“I can explain. I’m gay gay gay, and I can explain.” Coop said it just as a trio of girls on his floor walked by and heard. Coop turned red and ushered Matty inside.
“What’s going on?” Matty held up the picture again. Coop couldn’t stand to look at it. He took Matty’s phone and placed it facedown on his desk.
“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s not even my friend.” Coop knew he wasn’t going to get out of this with anything less than the truth. “She hired me to pretend to be her boyfriend.”
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“She wanted to make this guy jealous.”
“And that involved kissing?”
“Yes, but no tongue.”
“What are you? Some kind of male prostitute?”
The question hung in the air. Coop had to keep pushing forward. “Kind of.”
Matty sat down on Rafe’s bed. He looked like he was about to faint or puke.
“It’s not what you think. I’m a G-rated gigolo. Girls will pay me to be their date, or their wingman at parties. I’m just a date, not a lay. That girl and I had a quick kiss, and that was it. It meant nothing to either of us.”
Coop got on his knees to get eye level with him. “I know that might technically be like cheating, but it’s acting. This girl and I were playing a part, and the part called for a kiss. But I am gay, and I really really like you, and I only want to kiss you, and do other stuff only to you.”
Matty didn’t say anything for what felt like a week. Coop could only imagine what was going through his head.
“Why do you do that?” Matty’s eyes were like lit cannons, a bright spark in a sea of darkness. “There are tons of ways you could make some extra cash. Why this?”
Coop hadn’t thought too hard about it, not while business was booming. He wouldn’t have continued doing this if he didn’t like it, so why did he like it?
“Because…” Right now, money didn’t come to his mind. He dug deeper and searched out a real answer for his boyfriend and himself. “Because it’s easier to pretend to be someone else than be myself sometimes. For one night, I get to be the cool guy, the popular guy, the party guy. I get to know what that feels like.”
“You’re the cool guy to me.”
“I’m not as cool as you, though. This is why I need practice.”
Matty held his hand. This was the warmth that Coop wanted. That he craved. “You should’ve told me this in the beginning.”
If only it were that easy.
“She was my last client. It’s all in the past.” Coop breathed a bit easier knowing how true that was. His G-rated gigolo days were in the past. He would find other ways to generate income for himself. “I’m sorry for pulling you away from your work with this bullshit.”
“Seeing that picture got me worried. Coop, you’ve been so patient with me. I really appreciate it.”
“Three weeks, right?” Although he remembered what Kelvin said, and he knew it would be ongoing. He was there to support Matty, and he would be cheering like a maniac when Matty won this competition and any future recognition. But it did sting that Matty’s work would always come first, and he was powerless to change that.
They leaned forward and kissed. Coop didn’t know who kissed first, but it didn’t matter. Stupid details.
Matty pulled away, his lips pink and slick and shiny, begging to be kissed more. “Let’s go to Philadelphia.”
“Really? I understand if you have to work.”
“You said it’d only be a twenty-four trip. I can do twenty-four hours.” Matty didn’t sound completely convinced, but he was on his way.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Sort of,” Matty admitted.
“We don’t have to go, seriously. I don’t want you to be stressed out all weekend.”
