I promiseit’s not anything scandalous. Humor me?
I tappedmy foot impatiently as I waited for Slade’s response to appear on my screen. I wasn’t sure if it was better or worse that he didn’t have the same model phone I had, because I couldn’t tell if he read the message, if he was tapping out a reply, or if he was simply doing something else and I needed to be patient.
Can Jordan come,too? It might be easier for me to have someone I know with me the first time I come down to your place. No offense, but it’s a little intimidating knowing what you do for a living. That’s a lot of pressure on a guy.
Leaveit to Slade to compose an essay, instead of simply asking permission. He probably thought I was more likely to say yes if he laid on a bit of guilt.
He couldn't’have known this was a request I couldn’t grant. It wasn’t because I didn’t want him spending time with his friends, but I wasn’t about to give him permission to bring Jordan down here.
Doug and Elihad never brought their boy into the club, and I wasn’t going to be the reason he made his first visit without them. I walked down the hall to my office, leaning back in my office chair before scrolling to find my brother’s phone number. This wasn’t how I wanted to officially tell him about me and Slade.
Partof me hoped Doug wouldn’t answer, so I wouldn’t have to answer questions about how long Slade and I had been seeing one another, and why I hadn’t told him sooner. Now that William had brought it to my attention, I felt like I had done wrong, not only by Slade, but by everyone in my life who simply wanted me to be as happy as they were.
Of course,this was the time Doug answered on the first ring.
“Hey man, what’s up?”I heard music in the background, meaning Doug was upstairs working in his studio. While I hadn’t understood his obsession when he first started trying to learn everything he could about pottery, I couldn’t deny that my brother was talented. And he was taking a completely different path to creating a better life for himself, having recently left his boring accounting job to create art full time.
“DidI catch you at a bad time?” Saying yes wouldn’t be a bad thing, I added to myself. There was still time to not have this conversation over the phone.
“Not at all,”he assured me. “I was just putting everything away for the night. Eli texted to let me know they’re dead downstairs, so he and Jordan are coming home early.”
Great.Now, not only was I going to have to deal with Doug, Eli would be there too, if they were on board with my idea. These were the lengths I went to in order to keep Slade happy. That should tell me something about my feelings for him.
I scrubbeda hand over my jaw, taking a few steady breaths before jumping into things with Doug.
“Awesome,”I responded, trying to muster up some enthusiasm. “So, I have a bit of an odd request for you.”
“Name it,”Doug responded without hesitation. That was the kind of guy he was. He didn’t care what anyone needed, if they reached out to him, he would do just about anything as long as it wouldn’t land him in jail or dead.
“So, um,”I stammered. I was a grown man. It shouldn’t be this difficult for me to tell my younger brother that I was seeing someone.
But it’s not justsomeone, it’s his boy’s best friend.
“Spit it out already,”Doug grumbled. “Once Eli gets home, I can’t guarantee I’m going to be as eager to help out with whatever’s bugging you. If I take too long, the two of them will start without me.”
“Did not need to know that,”I complained. Man, we were polar opposites when it came to our relationships. He was an open book—sometimes too open—and I was hiding shit from him. But it was time to step out of the shadows. “So, I probably should have said something about this sooner, but I’ve been seeing Slade for a little over a month.”
“It’s aboutdamn time you told me,” was his only response. Not what I’d expected.
“You knew?”
“Of course,I knew. I’m pretty sure everyone figured it out within the first week. Your boy isn’t exactly discreet.”
“I don’t expecthim to be,” I shot back. One of the few things I had promised Slade, was that he wasn’t my dirty little secret.
And then youkept everything about the two of you hidden behind closed doors.
It wasn’t doneon purpose, but that didn’t make the outcome any different. Part of me wanted to ask Doug what he’d heard, and why he hadn’t called me on my secrecy sooner, but all that could wait.
“Sorry, it’s been a rough day,”I apologized. “First William busted my balls, and now you. I get it; I screwed up. Anyway, I invited Slade to come down and see me at work tonight.”
“Damn,”Doug interrupted. “Things must be getting serious if you want him down there with you.”
“I’m notsure about that, but William took me to task earlier because I haven’t brought him down. And we have that age play information session tonight. Nothing too kinky, but Sam wanted to start running some events so we could drum up interest for when the renovations are complete.” I’d checked out the progress earlier, and I couldn’t figure out what he thought still needed to be done before the big reveal.
“I think that’s a great idea,”Doug agreed. “But what does that have to do with me?”
“He wantsto bring Jordan with him,” I informed my brother. “He said he’d be more comfortable if he knew someone, and I can understand that, but I don’t want to step on any toes.”
