Make It Better (Gay Romance)

by Trina Solet

  Make It Better (Gay Romance)

  By Trina Solet

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2013 by Trina Solet

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or actual events is entirely coincidental.

  Cover source: background image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  Superiorz.Club

  Make It Better

  (Gay Romance)

  By Trina Solet

  This story contains material intended for mature readers.

  Make It Better (Gay Romance)

  By Trina Solet

  The man sleeping next to Ray was the one he was afraid to dream about. He was the happiness Ray didn’t dare to hope for. Until they met, he was satisfied with the simple pleasures of his life. But this man turned him greedy and made him forget to be content with what he had. He stirred Ray like no one else ever had.

  Now he was so near, Ray could feel the warmth radiating from his body. Though Ray’s mouth was very close to his shoulder, he didn’t let his lips touch that skin. He didn’t need to. Ray knew his taste. If he wanted to taste him again, all he had to do was lick his lips for the trace of him, for his imprint. Now that they were together, there wasn’t any rush. He could wait and let his lover sleep because this man was his future.

  *

  Lydia and Ray had spent an hour arguing about where they would go for lunch. As a vegan, she had limited choices on the menus of the places where Ray liked to eat. They had just settled on a vegetarian restaurant as a compromise when he got the phone call from Lionel and lunch was canceled.

  Just hearing Lionel’s voice was such a strong reminder. Ray’s life was split into two parts along one straight line. There was his life before and his life after he met Lionel. And it was a fact of his new life that if Lionel called, Ray would drop everything and rushed over. Only it had never happened before.

  It was strange for Lionel to summon him like this. He liked to throw his weight around, but he also liked to keep things on a more friendly footing, especially with Ray. Lionel was either too busy for niceties or whatever he wanted from Ray was very important. Ray had always been glad to be treated like a good though less fortunate friend and not like someone who owed everything he had to Lionel’s past generosity. Lionel had saved him from a miserable existence on the street and all the degradation and hopelessness that went with it. Ray wouldn’t call what he had then a life. He survived and existed though he sometimes didn’t know why. What he had now was a life, and a good one thanks to Lionel. So that Friday on his lunch break from a job Lionel had helped him get, Ray went to see him. He was a little apprehensive but determined to be of use to his benefactor.

  Lionel had moved twice since Ray lived with him, each time to some impressive high-rise apartment. This latest one was a penthouse where Ray had been once before on a casual visit to spend an evening with Lionel and “help him relax”, as he put it. The penthouse overlooked the city with the green tops of trees sometimes intruding among the buildings. It was an impressive view. When the sky turned different colors at sunrise and sunset, or the clouds formed interesting patterns, it was even pretty. Ray found Lionel reclining in his rooftop garden, though his cellphone was next to his glass of expensive brandy, and his laptop was close at hand. As usual, he wasn’t just taking it easy in that beautiful space. There were small trees among the shrubbery and flowers that were paced naturally all around. If it wasn’t for the view of other rooftops in every direction, one could believe that they weren’t standing on top of a building but in a real garden. Ray could hear birds chirping among the flowering trees. The place smelled like a real garden, earthy, green and perfumed with blossoms. It was a little disorienting.

  Lionel invited him to sit across from him and offered him a drink. There was no mention of lunch. That was an unusual oversight on Lionel’s part. As he took the drink on an empty stomach, Ray noticed Lionel’s manner lacked its usual welcome. The way his eyes strayed toward the horizon as he frowned, Ray could tell he was preoccupied. He wondered if what troubled Lionel had anything to do with the favor he was going to ask of him.

  Ray had on his light beige suit with a light blue shirt and no tie, and he was a little warm. Feeling that this was an almost formal occasion, he left the jacket on. He had worn an outfit just like it for his first day of work at TSS. He had been nervous, but he received an approving nod from Mr. Kincaid after he looked him over. Now he wore different variations of that foolproof outfit all the time and thought of it as a sort of work uniform. He had been told that it brought out his “honey brown eyes and golden hair” by a flirtatious sales representative. He turned out to be even better at giving head than giving compliments. Ray stopped himself from further thoughts like those which certainly wouldn’t help to bring down the temperature.

  Lionel was dressed in black slacks and a white shirt open at the neck with the sleeves rolled up. The simple outfit showed off his toned body, his olive skin and handsomely graying hair. Before he started to speak, Lionel ran his hand through the thick, wavy hair Ray had just been admiring. Though he was nervous, not knowing what Lionel would ask him to do for him, Ray also had that safe, protected feeling he had felt ever since he first met him.

  Lionel had been a little drunk then but surprisingly gentle. He was a man who knew how to take his time in pursuit of pleasure. Ray had enjoyed him more than anyone for a long time. Taking Ray’s hand as he was about to leave for some less pleasant encounter, Lionel had looked at him, smiled, and offered to take him home. Their time together didn’t last long, less than a year, but it changed Ray’s life. Ray decided that whatever Lionel wanted from him, he would do without a word of complaint. With everything he could, he would show Lionel his gratitude and try to repay him.

  Surprising him, Lionel took Ray’s hand in his. Ray was taken back to that moment in the hotel room when Lionel had smelled of booze but also masculine and pleasant, and he had asked Ray to come home with him. When he had agreed, Lionel took him in his arms and kissed him for a long time. As much as he enjoyed the kiss, Ray didn’t yet know how lucky he was to be in the arms of a man like him. Now Lionel’s hand felt warm and strong. Ray knew that this time there would be no enticing offer to follow his touch. But once again, like back then, he felt like Lionel needed him. Ray looked into his eyes, and he couldn’t help smiling. Lionel smiled too though a minute before he had looked so worried.

  “There you go, making everything better,” Lionel said and let go of his hand to lean back and look at him fondly.

  “Me?” Ray said confused because he had just been thinking that same thing about him.

  “Sometimes just thinking about you lifts my mood,” Lionel said. He put on a teasing smile so Ray couldn’t take him too seriously.

  “Any time you want me to put a smile on your face, just call me over,” Ray offered. He said it like it was a joke, but he meant it. Sure Lionel knew he could have him just by snapping his fingers, but Ray also wanted to let him know that he wanted him and always would.

  “Do you think you could do the same thing for someone else? Someone very dear to me.” Lionel frowned again. The look on his face was almost pained.

  “Anything I can do I will.” Ray was quick to answer. He wanted to take away that pained look from Lionel’s face. He wanted to help him, not just because he owed
him, but because Lionel was important to him, and if Ray could take away his trouble and worry, he would.

  “I need you to do something vital,” he said quietly. “If you can do it tonight, that would be best.”

  Lionel spoke almost as if he was going to skip over the actual favor he wanted him to do. But Ray waited patiently for him to tell him more.

  Lionel was thoughtful for a moment so Ray jumped in to say that he was free that night. Even if he wasn’t, he would have cleared his schedule. Lionel smiled again this time at Ray’s eagerness to please him.

  “My nephew needs you. Well, he needs something. And I’ve decided it’s you.” Lionel gave him a hard look which Ray didn’t take personally. He could tell how much this still unknown problem was weighing on him.

  “I’ll do what I can. Do you want me to show him a good time or a really good time?” he risked a joke and Lionel took it fairly well. He also took his question seriously and told him what he expected.

  “Give him your time and your attention and whatever else you think he needs. I’ll trust you to decide the details.”

  Happy to be trusted, Ray nodded in agreement.

  “What can you tell me about him?” Ray was ready for whatever he might say. He knew something had to be wrong for Lionel to ask him to give this guy his time but also from the way Lionel was acting.

  Another pained look confirmed that things were serious. Instead of answering, Lionel held his breath and looked away. Ray wasn’t going to press him. If he couldn’t tell him more, he would go in blind. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  Lionel’s gaze didn’t return to him as he spoke. His voice was rough with emotion.

  “Marcus was driving his stepbrother and stepsister to school. Her to middle school. His stepbrother to high school. His stepbrother was a typical teenager, hotheaded, obnoxious, the usual. He and Marcus were having an argument. It got heated. Marcus was driving a little too aggressively. His stepsister told him to slow down, but he was mad. Then it started to rain. When it first starts to rain, that’s the worst time to be driving crazy.” Lionel paused. He steeled himself to tell him the rest. “There was a crash. The car jumped the curb and flipped. Marcus was injured but he survived. His stepbrother and stepsister didn’t. Legally he wasn’t at fault, but in every other way he was. His stepmother … you can imagine. Loosing two children while Marcus is at the wheel and only he survives. I can’t blame her for heaping all that guilt on him. But Marcus is my main concern. His well being is my priority. He stopped going to his classes at the college. He hardly eats or sleeps. Instead, he walks the city like a blind man, goes nowhere, just walks and walks until he exhausts himself.”

  Ray guessed that Lionel must have had his nephew followed to know where he went, but he didn’t say anything. He knew that Lionel had done it out of concern.

  “"What about therapy?” Ray asked.

  “He refuses any kind of therapy. He’s been sinking, drowning. I don’t even recognize him.” Lionel took a swallow of his drink.

  Ray remembered the drink in his own hand and had a gulp. He looked up to find Lionel looking straight into his eyes.

  “He tried to steal his father’s gun.” Lionel looked down at his feet like he didn’t want to say any more, but then he did. “I don’t have to tell you what he’s likely to want to use it for. He seems to have backed away from the idea for now. Maybe he realized how much pain he would be causing on top of everything else. But that he went that far, had the gun in his hand. We’re all afraid.”

  Ray could tell how much the thought horrified him. Lionel looked at him again, his expression earnest, almost begging.

  “That’s why I need you. Do you understand?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Ray said with all the seriousness the subject was due. Though he didn’t know how much help he could be, he was determined to try.

  “Just do your best. That’s all I expect,” Lionel said almost like he didn’t have much hope that it would do any good. But then he added, “And be yourself.”

  “I don’t know how to be anyone else,” Ray said half jokingly, but he knew what Lionel meant. He didn’t want him to put on an act. “I won’t try to cheer him up. I’ll just be there for him.”

  “That will do him good all by itself.” Lionel stood up. Ray thought it might be a signal that it was time for him to leave so he stood up too. With his drink in his hand, Lionel went to the railing of his rooftop garden.

  “He might not be too friendly. So be ready,” Lionel warned him while looking at the view with the clouds darkening in the distance though it was still bright and clear overhead.

  Thinking about it, Ray realized then that a depressed guy like Marcus wouldn’t be eager to go out and meet new people.

  “How did you get him to agree to see me?” he asked.

  “Blackmail,” Lionel answered simply. He turned away from the view and smiled wryly. Seeing Ray’s worried look, he explained, “I’m putting a good friend of his through medical school. A wonderful kid from a very poor and troubled family. I wouldn’t dream of withdrawing financial support from him. But I told Marcus I would unless he met with you as many times as you ask to see him.”

  Ray was stunned and must have looked it.

  “Don’t worry. As fond as I am of him, Marcus has always had a rather low opinion of me.” Lionel looked strangely pleased as he said that. He clearly didn’t blame his nephew for how he felt. “Marcus thinks I’m controlling and overbearing, that I want to own people.”

  Ray was already shaking his head, ready to jump in and defend Lionel from all these charges though they did have a ring of truth to them. Lionel stopped him before he could say even one word in protest.

  “He’s mostly right,” Lionel said with melancholy self-awareness. Then he added in his own defense, “I like to know who I can count on.”

  “You can count on me,” Ray told him though he already knew that. He owed Lionel so much, and he didn’t like to hear anyone badmouthing him.

  Lionel saw him frowning.

  “Don’t hold it against him. Marcus is still young. When I leave him every cent I’ve got, we’ll see how he handles it.”

  Seeing his sly expression when he said that, Ray had a hunch.

  “He doesn’t know you’re leaving him everything, does he?”

  “No,” Lionel said confirming that Ray’s guess had been right. He looked a little bit proud of Ray for his insight. “In fact, I specifically told him I would be leaving him exactly five bucks so he could buy himself some manners.”

  “Manners cost five bucks?” Ray blurted out.

  “Manners don’t cost anything. The five bucks is symbolic,” Lionel said with good humor. “You’ll be good for him,” he said as he looked at Ray. “You are always good for me.”

  The wind was picking up a little bringing the clouds overhead. The rooftop garden shook with the strong breeze. A few leaves and petals flew off as Lionel and Ray stood facing each other. Ray liked how Lionel was looking at him. Even as the wind was cooling him off, Lionel’s look was warming him up inside.

  “I promise I’ll be good to him, and then we’ll see, I guess,” Ray said not wanting to guarantee more than he could deliver.

  “That’s the plan. I’ll be the bastard uncle. You be the nice guy, and between us, He’ll be right as rain in no time.” Lionel was being more positive than he felt as he raised his glass to Ray’s. The glasses clinked, almost empty now. As he finished off the last little bit of brandy and set his glass down, Ray did have to say one thing.

  “Tough love is still love. I bet Marcus knows that,” he told Lionel before he left.

  *

  Ray was becoming more confident all the time. Lionel wondered if there would come a day when he would refuse him, maybe even turn his back on his old friend. He doubted it. Ray had a core of deep loyalty that was more than indebtedness. He remembered what he had seen when he first met Ray. In his eyes, Lionel had seen a light just begin to die out. He had indulged himself
when he hired Ray. But it was meant to be only a brief indulgence. One night spent in his company wasn’t enough though. And seeing that the life Ray was living was starting to smother and extinguish the light inside him, Lionel obeyed an impulse and took him home.

  He didn’t do it selflessly though. It was a difficult time in Lionel’s life. Just looking at Ray, he had known that he would bring warmth into the cold darkness of his world. He knew that when he came home, there would be a happy face to greet him and an eager body to embrace him. For someone so sweet, that boy sure could fuck.

  Letting him go had been a struggle. Though he delayed it as long as he could, it had to be done for Ray. He had to start his real life, find his own way in the world. He deserved true happiness more than anyone. But even though he had let him fly away, Ray was always there if he needed him. And he never saw in him the same apprehension shown by others who owed him more. Lionel knew that was because Ray had real affection for him. It pained him a little to have to send him to Marcus. And if things weren’t so grave, he would have not let them meet. Lionel had a feeling that in saving Marcus, he might lose Ray for good.

  *

  As he walked back to work on crowded sidewalks, Ray got a text. It was just a phone number and the name Marcus. Ray saved it and decided to call when he had a little more privacy and when he wouldn’t have to worry that the honking of impatient drivers on the busy street would drown out his words. The cloudy weather which threatened rain was making both the drivers and the pedestrians edgy. Everyone was hurrying to get places before it started pouring.

  Ray wasn’t worried about the weather. He was thinking about Lionel. Before now Lionel had never talked about his family. At one time, Ray thought he might even have children of his own, perhaps from some doomed, early marriage. But what he said about Marcus made it pretty clear that he thought of him almost like a son. That made Ray’s mission even more important. He was being trusted, relied on, and for something so serious. He was supposed to save Marcus’s life. The enormity of that stopped him in the middle of the sidewalk. People jostled him a little as they pushed past. All of them were on their way back from lunch or appointments, rushing to work just like he was supposed to be. He hurried to TSS, Tobbler Specialty Surfaces, so he wouldn’t be too late. Ray owed that job to Lionel and he wanted to keep it at all costs. He wasn’t really worried. All he had to say to Mr. Kincaid was that he had been meeting with Lionel Dullas, and he would be off the hook.