he wasn't lying. The thought of the sex didn't concern him, and he wasn't changing his mind about that. When he had made his final decision backstage, he had meant it. It just blew him away to see that figure. He didn't have terribly low self-esteem, but he couldn't imagine anybody believing that a short period of private time with him could be valued so highly. “Just… wow.”
“So if it's this high already,” Ben pointed out, tapping at the screen, “after 24 hours. Can you imagine what the bidding will be at in one week?”
Cole shook his head, momentarily distracted by his phone flashing up again, before he turned back to Claire. “I wonder who the top bidder is?”
“No way of knowing,” she said. “I always thought the math teacher at the high school was gay, though. I bet he put in a bid.”
“He's not bad,” Ben reasoned. “Not too old. Kind of salt and pepper.”
“Math, though,” said Claire, and all three of them pulled a face. “W
ho else?”
She and Ben continued their guessing game, but Cole couldn't keep track. His eyes were still fixed on the screen of his phone, which continued to light up and go dark in an even, steady rhythm. It had been hours of this now. Had his father really not given up in all this time? Had he really not gone to do something else?
“I should take this,” he said under his breath, but Claire reached to stop his hand before it reached his phone.
“What are you doing?”
Cole shook his head, knowing she wouldn't like his answer. “Maybe I should just answer – just once. Tell him where to stick it.”
“No way, Cole. You just told me five minutes ago that you wanted him to work out himself that he's no longer a part of your life. That made sense, and I totally support you on that. There's no way you can answer that call.”
“Your ass is worth $5,000,” Ben pointed out. “I mean… literally. More than that. You don't need his bullshit. Let's go out and get pizza.”
Cole wrinkled his nose. “You guys go. Everybody stares at me when I leave the house right now; I'm not in the mood.”
Claire fixed him with a serious expression, really measuring him up until he was forced to look back, both awkward and a little nervous of her. “You promise me,” she told him. “Promise you won't pick up for him.”
“I won't,” he said. “I swear.”
After a few seconds' more scrutiny, she stood from the couch. “Alright. We'll go for pizza, but we're bringing it back here. We can all eat together. Right, Ben?”
“Yup.”
“Alright, then, you lump of muscle. Go get dressed.”
They watched Ben's retreat into the bedroom, quite openly admiring the shapely form of his back, and then grinned at each other once he'd gone.
“He's sweet,” said Claire. “I think he'll do.”
“I like him,” Cole agreed – and this wasn't necessarily a given. He had not liked all of Claire's boyfriends. In fact, he tended to be quite discerning of them. Very few people ought to be permitted close access to Claire, in his view. She was too important, and too good a person to be hurt by some jerk. Not that anybody deserved it, of course, but in the grand scheme of things? Well, Claire deserved it a little less.
Celestial Seductions: The Complete Series: An MM Gay Paranormal Mpreg Romance Collection Page 46