by Alexa Land
“We’re not becoming famous. That gallery I told you about just sold a couple of our toys, that’s all. It could have been a fluke, and I’m definitely sticking with my day job.”
“Five. Not a couple. You don’t have to be so modest.”
“I don’t want to make a big deal of it,” I said. “TJ and I were thrilled when those pieces sold, and the extra income was very welcome, but we know we can’t count on that.”
“How was your friend Chance’s photography show? I know you said he was nervous about it.”
“The show was a smash hit. It got a great review in the paper, and it even got some national attention. He finally gave notice at the restaurant and is going to dedicate himself full-time to photography. About damn time.”
“Must be nice,” Gabriel murmured.
“So, um, how’s the job hunt going?”
He laughed humorlessly and said, “Oh, I’ve found an awesome job. This local douchebag pays me fifty bucks twice a week to fuck me.”
“Shit, Gabriel, I’m sorry it’s come to that.”
He just shrugged. “I’ve been down this road before, more times than I can count. Maybe this’ll be the last time. I think if I can just get the fuck out of this hell hole, things will turn around. There’s no work here, and aside from my mom, there’s nothing else for me, either.”
“You have other relatives in town, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but that’s not a good thing. My mom’s family is very religious, so I don’t even sort of fit in with them. Every time they come over, they tell me they’re praying for me because I’m gay. I hate that so much. Meanwhile, my dad’s snow-white family pretends I don’t exist. He took off long ago, but they’re still in town. They’re racist and elitist, so of course they love the fact that their son knocked up the daughter of Mexican farm workers. I wish my mom hadn’t given me their last name, since they’ve never wanted a damn thing to do with me.” Gabriel sighed and added, “It’s pretty obvious why I moved away the day I graduated. I never thought I’d end up back here.”
“It sounds miserable. I wish you could come back to the city.”
“Me too.” He changed the subject by asking, “So, what brings you to the gates of hell, also known as Martinsville?”
“To see you, of course. I also brought you a present.”
“You didn’t seriously come all this way just for me, did you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because it’s a long-ass drive.”
“Totally worth it.” I swung the backpack onto my lap and fished out a little white box. “I have two things to give you. This is the first.”
His face lit up when he lifted the lid and revealed a tiny, wind-up dragon. “I made that just for you,” I told him. “You seemed to like the dragons TJ had made when you came by the shop that one time, so I wanted you to have one.”
“This means so much to me. Thank you.” His eyes actually got bright at that, as if he was holding back tears.
“That’s part one of the presents, this is part two.” I handed him a big envelope and a set of keys.
He took them hesitantly as he asked, “What’s this?”
“There’s a funny-looking car-like thing in the parking lot downstairs. It’s yours. In the envelope is the title in your name, a basic, six-month auto insurance policy, and a gas card to keep the thing moving for a while.”
“I…I don’t understand,” he stammered. “You’re not…I mean, you can’t be giving me a car.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing. Just so you know, it doesn’t look like much, but a couple mechanic friends of mine fixed it up, so it’s super reliable.”
“But…I can’t accept a gift that big!”
“Sure you can. If it’s any consolation, I got a hell of a deal on it, and my friends refused to take any money for the work they put into it.”
Gabriel looked completely stunned. “But why would you spend your hard-earned money on me?”
“Because you need a way to get around. Maybe now you won’t feel so trapped here, and you’ll be able to head over to Monterey for counseling, or support groups, or whatever you need. Do you want to go downstairs and take a look at it?”
He followed me to the parking lot in a daze, and when he saw the Subaru, he exclaimed, “Oh my God, it’s so cute!” I turned to the car/truck and thought, really? Well, okay, it did look a bit like a giant toy, especially since it was yellow with a red stripe, so maybe it was kind of cute.
“I’ve never had a car of my own,” Gabriel said softly as he ran his hand along its fender. But then he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, “I don’t deserve this. I fucked up, Zachary. I know you’re giving me this car because you think it’ll help me stay clean, but I already blew it. I used last weekend. I told myself I was going back to prostitution so I could save up and get the fuck out of here, but instead, I spent the money on heroin. I swore I was never going to use again after it almost killed me, and I stayed clean a lot longer than I ever thought possible, but I knew it wouldn’t last.”
“So you slipped. It happens.” I put the keys in his palm and gently curled his fingers around them. “This is your way to get help, if you want it. I did some research on addiction recovery services in Monterey, and there are a lot of resources there.”
“I don’t know if it’ll help. I’m not strong like you.”
“I’ve gotten this far because I have a support network and a great counselor. Let’s go to Monterey and find you those things.”
“Right now?”
“It’s up to you, of course, but there’s a drop-in support group at noon. We have plenty of time to get there,” I said. “It’s at a community center that provides a whole range of services. I could attend the group with you if you want, and afterwards we can ask about individual counseling. There’s no cost for the group, and individual sessions are on a sliding scale, based on your ability to pay. If this place doesn’t work out, we can try the next one on my list, and then the next, until we find someplace you like.”
“You don’t have to do all of this. I’m not your responsibility.”
“You’re my friend,” I said, “and that means everything to me. I’m just sorry I didn’t come down here and try to help sooner.”
“You had your own recovery to worry about. Besides, I wasn’t being honest with you. I let you think I was doing okay.” He chewed his lower lip for a moment, then unlocked the Subaru and said, “It won’t hurt to check out that recovery center. I need to run upstairs for something, but then we can take off.”
I climbed into the passenger seat and put the envelope in the glove compartment, while he jogged up to the apartment. When he returned a couple minutes later, he was dressed in a nice button-down shirt, black jeans and boots. He’d also brushed out his hair and put on smoky eye makeup. “Alright, now I’m ready,” Gabriel said as he got behind the wheel.
“Nice to see you again,” I said with a grin. That made him smile, too.
“I can’t believe you bought me a car,” he said as he turned the key in the ignition. The engine started with a deep purr. Jessie and Kai were miracle workers. “Perfect choice, too, since it says ‘brat’ on both sides. I always thought I should come with a warning label, and now I do.” We were both chuckling as he pulled out of the parking lot.
*****
TJ joined me in Monterey that afternoon. We’d agreed to meet up (either there or in Martinsville, wherever I ended up) so he could give me a ride back to the city. When I climbed in the Mini Cooper, he kissed me and asked, “How’d it go?”
“Great. The car was a big hit, and Gabriel liked the support group. He said he’ll go back next week. It probably helped that there was a big, sexy guy with tattoos in the group, and that he made a point of talking to Gabriel afterwards. A little external motivation might work wonders.”
“Where’s Gabriel now?”
“Ryder, the guy with the tatts, told him there’s a job opening at the place where
he tends bar, so Gabriel went to fill out an application,” I said as I laced my fingers with TJ’s. “How cool would it be if this day had a whole snowball effect for him: new support group, new job, new boyfriend? And yes, I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but it felt good to see Gabriel so upbeat and positive.”
“You did a good thing. I hope the car opens up some doors for your friend.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it before saying, “Do you want to head right back, or did you have something else in mind?”
“Turn left up here at the intersection,” I said. “I’m taking you someplace I think you might like. Well, technically, you’re taking me there because you’re driving, but once we reach our destination, it’s my treat.”
The surprise I’d planned became pretty obvious when we began seeing signs for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. TJ glanced at me and smiled as he said, “I love that place.”
“I was wondering if you’d been there.”
“Just once, years ago. I always wanted to go back.”
*****
We seemed to be the only gay couple at the aquarium, and when we walked through the exhibits hand-in-hand, we got a few looks from people. Normally, I hated drawing attention to myself, but nothing was going to get in the way of enjoying the afternoon with my boyfriend, so when people looked, I held their gaze. They usually stopped staring when I did that.
As we stood in front of a big display of vivid, orange jellyfish, TJ asked, “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure why.” The meeting arranged by Alastair’s lawyers was finally happening. I was going to see my dad face-to-face for the first time in years and should have felt elated. Instead, my nerves were raw.
“Probably because you don’t know what to expect. Six years is a long time.”
“It is. I wonder if he’s changed. I know I have.” I glanced at TJ and asked, “Do you think it’ll be awkward seeing him?”
“Maybe at first, but I think you’ll get over it quickly.”
“I wonder if I’m getting my hopes up for nothing. Part of me fully expects to be turned away when we reach the prison, like, ‘Sorry, we changed our minds. You can’t see him after all.’ Talk about disappointing.”
“The lawyers made sure to get all the approvals you’ll need. As a defense witness, you have a legal right to this meeting.”
“There could still be a mix-up, though.”
TJ turned to face me and ran his hands down my arms. “It’s going to work out, Zachary. Think positive.”
“That’s never been my strong suit.” He kissed my forehead, and when we turned to face the tank again, he stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. After a minute, I said, “These things are so beautiful.” The jellyfish floated along gracefully, their half-domed bodies pulsating to propel them along while long streamers of tentacles trailed behind them.
“They are.”
“How can something so delicate survive in the ocean? It seems like they’d get torn apart.”
“Like you, they’re a lot tougher than they look,” TJ said. I grinned at that.
After a while, we resumed our tour. The crowd kept thinning out the closer it got to closing time. In the last hour, we wandered into the open sea exhibit, which we had to ourselves.
My breath caught. The lights were low in the room to make it easier to view the impossibly large aquarium, which was built into the wall and must have been ninety feet long. A few hundred silvery anchovies moved as one, like a metallic cloud that kept forming and reforming in the water. Meanwhile, a hammerhead shark sliced through the water right near the front of the tank, then turned and vanished into the depths. “This is unreal.” I whispered that for some reason, even though we were alone in the huge room. Then I exclaimed, “What’s that?” Something that looked like half of a giant, flattened fish drifted along in the middle distance.
“A mola. They’re more commonly called sunfish.”
“Where’s the rest of it?” The thing ended abruptly, just past the pointy fins that jutted from the top and bottom of its body.
TJ grinned. “That’s all of it. Come on, let’s go have a seat in the gallery. I want to spend some time in this exhibit.” We climbed a staircase to a balcony lined with a couple rows of chairs and got comfortable.
“This is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” I said. “I have to admit though, I keep looking at that huge acrylic wall and imagining it breaking. Over a million gallons of water would cause a pretty dramatic flash flood. The sharks would just be a bonus.”
“It’s held the water back this long. It’ll probably last another hour.”
“Probably.”
We watched the vast tank for a while, and TJ said, “This was a great idea,” as he took my hand. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“Considering how much time and attention you give your aquarium back home, I figured you’d like it.”
“I love it. Especially the company.” He leaned in and kissed me, and I pulled him close and deepened the kiss.
We both started getting worked up after making out for a couple minutes, and I slid my hand down and rubbed the growing bulge in his jeans. When I leaned in and whispered, “Fuck me, TJ,” he drew in his breath and a tremor went through his body.
“Here?” I pulled back and grinned at him as I nodded. “But what if we get caught?”
“What if we don’t?”
“It’s so risky, though.”
I probably would have let it drop, if it wasn’t for the fact that I could feel his cock swelling under my palm. When it twitched a bit, I unzipped his jeans and slid my hand inside, then stroked his thick shaft through his boxers. A bit of precum soaked through the thin fabric, and he closed his eyes and drew in his breath when I ran my thumb over his tip. After a few moments, he whispered, “Okay, but we need to be quick.”
We both clambered over the front row of seats to give us a bit more privacy. I got on my knees and pulled down my jeans and briefs as he retrieved a condom and lube packet from his wallet. TJ prepped himself quickly and rubbed some lube into my hole before slowly sinking into me. He slid in and out slowly, helping me open up and take all of him.
Adrenaline pumped through me at the thought of getting caught, heightening all my senses. My cock throbbed and pleasure washed through me every time TJ’s cock rubbed my prostate. He began taking me harder and faster but made sure his body didn’t slap against mine, since the noise would attract attention. When he reached around me and began stroking my hard cock, I whispered, “I’ll cum later. For now, it’s your turn.”
“You sure?”
I nodded and rocked back, taking him deep, establishing a steady rhythm in time to his thrusts. In just a few minutes, he stifled a moan and came as he clutched my hips and drove himself into me. I could feel his body trembling as he rode out his orgasm.
Right after he came, he eased out of me, then peeled off the condom and tied it off. TJ grabbed an empty paper cup that was under one of the chairs and dropped the condom and wrappers inside. We both got dressed quickly and he threw the cup in a nearby trash can before we returned to our seats.
After a moment, we both burst out laughing. “You’re a bad influence,” TJ whispered.
“I know. I’m totally corrupting you,” I whispered back.
“Good. I needed some corrupting.” He leaned over and nuzzled my cheek, just as a recording came over the P.A. system telling us the aquarium was closing in fifteen minutes.
We spent five more minutes watching the fish in the enormous tank, then left the aquarium hand-in-hand. As we strolled down the sidewalk on our way to the parking garage, he murmured, “I can’t believe we did that,” and smiled embarrassedly.
“I never realized it before,” I said, “but you’re an innocent, TJ.”
He chuckled at that. “Hardly.”
“It’s not a bad thing, and it certainly wasn’t meant as an insult. I think it’s sweet.”
He thought
about it, and after a moment he said, “This is the first time I’ve felt comfortable enough with a partner to branch out a little. I wouldn’t call myself an innocent. I just never trusted anyone enough to be sexually adventurous with them.”
“You had a couple long-term relationships, though.”
“I know, but I always held part of myself back. Not on purpose, but that’s still what ended up happening. For some reason, I always wound up with critical, older partners, and I was afraid to ask for what I wanted, because I was pretty sure they’d have something negative to say about it.”
“I didn’t realize you were always the younger one in your relationships.”
“Yeah. Even Trevor’s mom was older than me.”
“Why do you think you sought that out?”
He considered the question as we meandered off the main road and into a cluster of shops built around a miniature park. Since it was the end of November, the Christmas decorations were out in full force, and we sidestepped an inflatable snowman in front of a boutique that sold bathing suits year-round. Finally he said, “I think it was a confidence thing. Older partners tended to take charge, so I didn’t have to. In my experience, anyway.”
“I’m happy to report dating someone older doesn’t automatically mean they’ll try to run the relationship. Sometimes, they can be an equal, loving partner.” I squeezed his hand, and he shot me a smile.
“That’s good to hear.”
“I’m curious how I fit into the grand scheme of things. I certainly don’t seem to be your type, given your dating history, and I can’t imagine your plan was ever to find a messed-up twenty-four-year-old and get involved with him,” I said as we came to a spot overlooking the bay. Below us, seagulls perched on dark rocks dotting the foamy surf, surveying their surroundings.
TJ turned to me and leaned against the railing. “The plan, or more accurately, the hope, was to find someone who loved me and accepted me for who I am. That’s you, Zachary. You were everything I was looking for, and nothing I ever expected.”