by Alexa Land
“I know,” I said with a smile.
“It was dumb of me to ask, though. I’m sure you have better things to do besides helping me with some community college assignment.”
“I’d be happy to pose for you, and I’m flattered that you asked.”
“Oh wow, really?”
“Sure. I have to ask, though. Why are you taking a class at City College when you’re already a professional photographer?”
“Oh, I’m not a professional. Far from it,” Chance said. “I just lucked into doing that wedding photography for Nana and some engagement portraits for Christian’s friend Skye. That’s the only time anyone’s ever paid me to take pictures. That’s my dream job though, so I decided to take some classes and try to put a portfolio together so I can work toward that goal.”
“Well, you could have fooled me. I saw the wedding pictures you took and they were incredible. I doubt that class is going to teach you much since you’re already so talented.”
“Thank you for saying that.” He looked a bit embarrassed by my praise.
“So, what do you do for a living?” I asked.
“I...um,” he hesitated, but then he looked me in the eye and said, “I’m a prostitute.” He squared up his shoulders a little, as if planning to go on the defensive.
Even though that wasn’t the answer I was expecting, it didn’t really phase me. I smiled at him and said, “You can relax. I’m not about to judge you for it.”
“Is that because you’re a prostitute, too?”
I grinned at that. “No. Why, did someone tell you I was?”
“Shit. Sorry. Nana did say something, but it’s none of my business.”
“She tells people I’m a gigolo sometimes,” I said. “It’s not true, but I guess in Nana’s mind, that’s the only way she can make sense of me.”
“That’s exactly what she said. So you’re not a male escort?”
“No, not at all. I have a habit of dating older men and women, and some of them have happened to be well-off. Since my preferences are totally incomprehensible to my grandmother, she latched on to that idea as a way of explaining my past relationships.”
Chance looked surprised. “And you just let her keep thinking her grandson is an escort?”
I shrugged and said, “I don’t consider it an insult, and she doesn’t condemn me for it. Besides, letting her think that is so much easier than trying to explain myself to her. Or to the rest of my family, for that matter.”
“You shouldn’t have to explain yourself to anyone. So you prefer a certain type. That just is what it is.”
“Exactly.”
The front door opened and my nephews burst in, followed by my brother. “Hi Mikey,” I said as he came into the living room. “Remember Chance? You met him on the cruise.”
The two shook hands and exchanged greetings as MJ ran past us into the kitchen, yelling, “Where’s the puppy?”
“I think they took him for a walk,” I said.
That was met with a big, “Awwwww!”
“We wanted to meet him!” Markie exclaimed.
“You will. They’ll be back soon,” I told him.
“Can we go play in the treehouse until the puppy comes home?” Mitchell asked, and when their dad nodded, the three boys headed for the back door and ran outside.
“They’ve been begging me for a dog and I’ve been resisting,” Mikey told us. “Now that Nana’s gotten a puppy, it’ll probably kick their begging into overdrive.”
“Resistance is futile,” I said. “Just break down and get them a dog.”
“But what do we do with it while I’m at work all day?”
“Hire a dog walker to come in and look after it,” I suggested.
“Well, crap. That was one of my best arguments against getting a dog and you just totally shot it down.” Mikey looked through the kitchen and sun porch and said, “Is it my imagination, or are there two rows of giant penises in the yard?”
“This family is nothing if not classy,” I said with a smile. When Mikey raised an eyebrow at me, I added, “Apparently it wasn’t intentional. Nana just wanted round hedges. Somehow, neither she nor Vincent put two and two together until Cockhenge was a done deal.”
“And they’re leaving it that way?”
“I think Nana kind of likes it.”
Mikey said, “Why is it that I always feel like I need a drink when I come over here?”
“We’re way ahead of you,” I said, raising my glass. “Dive on in.”
“I think I will.” Mikey headed to the kitchen.
While he did that, Chance gestured at an old black and white portrait on the end table. “Is that your grandmother?”
“Yup, on her wedding day. She was twenty when that was taken.”
“Is her husband deceased?”
“No, but she pretends he is,” I said. “He left Nana for a waitress who’s in her thirties, then came back, oh, I guess it was a couple years ago now. He claimed he was a changed man. My grandmother forgave him and they were happy for a month or two. But then Nana found out he was still in contact with the other woman and she kicked him to the curb.”
“Well, shit.”
“My granddad moved back to Florida and got the waitress to forgive him. None of us is really in contact with him now.”
“I’m sorry. He must have been like a dad to you since you grew up in this house with him.”
I shrugged and looked at the drink in my hand. “He chose that life over his family. If he didn’t appreciate all he had here, what can you do?”
After a pause Chance admitted, “I never knew my dad. He was just some guy my mom met in a bar. I think about trying to find him sometimes, but why? It’s not like he’d want me even if he knew about me.”
“But aren’t you curious about him?”
Now it was his turn to break eye contact. “Oh, I am. I’ve gotten as far as googling the bar in northern Wyoming where she met him. It’s still there. But what are the chances anybody would remember some guy that came in a quarter century ago?”
“Someone might, if he was a regular. Wouldn’t hurt to call and ask.”
“I tried that actually, a little over a year ago. The bartender hung up on me. I guess he wasn’t a big fan of people asking questions about his patrons.”
“So, maybe you need to go there in person and explain why you’re asking.”
“But what am I going to say? ‘Hi, I’m looking for a sperm donor from a couple decades ago named Tony-something-Greek.’ The bartender would laugh me out of there,” Chance said.
Mikey had rejoined us, and he said as he sat back in the chair with a seven and seven, “You not only owe it to yourself, you owe it to this man to at least give it a shot. If I had a son out there somewhere, I’d sure as hell want to know about it.”
“Well sure, you would, because you’re a great dad,” Chance told him. “Every time I saw you on that cruise, you were completely focused on your kids. There’s no saying this man is anything like that. It’s a long shot that he’d care about me at all, and even more of a long shot that I could track him down.”
“Still,” Mikey said, “something that important is worth a try.”
The front door burst open just then and Nana, Jessie, Dante and Charlie swept in with a bunch of shopping bags and the hyper puppy. Wookie Junior didn’t really understand the concept of walking on a leash, so he was whining and tangling himself up as Dante tried to hold onto him.
For reasons I couldn’t begin to fathom, the four of them were wearing big, tremendously fluffy fake fur boots. I pulled out my phone, and as I went to snap a picture, Dante said, “Don’t you dare.”
“Too late,” I said with a huge smile as I snapped three photos in a row. “What exactly were you going for here?”
“It was Nana’s idea,” he told me. “The puppy has a foot fetish and this was her way of thwarting it.”
“He kept trying to eat my Ferragamos,” Nana said. “We can’t have that! When
I took them off, he was going for my toes. Then I had an idea. We took him to the shoe store and these were the only ones he wasn’t interested in chewing on. I figure maybe he thinks they’re puppies like him on account of all that fur. So now our feet are safe, but I gotta say, mine are sweating like the devil’s nutsack. Small price to pay for keeping all my toes, though.” She noticed our guest then and exclaimed, “Hi there, Chance! Glad you could make it, sweetie!”
As he waved hello, I said, “So, the rest of you went along with this furry footwear idea?”
“It was this or sacrificing my Pradas to Tom Selleck,” Dante said, which made me chuckle and shake my head.
“Besides, these are kind of cute,” Jessie said, striking a pose.
Charlie came over to us and placed a shopping bag in my lap with a grin, then handed bags to Mikey and Chance. “Good news. We got some for everyone, including spares for guests. Go ahead, guys. I know you’re dying to rock this look.”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to tell the puppy no?” I asked.
“He’s a baby,” Nana said. “He doesn’t understand no.”
“Why do you keep calling him a puppy?” Mikey asked. “He’s the size of a Shetland pony.”
“He’s gonna get a lot bigger,” Nana said. “Now I gotta get back to making dinner. Who wants to help?”
“All of us,” I said and started to get up.
“Hang on. I’m about to turn the dog loose,” Dante said. “If you value those Adidas, you’ll go ahead and suit up, Johnnie.” I sighed and pulled the huge shoe box out of the shopping bag as my brother grinned at me.
The front door swung open just then and Vincent called hello as he and his family came into the house. “Vinnie’s going to love these even more than I do,” I said delightedly, and got my camera ready.
*****
After a typical Sunday night dinner made all the more insane with the addition of a huge, hyper puppy (or possibly, a small, hyper baby Sasquatch) I hugged Chance and said goodnight. We’d made plans to meet midweek so he could work on his photography assignment. He’d changed out of his furry boots on the front porch and as he slipped on his own shoes he said, “This was so much fun. Please thank Nana for me when she wakes up.” She’d fallen asleep on the couch after dinner, head back and snoring loudly.
“I will. You need to join us for more Sunday dinners. I’m officially inviting you to every one of them from now on.”
His face lit up as he pushed his dark hair back from his eyes. “Really?”
“Yup.”
“That’s awesome, thanks. This was the most fun I’ve had in weeks.” He really meant that.
He’d been the last of our guests to depart, so after he left, I went upstairs. Fortunately the dog was out in the yard, so I could do that without being tackled. Just moments after I’d changed into a t-shirt and sleep pants, someone knocked lightly on my door. Before I could say, “Come in,” Jessie burst in and flashed me a big smile. He was juggling a huge bowl of popcorn, a couple cans of soda, a pack of red licorice, and a laptop computer. Tonight’s flannel pajamas were covered in cartoons of puffy white cats wearing tiaras.
“You should have asked Chance to join our slumber party,” he said as he crossed the room and tried to fit some of the things he was carrying onto my small nightstand. “I like him, he’s a good guy.”
“I like him too, and I didn’t invite him to the sleepover because it’s news to me that we’re having one.”
“You got my note, right? It’s underneath the popcorn now.”
“The note only asked if we could do this again, it didn’t say you were planning on it tonight,” I pointed out as I pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.
“But then you didn’t say no when you saw me, so here I am.” Jessie looked at me uncertainly, hugging the laptop to his chest. “Is this okay?”
I folded back the blanket for him and said, “Sure, why not?”
He scrambled into bed like an excited kid and said, “Awesome. I downloaded a bunch of movies I’m too scared to watch by myself. We can do a marathon!”
As he flipped open the laptop and logged on, I said, “Something just occurred to me. If you’re a street racer, why don’t you have a car?”
“I crashed it last month. Now I’m saving for a new one. Sucks too, because I’d gotten Persephone to the point where she was just about perfect.”
“You named your car Persephone?” When he nodded I asked, “Why?”
“Because she looked like a Persephone.”
“How’d you crash it?”
“A tire blew while I was going about one-twenty. I would have probably been able to pull it out, but the other driver was a real dick and tagged my fender when he saw what was happening. I think Persephone rolled about ten times.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Nah, it was fine. I was thrown clear. All I did was sprain my wrist and get a little bruised up.” Good lord. He settled in right beside me and turned the laptop so I could see the screen. “What movie do you want to watch first?”
I took a look at the list and said, “Most of those are going to give me nightmares.”
Jessie hugged my arm and put his head on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Gi. I’ll be right here with you.” I grinned at that and made a selection.
Chapter Six
The week passed fairly quickly. I went to Zan’s on Monday and Wednesday and continued my cavalcade of exotic fruits. I could tell he found it entertaining, even though he was trying really hard to be annoyed with me.
I brought him a coconut on Monday, then realized I had no clue how to get it open. When I came back on Wednesday, the coconut was sitting beside him on the couch. He’d drawn a face and written ‘Wilson’ on it. I thought that was too cute for words, but I frowned at him anyway and saved my chuckling for when I was outside.
On Wednesday I brought lychee fruit, which I figured would really set Zan off. Instead, he said, “Now these I like,” and took them with him to the den. He didn’t say anything else to me, but he had a long conversation with my brother when Vincent went inside to replace the shower head. So annoying.
After leaving Zan’s house that day (and complaining about him all the way back to the city), I dropped my brother off and then met up with Chance. We spent a couple hours taking photos in Golden Gate Park and bonding over a mutual love of the California Academy of Sciences. We ended up visiting the museum and staying until closing.
Something else happened that week, which I discussed with no one but Yosh during our daily workouts. Jason Jax texted me on three separate occasions and asked me to come to his hotel. I always went when he called.
The sex was consistently rough, but he was kind to me afterwards. That was the real reason I kept going back. It was worth letting him do whatever he wanted to me, because he always followed it up by holding me in his arms and stroking my hair and being so gentle with me. I knew I was kind of pathetic for needing that so badly, but I went anyway.
I really didn’t know what was happening between us, if anything. Jason seemed to like me, but I doubted I was anything more than a booty call to him. He’d be returning to New York in a few weeks and I figured that would be that.
When I got home on Friday night after babysitting for Mikey (he’d gone out with Yosh’s chiropractor and was home by eight-thirty), I found Jessie and Nana in the family room in front of the TV. Nana was asleep and snoring, and both of them were dressed in their furry boots, even though the dog was on a leash that Jessie held. As soon as he saw me, the puppy leapt up and lunged for my shoes. He was stopped short by the chain though, so he sat back down and thumped his tail on the floor while he stared at my feet.
I dropped into a chair to watch the evening news with them, and was startled when Jason Jax appeared on the screen. That was kind of surreal. It must have been a slow news day, because the lead story was a celebrity gala at one of the nicest hotels in town. It was a fundraiser for some charity having to do with clean air or
clean water or just clean things in general. Jason looked so handsome in his tux and answered the reporter’s questions smoothly. Meanwhile his date, a blonde with big boobs in a dazzling beaded dress, hung on his arm, trying (and failing) to look interested. I actually felt a little twinge of jealousy as I thought, that should be me. But then I did a reality check. That would never be me. Jason wasn’t out, so even if he liked me, he’d never take me to an event like that.
“You okay?” Jessie asked.
“Fine. Why do you ask?”
“You just looked sad for a minute.”
I had been, but that was stupid. I dodged his question with, “I’m just tired.”
He said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Where do you go every night? I keep hearing you sneak out and then come back really late.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You’re not. I don’t sleep very well when I’m alone, so I’m usually awake when you’re coming or going.”
I considered lying to him, but I liked Jessie and figured he could keep a secret. “Don’t tell anyone because he’s not out, but almost every night this week I’ve been in that man’s hotel room.” I pointed at the screen, where Jason was smiling at the camera and pimping the movie he was filming.
“Holy shit! I always suspected Jax was gay, but he’s always seen with bimbos like this chick,” Jessie said, pointing at the blonde. “Actually, that’s kind of why I suspected it. He’s constantly being photographed with these really flashy women and never the same one twice. I was right, they’re totally his beards.”
“Pretty much.”
“So, you and Jason Jax, damn. Is it serious?”
I said, “No. I’m just a booty call while he’s in San Francisco.”
“Oh.” Jessie mulled that over before asking, “Is he a nice guy at least?”