Rentboy (9 page)

The thought of hanging out with a normal family, the thought of his boyfriend taking him home to meet his parents for a family weekend made Fox’s heart race with pleasure for a moment. “I can’t.” Eddie was not his boyfriend, and he couldn’t leave the twins that long. He looked at Eddie’s thin face, the cheekbone swollen, the brown hair flopping forward over his forehead, the nerdy clothing, and knew he was in love. “But I know what I’m going to give you for your birthday. Come on.” He stood up, pulling Eddie by the hand.

Russell Square was a large park with trees and clumps of ornamental bushes scattered about the lawns. A hundred yards from the fountain some beautiful rhododendrons, old and very large, offered shelter. Fox drew Eddie into the bushes and sank down onto the ground, still warm from the hot day. “Lie down.”

“Hold on. What are we going to do?”

“Lie down,” Fox insisted.

With obvious reluctance, Eddie sank to his knees. “If you think I am going to get involved in anything sexual behind the bushes only meters from my home, then you are nuts.”

“There’s only two nuts in this equation, and both are going to be in my mouth any second.” Fox began to struggle with Eddie’s trouser zipper while Eddie grabbed his fly, attempting to fight him off. “Move your hands!” Fox hissed.

“Absolutely not! Now stop it.” Panic edged Eddie’s tone while he tried to wriggle away.

“Are you going to do karate on me?” Fox chuckled.

“No, of course not. But we can’t have sex here. Let’s go back to the flat.”

“It’s your birthday present. I’m going to suck your cock till you scream, and doing it in the bushes in the park will add to the pleasure. Every time you pass Russell Square on your way to work, you’ll get a hard-on remembering this.”

“You’ll be the death of me,” Eddie whispered desperately. But he removed his hands.

“Lie down.” Eddie lay full length on the soft earth. The light from the lampposts didn’t penetrate the dark copse, so Fox blindly fumbled for Eddie’s zipper again and opened his trousers. Eddie’s cock was already stiff and sprang free from its constraints when Fox slid his undies down to his thighs. “Happy birthday, Eddie.” He took the hot balls into his mouth, sucking fiercely on first one and then the other.

Aroused by the feel and smell of Eddie in his mouth and the excitement of pleasuring him, Fox rubbed his own cock through his jeans in rhythm with his sucking while Eddie moaned.

“Oh God. Oh God. Oh, Fox.”

The sound of his panting aroused Fox still further, and when it increased in speed and Eddie grabbed a handful of Fox’s hair, he knew Eddie was about to come. Releasing the balls, he took Eddie’s thick cock into his mouth and sucked it to the back of his throat. He rubbed his own cock faster, pressing his palm into it until he exploded with orgasm at the same moment Eddie nearly pulled the hair from his head. Hot sperm filled his mouth, and he swallowed it as if it were nectar from the gods.

Clutching each other, the two lay still, Fox with his head on Eddie’s chest while Eddie’s heart beat so fast Fox could actually hear it. “That was incredible, Fox.” His voice was still breathy.

“It’s you who’s incredible,” Fox said. “The way you fought off those three ASBOs. You’re my hero.”

“Really?” The happiness and surprise in Eddie’s voice were priceless. “I’ve never been anyone’s hero before.”

“Well, you’re mine,” Fox told him. Never in his life had he dreamed he would find a hero, but he had. A hero. An honest, decent, kind bloke. And he couldn’t have him.

The two went utterly still when a loud voice uttered, “There’s feet sticking out of that bush.”

Fox slapped his hand over Eddie’s mouth and whispered into his ear, “Get ready to run.”

“Police! Come out!” the authoritative voice ordered.

“Oh no, please no.” Eddie moaned.

“The moment we are on our feet, start running that way.” Fox managed to indicate in the dark the direction of Gower Street.

“Why? The flat is that way.” Eddie pointed.

“Do you really want them following you home?” Fox whispered.

“Get the fuck out of there, you cocksuckers. I don’t give a shit about equal fucking rights and gay fucking marriage. Sex in public parks is against the law.”

“Now,” Fox screamed. Holding hands, they rose up out of the bushes and ran. Two police constables ran after them, but with Eddie’s long legs and his firm grip on Fox’s hand, they soon lost them. They left the park and disappeared into the side streets, not stopping until they were safe.

“Oh my giddy aunt, my willy is still hanging out.” With a look of horror, Eddie tidied himself up while Fox smiled. His heart still pounding, he hung on to Eddie’s arm while they walked quietly back to the flat.

“Was it worth it?” he asked.

“What?”

“Getting your cock sucked in the park. Was it worth nearly getting arrested for public indecency?”

“Oh, Fox, what am I going to do with you.” Eddie said, sounding like a grown-up talking to a kid. “Yes, it was worth it. Come on, let’s get home.”

But it wasn’t his home. It was Eddie’s. He just wished it was his.

Great Russell Street was quiet. At Eddie’s house Fox stood on the bottom step to bring him closer to Eddie’s height and kissed him on the lips, just a peck at first. The streetlamp cast a circle of light a few doors down, making a halo around Eddie’s head. “My angel,” Fox whispered and closed his mouth over Eddie’s, their tongues dancing around each other. Fox broke the kiss. “I’m getting a hard-on again.”

“Let’s go in and do it again. I’m going to owe you a fortune.” Eddie stuck his key in the door, making the hall light flick on. It was on a timer and would go out almost the minute he had his key in the door of his flat.

Ahead of him on the stairs, Fox turned round. “Tonight’s free, for your birthday.”

“Keep your voice down,” Eddie said in a slightly panicky tone, but he was smiling. Fox loved to make Eddie smile.

“How did you manage to wipe my hard drive if you’re not very computer literate?” Eddie asked as soon as he closed the door. “Do you want a beer?”

Eddie was sharper than he appeared. He was obviously brilliant, but in so many ways he seemed really slow. “God, yeah. And I could kill a shot of vodka.”

“Sorry. I never touch the hard stuff.” Eddie went to the kitchen and brought back a couple of cans. He handed Fox a beer, and they sank down side by side on the couch. “So how did you manage to wipe my hard drive?”

“Any idiot can do that.” Fox tipped back his head to drink his beer and felt Eddie’s fingertips running gently up and down his throat.

“Stay the night,” Eddie said quietly. “It’s better than sleeping in a box.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Fox had never actually spent the entire night in the alley. He had staked it out for a week or so before encountering Eddie but never slept there.

“The tramp who spends his days and nights there told me you are only there occasionally.”

Shit! Was he about to be unmasked? “How do you know?”

“I went looking for you to get my laptop back.”

Turing his head to kiss Eddie’s cheek, Fox said, “I’m really, really sorry.”

“I know. It’s all right. You’re forgiven. Fox, come with me to Mitton for the weekend. You told those girls I was your boyfriend.”

Laying his head back on the couch, he said, “I was proud of you for standing up to the yobs. But I’m not your boyfriend. I’m a thief and a whore.”

Scrunching his face, Eddie said, “Don’t say that about yourself.”

“But it’s true.”

“I still want you to come.”

“Who do we tell your family I am?” Fox asked. It would never work. His lies were going to catch up with him.

“Just a friend.”

“So they don’t know you’re gay?”

“No. Nicoletta has been insisting I tell them. She’ll stand by me. I think she likes the thought of having a gay brother. But I dread to think what my parents will say. Mum is obsessed with what the neighbors think, and Dad wouldn’t understand.”

“I wouldn’t help, looking like this, would I?”

“No, that’s true,” Eddie agreed.

Disappointed at the response, Fox got up and went to the window. No sign of the police. That was a relief.

“Fox, I don’t actually care what they think. I just want you to come with me. And since you’re not my boyfriend, it’s not a lie to say we are just mates. Is it?”

From disappointment to happiness in a split second, Fox turned and gazed at him. “S’pose not. But I’m not dressing in cords and a pullover, so get that out of your head. Anyway, what am I saying? I can’t come. I promised the twins I’d spend the weekend with them.”

Joining him at the window, Eddie drew Fox close to his side. “You can dress any way you want, and you can bring the twins along with you. Are they rambunctious?”

“No, they’re really quiet.” Quiet was an understatement. Neither had ever uttered a word except his name.

“They can wander off round the village and amuse themselves. There’s always a cricket match on Sundays in the summer, right on the village green. It’s rather impromptu. Perhaps they could join in.”

Neither twin would know what to do with a cricket bat, and they’d never understand the instructions. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

Sighing, Eddie said, “All right. I’ll leave it with you. I’ll be leaving here between nine and half past on Saturday morning. If you are not here during that time, I’ll go without you. Do you have a mobile?”

“No.” That was another lie.

“I’ll wait till half past.” Eddie leaned down to kiss the top of his head.

A black car stopped on the street outside the flat. What the hell was going on? “Look, Eddie. There’s that car again.”

“It looks like the same car, but why would it be? There are lots of cars like that driving around London.” Eddie pulled Fox round to face him and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “Come away from the window. Come to bed with me.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“And will you stay the night? Please.”

“Yeah, but I’ll have to leave early.”

“Just don’t take my computer this time.” Eddie smiled.

In the bright morning sun Edward threw his overnight bag into the car boot and then sat in the driver’s seat with the windows down, waiting and watching in the rearview mirror for Fox. Twenty-five past nine and there was no sign of him.
If he doesn’t come by half past, I’ll wait another fifteen minutes.

The whole thing was a stupid idea in the first place, inviting a Goth and his teenage siblings to go home with him to meet his uptight parents. At least Nik would love them, but how would he explain his friendship with a young man more than ten years his junior who wore black clothes, had obviously dyed hair, and whose eyes were covered in makeup? He prayed the twins had good manners. With any luck they’d spend the whole time with iPods blasting their eardrums.

At twenty to ten his disappointment magnified. Fox wasn’t coming, and it was probably for the best. Edward would have a boring weekend with his family, eat lovely meals, and get some nice presents. With a deep sigh he acknowledged he would far rather eat Pot Noodles and get chased by the police with Fox at his side.

Black hair and a pair of heavily made-up eyes appeared in his driver side mirror, forcing a spontaneous grin to crack his face. Happiness surged through him. Edward popped the boot for their bags and jumped out of the car.

The sight that greeted him brought back every doubt he had harbored while sitting there and more. As expected, Fox was dressed in all black, but instead of a pair of jeans, he wore a leather kilt. The stretch of bare leg between his knees where the kilt ended and the tops of his black boots stood out like milk bottles. His black T-shirt had long sleeves. Fox always wore long sleeves. His hair was spiked so it stood on end like a hedgehog, and he had added red dye to the ends of the spikes so they looked like paintbrushes dipped in red.

“Hello, Eddie.”

Despite his shock, Fox’s smile had the usual effect on his heart.

“Your eye’s nice and swollen.”

Touching his fingertips to the result of his brawl with the ASBOs, Edward smiled slightly. “You came.”

“When I come, you come.” Fox grinned.

“What?”

“It was a pun,” Fox said. “A sexual pun,” he added when Edward frowned in confusion. “Come: c-o-m-e. Come: c-u-m.”

Involuntarily Edward’s hand flew to his mouth, and he laughed.

“Eddie, it wasn’t that funny.” Fox hugged him. “Is your birthday today or tomorrow?”

“Today.”

“Right, then. Happy birthday.” Fox kissed him on the lips before introducing the twins. “That one’s Arden, and that one’s Alder.”

At least the twins weren’t Goths. They were very skinny like Fox and wore identical denim shorts and tie-dye T-shirts. Their blond hair fell straight and shiny to their waists. But there was no expression on their beautiful faces. “Hello.” Edward stuck out his hand. Neither twin reacted. “Are they shy? I was very shy myself as a teenager.”

“They’re a bit different,” Fox said.

“You’re both very pretty,” Edward said, trying to find the right words to make himself likable. “For some reason I was expecting boys. Probably the names.”

“Alder is a boy. Arden is a girl,” Fox said.

Edward stared at the teenagers. “But they can’t be opposite sexes. They’re identical.”

“I know. Strange, isn’t it? But not below the waist. Trust me, I changed their nappies till they were six.”

Edward looked anew at the twins. “Six? That’s a bit old for nappies.”

“Like I said, they’re a bit different.”

Fox was different, so it should not be a complete surprise that his siblings were too. “Right, well, let’s get on the road, then. It’s a couple of hours’ drive. Will the twins be okay that long?”

“You won’t hear a peep out of them.”

Fox tossed their bag into the boot with his backpack and loaded the twins in the backseat, carefully buckling them in. They made no attempt to do anything for themselves. Edward watched in despair. How could he explain a boy in a skirt and a pair of nonverbal twins? Yet every time his gaze met Fox’s, Edward felt he could cope with anything.

The village of Mitton was extremely well kept and obviously affluent. Thatched cottages and big old manor-style houses lined the winding streets. The green in the middle of the village was surrounded by high-end shops catering to the tourist trade, as well as a supermarket, a bakery, and a chemist. A wrought iron sign rose up beside the market cross, declaring, MITTON, BEST-KEPT VILLAGE. Edward pointed at it, making the car veer slightly. “Look, we won last year.”