“The only thing I can say to that is yeehaw!” Colby set down his wine and launched himself at Isaac.
Chapter 7
ISAAC woke and automatically looked to the right for the clock radio. Instead of glowing digital numbers, he was looking at Colby’s face, soft with sleep. Easing himself from under Colby’s arm, he slid out of bed and went into the bathroom. He closed the door before turning on the light and flipping up the toilet seat. With a long sigh, he pissed and flushed.
“Well, what now?” he asked his reflection as he turned on the faucet. “You’ve slept with a superstar who has some weird thing for you. He’ll probably turn out to be psycho and break into the house to cut up all your clothes or something.” Isaac splashed water on his face. “At the least, you left Laith for hours while you did the front-to-back boogaloo with a man you’re not even sure you like. And you really enjoyed it. You’re a complete failure.”
Isaac washed and dried his hands and went back to the bedroom to find his clothes. When he was dressed, he shook Colby’s shoulder. “Wake up.”
“Is the hotel on fire?”
“No.”
“Then come back to bed. I want to suck you off again.”
“I need to get home.”
“Fuck that. You’re a grown-up. You can stay out all night.”
“I told Laith I wouldn’t be long.”
“Well you lied from Jump Street, then, because if there’s one thing you are, it’s long.”
“Cute. Come on and get up. I need you to drive me to my car.”
“Uh-oh. I think I hear buyer’s remorse,” Colby said as he got out of bed. “Really? Already?”
Isaac resolutely ignored how sexy Colby was, all rumpled and grainy-voiced.
“I don’t see what the big hurry is,” Colby said, coming to stand in front of Isaac. “Laith’s old enough to be home alone. If you’re worried, call.”
“It’s almost three in the morning. Please get dressed and take me to my car.”
“Should we stop at a drug store for a pregnancy test?”
“I’m not claiming date rape. I just want to get home.”
Colby burst into laughter. “I almost said keep your shirt on,” he said as he reached for his.
“Funny.”
“It would’ve been. Come on. Lighten up. We just wallowed in awesome sex.”
“Yeah, we did.” Isaac touched his pants pocket to reassure himself his keys were there. “I don’t mean to act like it was nothing.” He watched Colby buckle his belt and shove his feet into his shoes at the same time. “It was actually a very big deal for me.”
“I know that.” Colby shook his head. “How could you think I wouldn’t realize that? It’s a very big deal for me too.”
“Please don’t be insulted when I say I don’t believe you. It’s a compliment.”
“If you’re hinting that I have a lot of sex, then you’re right. But it’s not with real people like you.”
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” Isaac asked as he followed Colby out of the room.
“About tonight being special?”
“No. It was the bit about not having sex with real people. What does that mean?”
“Just that I have sex with people that I don’t know and will never see again. It’s not unusual for money to change hands. Are you getting the picture?”
“Yeah, but they’re real people, Colby.”
“I know. I was just making a point about how tonight was different. I felt like I was really here, completely in the moment. I can still taste you on my tongue.”
As they stepped into the elevator, Colby grabbed Isaac and pushed him against the wall, pressing close as he kissed him thoroughly.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he said as he let Isaac go.
“Not for nothing, but you’re a really good kisser.” Isaac ran his hands through his thick, brindled hair as the elevator doors opened.
The lobby was empty, and there was a different clerk behind the counter. The young woman looked curiously at Isaac and Colby, but when they avoided her gaze, she went back to her magazine. Isaac and Colby walked back to the coffee shop parking lot in silence.
“Hey, don’t start overthinking this, okay?” Colby said as he started the engine. “We’re attracted to each other, and we did something about it. I think we both had a very good time, and I’d like to do it again soon, but I’m not going to push.”
“I had a very good time, and God knows I needed it. I just need to… absorb it, you know?”
“Writers,” Colby said darkly. “Absorb away. Just promise you’ll let me in on whatever you decide. No brooding and making me guess. I hate that tortured artist shit.”
“When I decide you need to know something, I’ll….” Isaac’s voice trailed off. “Jesus. I’m literally too exhausted to banter.”
“Banter?” Colby hooted. “You think what you do is bantering?” He laughed loudly.
“What do you call it?”
“Fencing. Slash, parry, thrust. Great for keeping people at a distance.” Colby waited a second, but Isaac didn’t speak. “Well, come on, don’t just stand there. Tell me my analogy is unoriginal or something. Treat me like the class clown the way you usually do.”
Isaac bit his tongue. There was no point in making a cutting remark. This had been a mistake from beginning to end. He’d known it was the wrong thing even before he called Colby to apologize. He’d known why he was really calling and so did Colby. And now he was getting what he deserved.
“AND so it begins,” Isaac muttered as the engine once again failed to turn over. His punishment for sleeping with Colby Lightner was starting off with a bang. “Colby,” he called out as he got back out of the car. “My car won’t start.”
“Hang on. I’ll find my jumper cables.”
Isaac waited while Colby competently opened the hoods of both cars and attached the jumper cables, but he knew in his heart that it wasn’t going to do any good. He’d broken the mirror again, and the next seven years of bad luck started now.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Colby said after they tried a few times to start the Volvo. “Do you have Triple A or anything like that?”
“Yes, of course I’m the sort of organized individual who has an emergency road kit in the trunk and a Triple A card in his wallet.”
“That sounds sarcastic.” Colby pursed his lips. “Okay. You leave a note under your windshield wiper and deal with it in the morning. I’ll drop you at your place.”
“Thanks.” Isaac sighed as he got into Colby’s car again. “We’ll probably arrive just in time to see the meteorite hit the house.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Isaac looked at the time. “You’re going to be getting home pretty late.”
“Not a problem. I’m not on the slate until two.”
“Good,” Isaac said and didn’t speak again until they pulled into his driveway. “Thanks again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wait a second,” Colby said as Isaac got out of the car. He got out too and walked around the hood to block Isaac’s path. “Not so fast, cowboy.”
Isaac’s insides trembled as Colby drew him into a hug. He could deal with the rush of lust in his groin, but the tender twinge in his chest undid him. It was even worse than he thought. He wasn’t starting to like Colby Lightner. He was falling in love with him.
“I’ll say this one more time before I let you go,” Colby said in Isaac’s ear. “I want this to be more than a one-night stand. I don’t think of you as a trick, so don’t get cold feet on me, yeah?”
Isaac smiled and turned his head to kiss Colby’s cheek. Colby turned as well and captured Isaac’s lips in a slow, sweet kiss that got hotter as the seconds ticked by. Colby leaned against his car, and Isaac moved between Colby’s thighs, pressing him down to his back on the hood. Amazed to find that he was capable of getting hard again, Isaac straightened up.
“If I don’t go in now, I’ll end up doing you on the hood of
the car.”
“I’m not objecting.”
“Wouldn’t want to ruin the finish.” Isaac gave Colby a brief kiss on the cheek. “Good night.”
“Good night, you big cocktease.” Colby grinned as he got into his car.
By the time Isaac let himself into the house, Colby’s taillights had disappeared around the curve. He walked softly through the foyer and headed toward the kitchen.
“Have a good time?” Laith asked, rising from the dining room table.
“I—” Isaac searched for a suitable reply.
“What? Nothing? Was Colby that bad?” Laith threw his soda can away and turned to face Isaac. “Yeah, I know that you sneaked out to fuck Colby, so don’t bother to make up any bullshit.”
“You knew I was going to apologize to him.”
“I guess he accepted.”
“What does that mean?”
“I saw you, okay? I saw you going at it on his car. I swear I thought you were going to do it right there in the driveway.”
Shame flooded through Isaac. He’d known he was being foolish, but now he was humiliated. “I didn’t mean for you to see that,” he said.
“No doubt.”
“Laith, I’m sorry.”
“Fuck you!” Laith brushed by Isaac and continued down the hall.
“Laith, wait. Let me explain what happened.”
Laith turned in the doorway of his bedroom. “I don’t need you to explain. No wonder you wanted me to stay away from Colby. You wanted him for yourself.”
“That’s not what happened. And you and Colby could never have been together.”
“Fuck you!” Laith yelled again as he slammed the door.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Isaac said.
“Bullshit!”
“Laith, please believe me.”
“Just go away and leave me alone.”
“I’m sorry.” Isaac waited, but there was no answer. He stood there for a long time, wondering how he was going to get Laith’s trust back. It was amazing how much it had come to mean to him. And he had wiped it out with a single selfish act. As usual. Regret and frustration metastasized into rage, and he slammed his fist against the door. “Screw this!” he shouted and stalked down the hall.
Isaac took the keys to Kylie’s car off the kitchen counter and went out to the carport. He started the engine and threw it into reverse, spraying gravel from the back tires. On autopilot, he took the once-familiar route to a shabby-chic roadhouse that stayed open until four. He parked himself on a barstool and methodically worked his way through a twelve-pack, pairing each bottle of beer with a shot of tequila. And the physical abuse didn’t end there. He ordered fried food, breaded clams to be exact, chewing mechanically and washing the rubbery pulp down with more beer. Not until the bartender asked if he had a ride home did Isaac rise, wobble toward the bathrooms, and duck out through the employees’ entrance.
THE blare of a horn woke Isaac, and he jerked upright. His hands were wrapped around a steering wheel, but thankfully the car wasn’t moving. He looked out the passenger side window and recognized the area by the metal litter barrels bearing the seal of the State of California. He was parked at the roadside rest stop next to the recycling bins. The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky had the grainy pearlescent glow that preceded dawn. Another blast of sound made Isaac whip his head around. He blinked in the headlights of the garbage truck that pulled to a stop behind him. The sanitation worker hit the horn again, and Isaac’s brain throbbed. He stuck a hand out the window and waved as he started the car.
“You stupid fuck,” he said to himself as he eased onto the pavement. He couldn’t remember a single detail of leaving the bar or pulling off the road. Judging by the mess on his shirtfront, he’d thrown up at least once, but he had no memory of that either. “You stupid fuck,” he repeated with more force. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
What indeed? When stress reared its spiny head, why was it his first impulse was to swill alcohol? It never made anything better. All it did was put things at a distance… briefly. Why did he want to experience things at one remove from reality, to sink into a soft-water sea and float, free of the need to make decisions or take responsibility? When had it stopped being a conscious decision and become his instinctive reaction to anything that jarred him from his torpid limbo?
And how was he going to face Laith?
ISAAC parked in the carport, thankful he hadn’t wrecked Kylie’s car or been stopped by a policeman. He had enough to feel bad about, and when he sobered a little more, he was sure he’d feel even worse. If this little escapade didn’t lose him the last of his friends, it would be a miracle. Not that he deserved a miracle. All he wanted was to sleep through the mother of all hangovers that was on its way, but he needed to check on Laith first.
The sun cleared the ridge as Isaac opened the front door, throwing his shadow across the foyer tiles. He followed it in and turned toward the hall that led to the bedrooms. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement beyond the glass doors and headed for the deck instead. He saw Laith sitting on one of the wooden benches with Punkin in his lap.
“Hey,” Isaac said as he stepped out on the deck. “I owe you an apology.”
Laith looked up, but he didn’t speak.
Isaac knew the boy was upset, but something in Laith’s silence made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Laith?”
“Uncle Zee.” Laith’s voice choked off as he held up the cat.
Isaac’s head cleared instantly, as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on him. “Oh no! No!” he cried out as he took the limp bundle of fur from Laith and cradled it to his chest. He knew right away that Punkin was gone. The cat was a dead weight in his arms. “Damn it, Creature.” His throat closed up. “What happened?” he asked hoarsely.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and went out on the deck, and he was lying there in that patch of sunshine like always. I started to mess with him a little, but he didn’t move.”
“He doesn’t look like he was in a fight or anything.” Isaac blinked away tears. “I’m going to take him to the vet and see if she can figure out what happened. Do you want to go or stay?”
“I’ll go. I’ll hold Punkin.” Laith tilted his head to the side. “Maybe you should change your puke shirt.”
Isaac had never felt a shame as great as he felt at that moment. “Good idea,” he said humbly and went to his bedroom to change.
RAIN started to fall when they were halfway down the steep road, and Isaac eased his foot off the gas, surprised at how fast he’d been going. He glanced over at Laith and down at the cat on Laith’s lap. “I’m sorry about last night,” he said softly.
“Just forget it. I’m a kid. You and Colby are adults. It was stupid of me to be mad about you guys hooking up. I should be happy for you.”
“Do you really feel that way?”
“No. I feel like my heart was ripped out through my shattered ribs. I want to—”
“What?”
“Nothing. I don’t have any right to be angry.”
“Yeah you do. I knew you liked Colby. I should have turned him down.”
“Turn down Colby Lightner? You’d be insane to do that.”
“Believe it or don’t, but some things are more important than nailing a big movie star.”
“Name one.”
“You’d be first on the list.”
“I’m starting to gag here. Let’s try and remember that you snaked my boyfriend.”
Isaac glanced over at Laith again and saw a flash of dimple. “It’s really mature of you to put up a brave face like this. If you’re doing it because you don’t want me to feel bad about dating Colby, you don’t have to worry. He’s not my type at all.”
“I call bullshit.”
“I’m serious. I told him it wasn’t going to work.”
“You’re such a loser.”
“No argument.” Isaac pulled into the veterinarian’s parking lot and got
out of the car. He leaned back in and took Punkin from Laith’s hands, went around to the side door, and pushed the buzzer as instructed on the phone. One of the doctor’s assistants came to take Punkin from him and told him that he and Laith could wait in the doctor’s office. Dr. Minecke came in and assured Isaac that she’d do a thorough necropsy to determine the cause of Punkin’s death. She told him how sorry she was for his loss and that she’d call as soon as she was sure of the results of the tests. Isaac and Laith went back to the car and headed home.
“I can’t believe Punkin won’t be around anymore,” Laith said.
“His was a larger-than-life personality,” Isaac said. “There were lots of times I wished his name was Falstaff. That’s who he always reminded me of.”
“Sorry. No idea what you’re talking about.”
“No reason you should. Just a character in a really old play.”
“Which play?”
“Why?”
“I might want to read it… as a tribute to Punkin.”
“It’s called Henry V. You may have heard of the author… William Shakespeare?”
“Ha ha.”
“Do you want to stop at the In-N-Out Burger?” The fast food was now Laith’s favorite meal, and Isaac wasn’t above an edible bribe.
“Sure.” Laith looked out his window. “Who knows when I’ll have another chance to eat there?” He straightened up in his seat. “Whoa, let’s get this pity party started, huh?”
“Have I mentioned that you’re a great kid?”
“Not in so many words.”
“Well you are. I’m really proud of you right now.”
Laith looked out the window again. “Thanks,” he mumbled.
They drove in silence for a few minutes, except for the swish and thump of the wiper blades on the windshield.
“I’m really sorry about Punkin,” Laith said softly. “You’ve had him a long time.”
“Ten years, and yeah, I’m going to miss him.”
“Listen, when we call Mom tonight, let’s not mention anything about me maybe moving here, okay? I’m going to be giving her enough to deal with.”
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