Page 16 of Joey's Trick

Without a word, Trick led the way out of the kitchen and through the living room. Joey trailed behind him down the driveway, his eyes locked on the flexing muscles behind the slacks Trick wore. He didn’t notice Trick stop until Trick spun, grabbed him by the wrist, and drew him into the shadows next to the house. Joey startled as he found his body yanked up against Trick’s and Trick’s hands cupping the sides of Joey’s face. “Wha-”

Trick stopped the exclamation, bringing his mouth down onto Joey’s. A gasp gave Trick’s tongue free entry and the thick, slick muscle flooded Joey’s mouth. Joey reached up and grasped Trick’s shoulders, his fingers digging into the hard muscles there. He groaned into the kiss, sucking heatedly on Trick’s tongue. A growl vibrated against Joey’s mouth before Trick broke away, panting heavily and leaning his forehead against Joey’s. Trick trailed his hands down the sides of Joey’s neck, along his shoulders and around to his waist. “All night you’vedriven me crazy. Your fucking smile, the sound of your laugh, the smell of your skin.”

“What is this?” Joey asked, his voice strained with desire.

“I want you, Joey. I have for years. Whenever Anthony would show me pictures of you from college or the ones of you with your clients, all I could think about was seeing you again. I know you won’t believe me, but even before I admitted to myself, before I told my parents I was gay, I wanted you.”

Joey thunked his head back on the side of the house, his body shuddering at Trick’s words. They were all he’d ever wanted to hear in high school. Now, he couldn’t stop himself from hoping they were true, but doubting Trick’s sincerity. But he remembered Dr. Garrett’s suggestion. Give Trick a chance. Let him show whether or not he deserved Joey’s trust.

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night?” Trick asked.

Before Joey could answer, he heard the front door open and Trick drew him further into the shadows. “Trick’s truck is still here?” Anthony said. “Where the hell are they?”

“Maybe they went for a walk or something. Let’s just go home.”

“Something is going on with the two of them. I just don’t know what it is.” Joey could hear the frustration and hurt in his brother’s voice.

“Does it matter? They’re both adults and it’s none of our business,” Veronica said. The sound of Anthony’s truck doors opening reached the two of them where they hid in the shadows. Joey couldn’t hear anything else as their conversation became covered by the sounds of the doors closing.

Trick leaned in closer, feathering his lips over the side of Joey’s neck and sending shivers down Joey’s spine. “Say you’ll have dinner with me. It’s just dinner. Nothing else.”

“O-okay,” Joey breathed out.

“Thank you,” Trick murmured, nuzzling at Joey’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, then. Seven o’clock.”

Suddenly, Joey felt bereft of Trick’s body heat as Trick walked toward his truck and climbed inside. Joey watched until the taillights of the vehicle disappeared around the corner. He sighed, wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into. It wasn’t as if there could be anything between them. He’d be returning home to Orlando in a few days.

Did he really want something to happen between them? He knew Trick had explained what had happened years ago. It didn’t make the words hurt any less or take away what Joey had experienced these last eight years. Could he simply move past it and let Trick into his life? Could he give Trick the chance of destroying him again?

Sighing, Joey headed into the house to get ready for bed. He had a lot of shit to think about before dinner tomorrow night.

The next morning, Joey helped his mom make breakfast, then cleaned the garage with his dad. Homesickness hit him straight in the chest. He’d missed being around his family, missed his father’s sense of humor and the way his mother fussed over him. Hell, he’d even missed the way his brother would hassle him about anything and everything. Maybe now… maybe now he could come back home more often to visit.

“Want to tell me what’s going on with you and Trick?” his mother asked while they were doing the dishes after lunch, causing him to almost drop the glass he’d been drying.

“What are you talking about?” Joey asked, setting the glass on the counter to put away after all the dishes were washed.

She gave him a raised brow. “I may be old, Joey, but I’m not blind. When you first got home, you wouldn’t have anything to do with Trick. I may not know what was said outside during the barbecue, but I could see you were upset and angry. Did he do or say something to upset you?”

Joey couldn’t believe just how on point his mother was. He hadn’t given her enough credit. Could he tell her the truth, though? Maybe bare details? Sighing, he set aside the plate he’d just dried. “Let’s finish these and then we can talk.”

They didn’t speak again until everything was put away and his mother had put together some iced tea with a few cookies on a plate. Settling at the kitchen table, Joey gave a summarized version of his feelings and what he’d heard eight years ago, leaving out his off the rails details from college. “Oh, Joey,” she said, touching his cheek gently. “I am so sorry he hurt you like that. I knew you had a crush on him in high school, but I never dreamed when you suddenly stopped trailing after them the way you used to, that this was the reason.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to be around him again after that. As each year went by, it got harder to let it go and for me to come back. I didn’t know about him coming out and his parents kicking him out of the house.” He gave a derisive smile. “It was definitely mind blowing when I found out he himself is gay. I’m still processing it.”

His mother grabbed hold of one of his hands and squeezed it. “Trick was… a very confused, frightened young man back then, honey. I’m not defending what he said. Not at all. But to know his own parents hated what he was and if he ever acted on any of those feelings, he’d lose his family, must have made him feel so afraid and hopeless. Sometimes we do things we aren’t proud of because we’re scared. He’s a good man, Joey. Give him the chance to prove it.”

Her words sort of echoed Dr. Garrett’s. “For years I thought he despised my very being, Mom. A little hard to let that go so easily.”

“I didn’t say it was going to be easy, but it could be worth it. You could do worse than Trick,” she said, smiling.

Joey stared at his mother; brows raised. “I live in Orlando. It’s not like we’d have a future together.”

Why the hell was he talking about a future with Trick when he didn’t even know if he wanted to have dinner with him that night? Then he had to admit he was lying to himself. The idea of spending time with Trick still caused the gut-twisting excitement he’d always felt whenever it came to the sexy bastard.

“Promise me something, baby.”

“Hmm?”