Page 13 of Joey's Trick
“I just wanted to have a little privacy. Plus, I need to change out of these clothes as well.”
Nervous about them being alone, Joey worked hard to hide it while following Trick into his building. Trick let them into his apartment and tossed his keys on the small table just inside the door. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
Joey grunted in reply. Trick disappeared into a room nearby, closing the door behind him. He took the reprieve to look around the apartment. The walls were a bright white, while the floor was a gray wood laminate. The living area had a large flatscreen TV against the wall opposite the black leather couch, with a black recliner next to the couch and a coffee table in between. There were a few framed photographs on the wall on each side of the television. From where he stood, Joey could see Anthony and Trick in a couple of them, some of Trick with his football team in high school, and what looked like a work truck with the name of their business on it. There was a large abstract piece of artwork on the wall behind the couch. There was a counter which separated the living area from the kitchen, with two barstools in front of it.
Instead of sitting down, Joey wandered to the window and looked out onto the courtyard below. It was one of the newer buildings in the area, for sure. His mother had mentioned they were popping up all over the area like weeds. Crossing his arms, Joey leaned his shoulder against the side of the sliding door leading onto the balcony.
This certainly wasn’t going the way Joey had imagined. Coffee in a public shop with people around them would have been much safer. Not that he believed Trick would ever hurt him. But he didn’t trust himself around Trick by himself. Joey wasn’t sure if his anger would get the better of him and he’d punch Trick or if he’d lose his mind and kiss the hell out of the gorgeous bastard.
“You can have a seat, you know?” Trick said, interrupting Joey’s thoughts.
Joey turned and almost swallowed his tongue. Trick had changed into a pair of tight faded blue jeans with a dark blue t-shirt which hugged every damn inch of each muscle the guy had. His feet were bare. “I’m fine.”
Trick sighed and sat in the recliner. “My parents were extremely vocal in their venom and hatred of anyone they considered different. That included anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community. It was all I ever heard from them whenever the topic came up or they saw someone who was obviously gay. Teenagers aren’t really all that different. Everyone wants to be popular. Wants to fit in. I thought it was the only way to survive.”
Joey gave Trick a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“When I said those things to the others on the football team, I didn’t mean them. They’d been raggingon me about the way you follow me around, the way you’d look at me, the obvious crush you had on me, and they were just being all-around assholes about it. It was what I thought they wanted to hear.”
Clenching his hands into fists, Joey scowled at him. “That doesn’t excuse a fucking word.”
Trick held up his hand. “I know it doesn’t. I’m just trying to make you understand why I said it. The thing is… I was also hiding who I was. From everyone.”
He frowned at Trick. “Hiding what?”
Locking gazes with him, sapphire eyes shining with determination, Trick said, “I’m gay, Joey.”
Shocked couldn’t even begin to cover the emotions which raged through him at Trick’s words. Joey stumbled to the couch and sank down, his hands gripping the leather fabric of the cushion. Trick moved closer, sitting next to him. “I’m truly sorry for what I said that day. I was afraid. No, terrified, because if my parents found out they would have disowned me. Thrown me out onto the street.”
Trick gave a mirthless laugh. “They actually did. After high school, I still lived at home while going to community college. My mom walked in on me and a friend from school making out while we were supposed to be doing homework. That night I was out on my ass with nowhere to go.”
The memory of his mother telling him Trick had lived with them for a while surfaced. “That’s why you stayed in my room,” Joey whispered.
“Yeah. Your parents took me in. Gave me somewhere to stay while I got my life sorted and got back on my feet. I had to drop out of community college because I couldn’t afford to pay for it. Started working with a landscaping company where the owner taught me everything he knew.” Trick set his hand on Joey’s knee. “I never, ever wanted to hurt you like that, Joey. You were like a little brother to me. If I’d known you’d heard me, I’d have apologized sooner. Is… is that the reason you were so closed off whenever I was around your last year of high school and why you never came home to see your family?”
Looking at the clear regret on Trick’s face and knowing what Trick went through didn’t completely assuage the anger he’d held in his heart for so long, but it settled something inside of him. Joey studied Trick for several moments before he turned his gaze toward the television, concentrating on the black screen, before shrugging. Trick cursed and squeezed Joey’s knee gently. “God, Joey, I’m so fucking sorry,” he rasped.
“It doesn’t matter,” Joey said.
“It matters. Every time you didn’t come home for Christmas, Thanksgiving, even the summer, your family was devastated and it’s all my fault.” Trick flexed the fingers on Joey’s knee. “Please forgive me, Joey. If you can’t, I understand, and I’ll avoid your parents’ house while you’re here. You can’t stay away from them anymore because of me. They love you.”
He nibbled the inside of his bottom lip, still not looking at Trick. A slight gasp escaped him when Trick touched the side of his face, urging him to look at him. “Do you believe me?”
They were so fucking close to each other that if Joey leaned even a fraction of an inch toward Trick, their lips would meet. “I believe you,” he whispered.
“Do you forgive me?” Trick’s voice had grown deeper, huskier, sending flickers of lust through Joey and straight down to his cock.
Did he? Could he? Not realizing he had heard the words didn’t diminish their cruelty or the pain they caused Joey. It didn’t change the fact of how far he’d spiraled during his first year of college. “I don’t know.”
Trick rubbed his thumb along Joey’s bottom lip. A slight whisper of his name left Trick a split second before his mouth brushed over Joey’s. The soft caress of Trick’s full lips on his was better than he’d ever dreamed of. Joey threaded the fingers of his left hand through Trick’s dark chocolate locks, tugging lightly as Trick deepened the kiss, tongue surging into Joey’s mouth. He responded eagerly, tangling his tongue with Trick’s, dancing that age old dance of seduction and desire.
Joey broke the kiss, gasping for air, chest heaving. “What was that?”
“I’ve been dying to do that from the moment I laid eyes on you again,” Trick said.
There was absolutely no way Joey could hide the bulge in his pants, but he stood anyway, moving away from Trick. He needed breathing room to think. “Why? I’m just your best friend’s little brother.”
A noise rattled in Trick’s throat and then he stood, crowding Joey close to the wall next to the sliding door. “You were more than just Anthony’s little brother. I know you won’t believe me, but I wasn’t exactly oblivious to how gorgeous you were growing up to be back in high school, Joey.”