Yet a Stranger (The First Quarto #2) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,79

skipped Christmas with his parents that year. He couldn’t stand the thought of dealing with them. He couldn’t stand the possibility of anything that might bring Luke or Auggie to the foreground. He spent all of Christmas with Lana—in the weeks since that day, Lana had been the only bright spot in his life, but a reminder, too, because he’d been supposed to keep her safe as well—and helped her open the toys that the OTs had recommended. He didn’t go home until she fell asleep. Cart was sitting in his truck at the curb when Theo walked down the street.

“Where were you?” Cart said in the kitchen while Theo opened a Christmas ale.

Theo took a long drink before answering, “Seeing Lana.”

“You walked?”

“I had to walk back.”

“On your fucking knee?”

“The buses had stopped.”

“And what the fuck am I? I can’t give you a fucking ride?”

Theo drained the beer. He rinsed it in the sink and pitched it into the recycling. “Seems like a lot.” Then he brushed past Cart toward the living room.

“No,” Cart said, grabbing his shoulder. “No goddamn way. What does that mean?”

“You don’t want to meet my family. You don’t want to go to my department holiday party. You don’t want me to meet your family. You don’t want me to go to your department holiday party. But now you want to pick me up after I visit my daughter, the one I had with my dead husband, my little girl who’s probably got permanent disabilities. Just seems like a lot.”

Swallowing, Cart released Theo. “You sure know how to cut up a guy, don’t you?”

“Sorry. That’s not how I meant it.”

“Sure.”

Cart rode his dick that night, Theo struggling to stay hard and, more importantly, conscious. It was the first time Cart had let him anywhere near his ass, and after Cart came, gasping, on Theo’s chest and belly, he bent forward, his flushed and sweaty face against Theo’s shoulder, his body so still that Theo drifted away again.

“—be my boyfriend,” his voice pulled Theo back, “or be boyfriends or however the fucking hell I’m supposed to say it. And I’ll—I’ll do whatever you want. I just need to take it slow. I’m scared shitless, but I’m even more scared I’ll lose you if I just stand around jerking off.”

“No,” Theo said softly, walking his fingers up Cart’s shoulder, feeling the wiry, country-boy strength there. The erection that had been so difficult to maintain a few minutes ago was suddenly there, and Theo nudged Cart with his knee, rolling Cart onto his back, Cart’s eyes widening. Theo slid into him, shushing him as Cart whimpered. “Neither of us is going anywhere. Now let me show you how good this can be.”

After that, Cart slept over more often. He was there the night before spring semester, flat on his back, one arm under the pillow. Theo’s hand was on his belly, the brown hairs over Cart’s country-boy abs tickling his palm. The Percocet was doing something different tonight. Theo hadn’t been able to get hard, but he’d asked Cart to fuck him anyway, and a white noise, like a train’s steam whistle, built in his head through the sex. It was still there now, a silent scream inside his head, making everything foggy. Tomorrow: pick up the copies of the syllabi, make sure the projector works, grab the interlibrary loan that just came in. Go back, start over: shower, make Cart oatmeal and bacon and eggs, pump up the bike’s rear tire. Go back, from the top: put an extra bar of soap in the shower for Cart, then shower, then make Cart oatmeal and bacon and eggs. He could do another year of this. On the outside, Theo thought as he slid his hand along Cart’s belly, he could do five.

3

The message appeared in Message Requests, which meant it had come from someone Auggie wasn’t friends with. It also meant he almost missed it—he checked the requests regularly, but he mostly skimmed because too many were from fans who assumed that Auggie’s cheerful, happy-go-lucky, and adorable virtual persona meant they would be automatic best friends.

Genesis Evans: I need to talk to you and your friend.

Auggie considered the message. Then he went back to the comments on his latest video: a goofy montage of Ethan dragging Auggie out of bed for class. Even though he no longer tried to respond to all of the comments—even if he’d wanted to, it would have taken too much time—he still made sure