by Max Walker
Caleb chuckled at that. He was across the room from Red, by the window, and started to make his way toward him, still looking at all the different books. He knew if he looked into Red’s eyes, he would end up feeling way more than he should.
“Where did you work?”
“At an Applebee's.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Caleb couldn’t even picture that situation. “If you were ever my waiter, I swear I would write my number so fast on the check that the table would catch fire.”
Holy shit, what did I just say?
Caleb’s walls were coming way down, way too fast. It was a mix of the wine, and the books, and the faint scent of oak and berries coming from Red.
Red seemed to have taken the comment in stride. Caleb was freaking from the inside out. He pretended to get distracted by a thick book with a cracked blue spine. He couldn’t even read the title of the book.
“I threw out so many of those receipts,” Red said with a chuckle. “Would have kept yours though.”
Wait, what?
Caleb must have drank more wine than he thought. Either that or he had somehow died on the drive to Red’s party and this was a weird Lost-like alternate reality.
If this is some fucked up dream, I’m going to be pissed.
The feeling of Red’s hand on Caleb’s lower back wasn’t dreamlike. That shit was real. So was the rush of heat pulsing right down toward Caleb’s cock. He turned from the book, Red’s hand dropping back to his side, to see that Red was standing right in front of him. He could clearly make out the details in his face. The dark stubble coming in on his cheeks, the grey-green specks inside his golden eyes. This man was unreal. And even beyond the physical aspects, Caleb saw something else in Red’s eyes. A thorough understanding of the world, a compassion that was sometimes hard to find. Caleb felt his breath hitch with the way Red was looking at him in that moment.
“I, uhm,” Caleb started, feeling more and more flustered. Every cell in his body was urging him to reach out and grab Red. He wanted to feel skin on skin, wherever he could get it.
Red’s smile cracked wider. He bit his lower lip, was he nervous too?
Then, the last thing Caleb was expecting ended up happening. A cricket leaped out from behind one of the books, clearing Caleb's shoulder, grazing a wing against his cheek. It vaulted through the air—quite elegantly if Caleb was being honest—and landed smack on Red’s chest, clinging onto his shirt. The thing was huge, too. Its heavy antenna danced around, trying to map out where it had just landed. Caleb looked up from the cricket to Red and was immediately surprised at what he saw.
Red was stone-cold frozen in fear. His eyes were wide and unblinking, like a Weeping Angel had turned the corner and he was trying to save them both.
Caleb wasn’t as scared. He reached over and grabbed the cricket by the legs. It was huge and immediately started to protest.
“Ok, maybe this wasn’t a great idea,” Caleb said, looking around for a place to let the cricket go. The window seemed to be blocked by the couch. He was trying to be a hero, but the longer he held onto the damn bug, the more he started getting freaked. Red, unfrozen and blinking again, hurried to the window, climbing onto the couch, and opened one of the panels at the top.
“Here,” Red said, jumping off the couch so Caleb could take his spot. He dropped the cricket out the window, dusting his hands off as he stepped off the couch, laughing.
“I mean…” Red was a little breathless. It was so fucking adorable. “That thing was huge.” He pointed out into the night sky. “You saw it. Like a damn nuclear meltdown mutant type fucking bullshit.”
Caleb barked out a laugh. “Yes, Red. It was really big.” He cocked his head, examining Red’s chiseled features. The lighting in the room was dim. Soft and orange. Candlelight without the flickering. It made the cozy room bordered by books feel even cozier. Caleb felt safe in there. As if the rest of the world was nothing but a passing thought. A whisper in the wind.
Caleb couldn’t take it anymore. The atmosphere was filled with electricity and adrenaline and wine. Space between them shimmering with heat. He crossed the distance. Hands went up to grab Red’s head as lips met for the first time. Fireworks. Nuclear warheads. Planetary missiles.
The entire arsenal deployed the moment their lips crashed together. Caleb had never felt anything more right. Red let go of a soft moan as their lips parted, inviting each other in. Tentative at first. Red’s hands, stiff at his side, warmed up and moved to grab onto Caleb’s hips. Strong fingers pressed into Caleb’s sides. It was Caleb’s turn to moan.
Red tasted like nothing Caleb imagined. He couldn’t have known how good Red would be, tongue over tongue, hands squeezing tighter, hair getting pulled harder. Caleb’s cock was rigid, pressed down against his thigh by his jeans. It gave an involuntary throb, pushing against the material in a pathetic attempt to alleviate the pressure building in his balls.
They broke for breath. The reality and weight of the moment eluded the both of them. Neither cared about the little things, like life and consequences and futures. All Caleb cared about was the fire burning in Red’s breath-taking golden-green eyes. He pushed back in, wanting his body as close to Red’s as he could possibly get. He wasn’t shy about pushing his erection against Red as their tongues danced again, already becoming familiar with the unbridled rhythm.
Red, in turn, rolled his hips forward, making sure that Caleb could feel how hard he was too.
Red was serving paradise, and Caleb wanted it all.
Thirteen
Red Miller
Red felt Caleb’s lips on his and immediately knew he had found someone special. It was nothing like the empty kisses between him and Selena on a red carpet. Or the very few stolen kisses between him and other men. This was something else. Something real.
Their tongues swirled, and Red got lost in Caleb’s taste. Then, Red felt the hard length press against his thigh and he almost fucking lost it completely. His own cock throbbed in his briefs, aching to be released. He pushed himself onto Caleb, moaning into another kiss as their bulges rolled over the other. Heat was cascading over him, along with ecstasy. He wanted to get rid of all the clothes that separated them and explore the rest of Caleb’s body with his tongue. His hands could feel defined muscles underneath the button-down shirt. He reached around and grabbed Caleb’s firm ass in one hand, squeezing and pulling Caleb to him.
“This is crazy,” Caleb said in a low voice, followed with a husky laugh. Red pushed in for another kiss, a smile on his lips. His heart was beating faster and faster. They started moving, Red pushing Caleb back so that he could rest against the books. Red gripped Caleb’s hips, digging his fingers down under the waistband of his jeans, feeling the soft skin underneath.
They were both lost. Sinking deeper and deeper into each other.
Neither of them heard the door open.
The cough, though, that went off like a train crash. It sounded like a volcanic eruption. Red’s eyes snapped open as he took a step back, pulling away from Caleb and stuffing a hand in his pocket so he could hold down his hard-on.
“Jesus, Selena.”
“Sorry for interrupting,” she said with a coy smile, “but your stepmom is looking for you downstairs. Said it was important. Cole said he saw you come this way and I figured you would be in here.” She glanced at Caleb. “Just not with anyone else.”
“Shit,” Red shook his head, surprise being immediately replaced by concern. Was it his father?
“She did say your dad was ok, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Selena must have read his worried expression. “I made sure to ask.”
“Thank you,” he said, calming down some. He turned to Caleb, who was paper-white and looking from Red to Selena as though he was in the middle of stealing the Crown Jewels, the police barging in at the last second. He looked guilty as sin and scared as fuck.
“Caleb,” Red said. He reached a hand out and grabbed Caleb’s, cold sweat replaced the warmth there only se
conds ago. “Don’t freak. Selena she’s… uh, well, she’s my beard.”
Caleb’s head cocked. He looked from Selena—arms crossed, magazine cover ready cleavage in a stunning black dress—to Red. Confusion replaced the fear. Red gave a squeeze of his hand, enjoying the feeling of Caleb’s hand in his.
Selena brought her wine glass up to her ruby red lips. There was a smile on her face. It reminded Red of how a cat would look toying with a mouse.
“So… you guys aren’t dating?” Caleb’s brows pulled together, wrinkling in the center.
“Nope,” Selena answered for Red.
Red continued explaining, keeping Caleb’s hand in his. “We met three years ago at some party. Then, a year later, rumors of me started to spread. Our agents wanted to get ahead of them. They put us together, saying we’d make the most sense business wise and thinking maybe something would end up developing anyway. They thought I just didn’t like dating but that I liked fucking around.” Red pursed his lips.
Selena put a hand in the air. “Can I just say, it’s as big of a mess as it sounds.” She shook her head and took a breath. That was the first time Red ever heard her sound frustrated by their arrangement. “Anyways,” she continued. “I’m going to go. You two have fun.”
“No,” Caleb said, surprising them both. “I should be leaving. I have an early shift tomorrow and it’s getting late.”
Caleb pulled his hand from Red’s, leaving a chasm of space between them. Any distance was becoming too far. Red shook his head, trying to diffuse the whole mess. He could tell Caleb was still thrown off and not feeling very comfortable, and he wanted to change that. He wanted to be the reason those hazel green eyes crinkled at the edges again. That smirk of his was so damn sexy, and Red wanted to be the reason behind it.
“I’ll go talk to my step-mom and figure out what’s going on. You can hang out here until I get back.” Red knew what Caleb’s answer was going to be before he spoke.
“I really should go.” There was a pain in his voice. Like a thorn had stuck to him.
“Ok, let me go ahead and walk you out then.”
Caleb smiled at that. So maybe all hope wasn’t lost.
***
Red waved Caleb and his friends off at his front door. It was the last thing he wanted to do. He had pictured the night never ending between them. He was ready to spend it with their limbs intertwined and their bodies in bliss. Now, he’d be spending it with his hand and a towel.
Fucking sucks.
He did feel as though it wasn’t the last time he would see Caleb. He felt it in his gut. They didn’t set a date, but Caleb had seemed to have warmed up to the idea of a get-together by the time they had reached the front door. It was one of the times that living in a mansion had a practical use. The time it took them to get to the front door gave Caleb an opportunity to calm down. It also gave time for Red to make some more subtle moves. A touch on the back. A bump on the shoulder. A brush against Caleb’s ass when they walked through a dense crowd.
With Caleb gone and his hopes for an incredible night dashed, he went to find his stepmother. It didn’t take long to spot her bright blonde hair bobbing in the crowd as she went off on one of her stories while a Calvin Klein model tried to keep up. Red went over, apologized to the underwear model, and took his stepmother aside. Her eyes were already a little clouded with wine. Or, nope, that was whiskey in her red solo cup. It sloshed dangerously as she moved, her jeweled bangles clinking along with her movements.
“Red, why didn’t you tell me you were throwing a party?!” She slapped her free hand on Red’s chest.
“How’s dad?” Red asked. He wanted to get his worries out of the way before he dealt with his progressively drunk stepmother.
“Oh, he’s fine. Sleeping since six. You know him.” She shook her head, looking at Red with raised eyebrows.
Red shook his head. “Sandy, honestly, I didn’t tell you about this because I thought you would be spending the night with my father. He just got back from the hospital a week ago. I spent most of the day with him and he seemed ok, but still not a hundred percent. I’m just worried.”
“Don’t be,” Sandy said, as though she knew something Red didn’t. He doubted that. “He’s fine. It wasn’t a heart attack, so it’s all good. Who made this? Did you make this?” She looked into the cup, as though she were going to find a small stash of gold.
Wonder if she brought her shovel.
“I don’t know who made it.” Red was getting frustrated. He had experienced friction between him and Sandy on previous occasions, and he felt like this time that friction was going to spark a fire. If Sandy hadn’t come around, Caleb would still be in Red’s arms.
“Selena said you had to tell me something?”
Sandy quirked her face, searching through her drunken thoughts. “Hmm…”
“Alright, I’m going to go and grab a drin—”
“—Oh! I remember now. I came over to tell you that I got the bill this morning for the hospital stay. I didn’t want to bring it up to your dad, not to stress him, you know?”
“Right,” Red said, knowing where this was going.
“And you know, he’s fragile, I just don’t want to make things worse. But then, a credit card bill came, too. Much higher than I—eh, we were expecting.”
Red sighed. “Tell me how much and I’ll have the money in his bank account.”
“Actually, can you be a doll and transfer it to my account, instead? If he sees it, he’s going to start over thinking things, and you know how he gets. He might be a billionaire, but he’s sooo finicky with his money. Every cent is a stab in the gut for him.”
Red narrowed his eyes. He felt like asking to see the credit card statement, to make sure he wasn’t paying for Sandy’s designer shoes, but he also wanted Sandy to get out of his hair. He had way more on his mind than just bills, so he agreed to help and went off on his way, wondering how many more beers until he was ready to crash.
I feel like I lost something again. I keep finding it and then losing it.
Fourteen
Caleb Forester
The night was quiet. The group of three talked as they walked down the cobblestone driveway. It was still pretty early, only eleven, but Caleb couldn’t have stayed any longer. He was thankful Noah and Dean understood, although he did feel terrible about pulling them away from a beer pong game between them, Matt, and David Yost (who Noah appropriately freaked out over).
“Seriously,” he said, still fawning as they passed by more flashy cars parked on the driveway. “He’s the original blue Power Ranger! What a badass, awesome guy. And I almost beat him too.”
“That would have been a story. You beating a Power Ranger,” Dean said, smiling as he looped an arm around Noah’s waist and drew him in, kissing the top of his head.
“So what happened?” Dean asked, turning his attention to Caleb.
“I’m not even sure myself.” He was trying to unscramble it all in his head. He knew he couldn’t just blab Red’s secret, even though he knew Dean and Noah would never share that. It wasn’t Caleb’s secret to tell, or risk.
“Did you and—” Noah cut himself off as they reached the security guard. The guard let them through the wooden portal of a door and they walked out of the hedge and onto the wide Beverly Hill streets. The door closed behind them, the security guard staying on the other side now. It seemed like no more people were allowed in, only out.
“That’s weird…” Dean let go of Noah. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “I could have sworn—fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Dean wasn’t one for cursing, so when he did, it always surprised Caleb. This onslaught of fucks took him totally off guard. He snapped out of his Red trance and realized what had gotten Dean so worked up.
“Fuck,” Caleb added. Dean’s car was nowhere to be found. Noah pointed at the parking sign, conveniently three feet away from where they parked and facing the opposite direction. They were all so excited to have gott
en to the party, no one thought to check if there were any parking restrictions.
“Shit,” Dean said, adding to his streak. “Damn it.” He was simmering down now. “I fucking hate fucking tow companies.” The streak was back.
Noah put a hand out, rubbing Dean’s back. “I’ll order us a Lyft to take us to the lot.”
“They won’t be open. They’ll have opened the gate to repark my car and then charge me a thousand-fucking-dollars for a one-night stay at the Shithole Inn.”
Noah choked back a laugh at that. Caleb also chuckled, mainly because he just couldn’t believe the night he was having.
“It’ll be ok, babe, we’ll pick up your car tomorrow and then we can make a random day trip to Disneyland. You’re off tomorrow, anyway.”
Caleb looked over his shoulder. He had heard the door opening and for a split second, pictured Red running out to stop him from leaving. Slow-motion and everything. Maybe even holding a big, bright bouquet of flowers. Instead, three young socialites clicked out on their high red-bottom heels and into a waiting limo.
The car Noah ordered pulled up minutes later. Dean and Noah got in but Caleb hung back.
“Hey, guys,” he said, resting a hand on the roof and leaning into the car. “I think I’m going to take a walk for a bit. I’ll just order my own Lyft later.”
“You sure?” Dean asked. They had talked before about how Caleb liked to take walks whenever he was overly stressed, so he must have known something was up.
“Yeah, I’m good.” He wrapped a knuckle on the car, said goodbye and shut the door. Caleb looked around, deciding which way he’d start his mind-clearing walk. He began down the way that seemed to have fewer tall hedges. He figured he might as well gawk at all the mansions as he tried to get Red off his mind.
He made it all the way to the intersection, stopping at the stop sign. He didn’t bother looking to see which way he should take. He kept going straight, his mind swirling around the night’s events. The mansions around him disappeared as he thought about his time with Red. How he felt like a nervous kid again. It was a feeling he thought he had vaccinated himself against. With how his last relationship ended, Caleb thought he would never feel excited about someone else again. He thought those butterflies in his belly had been permanently snuffed out.