Close the Distance (13 page)

“Gib, you haven’t called in a while.”

“I know. Do you have any work for me?”

His agent chuckled. “Funny you should call. One of your regulars called me. He has a friend coming into town, and wondered if you’d do him a solid. His friend is looking for a little fun for a night or two.”

He chewed on his lips as he thought. After a bad encounter with a new client, Gib only went with men he knew. Silly that it took him almost five years of selling himself to figure out some people were assholes, and thought that just because they could pay him for sex, that gave them free rein to do whatever they wanted to him.

“Which client?”

Jake hemmed and hawed for a few moments, then said, “Mr Y.”

For privacy reasons, Jake only used the client’s last initial to identify them. Gib didn’t care since he had no real interest in finding out who the men were.

After getting out of hospital, Gib had told Jake he would only work for certain men. He’d given his agent a list, and Jake had been good about sticking with it, even though Gib had been one of his most popular guys. So hearing it was one of his regulars made him consider doing the favour. Since Mr Y knew what had happened to Gib, he wouldn’t try to hook him up with someone who’d hurt him.

“He’ll pay double your usual rate.” Jake dangled the carrot.

“Double?” Gib blinked. That was a helluva lot of money. He wouldn’t have to worry about rent for a couple of months after that. As much as he didn’t want to do it, he said, “Yes. I’ll meet him.”

“Good. Mr Y said you could give him a call, and he can give you some information on the guy. If you wanted reassurance, I guess.” Jake hummed, and he was obviously waiting for Gib to say he didn’t need to be reassured.

He couldn’t say it, but he could pretend to ignore what Jake said. “No problem. You know the drill. Have him meet me at Ashley’s.”

“Yeah. I know what to do. What time do you get off shift tonight?”

Glancing over at his calendar, he checked the time. “I close tonight. So tell him to show up there around as close to two o’clock as he can. We can go once I’m done. You don’t think he’ll get mad that I have another job, do you?”

Jake snorted. “Dude, he’s hiring a whore to spend the night with him. He doesn’t have any room to complain about you having another job.”

“I really appreciate you being so understanding about this whole thing, Jake.”

And he really was. There were thousands of horror stories of pimps who beat the shit out of their whores, and forced them to do things they didn’t want to do. Jake hadn’t been like that to him, being rather nice about the whole situation.

Gib placed his fingers on his ribs that had been broken during that terrible beating. Those had not been good days while he recovered from his injuries. Jake never once told Gib he had to work off the hospital bills or anything like that. Maybe it was good Catholic guilt getting to Jake, since he’d been the one who had set up the appointment with the client who beat the shit out of Gib.

“There’s nothing to understand. Now can we forget all this mushy shit and get this deal done?”

“Yes, sir. Thanks for letting me know about it.” He hung up before Jake could say anything else.

After setting his phone on the kitchen table, he went to his bedroom to change into his work uniform. Black pants that were relatively tight, framing his ass perfectly, and a black T-shirt that fit his chest like a glove. Gib knew how to dress to showcase his body. If he hadn’t been working at the hotel, he would dress a little more flamboyantly, but he couldn’t advertise while he was bartending. But still, looking good helped him make more tips.

He went into the bathroom to fix his hair. Standing in front of the mirror, he turned to check out how his butt looked.

“Looking awesome per usual, Schultz.” Gib grinned and winked at his reflection. He chuckled. “God, I’m an idiot.”

Gib finished getting ready, then grabbed his overnight bag. The one he took with him when he went on appointments. It had a change of clothes, bathroom items, plus condoms and lube. He never counted on his client having supplies. Some of them believed that just because he was a rent boy, he’d be willing to go bareback.

Not on his life, and that was what he would be playing with. He might have left school at fifteen, then lived on the streets until he was eighteen, but that didn’t make him stupid.
Well,
Gib thought,
it does make me stupid in one way, but I’m not dumb enough to risk my life just because some guy is paying me.

He chose to ignore how silly that statement was. Gib wandered into his kitchen, then scoped up his phone, keys and wallet on his way out of his apartment. While he stood at the bus stop, he checked his phone, and found he’d got a text from Esteban, the front desk manager at the Meliá.

Need to talk to you asap. Stop by front desk before your shift.

What was so important Esteban needed to talk him asap? Gib shrugged, and got on the bus. He was going to have to get the key anyway, so he would’ve had to see his friend at some point. After scanning his metro pass, he took a seat halfway down the bus, then pulled out his headphones. Listening to music helped pass the time for him while he rode the bus.

He hoped whatever Esteban needed to see him about wasn’t the room. For some reason, Esteban had taken it upon himself to ensure Gib always had a safe place to take his clients. Being the front desk manager, he had the opportunity to keep a certain room out of service indefinitely, and he did, allowing Gib to use it.

At first, Gib had insisted he didn’t need to be taken care of like that. Just because he’d almost died from going with a client he’d known better than to go with didn’t mean he was incompetent or anything like that. It just meant that on that night, his need for money had outweighed his common sense.

Gib never quite understood how he’d ended up telling Esteban about the whole situation, and why Esteban had taken it upon himself to give Gib some safety and control over his life. Yet he had, and Esteban did. Somehow along the way, they’d become friends, which freaked Gib out a little because he didn’t do friends or any kind of long-term relationship. Nothing close to commitment, though he was getting tired of coming home to an empty apartment night after night.

Shaking his head, Gib tried to erase those thoughts. No sad or depressing emotions. Not today when he needed to be on to earn good tips, and make a client think he was the only man in Gib’s world.

His stop came into sight, and Gib tucked his things in his bag. When the driver opened the doors, Gib stood before climbing off. He walked three blocks to the hotel, then went in the front entrance. Normally, he’d go in through the employee one, even though he worked in the lobby bar, but since Esteban had summoned him, he strolled into the lobby then glanced at the front desk.

They were swamped, and Gib remembered there was a convention starting in the next day or so. He tried to think of what it was for, something to do with gay romance writers and readers. He’d have to look at the schedule when he got to the employees’ area. Esteban was standing behind the desk, but he must have been watching for Gib because he signalled him to wait.

Gib checked his watch, and this time his habit of being anywhere ten minutes early worked for him. After nodding and pointing to one of the sitting areas, Gib went to sit. He glanced around, absorbing the hectic hum of check-in time.

Trevor, the general manager, was chatting with Christopher, the concierge, and Gib slouched slightly in his seat. He’d never had much interaction with Trevor, and while he was sure the general manager was a good guy, he just didn’t want to do anything that would bring him to Trevor’s attention.

He waved at Reno as his friend rushed by, on his way to where the children’s rooms were. Reno coordinated all the different kids’ events the hotel held to help parents entertain their offspring. Gib didn’t know how Reno did it. He wouldn’t want to be trapped in a room with screaming kidlets for hours on end.

A trio standing just to the side of the check-in desk caught Gib’s attention. Two handsome men and a beautiful African-American woman were holding a silent conversation with their hands. Gib didn’t know any sign language, but he recognised it when he saw it. He wondered if they were all here for the convention. He thought it was cool that there was an actual gathering for gay romance books. He didn’t read much, having struggled with it while still in high school, then after dropping out, he never had time to work on his skills.

But he admired people who could create such wonderful worlds with their words. Gib envied the people who got to read those stories, and who had a chance to live different lives from their mundane ones, if only for a moment.

“Gib, come with me.”

He looked up to see Esteban standing at the end of the counter, gesturing for him to follow. After jumping to his feet and grabbing his bag, he went with Esteban back to his office. He’d always thought Esteban was one of the best-looking men he’d ever seen, but there had never been any physical attraction between them, just a friendship Gib had fought against at the beginning.

Well, really Esteban wouldn’t take no for answer. He’d kept right on being nice to Gib, no matter how hard he tried pushing him away, until finally he had given in and accepted Esteban’s stubborn friendship.

“Please sit.” Esteban motioned to one of the chairs. “I have to talk to you about the room.”

“Weird. I was just going to let you know I was going to use it tonight.” Gib noticed the frown on Esteban’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m…letting someone use the room for the weekend.”

Gib was surprised, and he shot his friend a questioning look. “Okay, I guess I can find a different place to go, but can I ask who and why?”

Esteban wrinkled his nose, and on anyone else, that expression would look stupid, but somehow Esteban made it look good. “A young man came in for the convention, and he’d made his reservation for next month.”

“You gave him the out of service room? How are you going to explain that?”

“That’s my problem, though I need you to keep it quiet like usual.” Esteban sighed. “I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He seemed really naïve, but sweet.”

“Oh my God, did you give him the room because he was cute?” Esteban started to protest, but Gib spoke over his words. “You totally did. Do you have a crush on him? I can’t wait to see what he looks like. I bet he’s hot. He’d have to be to catch your eye.”

“Shut up, and I’m sorry about not having the room for you. Do you want me to look around at some of the other hotels to see if they have a free room?”

Gib shook his head. “Nah. It’s not important. I’ll figure something out. Hell, we might as well go to his hotel. He’s meeting me at Ashley’s around one-thirty since I work until two.”

Esteban gave him a pointed look. “If you do go to his, text me where you are.” Esteban stood. “All right. I work until two as well, so if you change your mind, you can text me and I’ll try to find a place for you. Thanks for being so understanding. Now I need to get back out front, and you need to go clock in.”

“No problem, man. I’m flexible, which makes me popular with the guys.” Grinning, he winked at Esteban, who shot him a dirty look. “And I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

That was another rule Esteban had established. He expected Gib to call him the next day after an appointment, checking in so that Esteban knew he was still alive and okay. He would never admit it to his friend, but he appreciated that Esteban cared so much to make the effort.

After leaving the office Gib went across the lobby to the bar, then slid behind it to go to the break room for the bartenders and wait staff. He stuffed his bag in his locker before clocking in. He headed out to get filled in by Margie, the first shift bartender, about what had been going on.

“We haven’t been that busy yet, but I think as the night goes along, you’re going to get swamped. The convention people have been checking in all day, and from what I’ve heard, they like to hang out in the bar.” She smiled at one of the men sitting at the bar as she handed him his drink. “Hopefully that means they like to drink, and you’ll be making some good tips.”

Gib chuckled. “I hope so. I can use some extra money right now.”

“Couldn’t we all?” Margie walked to the other end of the bar to wait on a new customer while he worked the opposite end.

As he worked, the night sped by, and he didn’t think about his upcoming appointment, even though he should’ve been working out where to take the man. Being busy was a good thing. It didn’t give him a chance to start panicking about not having a room. If he allowed himself to dwell on it, he’d be surprised at how much he’d come to count on having a safe place to take the men he met up with. Silly really, considering he rarely did that anymore.

Business started picking up around seven and remained hopping until around one-thirty when Gib’s client was due to arrive.

“Are you Gib?”

Gib looked over his shoulder to see a distinguished-looking dark-haired man standing at the bar. After pouring the rest of the gin into the tonic he’d already put in the glass, he turned to face him.

“Yes.”

Is this my client? If it is, I hit the fucking jackpot.

“Jake sent me.” The guy’s smile was confident, hitting Gib right in his groin.

After taking a deep breath, Gib flashed him a bright smile. “It’s nice to meet you. I have to deliver this drink, then we can talk a little bit.”

“All right.”

Gib watched the man slide onto a bar stool before he picked up the glass to deliver it to the waitress waiting for it. When he got back to where his client sat, he held out his hand. “I am Gib. What would you like me to call you?”

“Edwin is fine.” Edwin shook Gib’s hand. “You might have seen me on TV, though I’m really only on when there’s a crisis in the Middle East or Africa. My friend, Chen Yu, said I could trust you because you’re discreet.”

Wincing, Gib shook his head. “I don’t know who you are in ‘real’ life, and I didn’t know Mr Y’s full name. A guy like me doesn’t need to know that.”