Zack had been tumbling.
There was no other way to describe it, not really. Walter had been wonderful at first, just a casual get together of sorts. But then he had become smothering and demanding. Zack had known from the beginning that Walter, or Geeves as he liked to be called in the bedroom, was just a filler, or a stand in.
And wanting to play The Butler Did It in the Bedroom was just wrong. Just plain wrong. Picturing the sight of Walter wearing his best top coat and a white crocheted thong, he shivered. I mean, Zack liked sex as much as the next person, but there was only so much he was willing to take.
But Charley was different. Zackarius knew that.
They had only been on a couple of dates, but already there was that sizzle between them. Zack loved the blush that would rise to Charley Inglewood’s face when Zack paid him a compliment. He found himself wanting to follow that blush along Charley’s body to see where else it would go.
When he arrived at the Rosebude estate, it was to find Charley walking past a black girl who was on her knees. She was rubbing her eyes and shouting at Charley. “Mother fucker!” She said. “You mother fucking mother fucker!”
“Get a new vocabulary.” Charley said to her. “You’re current one sucks.”
When Charley opened the car door and slipped inside, Zack’s heart sped up, beat louder under his skin. “What was that all about?” He asked. Zack was trying to cover up his nervousness. He couldn’t leave a silence unfilled. But even when he spoke, his words failed him around Charley.
“I’ll tell you later.” Charley said. “Hi.”
Zack smiled and leaned in to kiss Charley quickly on the lips, a quick kiss that was hot and locked and loaded. When he leaned back into his seat, Zack was pleased to see the blush spreading along Charley’s pale skin. “Hi.” He said.
Charley fumbled in his pockets for a cigarette and lit one. “So where are we going?”
Zack already knew that Charley had to fidget when he was nervous. He would play with the ring he wore on the middle finger of his right hand. Or he would touch one of the ear rings in his ears. Or he would smoke a cigarette. “I thought I’d take you out to dinner.” He said.
The blush deepened. “I, um, I don’t make a lot of money.” Charley said. “I don’t know if I can afford…”
Zack waved the words away. “It’s okay. My treat.”
“But you treated last time we went out.”
“I know.” Zack tried not to smiled. He had taken Charley to a small Lebanese restaurant and they’d shared plates of wonderful food in calm, quiet lighting. Zack had wanted to kiss Charley and found himself leaning closer over the plates of grape leaves, rice, samosas and other savoury foods to be closer to him.
It had been a wonderful evening and they’d shared their fist kiss. Zack knew that Charley was hesitant about the whole thing, that he was stepping quietly out of his shell. Zack knew that it would take time, but he was willing to wait.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Charley asked. He flicked some ash out of the window and chanced a glance at Zack.
“Because I like you.” Zack said.
“Everyone says that in the beginning.” Charley said. “But then they always try to change me.” He said. He tossed the but out the window. “It’s no use getting attached, you just get your heart broken.”
Zack’s heart almost broke at the words. “Who hurt you?”
“Everyone.”
“You don’t mean that.” Zack reached out, put a hand on Charley’s leg, chanced a soft squeeze. “Let’s just see where this takes us. Okay?”
The blush returned. “Okay.” Charley put his hand on top of Zacks. “So where are we going, anyway?”
“I thought we’d do something fun.”
“Like what?”
“Look outside.”
They were approaching a temporary encampment. Zack’s heart warmed when he saw the happy look on Charley’s face. “You brought me to an exhibition? A fair?”
Zack chuckled. “I heard that it was in town and thought that it might be fun.” Zack stopped the car. “I thought that we could maybe ride the Ferris Wheel and have some cotton candy. So we could talk and get to know each other.”
A bright smile lit up Charley’s face as he leaned in closer to Zack. “It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to.” He said. He kissed Zack softly. “Come on, I want a corn dog.”
“You are a corn dog.” Zack said.
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