Art House

by Charley Descoteaux

  “Yeah. But if they’re not around right now, I can wait. I left Chase asleep in the room, so I don’t want to be gone too long.”

  Nathan’s frown wasn’t harsh, but it was enough so Garrett knew how Nathan felt about the prospect of Chase waking up alone. “Let’s see if we can’t get you back upstairs.” He swept from the room, his bare feet whispering across the wood floor, and an uncomfortable silence descended on the room.

  Derek, as always, seemed relaxed and content, but Garrett felt like he was winding up a little. He only hoped he could stop picturing all of their friends fucking Chase soon. The pictures in his head were hot, no denying that, but he felt like he had even more to prove now. Before he could go too far down that rabbit hole, Derek asked if he was feeling okay.

  “Yeah. Why? Do I look like I’m not feeling okay?”

  “No. You look adorable. Maybe a little tired. You did take sunscreen out with you today? If you need more just let us know.”

  “Sorry. I just…. Yeah. Tired.”

  Derek opened his mouth, but Nathan spoke before he could. Nathan stood in the doorway holding a bound stack of paper that had to be the script in one hand and a picnic basket in the other. “Eureka!”

  Garrett met him halfway and took both. “Sorry to grab and run.”

  “Should we hold something back for you from dinner?”

  “Thanks.” Garrett’s smile must not have looked especially naughty, because Nathan misted up and grabbed him into a quick hug.

  “Scoot. Go feed that man of yours, and come down when you run out of food.”

  “Thanks. Love you guys.” Garrett literally ran from the room. The sound of laughter followed him halfway up the stairs.

  He felt like his heart had jumped into his throat when he grasped the doorknob, but Chase was still sleeping. Garrett dropped his clothes on the daybed, placed the picnic basket within easy reach on the bedside table, and pillaged pillows from the other bed and the daybed to lean against while he read.

  Chase’s stomach woke before he did. The rumbling made Garrett look up from the pages for the first time in a good couple of hours. He made sure to save his place and then leaned over to kiss Chase awake.

  “Hmmm, yum.”

  “I have food.”

  “Food? Can’t be as delicious as you.”

  Garrett laughed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so mellow without any chemical assistance. We need to fuck more.

  Chase opened his eyes and slowly focused on Garrett’s face. “You’re up. And showered.”

  “I’m reading too.” He grinned, and Chase frowned in confusion. “Maybe I should have brought coffee instead of more Firecrackers.”

  “Don’t need it. I can live on you.”

  Garrett groaned, but he was still smiling. “I could live on you too. As long as I don’t get tired of cornball.” He leaned over Chase and kissed him again, long and lingering and sweet. After he straightened, he grabbed the picnic basket and plunked it down between them. “I don’t know for sure there’s any alcohol in here, but Paulie packed it, so it’s a safe bet.”

  “I stink like sex.”

  “Like great sex. But yeah, you kinda do.”

  Chase’s eyes fell closed, and he groaned softly. “Don’t wanna get up.”

  “So don’t. I like the smell of great stinky sex on you.” Garrett turned back to the script and read a couple more pages—for the third time—while Chase slowly woke. If his dick wakes up before he gets out of bed, I’m going to molest him.

  “That’s the script?”

  “It is. It’s amazing. And perfect for us too.”

  “How do you mean?” Chase sounded skeptical, but Garrett didn’t doubt he’d agree.

  “You need to read it.”

  “Tell me the story?” Chase moved the basket to the other side of Garrett and rolled until he was lying with his head in Garrett’s lap. After a moment without an answer, Chase hugged both arms around Garrett’s waist and turned a pleading look up toward him.

  “Okay.” Garrett couldn’t help laughing; it was seriously adorable. “I can’t resist your puppy-dog eyes. And you know I’m a cat person.”

  Chase grinned and batted his eyelashes before settling down to listen.

  “So the main character’s named Eric, he’s twenty-five, a wage slave with vague delusions of artistic grandeur which he abandoned because no time in real life, blah-blah-blah. He’s been with the same guy since high school. The lover breaks his arm at work and during what should have been a routine operation has a reaction to the anesthesia and dies. Eric’s friends rally around him, and he gets through the initial grief and depression without too much trouble.”

  Chase tightened his arms around Garrett’s waist.

  “Should I stop?”

  “No.” Chase pressed his face against Garrett’s stomach.

  Garrett took a deep breath. This was not the time to make a big fuss about Chase getting emotional over a story.

  “So, Eric tries to go on, and after a while hits a rough patch, so he finds a support group. He meets an older woman there and is shocked when he’s attracted to her.” Garrett felt Chase tensing up, so he stopped.

  “How old is ‘older’? Thirty?”

  “Forty-five.” He waited a few beats to see if Chase had anything more to say. “They go out, and after a couple of dates, she admits the partner she’s grieving for was a gal and she’s bi. Our hero has a sexual awakening, and the film ends with a wedding. It’s like the reverse of their usual. Very edgy.”

  “Did you leave out the part that makes it perfect for us?”

  “Pay attention. Twentysomething with a fortysomething partner. Oh, I did leave out the part where Eric gets arrested for tagging a bridge with his lover’s name.”

  “His? Or hers?”

  “His. I think we should do the poster together. But if you’d rather not….”

  “I don’t want to muscle in—”

  “I’m the one who’s muscling in. Paulie had you in mind from the beginning.”

  “Well… as long as you promise not to get yourself arrested on a bridge with a handful of Sharpies in the name of research.”

  “I won’t get myself arrested.” Garrett chuckled and then thought of Andy. “In fact, the last time I went out at night I got a job offer, not a warning.” Technically I got both, but no need to make him worry.

  “What kind of job offer?” Chase sounded suspicious and a little hurt, so Garrett put the script down and buried a hand in his hair. With the other, he drew invisible kittens across the skin on Chase’s side. Nowhere near his waist where he was ticklish—over his ribs and shoulder.

  “I’m not even sure. This cop, Andy, found me in a bus shelter and gave me his card.”

  Chase snorted, and the next second he pressed a kiss to Garrett’s stomach.

  “I really think it had to do with the kittens.”

  Chase shivered, and Garrett pretended he hadn’t noticed. “I have ideas about this poster. We can do two versions, one on the beach and one in the city. The one in the city can have two men fucking hidden in the swirling water beneath the tagged bridge, and the one on the beach… maybe another teaser in the waves or a tide pool. Hot, but not giving away the ending.”

  “Okay.”

  “Yeah?”

  “How dumb would I have to be to pass up the chance to get paid to spend time with you?”

  “Pretty dumb. I hear I’m adorable.”

  “Where did that food go?”

  Garrett chuckled and brought the picnic basket close enough to plunder. After more Firecrackers than food, Chase showered and they went downstairs. Garrett still felt mellow and happy, but worried about Chase. He moved and spoke—when he spoke, which wasn’t often—slowly, like he was afraid to do anything too quickly. Maybe he’s just had more to drink than I thought. Chase wasn’t the one to end the evening, but even though he responded as expected to Garrett’s suggestion they go to bed, Chase fell asleep before they could
fool around at all. Garrett couldn’t help but wonder if Chase was depressed.

  He’s acting the way I feel when I’m at my lowest.

  Before he dropped off to sleep, Garrett resolved to discuss it the next morning.

  Chapter Thirteen

  CHASE DIDN’T want to get up, but he didn’t want to waste his time at the coast either. The sound of the ocean made him smile before he even opened his eyes. But then he remembered the deal with the movie. The poster. He should be happy Paulie had thought of him, that the filmmakers were willing to let him work on the poster with Garrett.

  Garrett.

  For reasons he couldn’t figure out, the thought of working with Garrett on the project was breaking Chase’s heart. A tightness grew in his chest, and he had to remind himself not to moan out loud—or worse yet, give in to the irrational desire to curl up and have a good cry.

  What the hell is wrong with me?

  The bed dipped, and Garrett yawned loudly, his arm and leg brushing against Chase as he stretched. Garrett pressed his chest against Chase’s back and rubbed his stubbly chin down Chase’s spine. “Are you going to stay in bed a little longer?”

  “Hmmm, thinking about it. You mind?”

  “No.” Garrett kissed the back of his neck, and the urge to bury his face in the pillow and wail washed over him again. “You want me to bring breakfast up?”

  “No. It’s okay. You can eat with Jess and everyone.”

  Garrett rested his chin on Chase’s shoulder and hugged him. “You feeling okay?”

  “Yeah. Just lazy.” Chase turned a grin up toward Garrett, and it must have looked better than he thought. Garrett smiled, kissed him quick, and bounced out of bed.

  “Jess and Nathan have already bonded. I’m sure they’ve got their heads together right now. I’m going to shave and go catch them at it.”

  Chase groaned before he could think better of it, and the level of disappointment that came out on that sound surprised him. What surprised him even more was that Garrett came around the bed and asked, “Was that about shaving?”

  Chase gulped, not quite silently. “Um….”

  “You liked that?” Garrett smiled and indicated the lower half of his own face, where the light Vandyke had been a few weeks before.

  “Yeah.”

  Garrett dropped a quick kiss on Chase’s cheek and went into the bathroom. When he returned, the auburn shadow on his face had been only partially shaved. More like sculpted. Chase sat up and reached out, resting his hand on Garrett’s hip as he enjoyed a lingering kiss.

  “Come down and eat with us?”

  “Okay. I need that shower first.”

  Garrett left, and Chase took a shower, fully intending to go downstairs when he’d finished. He pulled on a clean pair of shorts and a tank and grabbed the sunglasses he’d found the day before. To hide behind. But instead of moving toward the door, he sat on the daybed and stayed there, not even thinking about anything in particular. Just sitting and staring across the room at the empty bed with the twisted sheets that smelled like him and Garrett.

  A knock startled Chase from his stupor, but he decided to ignore it. He hadn’t made a sound, so maybe whoever it was would think he’d gone down the back way. The doorknob turned, and for a second Chase thought it might be Garrett, but wasn’t surprised when Paulie peeked in. Paulie stood in the open doorway for a moment before asking, “Why are you here all by yourself?”

  “Tired.” Chase shrugged. For a second he thought Paulie might leave, but that wouldn’t be in character. He came inside and closed the door behind him. Paulie studied Chase for a few moments and then sat on the daybed beside him. Close, but not too close.

  “And I’m full.” Paulie patted his stomach and grinned. He hadn’t gained any weight since moving to the coast, but didn’t appear to have lost any either. Slowly, Paulie’s grin faded and then disappeared. “Talk to me, honey.”

  “Nothing to talk about.”

  “You don’t have to tell me what’s bothering you to get help. I want to help.”

  “I know. You can’t, though.”

  “Try me.” Paulie grabbed a pillow from the end of the daybed and placed it at the small of his back. He leaned against it, settling in.

  “You’re not going to leave until I do, are you?”

  “Probably not.” Paulie patted Chase’s thigh and smiled unapologetically.

  “Did Garrett send you?”

  “No. He almost bought your line about wanting to be lazy.”

  “But not you.”

  “Nope. You’ve never been lazy a day in your life.”

  “You know, everyone thinks Nathan is the glue holding us together, but it’s really you.” Chase shot a weak smile in Paulie’s direction.

  Paulie wrapped an arm around Chase’s shoulders and hugged him gently. “I love you.”

  “Garrett found out how I slutted my way through the group.”

  Paulie made a surprised sound. “I don’t—so much is wrong with that statement I’m not sure where to begin. You’re not a slut. I don’t want to hear that kind of talk again. You were looking for something. We’re all looking for something. I found it in Nathan. You didn’t find it until you met Garrett.”

  Chase rested his head against Paulie’s and thought for a moment. “But that’s only part of it. I thought I’d be further along by now. Not… still beating my head against the wall and getting nowhere.”

  “So you keep working.”

  “If I was going to make it, it would have happened by now.”

  “Ridiculous. It’s possible to be perfect, to do everything right, and still not get what you want.”

  Chase wanted to disappear, or possibly to get up and leave, but he wouldn’t walk away from Paulie. Aside from Garrett, Paulie was his best friend, the person he could always count on. Which sounded a little pathetic in his current state of mind. Paulie was younger—only two years, but shouldn’t Chase be the wiser man helping his younger friend, instead of the other way around?

  Wiser. The word hurt more than he expected.

  Any other forty-four-year-old man would be wiser. Any twenty-four-year-old man would be.

  But he couldn’t deny, if not for Paulie seeking him out, Chase would probably still be estranged from his family. Miserably so. I deserve that, but am still glad Paulie wouldn’t allow it.

  Paulie patted Chase’s thigh. “We’ll come back to that. Was Garrett upset?”

  “A little. At first. You know how conventional he can be about things like sex.”

  “But he’s over it? Because he seemed fine this morning. A little worried about you.”

  “So he did send you.”

  “Not overtly. I’m sorry about the poster thing. I didn’t think. I should have taken that bull by the horns.”

  “No, it’s okay. Garrett wants us to do it together.”

  Paulie made a low humming sound. “Now I see.”

  “What?”

  “I know you think he’s a better artist than you are, but you’re looking through the eyes of love there, honey.”

  “He is.”

  “He’s amazing. But so are you. Your styles couldn’t be more different, though, and that’s not a bad thing. Apples and oranges. Stop comparing. It’s not a competition.”

  Chase couldn’t speak, but felt like he needed to answer somehow, so he shrugged. Paulie squeezed him gently and kissed the top of his head.

  “Why did you guys disappear?”

  “Huh?” Chase knew what Paulie was asking but wanted to pretend otherwise. Not that he had a hope of pulling that off.

  “You know nobody cared about you two missing the inaugural work party here at the camp. So what was it?”

  Chase sat up and shook his head.

  “Were you taking care of Garrett or the other way around?”

  “He wasn’t around.”

  “And you didn’t want to talk about it. Just like you don’t want to talk about who’s taking care of whom.”

 
; Chase shrugged and tried to look away, but the gentle expression on Paulie’s face made it too hard, and he gave up. Story of my life. “It’s been a rough couple of years. But that’s not Garrett’s fault.”

  “I know, honey. He would never intentionally hurt anyone. Especially not you. Tell you what. Let me take over for today, okay? Maybe the weekend?” Paulie wrapped both arms around Chase, and he sagged into the hug. “We love you, you know that. I love you. And it’s not because you’re a talented artist and has nothing to do with how successful you are.”

  “That’s lucky.” Chase couldn’t keep from snorting softly, and it sounded a little soggy to him. He could only imagine how pathetic it sounded to Paulie.

  “Stop. Please. I know you’re having a bad day, but I can’t sit here and let you talk shit about one of my best friends in the whole wide world.”

  They sat quietly for a long moment, and Paulie seemed satisfied they’d reached an agreement about that. He squeezed Chase in his arms and then released him, sat back, and relaxed a bit.

  “Garrett’s excited. He’s looking forward to working with you. I’m looking forward to it too. I’ve been waiting to see hidden lovers in one of your paintings for a while now.”

  “Tourists don’t want to buy paintings with men fucking hidden in them. They want something that says they visited Portland.”

  “Are you sure? Some tourists are gay, you know. They might like to have both.”

  “I guess….” Chase thought about the guy at the art supply store, about the painting hanging in his father’s home. Probably one of his earlier works—ten, fifteen years old or more and still hanging in someone’s home. It made him feel a little better about the artwork for the film. Maybe the movie poster will really be the beginning of a period of doing my own work again?

  Paulie had been talking while Chase had been thinking. He only half listened until Paulie said, “He’s downstairs right now sketching out some ideas.”

  “I didn’t know he brought—shit. He won’t be happy once he looks through my pad.”

  “Why not?”