Ethan (Alluring Indulgence) (33 page)

As
though he knew just what Ethan was thinking, Beau’s brown eyes darkened and he
swallowed, the bob of his Adam’s apple mesmerizing Ethan. At this rate he was
never going to get dinner finished.

“Sit,”
Ethan nodded toward the bar stool. “Hope you like cheese.”

“At
this point, I’m willing to eat that dough just like it is.”

“Well,
good thing I thought ahead, isn’t it?” Ethan nodded toward a plate of ham,
cheese and crackers. He knew it wasn’t much, but he hoped it would tide Beau
over for half an hour while the pizza cooked.

Focusing
on his task, Ethan prepared the pizza as quickly and efficiently as he could
and only when it was baking in the oven did he turn back to look at Beau.

“Beer?”

“Sure.”

Ethan
grabbed two beers from the fridge, popped the caps off and handed one to Beau.

“I
never did get to ask. How’d it go with Mason?” Beau asked, grabbing a handful
of cheese slices.

“Perfect,”
he said, remembering spending time with his nephew. “He slept, ate, and
listened to me ramble for two hours straight. I’d say he did a great job at
keeping an eye on me.”

Beau
laughed and the deep, thunderous rumble awakened something inside of Ethan. He
could get used to this. He
would
get used to this: standing in the
kitchen, talking about what their day had been like while dinner cooked. 

Granted,
since they were working together, they’d find other things to chat about, but
Ethan didn’t think they’d ever have an issue with finding something.

“How
about you? You go to the gym?”

Beau
nodded, chewing before speaking. “Yeah. Forced myself to leave. Trying to make
up for the last couple of days I missed.”

“Are
you trying to tell me I’m not giving you enough of a workout? If that’s the
case, I’ll have to double my efforts.”

Ethan
remembered the last encounter less than an hour before and he was suddenly
looking forward to a replay. Immediately.

“Well,
in that case, no, you’re not working me nearly hard enough.” Beau’s brown eyes
glittered with humor and desire.

Ethan
set his beer on the counter and moved around to stand behind Beau. Placing his
hands on Beau’s bulky shoulders, he dug his fingers in and his dick rose to the
occasion when Beau groaned.

“Feel
good?”

“You
have no idea,” Beau grumbled, his head falling forward on his shoulders.

Ethan
stared at Beau’s neck. His hair was a little long, just the right length in
Ethan’s opinion because he loved driving his fingers into all of that blond
silk and holding him close. He massaged Beau’s shoulders then up to his neck
and back down until he couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and press his lips
against Beau’s strong neck.

Beau
groaned, louder this time, his hand coming back behind him to clasp onto
Ethan’s thigh. The physical contact was such a rush, the way Beau always
touched him back as though being close to him was as important to him as it was
to Ethan.

“You
taste good,” Ethan mumbled against his skin, using his tongue to lick softly,
sliding up to Beau’s ear. “I plan to taste the rest of you later.”

“I’ll
hold you to that,” Beau said gruffly.

Before
they could get carried away, the timer on the oven dinged and in answer, Beau’s
stomach growled loudly making Ethan laugh.

“I
think I’m gonna have to feed you more,” Ethan said absently.

“Wow.
A promise of more food and more sex all in one night. I’m pretty sure it’s not
my birthday.”

Ethan
laughed, feeling unusually light for the first time in a long time.

♂♂

The
following Tuesday afternoon, Beau found himself at the gym. The workload that
day had been lighter than usual and he’d snuck out early so he could attempt to
get a couple of hours in. Ethan had kissed him firmly and sent him on his way,
insisting he had something to finish up, but refusing to let Beau help.

So
when his phone rang and he noticed it was Ethan’s cell phone, he answered
quickly. “Where are you?” Beau asked by way of a greeting.

“I’ve
got an errand to run. You still at the gym?” Ethan responded.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll
be gone for an hour or so, but when I get home I’ll make dinner.”

Beau’s
heart did that strange twisting thing he’d been getting familiar with for the
last few days. Home. He loved the sound of that. And since he’d practically
moved in with Ethan over the course of the last week, hearing it still made him
smile.

“I’ll
probably be here for another hour,” Beau said, grabbing his towel and swiping
it across his forehead.

“See
you at home then.”

With
that, Beau hung up the phone and glanced around the gym. No one was there
except for him. Not even the owner who tended to hang out in the evening. That
was one of the reasons Beau enjoyed working out at that time of day. He figured
most people were heading home for dinner which gave him some time to himself.

Too
bad he was having a hard time focusing on what he was supposed to be doing.

Glancing
down at the phone he was still holding, Beau looked back up at the reflection
in the mirror. For the last several days, he’d been contemplating making that
one phone call. The one that would give him closure, one way or the other. He
didn’t bank on the outcome being a good one, but he knew it was inevitable.

Grabbing
hold of the courage before it eluded him yet again, Beau dialed the number he
knew by heart.

“Hello?”

Beau
closed his eyes at the sound of his mother’s voice. At least he wouldn’t have
to deal with his father right off.

“Mom,”
he replied.

“Beau,”
she answered, sounding oddly happy to hear from him. Or maybe that was just
what Beau wanted to hear.

“You
mind if I stop by in a bit?”

“For
what?”

Now
that was what he expected from his mother. They acted as though it wasn’t
normal for him just to want to stop by and say hello. Another reason he’d
stopped doing so over the years. It made him uncomfortable, and it was bad
enough that he already felt like an outsider by his own family.

“Just
to talk for a minute.”

There
was a brief pause, followed by, “All right. Your father will be home in a few
minutes. What time will you be here?”

Beau
glanced up at the clock and figured he might as well get it over with. “Fifteen
minutes?”

Again,
another brief pause followed by, “Ok.” Then the call ended.

Beau
sucked in a breath, let it out slowly.

He
hated this. He didn’t want to do this, but he knew if he didn’t, he would be
plagued with the questions for the rest of his life. And now that he was moving
forward, it was time he overcame the last hurdle. No matter what the outcome
was going to be.

Twenty
minutes later, Beau was walking into his parents’ house, his mother closing the
door behind him. He’d had to knock when he arrived because, as usual, the door
had been locked and they had never given him a key since the day he moved out.

“Your
father is in the kitchen,” his mother informed him, getting right to the point.

Beau
nodded, making his way through the small, dimly lit house. It still looked the
same as it did when he was a kid – same dull, brown furniture, same dingy, tan
carpet; even the walls had taken on a yellow tinge over the years. Almost like
his parents didn’t like change, so they kept everything exactly the way it had
been.

“Dad,”
he greeted his father when he stepped into the kitchen.

Ben
Bennett glanced up at him, his hand stopping on its trek to his mouth. They
were having dinner. Great.

“What
are you doing here?” Ben asked gruffly.

Thanks,
Dad. Way to make me feel welcome.

“Sit,”
his mother said firmly, directing him toward one of the empty chairs at the
table. She didn’t offer him food or even a drink, just told him to sit.

Without
hesitation, Beau sat, his stomach suddenly churning from the idea of what he
was about to do. This was not going to go well, and he couldn’t help but wonder
if he could just move through the rest of his life without having to endure
this final falling out. He knew it was coming.

A
small – very small – piece of him prayed that it wouldn’t go the way he
envisioned it would, but when it came to his relationship with his parents,
Beau had learned not to get his hopes up.

His
father continued to eat, not paying any attention to Beau, but that wasn’t
unusual.

“What
did you want to talk about?” Arlene asked when she lowered herself into the
chair beside Beau’s father.

Swallowing,
Beau remembered the words he’d been rehearsing in his head for days. He was
going for casual, nothing blatant or in your face. Just the basics, so he began
with, “I just wanted to let y’all know that I moved.”

That
got Ben’s attention, albeit briefly. Beau wasn’t sure why because he honestly
didn’t think his father even knew where he had lived for the last eight years.

“Where
to?”

“I
moved in with…” The words suddenly died on his tongue. His gut ached and
rolled, and he wondered if he was going to be sick.

For
days he had rehearsed what he would say. He’d even gone over and over the word
he would use to refer to Ethan. There had been several options – lover, friend,
partner, boyfriend. But now that Beau was presented with the chance to say the
word out loud, he choked.

“Where
did you move to?” Ben repeated, his words reflecting his impatience.

Sucking
it up, Beau decided this was it. He owed himself this much. “I moved in with
Ethan,” he told them.

“Who’s
Ethan? Someone you work with?” his mother asked.

“No,”
Beau said quickly, but any further comment dried in his throat.

“Ethan
who?” Ben questioned, staring back at him.

“Ethan
Walker.”

“I
thought you were friends with Zane?” Arlene asked.

“I
am.”

Ok,
so now he was definitely chickening out. Beau knew he had to get on with it,
but he was having a hard time forming words because his tongue was dry and felt
too thick for his mouth.

“So
why are you moving in with Ethan?” she asked sounding genuinely interested.

Maybe
it was out of spite, but Beau waited until his father took his next bite of
food before he said, “Ethan is my boyfriend.”

Ben
choked. Arlene shrieked, her hand coming up to cover her heart like she was
going to have a coronary right then and there.

Beau
smiled. Strangely enough, he smiled. He wasn’t sure whether it was because he’d
gotten the words out, or because he liked saying that Ethan was his boyfriend. Or
maybe because some sadistic part of him enjoyed the startled reaction from his
parents.

His
smile disappeared abruptly when his father flew up out of his chair, causing
the glass of iced tea to teeter and nearly fall over until his mother grabbed
it just in time.

“Out!”
Ben growled, the vein in his forehead throbbing as his face reddened.

Beau
pushed to his feet. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known this day was coming, but
still, it hurt. More than he wanted to admit. His chest burned as his heart
felt as though it shrank two sizes thanks to the hatred he witnessed in his
father’s eyes.

With
a simple nod, he stepped around the table and headed for the door, biting back
all of the words he wanted to scream at the very man who made him feel so
unwanted.

Before
he could get very far, his father’s hand clamped down on his arm painfully
hard. Jerking away out of instinct, Beau spun around to face him, his back
ramrod straight. He stood right up to his father, nose to nose, ensuring the
man knew he wasn’t that young naïve kid he used to be.

What
came next was more painful than if his father would’ve just hit him.

“You’re
a disgrace, you know that?” Ben rattled, his face red, his eyes shooting lasers
of malevolence at Beau. “A damned disgrace. At one time, I thought there was
potential. You almost made something of yourself. Obviously, it wasn’t enough
for you to ruin that, was it? Now you want to shame this family because you’re
a…. a…”

An
answering rage built up in Beau, his heart thumping in his chest, his hands
balled into fists as he stared back at his father. “What? I’m a what,
Dad
?
Say it.”

Beau
wasn’t sure his father could be any more pissed than he was right then. “You’re
a
fag
!”

Clamping
his lips shut, he swallowed the words he wanted to say. Instead, Beau nodded
his head, completely disgusted with this man whom he had called Dad. The man
hadn’t earned the title.

“Get
out! And don’t you ever come back!” Ben yelled.

Beau
glanced up to see his mother standing in the kitchen doorway, her hand over her
mouth, tears streaming down her face. Was she upset that he was gay? Or that
his own father was treating him this way? With his mother, he wasn’t sure he
would ever know.

Whether
she was scared of Ben, or she truly had never much cared for Beau, he just
couldn’t tell. Maybe one day he’d have the opportunity to talk to her. But for
now, it didn’t matter. She’d never stood up for him a day in his life. He knew
today wasn’t going to be any different.

“Don’t
come back here!” Ben yelled when Beau turned back to the door. “You’re not
welcome here.”

With
one hand on the door knob, Beau turned to face his father one last time. “I’ve
never been welcome here.”

And
with that, Beau opened the door, closing it gently behind him despite the
turmoil roiling inside of him. When the door latched, that small click
reverberated in Beau’s head.

♂♀

Curtis
had just finished having dinner with his wife and they’d been drinking coffee
and discussing the new playground that was being built at the church when the
phone rang. Without preamble, Lorrie stood from her seat and headed to the
phone that was on the wall in the kitchen.

“Hello?”
Lorrie greeted whoever was on the phone while Curtis sat at the kitchen table.
Watching her closely, Curtis immediately noticed the way her slender shoulders
tensed.

“Excuse
me!”

Curtis’
ears perked up at the affronted tone of his wife’s voice.

“Mr.
Bennett, I don’t have to listen to this! How dare you have the audacity to call
my house and insult my family like that!”

Mr.
Bennett?
It took Curtis a moment to place the name, but then
he realized exactly whom Lorrie was speaking to.

Coming
up out of his chair, Curtis stalked toward her until she turned to face him,
outrage written across her face. Without asking, he held out his hand, a clear
gesture that he wanted the phone, and apparently she had listened to all she
cared to because she handed it over without incident.

Curtis
put the phone to his ear in time to hear, “Your faggot son is responsible for
this! Do you understand me? Hell, all of them are probably faggots!”

Curtis
cleared his throat, his only warning. “Bennett,” he said firmly. “If you have
the nerve to call my house and insult my family, you better understand what
you’re asking for.”

“How
dare you raise your kids like that!” Ben screamed. “Letting them destroy this
town with their sleazy hotel, allowing them to do what they want. Letting them turn
my son gay!”

Curtis
wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t think through the rage that consumed him. “If
that’s how you think it works, then you’re even more ignorant than I originally
gave you credit for. Don’t call here again, Bennett.”

“Don’t
worry,” Ben screamed, his voice shaking with his rage. “And as for Beau, he’s
no longer my son! You can have him. You’ve warped him enough already; it’s your
turn to deal with him.”

Curtis
swallowed hard. He could take damn near anything this man had to dish out, but
when he wanted to intentionally take out his anger and ignorance on his own
child, Curtis had to put his foot down. “In case you haven’t noticed, Beau is a
grown man. A man I’d be honored to call my son. In fact, he’s been a member of
this family now for as long as I can remember. And if you want my honest
opinion, he turned out to be a fine young man.” Curtis took a deep breath and
added, “No thanks to you.”