Unfortunate Son (4 page)

His flip-flops, sporty and black in sharp contrast to the shiny gold ones Riley had worn the night before, slapped against the pavement in time with Evan’s slow walk. Riley hadn’t told him a time to show up, so Evan figured if he was early, he’d just stretch out and watch the dogs play. He’d thought about getting one of his own, but as much as he traveled, it would be a little unfair.

Familiar faces greeted Evan on his walk. He’d lived in the same apartment for going on three years now, an eternity for someone his age in Midtown—and several eternities within the gay community. But he liked recognizing his neighbors and the people who worked nearby. Some just nodded when they saw him, others smiled and waved, and a couple even stopped what they were doing and came over to say hi, shake his hand. He even got a quick hug from half of the lesbian couple who ran the coffee shop on the corner. It may or may not have helped his case that he bought a giant hazelnut latte from them nearly every time he walked by.

Fresh cup in hand, he continued across Piedmont Road and into the wide-open green fields beyond. Unsurprisingly for such a day, the park teemed with activity. Runners, walkers, dogs, kids, softball on the fields to his left, what looked like a cutthroat game of Ultimate Frisbee up ahead—people roamed everywhere he looked. The fact that a substantial portion of them were hot, shirtless men did absolutely nothing to detract from the scenery along his route.

He followed a group of dog walkers to the dog park area, watching as they let their charges loose to play with the other large animals in the first area. Beyond, smaller dogs roamed another enclosed section, with owners standing among them or off to the side, chatting. Chatting up, in some cases, from the looks a couple of the men were exchanging.

A fair number of those out enjoying the weather were pretty clearly gay, or at least not straight. Evan saw more than one pair of men or women holding hands or otherwise attached to each other. His gaze followed one couple, strolling along with arms around each other’s waists, the shorter man’s head tilted to rest on the shoulder of the taller man. Something in his chest twisted.

“Evan!”

The call came from off to his right, and he tore himself away from the picture of domestic bliss and searched out its owner. Riley stood a dozen feet away from the edge of the small dog park, waving one hand in a clear “get over here!” sign. Evan hadn’t realized his shoulders were tense until they relaxed as he walked over.

“Glad you could make it!” Riley practically bounced on his toes, his feet bare this time but his toenails still glittery and pink. “I hope you like cheese, because I’m afraid I went a wee bit overboard there. I have Jarlsberg, Edam, and Brie, and I absolutely could
not
resist the red-rind cheddar. There’s freshly baked ciabatta, and some lovely wild plum jam, and the ginger ale is amazing
—
I had a sample of that. And of course I picked up some peaches. You can’t go to a farmer’s market anywhere in the South without buying peaches. It might as well be law.”

Evan was laughing by then. He couldn’t help himself. Riley had an old-fashioned picnic basket, of all things, and he’d spread out what looked like a vintage quilt for them to sit on. A small cooler sat open with several bottles and ice filling it, and… were those
cloth
napkins? With
napkin rings
?

Riley lowered himself gracefully onto the quilt and patted the empty spot next to him. “Have a seat, sweetie.” As Evan did, Riley reached into the basket and started pulling out packages wrapped in wax paper or cloth, along with a sharp knife. “I didn’t bring glasses, since the ginger ale is in bottles. I much prefer drinking from a glass, but it seemed much easier this way. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Evan replied, feeling at a loss next to Riley’s ebullience. Before he knew it, a small feast was laid out on a tray in front of him, and Riley was slicing the bread.

“Help yourself to whatever looks good, honey.” Riley shot him a quick, flirty look. “Of the food, at least. No running off with whatever tasty treat might wander by.”

That surprised Evan. Sure, Evan might look, but he wouldn’t abandon a date, although now that he thought of it, he wasn’t sure that’s what this was. Evan gave Riley a closer look. He wasn’t Evan’s usual type, but he was cute, in a 100 percent twinky way, and he was nice, which was always a good start. Other than that one glance, though, which seemed like a joke, Riley hadn’t actually shown any of the usual signs of interest.

Without even realizing it, Evan had filled one of the small plastic plates Riley had provided with cheese and bread, and Riley handed him an open bottle of ginger ale. Setting aside the remainder of his coffee, Evan took a sip, smiled, and took a larger one.

“This is good stuff,” he said, and Riley gave him the same semiflirty look he had before.

“I wouldn’t steer you wrong.” He reached over to pat Evan’s knee. “I am so completely
not
a morning person, but I drag myself up to go to the farmer’s market every Saturday as soon as they open for the season. It’s always worth the trip. I brought home four or five bags this morning, and it took me an hour to get it all sorted and washed and put away. I went a little overboard on the tomatoes, but, God, they just taste like heaven when they’re fresh like that. I can never resist.”

Evan shrugged and spread some Brie on a piece of bread. “I don’t like tomatoes.”

Riley’s eyes widened. “Oh, honey, you must not have had good ones, then. They are just sweet and juicy and perfect this time of year.” He patted Evan’s knee again. “I’ll have you over for dinner and show you. It’s almost better than sex.”

Evan snorted. “I have trouble believing that.”

Riley’s lilting laughter rang out across the fields. “I did say
almost
. Although a perfect summer tomato probably does beat out the blander brands of sex. Not that I’ve had to suffer through that many of those, thank the gods of gaydom.” He popped a square of cheese into his mouth, eyes twinkling with mirth.

Evan shook his head. “Somehow I didn’t picture you as a sex fiend.” He took a bite of bread topped with a thick smear of the softened Brie, stifling a groan as the rich flavor hit his taste buds.

Riley reached for his bottle of ginger ale. “It’s one of my very favorite pastimes. Right up there with cooking, eating, and flirting.”

He gave Evan one long, appraising look and then batted his eyelashes, literally, at Evan over the top of his bottle as he took a sip. Evan thought that he had the flirting part pretty down pat, at least. His body thought so too, and Evan had to shift to accommodate his suddenly interested cock.

“So you know that my lot in life is to live off my family’s
money,” Riley said. “What do you do, Evan?”

Evan used the bite of bread and cheese in his mouth to decide how honestly to answer.
If he doesn’t know
, he decided,
I’m not going to tell him
.
Not yet, anyway
.

Evan swallowed. “Modeling,” he hedged. “Nothing fancy, probably nothing you’ve seen. But it’s enough to pay the bills.”

Riley’s next look was even more frankly appraising than before. “I’m surprised. I wouldn’t have guessed model, but only because I would have thought of Paris runways, and that doesn’t exactly mesh well with someone who drinks whiskey and beer at Logger’s.”

Evan shook his head at that image. “No, nothing like that. More like… stock art, I guess is the best way to put it. I fly out for a shoot tomorrow.”

Riley gave him a raised eyebrow but didn’t dig. Instead, he reached for another small container and popped off the lid, holding it out so Evan could see the neat slices of peach lying inside. “Help yourself. I taste tested. It’s amazing.”

Evan had yet to see a fork, so he reached in with his fingers to pick up a slice and lifted it to his mouth. Juice oozed down his palm, but he ignored that and bit off about half the piece. Rich, sweet flavor burst across his tongue, and his eyes fell closed as he chewed and swallowed before popping the rest into his mouth.

“That might have been worth the cost of the entire shopping trip.”

Evan opened his eyes to find Riley’s focused on his mouth. As Evan watched, the tip of Riley’s tongue came out to lick his lips, and a shiver ran through Evan. God, it had been so long since he’d been flirted with like this, sensual and gradual rather than blatantly sexual. Riley might not be his usual type, but his growing interest and frank appreciation definitely amped up his appeal.

Well, two could play at that game. Watching Riley’s face, Evan slowly licked the sticky residue of the peach from his fingers, ending by sucking on his thumb longer than necessary. Riley swallowed and licked his lips again, gaze never leaving Evan’s mouth, and Evan only barely resisted the urge to reach for him. His cock was certainly getting with the program fast, growing heavy and warm against his thigh.

Riley lifted his eyes to meet Evan’s gaze. “I think I should cook dinner for you tonight,” he murmured. “After we spend the afternoon having an appetizer or three.”

Evan smiled slowly. “Or more,” he added, watching heat flare in Riley’s eyes. Yeah, he could get into this. He could
really
get into this.

T
HEY
DID
finish their picnic in the park. Riley never stopped flirting, but he dialed it back from eleven while they ate and then packed up the containers and leftovers. They even lay back side by side on the blanket and soaked in the sun for a while, exchanging comments about the cute dogs and hot men they saw pass by their spot.

Finally, Riley sat up and then rolled smoothly to his feet. “My vitamin D meter is full,” he said, bending to pick up the picnic basket. “I’m ready to fill up something else.”

His body jumping to attention, Evan stood as well before lifting the blanket and shaking it to knock off the grass and dust. He folded it loosely as Riley watched, his gaze focused and hot, and when Evan was finished, Riley reached for his hand and started walking, dragging him along, a willing captive.

“I hope you don’t have any objections to my place.” Riley’s speech was fast, clipped, laced with impatience. “I know it sounds counterintuitive, but I much prefer bringing men there to meeting them somewhere impersonal or invading their spaces. I find being surrounded by familiarity allows me to relax and focus on them, rather than worrying about how recently the sheets were washed.” He laughed lightly. “Yes, I will admit to being a bit fastidious about such things. But I do like my creature comforts.”

Evan didn’t try to interrupt. He just followed and listened to Riley chatter on as they crossed the side street and climbed the wide, curved stairs at the front of the Piedmont Lofts building. Riley paused and dropped Evan’s hand long enough to punch in a code to unlock the front door, which Evan opened, and then Riley was pulling him again, across the high-ceilinged lobby to the elevators.

Inside, Riley finally stopped talking. He put his mouth to better use, lifting on his tiptoes to press his lips against Evan’s. Evan curled his free hand around the back of Riley’s neck, the silk of Riley’s blond curls tickling his skin as they kissed.

Evan forgot sometimes how much he loved kissing. On camera, kisses were so often glossed over, just a checkbox to be marked off on the way to the fucking. In private, though, Evan liked to kiss the whole time, unless one or both mouths were busy elsewhere. Having his mouth fucked by a tongue and his ass fucked by a hard cock could make him come faster than almost anything.

He moaned into their kiss at the thought. He didn’t think Riley was a top, but, God, he sure hoped he was at least somewhat versatile, because as much as Evan would enjoy fucking him, he’d love to get fucked for real too. He’d spent the day before getting fucked for the pleasure of the viewers. Today, he wanted it for his own pleasure.

The elevator dinged, and Evan reluctantly untangled himself from Riley as the doors slid open. His breathing rough, Riley led the way across the wide hallway to his door, once again letting Evan’s hand go just long enough to get the door unlocked and open. Once they were both inside, Riley turned the deadbolt, set the picnic basket and his keys on the table next to the door, and wrapped himself around Evan again, this time with both hands and a leg.

Evan leaned against the closed door for support as he and Riley tried to devour each other with a voracious kiss. One of Evan’s hands found its way back into Riley’s soft hair, and the other cupped his perfect bubble butt and gave it a squeeze. Riley ground his hips against Evan’s thigh, and Evan’s hole clenched in anticipation at the size of the hard shaft he felt. Holy
hell
, he was definitely in favor of getting that inside him, versatile or not.

Riley must have read his mind, because he pulled out of the kiss and grinned up at Evan, rolling his hips again. “I hope you’re flexible,” he said, his lilting voice gone raspy with arousal. “Flip-flops aren’t just something I like to wear on my feet.”

Evan grinned back. “I think it’s time you show me your
bedroom.”