The Adonis of Weho (4 page)

Why are you asking the sky?”

Adonis replied, “Never mind.”

~

Reese lay back in bed, hating the fact he was home on a Saturday night. He couldn’t recall the last time he was without a date, or didn’t head to the clubs. But not tonight. He was tired tonight. Tired and frustrated.

About to give up on his ranting thoughts and shut his eyes to rest, he heard a tapping sound and perked up. He climbed out of bed and stepped into a pair of gym shorts, headed to the door of his unit. He opened it and there was Harper, holding up a handrolled joint, grinning.

“How the hell did you find me?”

“Your name was on the mailbox in the lobby.” Harper spun the joint between his fingers. “Are you going to let me come in?”

“Does Cybil know you snuck out?” Reese backed up, allowing Harper to enter.

“No. She’s out cold. She works for a tech company as an assistant and she never stops working, even from home.” He looked around the living room. “Nice place. But they’re all the same color scheme aren’t they?” He put the joint in his mouth and lit it.

“Yes. Beige. Beige, bone, off-white, ivory. All the same. Boring.” He watched Harper take a deep draw of the pot and hold his breath. Harper handed him the joint.

“Have a seat.” Reese gestured to the tan sectional sofa and dropped down on it. He gave Harper’s baggie shorts and white T-shirt a once-over as the young man joined him on the couch. Reese inhaled the smoke and passed it back to him. He didn’t smoke often, preferring clean lungs, but figured it would probably help him sleep. He blew out the smoke in a stream and coughed.

Harper grinned at him with the joint in his teeth. When he offered it to Reese, Reese declined and propped his feet up on the coffee table. “We’re not having sex tonight.”

Harper slouched on the cushions, propped his legs up beside Reese’s and wiggled his toes while taking a few more leisurely puffs. Once he blew out a cloud of smoke, Harper pinched the joint out and set it and his lighter on a magazine on the coffee table. “I never understood what the big deal is about sex.”

“It must be a big deal. Everyone thinks about it, wants to do it, and there are even laws telling us where we can and cannot stick it.”

Harper pointed at Reese. “Yeah! Exactly. Where I can stick it? Fuck that.”

“It’s to protect the young from predators. There are reasons.”

“I’m supposed to wait until I’m eighteen?” Harper tilted his head. “Dude. I was thirteen when I first sucked dick.”

Reese knew he’d been young as well, but just smiled. He picked up the joint and lit it, taking another hit.

“Good shit.” Harper nodded, grinning.

Reese had no idea if it was. He was not a pot connoisseur. He blew out the smoke, coughed, and before he put it out, Harper took it for another hit.

“Wow. It’s gone right to my head.” Reese closed his eyes and relaxed against the sofa back. A hand rested on his naked thigh.

“No.” The hand slid off. Reese peeked at Harper. He was staring at his chest.

They met eyes.

“You’re hot, dude.”

“Thanks, Harper. You’re pretty cute yourself.”

“Do you really write porn?”

“Yeah.” He pointed to a bookshelf. “Those are all mine.” And then he gestured to the wall in the kitchen with his book covers in frames. “Those too.”

Harper’s mouth gaped in surprise, then he hopped up and headed to the bookshelf. “‘Reese Anderson’,” he read the spine as he took a paperback off the shelf. “So that’s your real name?”

“Yeah. One of the few real gay guys writing this shit. You have no idea how many women do it, pretending to be men. Pisses me off.”

“That’s pathetic.” He read the back cover. “Can I borrow it?”

“Sure.” Reese thought about it. “Um. Wait. You have to be eighteen or older to—”

Harper gave him a glare of exasperation.

“Hey!” Reese held up his hands. “I didn’t make the stupid laws.”

Harper dropped back down on the sofa, reading the first page. Reese leaned on his shoulder to read it with him.

“Dude.”

“What?”

“I know an author.” Harper smiled at him.

“Yeah. You do.” Reese grinned back.

Chapter 3

Adonis stood before a mirror looking at his image in a pair of tight black shorts. The new shirt fit, though how it did over the wings was beyond him. Maybe he was the only one who knew they existed. No one seemed to notice or he was certain they would comment. With his two helpers picking out a selection of tops and bottoms for him, Adonis had a stack of clothing to purchase, hoping to fit in with the boys from WeHo. After trying several outfits, he kept on a pair of white shorts and a black crew neck top, wearing thongs. Which he found out were underwear as well as sandals. Confusing but true.

So he bought both, the undergarments to keep his private parts under cover, and thongs or flip-flops on his feet to be

‘trendy’ as Heath had said.

The two men helped him carry the items to the counter and Adonis closed his eyes, prayed to Zeus, and opened his leather pouch. When he looked inside, he found a stack of U.S. currency. He peeked up at the ceiling and said, “Thank you, Dad.”

Doug gave him a curious look, but Adonis didn’t react to it. The man behind the counter totaled up the amount and Adonis began counting out the green bills.

Heath leaned on him to say quietly, “Dude, don’t carry cash. Someone will mug you.”

Adonis kept counting, trying not to be distracted. He handed the clerk the money and waited as he was given a slip of paper with the items listed on it, while the man bagged his goods.

“Where do you live?” Doug picked up a bag for him as Adonis closed his leather pouch and gathered his thoughts.

“Live?” Adonis nearly pointed to the sky and said, ‘
Mount
Olympus’
but shut up. “Uh…”

Heath carried the other bag of clothing for him, and the three men headed to the exit. “Do you have a place to stay, Smith?”

“Um…” Once outdoors, Adonis again looked up. “Do I?”

Doug and Heath looked at the sky. “Who are you asking?”

Doug said.

Adonis didn’t hear a response. He peeked into his leather bag. No keys. No indication of an abode. “You have to be kidding.”

He took a few steps away from his companions and yelled at the sky. “Where did you expect me to sleep, you wicked witch?

Under a rock?”

“Whoa, dude. Who are you yelling at?” Heath gazed skyward.

Adonis grew enraged and shook his fist into the air. “Come on! Give me a break, will ya?” Something whizzed by his face and hit the sidewalk.

The other two jumped out of their skin and exclaimed in surprise.

Adonis picked up a key ring and read the address. “Thanks, Dad. Was it too much to ask? Sheesh.” He faced his friends.

“Dude,” Doug said to Heath, “What the hell just happened?”

“No clue.”

Adonis read the label. “I live here.” He showed them the address.

“Where did those keys come from?” Doug kept looking up, ducking as if something would hit him from the sky.

“I must have dropped them. Let’s go.” Adonis checked the stars for a direction and then read the sign on the street they were at.

“Dude,” Heath pointed, “It’s right down there.”

“Yes. Of course. I should know.” Adonis began walking the way Heath pointed and tried not to show his confusion. He had a few friends in high places, but still knew this task would be more demanding than Hercules capturing and bringing back Cerberus, Hades’ pit bull.

Studying the numbers and appearance of the homes, Adonis glanced back to see his two companions staring at him. Paranoid, Adonis asked, “Do I still look acceptable from behind?”

“Yes!” was answered in harmony.

“Good.” Adonis sighed.

~

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t mind.”

Reese knew this was just a ploy by Harper to get him into bed, but hell. It felt
really
good.

Reese moaned as Harper kneaded the muscles in his neck and shoulders, kneeling beside him on the sofa. They had finished the joint and he didn’t know about Harper, but Reese was stoned. Very stoned.

The high kept riding him in waves between euphoria and dizziness. “God, that feels good.” Reese moaned as Harper found a knot in his back, pushing on it.

“I thought about being a massage therapist, but my instructors said that would be a waste of my intellect. I think it should be non-exclusive, ya know? Why should academics compete with the physical? I can do both.”

“You’re good. Really good.” Reese was becoming putty in this young man’s hands.

“It’s natural, really. I mean, if I close my eyes, I can sense every tense spot in your back. It’s just being in tune.”

“You’re in tune. You’re so in tune, you’re a symphony.”

Reese moaned and hung his head forward. In his ear Harper whispered, “Lie down.”

“Oh, you are so bad. Be eighteen already. Better yet, be twenty-five.”

With his thumbs working Reese’s upper back and shoulders, Harper whispered into his ear, “Only you and me in this room.”

“Don’t even tempt me.”

“I am tempting you. I want to tempt you.”

“I’ll be banned. Everything I write will be blacklisted. I’ll be labeled a pervert by PayPal.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

“PayPal? What does PayPal have to do with the books you write?”

“I wish I could answer that question with ‘nothing’.” Reese moaned. “Don’t stop rubbing me.”

Harper knelt higher and continued to dig into the knots in Reese’s back.

Reese felt the couch shift and Harper moving closer on his knees. When contact was made between Harper’s crotch and Reese’s low back, he felt wood. It made him smile. He looked down at his own crotch. The fabric of his shorts was tented. It was nearing midnight, they were alone, high as a kite, and only a few months determined whether touching this kid was legal or illegal.

It didn’t really make much sense to Reese either. Or that may be the weed talking.

He’d love to get off and so would Harper.

Reese looked over his shoulder at the adorable man. “Are you going to hump me like a mongrel?”

“Can I?” Harper wrapped his arms around Reese’s chest and licked his neck.

“If your sister finds out she’ll have me arrested.”

“I’m not telling her. Are you?”

As Harper nibbled Reese’s earlobe, chills raced through Reese’s body. He thought he was tired of sex for sex’s sake. What Reese really wanted was a partner. Whether Harper was eighteen or seventeen, Reese didn’t want to be committed to a man that young. And Reese had a feeling, if he did make love to Harper, Harper would get hung up on him, and that would just be mean.

“Babe.” Reese touched Harper’s arm. “Time for you to go.”

“No, come on.” Harper squeezed him tighter, cupping Reese’s chest.

“You’re too smart to not know why this isn’t a good idea on too many levels.”

“It’s just sex!” Harper released Reese and sounded exasperated.

Reese moved on the sofa so they were facing each other. “It’s not. If we like each other, even a little, the sex becomes a bond. And even if you were eighteen, I can’t do that.”

“I work with numbers all day. Don’t you see how meaningless they are?”

“I wish that were true.” Reese stood off the couch and Harper’s eyes stared directly at his erection showing through his gym shorts. Reese gestured for Harper to stand up. “Come on. Time to go.”

Harper was slow to obey, touching his own cock through his shorts, his own nipple through his T-shirt, making getting him out of the apartment nearly impossible.

With his hands on both of Harper’s shoulders from behind, Reese marched him to the door.

“Dude? For real?” Harper resisted.

Reese opened the door and nudged Harper to the hall. Harper looked so let down, it was tough to watch.

“Babe. Please. I’m exhausted and you know damn well this isn’t good.”

“Whatever.” He spun on his heels and left.

Reese closed the door and leaned against it, staring down at his stiff dick. “Why can’t I meet someone who I can actually be with? This is absurd!”

~

“This is your place?” Doug stopped short.

Adonis double-checked the number on the key tag. He showed it to Heath. “Right?”

“You don’t know your own place?” Heath adjusted the bag of clothing he held for Adonis.

Adonis walked to the front door of a house and pushed in the key. It turned the lock. He peeked inside. “Hello?”

“Do you have roommates?” Heath followed him in.

“Um…sometimes.” Adonis had a look around.
Nice one,
Dad!
He did a happy dance, pumping his arms over his head and then noticed his two friends staring at him. “Sorry.” Adonis took both shopping bags and looked for the bedroom.

He walked down a hall and spotted a large master bedroom with a huge king-sized bed and tossed the bags on it. “There. That will do nicely.”

“Wow.” Heath and Doug looked around the spacious home.

“What do you do for a living, Smith?”

“What do I do?” Adonis tapped his lip.

“Are you an actor or something?” Doug picked up an item from a shelf. “Is this a Tony?”

“Tony who?” Adonis walked closer.

“Dude!” Heath yelled, taking the trophy. “It says ‘
Smith
Gold’
on it!”

“It does?” Adonis looked over Heath’s shoulder to read it. Doug backed up and laughed loudly. “Oh, my God! You’re like a huge star, aren’t you?”