by Alexa Land
He looked at me again with raw anger in his eyes. “I’m so fucking sick of people like you coming to me with their hands out. I wish I’d never gotten that damn inheritance. Since then, it’s been this ongoing procession of fake long-lost aunts and cousins and uncles, all wanting a piece of the pie, not to mention half the residents of Gala with their sob stories, expecting me to cut ‘em a check just because they said please. Claiming to be my son is a new all-time low, though. I wanted a kid more than I wanted anything in my entire life, you asshole. But it’s not fucking possible!”
“Look, if you need a paternity test, I’ll do that gladly because I’d love to know the truth.”
“Just get the fuck out!” He yelled that at the top of his lungs and came at me from behind the bar.
Finn cut him off, stepping in front of me and putting his hands up palms out. He said in a voice that resonated authority, “I need you to step back and calm down, sir.”
“I’ll calm down when you and that fucking lying gold-digger get the fuck out of my bar!”
Finn pulled two business cards from the pocket of his t-shirt and placed them on a table beside him as he said, “One of those cards tells you who I am, my cellphone’s on the back. The other is where we’re staying, room three-twelve. We’re going to be in town a couple more days. Once you’ve had a chance to calm down and realize not everyone’s interested in your fucking money, you should come see us.”
Finn’s voice dropped a couple octaves as he added, “But when you do, I expect you to treat Chance with respect. He drove all the way here from California, not for your goddamn money but because he wanted the opportunity to meet the asshole who knocked up his mom. I don’t know if that’s you, but it’s easy enough to do a paternity test and find out. I’ll even pay for it. If you decide that’s too much trouble, you’re going to miss out on getting to know the sweetest, kindest, most genuine person you’ll ever meet, and believe me when I say, that is your fucking loss.”
Finn put his arm around my shoulders and we left the bar. When we got in the car, I said, “Thank you for stepping in.”
“I just wish I could have done more.”
He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, and then I exclaimed, “Shit, I’m sorry. I just realized I outed you back there. I called you my boyfriend. It won’t happen again, I promise. I’ll be so careful when we get back home.”
“It’s okay. I actually loved hearing you say that,” he said quietly.
“Still, though. I’ll watch myself.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes. Eventually, he said, “I really respect the fact that you’re so upfront about your sexuality. That man could potentially be your father, and you told him you had a boyfriend with no hesitation.”
“If he’s going to reject me, he might as well reject all of me. I wasn’t going to hide who I am. If he has a problem with the fact that I’m gay, it’s just that, his problem, not mine,” I said as I watched the landscape roll by. This part of the state was a lot greener than where I’d grown up. It was kind of nice, actually.
Finn fell silent again for a while. When he took the exit for our hotel, he said, “You should eat something. What do you want for lunch?”
“I can’t eat right now, my stomach’s in knots. Let’s get you something, though. You have to be hungry.”
He drove us to a sandwich shop and ordered way too much food, then told me when I glanced at him, “There’s a mini-fridge in our room. It’ll keep.”
Once we were back in our motel room, Finn drew me into his arms. I clutched him tightly and asked, “Do you think that guy might actually be my dad? He didn’t come out and say he slept with my mom, but that seemed to be the implication.”
“No real way of knowing unless he agrees to a test.”
I played over what had happened at the bar and my stomach twisted itself up even tighter. I hated confrontation, always had. “What do we do now?”
“Now we give it a couple days,” he said. “See what develops.” I nodded and he kissed my forehead before sitting down to eat.
While Finn polished off a foot-long sub, I borrowed his phone, pushed my shoes off and sat cross-legged on one of the beds. A search under the name Antonio Asturias produced some interesting results. “Find anything?” Finn asked.
“Yeah. There’s an almost two-year-old article from the local paper about Tony. Cap. Whatever. When he first got his inheritance, he bought a firetruck and donated it to the Gala volunteer fire department.” I expanded the grainy black and white photo, which showed Tony standing in front of a small truck with three other men.
“A fire truck? That must have cost a fortune.”
“It wasn’t a huge ladder truck, but yeah. The article says it cost three hundred thousand dollars. It kind of looks like a big ambulance.” I scanned the article and said, “Listen to this: Asturias, a lifelong resident of Gala, received an inheritance of nearly one million dollars from an uncle he’d never met. When asked what he planned to do with the rest of his money, Asturias said he was in the process of buying Washington’s Bar, as well as making a donation to the Gala Elementary School library so they could purchase new books.” I looked up at Finn and said, “This Tony sounds a hell of a lot nicer than the one we met.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
I read the rest of the article and said, “That’s interesting. The reporter got a few quotes from local residents, and some strayed pretty far from the topic of the firetruck. A couple of them had opinions about Tony buying the bar, since he’s a recovering alcoholic. Gotta love small town reporting. Simone’s paper was always like that too, as much opinion and gossip as actual news.”
There was one more, slightly older article, written when Tony first found out about his inheritance. It said he’d been working off and on as a handyman and included an interview, which basically consisted of Tony saying he was shocked a dozen different ways. That article also mentioned he’d been a star pitcher on his high school’s team before a shoulder injury dashed his chances for a scholarship. It concluded with reactions from a few town residents, the majority of which again mentioned the fact that he was a recovering alcoholic. I read the article to Finn and then said, “From town drunk to its wealthiest resident. This guy’s certainly colorful, I’ll give him that.”
Finn had finished his lunch by that point and put the rest of the food away when I told him I still didn’t want to eat. He propped himself up behind me on the bed and I rested my head on his thigh as I flipped through the online paper. As I did that, he gently stroked my hair. After a while, I forgot about the news and said softly, “I love this. It feels so good just to be with you.”
“Same here.”
When I closed the internet browser, I glanced at his screen and told him, “You have several texts from Shea.”
“I know.”
I turned my head to look at Finn, who was frowning slightly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Yes there is. Did you two have an argument?”
“No, nothing like that,” he told me.
“Something’s up, though. I can tell by your tone of voice,” I said.
“Shea’s just worried about me. Obviously for no reason, since I’m fine.”
I sat up and turned to face him. “Why is he worried about you?”
Finn hesitated for a long moment, chewing on his lower lip. Finally he said, “Promise not to make a big deal of this.”
“I can’t really promise that, since I have no idea what ‘this’ is.”
He sighed and told me, “I kind of…quit my job.”
“What? Why?”
“My captain wouldn’t give me the time off on short notice.”
“So you quit?”
“Well, technically, I got fired. I explained to him that I had to go, because a friend of mine was in trouble and needed my help. I also pointed out that I worked a ton of overtime and hadn’t taken a vacation day in over three years, so I was due f
or some time off. He was mad about the short notice, but I couldn’t keep arguing with him because I had a plane to catch. I told him this was something I needed to do, and then I hung up on him,” Finn said. “According to my coworkers, most of whom called or texted me after that, the captain was furious. He’s really not the type of person you hang up on. Someone called my brother and he’s worried about me, but I don’t know what to tell him. I already texted him and said I was fine, but he wants to know what I’m doing, and I don’t know how to explain us to him without coming out of the closet.”
“Finn, you love your job. How could you do that?”
“This was so much more important.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, the good news is, I have a shitload of savings. I’ll be fine until I figure something out.”
“You mean your house money?” He nodded and I said, “Oh God. I ended up costing you your dream after all.” Finn grinned a little and I asked, “What?”
“If I was a different kind of man, I’d point out that all I did was swap one dream for another, being with you instead of buying a house. That’s a huge upgrade as far as dreams go.” His grin widened and he said, “But I can’t say something that sappy. I’d feel like a total dork.”
I climbed onto his lap, straddling his hips as I put my arms around his shoulders. “You’re an amazingly sweet man, Finn, but you can’t keep sacrificing so much for me.”
He rested his forehead against mine. “It’s no sacrifice.”
I played with the soft, short hair at the back of his neck and said, “You need to call your brother.”
“I will, tomorrow. I just need to figure out what to tell him first.” He tilted his head a bit and rubbed my nose with his.
“Okay, tomorrow. Promise?” I kissed him lightly.
“I promise,” he said and kissed me again. “Right after we go through the town records and see if we can find any more candidates, in case Asturias is a dead-end.”
“What do you think we should do between now and then?”
He gave me a lopsided smile and said, “This,” before he brushed his lips to mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Christine Hanson was a big help, both with searching the town records, as well as accompanying us to a few local businesses and asking questions. We spent all day pursuing every idea we could come up with, but that didn’t produce any new candidates. It was entirely possible that the man my mother had met had been passing through just like she was, but Asturias’ admission that he remembered her made me think I’d found who I was looking for, especially once we exhausted all other possibilities.
Hanson also accompanied us to the town doctor’s office. She told him my story and convinced him to do a paternity test, even after he insisted that Asturias couldn’t father children. He finally relented and took a quick sample from me. “I’ll go by Washington’s and see if I can convince Cap to come in and give a sample,” Christine told us. “He’s stubborn as heck, but maybe he’s a little curious, too.”
When we were back out on the sidewalk in front of the doctor’s office, we both shook hands with Christine and thanked her for her help. “It was my pleasure,” she said. “I don’t get to do much investigating on the job, but this came close. I hope you find your dad, Chance.”
“Thanks. I kind of think I already did, but unless Asturias agrees to get tested, we’ll never know.”
We got back in the car and Finn pointed it east, toward Gillette. I stared out the window for a while before murmuring, “How weird would that be if Asturias turned out to be my dad? That would mean I found him on my first try. It’d also mean he went absolutely nowhere in all that time, he was still right where my mother met him. That’s kind of sad.”
“I really hope he goes in for the paternity test.”
“I bet he won’t, though. He was sure it was impossible, since the doctors told him he couldn’t have kids. But I can’t shake the feeling that it’s him.”
“Doctors can be wrong about all kinds of things. And with something like infertility, maybe it’s not so black and white, a clear yes or no. Maybe his chances of conceiving were one in a million, but that’s still a chance.”
“I’m pretty aptly named in that case.” Finn drove past our exit and I asked, “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you on a field trip,” he said with a little grin.
“What kind of field trip?”
“You’ll see.” I grinned too and laced my fingers with his on the center console.
A few minutes past Gillette, I read a road sign and said, “Devils Tower. Is that where we’re going?”
“Yup. I was reading up on Wyoming on my phone when I was killing time in Salt Lake City and found out it’s only an hour from Gillette. I’ve always wanted to see it, ever since the movie Close Encounters. Have you ever been there?”
“No. I’ve actually seen very little of my home state.”
Finn pulled over a few minutes later at a gas station with a general store. I used the restroom while he filled the tank, and then we both went into the market, because he wanted to put together a picnic for dinner. He got a selection of items from the small deli counter, then embarrassedly put some lube and condoms in his basket. As we walked through the store, he threw a few miscellaneous items in the basket and asked me if I wanted anything in particular, but I shook my head.
There was a souvenir section near the door, and he selected a wool blanket with “Wyoming’ woven into the design. He then picked up a little brown teddy bear wearing a Wyoming t-shirt and said, “Want to get B.B. a friend? We can relieve him of his t-shirt if you’re sick of all the reminders of your ill-fated road trip.”
“Actually, ever since you showed up, this trip has been great,” I said. He smiled shyly and put the bear in the basket.
When we went to check out, the young guy working the cash register smirked at Finn when he got to the lube and condoms. Finn looked away embarrassedly. But when the cashier tried to smirk at me, I stared him down unflinchingly until he squirmed uncomfortably and went back to ringing up our purchases. Then it was my turn to smirk.
*****
Since we’d spent all day in Gala, it was late afternoon when we reached the National Monument. “Holy crap, look at that,” Finn exclaimed when we got out of the car near the visitor center, which had closed for the day. He looked so cute with his sparkling blue eyes and his lips parted in awe.
“Beautiful,” I mumbled.
Finn glanced at me and said, “You’re not even looking at it.”
“I found something better to look at,” I said, and he grinned at me, took hold of my shoulders, and turned me to face Devils Tower.
It was pretty impossible not to be awed by the twelve hundred foot monolith that jutted out of the surrounding countryside. “That’s just surreal,” I said. “I’ve seen a million pictures, but to see the real thing is kind of mind-boggling.”
Finn retrieved our picnic and the blanket from the backseat and we headed off on a hiking trail. A few people were heading back to the parking lot, but we seemed to be the only ones heading in. We walked for quite a while, until Finn said, “Hang on a minute, I’m going to scout a dinner location,” and then disappeared into the bushes. He was back a few moments later, and said, “Follow me.”
I pushed some branches out of the way and said, “I think we’re going to get in trouble for straying off the marked path. Can rangers arrest people?”
“It’ll be fine,” he said as we emerged in a little clearing. He spread the wool blanket on the ground and we both settled down on it.
When I looked up, I exclaimed, “Oh wow.” We had a great view of Devils Tower, and the sun was beginning to set. It was so stunningly beautiful that I murmured, “All of a sudden, I feel like I’m in a movie.”
“Me too. I keep expecting Richard Dreyfus to run past and a big alien spaceship to rise up over the tower.”
“Not Close Encounters,” I said softly
. “A romance. I’ve never been on a real date before, but here I am having a picnic at sunset with a gorgeous guy in this incredible setting, and it just doesn’t feel real. My life is never like this.”
“Shit,” Finn whispered. When I looked at him he said, “I’m so damn sorry it took me this long to take you on a date. I totally blew it, all summer long. You deserved so much more, and I want you to know I’m going to try my damnedest to make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to make anything up to me. I loved this summer and our time together. Those nights at the Whitman were the best of my life.”
Finn slid close and brushed his lips to mine, and arousal flared in me like a struck match. We stretched out on the blanket, kissing as we caressed each other, and after a while he pulled back to look at me and asked hesitantly, “Do you, um, have any interest in topping me?”
“If that’s what you want, sure.”
“But is that what you want?”
“I…never really thought about it,” I admitted. My cock seemed fully on board with that idea, though, judging by the way it was swelling and throbbing. I grinned shyly and placed his hand on the bulge in my jeans.
Finn let out a low, “Mmmm,” and rubbed me through the denim before slipping his hand under my belt and tracing a circle on the head of my cock. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” he said, his voice low. “The idea used to really freak me out, but I feel so good with you. You’re the only person I could possibly do this with.”
“Are you sure you want to do it out here? We’re kind of exposed.”
“Nobody’ll find us here, and I don’t want to wait any longer. I’ve been thinking about it for such a long time, including all day today. I even, um, prepared myself this morning.” He couldn’t look at me as he said that.
I distracted him from his embarrassment by kissing him, long and hard. A warm breeze stirred the brush around us and felt good on my bare skin when I stripped myself. I undressed him next, then found the lube and used it to work him open, taking my time. His opening was tight and warm around my fingers, and he looked so sexy as he laid back on the blanket and spread his legs for me. I tasted his mouth as I fingered him, and when I stroked his prostate he moaned against my lips.