Tommy’s eyes widened. “No. Way!” He threw his arms around his father and hugged him. “Oh, man!” He walked around the truck in awe, not even noticing the cosmetic flaws and assorted dings and scratches. “Wow! This is great!”
“Keep your grades up or we take it away. It’s six years old, and the air works. You’ll have to put a new radio in it because it doesn’t have a CD player, and I know you want one. Same rules that applied to your other car. Keep it clean, take care of it, and you still have to pay the insurance. It’s got over a hundred thousand miles on it, but the engine was rebuilt a few months ago, and the transmission is new. You can take it to college when you go.”
Tommy circled the truck again. “Thank you so much, Dad!”
Adam opened the passenger door and climbed in. “You’re welcome. Now let’s get home. Your momma’s making chicken and dumplings tonight.”
* * * *
At home, Karen and April crowded into the front seat with Tommy while he drove them up the road and back a few times. He was the baby, but the two youngest of his five sisters still lived at home, and he’d always felt closest to them.
Karen teased him about wanting to borrow it, playfully busting his balls. He was youngest, followed by April and then Karen, but he had a special bond with Karen he didn’t have with his other sisters.
“You know I won’t do that to you, Tommy.” She took accounting classes at the community college, already had a job, and was saving up to get her own place after graduation. “Stupid Em anyway. Should knock some sense into her. And then not bothering to buy you another one or at least give you hers to drive? That sucks.”
He stared at his new truck. New enough for his tastes anyway. “Yeah, she’s just a bitch.”
April had already gone inside. Karen giggled. “You know it, baby bro.” She hooked her arm through his. “So, Alicia called before you got home.”
He groaned. “What did she want? I just saw her after practice.”
“You know dang well what she wants.” She slowed their pace toward the house, holding her brother back. Her voice dropped, serious. “Now, you listen to me. You know I don’t care what you do as long as you’re careful. But please, don’t be stupid, and don’t get her knocked up. She’s one of those kinds who’d love to get pregnant so you have to marry her.”
His face burned. “She told me she’s on the Pill now,” he muttered. He could only say stuff like this to Karen. She felt more like a twin than an older sister.
“Bullshit. If you sleep with her, you wear a rubber. Even if she’s really on the Pill, you could still catch something from a little tramp like her.”
He snorted. Alicia didn’t exactly have a stellar reputation, unfortunately. Mostly innuendo around school that hadn’t made it to his momma’s church…yet.
“I’ll be careful, Kar. I promise.”
“Good.”
* * * *
Alicia squealed and practically tackled him when she saw him climb out of the truck at school the next morning. “This is great!” She grinned and pushed herself closer. “I’ll bring a picnic blanket, and we can spread out in the bed.” She giggled, pleased with her pun.
Tommy blushed and looked around as he peeled Alicia off him. “Um, yeah, okay.”
Irritation flashed across her face. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you want to sleep with me? What’s the matter, are you gay?”
His face burned. “No!” He looked around and stepped closer. “I just don’t like discussing sex in public, okay? There’s nothing wrong with me not wanting to talk about this stuff in the parking lot before school when I’ve got a chem test in first period that I need to focus on.”
“We gonna discuss it in private, then?” She tried to grab his crotch, but he caught her wrist and pulled her hand away.
Hating feeling pressured to prove anything to her, he resigned himself to his fate. “We can do more than discuss it on Saturday, if that’s what you really want to do.”
She smiled and quickly pecked him on the cheek before flouncing across the parking lot, where she joined a couple of her giggling friends. They raced into the building.
He silently swore and grabbed his books before heading inside.
* * * *
The next day, Tommy made an excuse about needing to study at the library after practice. As soon as practice ended, he drove across the county line into the next town. Fighting a raging case of embarrassment, and with Karen’s words ringing in his ears, he bought several packs of condoms from a drugstore. The clerk, an older woman, didn’t even bat an eye at his purchase.
He pulled his truck around back and removed the condoms from the boxes and tossed the boxes into the store Dumpster. He jammed the condoms into the bottom of his book bag, where his mother wouldn’t look. That night, he made sure to lock his bedroom door before he lay back in bed and ripped open a foil pouch.
Better to know how to do this than be fumbling around and give Alicia an opportunity to refuse him using them. He spent a few minutes stroking himself, trying to get hard thinking about Alicia.
That didn’t work
Fantastic.
When he thought about Martin, however, his woody stiffened. In the privacy of his own bed, Tommy didn’t bother making excuses to himself. The first condom he totally fucked up. The second he finally figured out how to roll on over his shaft. He closed his eyes and lay back, stroking himself, trying to make himself come inside the thing.
It felt…weird. Everything he’d heard about them was right-on there.
Still, he refused to let Alicia get knocked up and force him into a marriage he didn’t want. She’d spent every free moment at school hinting and teasing that Saturday would be the first of many times for them, making it perfectly clear where she wanted their relationship to go.
With the extra distraction of the thin layer of material, even Alicia’s long legs and tight ass couldn’t keep him hard. He thought about Martin again—fuck it, might as well enjoy myself—and after a few minutes he turned his head and quietly moaned into his pillow as he came.
Okay, now what? He walked into his private, connected bathroom. The girls had to share theirs, but his father took pity on his lone son and gave him his own bathroom when he’d built the house. He flushed the evidence, then cleaned up and lay in bed.
Where he’d used to think he’d enjoy fucking Alicia, now he dreaded it. If he backed out now, she’d be vicious enough to spread the rumor he was gay. She was so full of herself she couldn’t believe any guy wouldn’t want to sleep with her.
Maybe he could talk his dad into needing his help in the office or something. Tommy was helping him design a house for one of his friends. His dad let Tommy work on the blueprints mostly on his own, giving him more control on the project than he’d ever had before. He was pretty sure he’d nailed entry to the University of South Florida down in Tampa. USF had a kick-ass engineering program, but it would be at least another month or so before he heard back.
Alicia had insisted “they” were going to the University of Georgia.
Fuck that.
Tommy smiled as he closed his eyes and imagined how pissed she’d be when she realized he wasn’t going to be at her beck and call post graduation.
Chapter Two
Tyler Paulson looked out over the Atlantic Ocean as his plane winged west from London toward New York City. He’d catch a connecting flight there for Tampa.
He couldn’t quell the amused smile teasing his lips.
Freedom. Finally, freedom.
Made possible by a full special scholarship to the University of South Florida, giving him the ability to study overseas, well out of reach of his meddling mother. How she’d ranted and raved when he’d first applied, shrilly telling him he wasted his time and energy even bothering to apply for something he’d get turned down for. Then she ranted and raved that he wasn’t being fair to her by leaving her alone to provide for his younger brother and sister.
Not his problem.
He was done.
She swore she’d never speak to him again.
Well, that would be a blessing of sorts now, wouldn’t it?
After two years at university, his professor of creative writing pulled Tyler aside after class, told him about the opportunity, and gave him the info he’d need and the inside contact information. Said Tyler was too damn talented to waste his time in a small school, he should go on to bigger, better things. Six months later, he learned he’d landed the scholarship. He transferred to USF in Tampa, Florida.
America.
Away from his mother.
Tyler glanced between his feet at his messenger bag, where his battered, used laptop and two printed manuscripts lay safely nestled with a few other items. In the overhead bin, his assorted carry-on needs and another printed manuscript. In the cargo hold, four large cases with everything he’d been able to pack. He’d left cold-weather clothes behind and opted for cherished books, papers, and photographs he knew he’d probably never see again if his mother had her way.
He would study and complete his degree. After, he was contractually committed to teach for at least three years while he completed his graduate studies. Meanwhile, an agent on the scholarship committee was already shopping the final draft of one of his psychological thrillers around to houses in New York. A paid on-campus student housing unit and a basic meal plan package meant he didn’t even need a car to get around, which would save him money.
The committee assured him they would help him apply for citizenship if he wanted.
That’s what he wanted. Nothing tied him to England, as far as he was concerned. Setting out alone on a life of promise seemed a damn sight better than the alternative of staying behind, his mother’s smug face gloating over him if he failed.
He felt a twinge of guilt over his feelings. His mother had worked hard to provide for them after his father left. Still, that didn’t give her the right to treat him like something best left for the dustbin.
The sun set on the horizon ahead of them. When he looked out the window, his visage reflected back to him. What did his mother see in his face that caused her to react the way she did? Was it his father’s blue eyes? The fact that he looked so much like him?
He pulled down the shade, sat back, and took a deep breath.
It didn’t matter.
Not anymore.
* * * *
Tyler went through customs in New York. When he disembarked from the airside shuttle into the main terminal at Tampa International, he nervously looked around. A professor from the English department would meet him and take him to the campus.
Then he spotted a tall, distinguished-looking man, with a beard and mustache, holding a sign with his name.
Tyler shouldered his messenger bag, gripped his other carry-on, and walked over. “Dr. Lawrence?”
The man smiled and stuck out a hand. “Just call me Robert. You must be Tyler Paulson, nice to meet you. So you’re the whiz kid who stole the show, huh?”
Tyler blushed. “I suppose you could say that.”
“Baggage claim’s this way. Let’s go get your stuff. Are you hungry?”
Two hours later, after Robert Lawrence treated Tyler to his first real meal in America, he helped him unload his things at the student housing complex on the Tampa campus. “Well, you’ve got everything in the information packet there,” Robert said. “Jennie over at admissions said to contact her in the morning. She’ll get you started. There’s a map in there, but if you get lost, just ask for directions. You’ll have a week before classes get underway to learn your way around the place.”
“Thank you very much, Dr. Lawrence.”
The man looked to be at least twenty years his senior. “We’re eventually going to be working together, right? Robert’s fine, trust me.”
* * * *
Tyler thanked God for his sense of mind to leave his heavy clothes behind. The thick Florida humidity wasn’t nearly as oppressive as living under his mother’s thumb, but he’d obviously need to alter his wardrobe. He stretched the small cash stipend he received for extra living expenses to the maximum at a thrift store as he picked out more suitable clothes. He didn’t care. It was worth it.
After six months, he felt more at home in the student housing than he’d felt in decades. Since before his father left.
He asked his student advisor for help applying for citizenship.
* * * *
Tyler nervously sat in the office waiting area, his hands around the contract. Several people assured him Bob was excellent and reasonably priced. When the lanky redheaded man called him in, Tyler felt put at ease by the man’s friendly smile. He noticed a picture on the shelf behind the attorney’s desk, him and another man, in tuxes and holding hands.
His partner, Tyler assumed.
“Well, let’s see what you’ve got here,” Bob said, taking the folder and scanning the contract. After a while, he looked up. “It seems fairly standard. Is there anything in particular you’re concerned about?”
“It’s my first contract. I don’t know anything about them.”
“What’s the book about?”
Two hours later, Tyler realized he’d made a friend in addition to hiring an attorney. When Bob found out Tyler’s weekend was empty, he invited him to dinner Saturday night. “Just some friends, that’s all. Casual.”
“I’d enjoy that, thank you.”
While he wasn’t a prude by any stretch of the imagination, he realized more than half the people at the dinner party were gay couples and that his exposure to alternative lifestyles had been rather limited. By the end of the evening, he also realized he felt more at ease with the friendly group of people than he had since…ever. Bob and his partner, Terry, were best friends with Pete and Eddie, a funny and oddly matched couple who kept Tyler laughing throughout the evening. When Eddie found out Tyler was single, he took him under his wing like an overweight mother hen, determined to match him up.
“Oh, geeze, Ty,” Pete groused. “Watch out. He’s gonna marry you off.”
Eddie glared at him. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, as long as it’s what Tyler wants.”
“I know lots of single women who would kill to go out with you.”
He couldn’t refuse Eddie’s invitation to their cookout the next afternoon. Pete later caught him alone in the kitchen and grinned. “Sorry about that, buddy. Shoulda warned you.”
Pete was a retired New York City cop who sounded like he’d walked out of the Bronx a few months earlier. He’d been with Eddie for nearly two decades. “Don’t be afraid to tell Eddie to back off if he’s too pushy. He likes to take care of people, and now he’s adopted you.” He laughed as he clapped Tyler on the back with a meaty hand. “Welcome to the family.”
Tyler was left to contemplate that. Here was a group of near-total strangers who’d welcomed him more than his own mother ever seemed to care to.
Friends.
A decent job.
A home.
He thought about the completed citizenship papers sitting on his desk at his new apartment. He hadn’t sent them in yet, even though they were ready. He also realized he truly had nothing to return to in London. Why not adopt the country that had so far taken great pains to adopt him?
* * * *
Between his friendship with Bob, Terry, Pete, and Eddie, and his increasingly wandering thoughts, Tyler realized maybe there was more to him than he’d ever wanted to admit before.
He noticed he could eye the ass of a man strolling past him, then equally appreciate a curvy woman passing the opposite way.
When he finally forced himself to confront the issue, he admitted he wasn’t averse to meeting someone of either gender. Bless his heart, Eddie noticed one day while they were having lunch at the mall.
“I’m gonna set you up, you know, Ty.”
Tyler smiled. He’d been watching a handsome, lanky student walk past, a man whose loose clothes most likely concealed a nice body.
“You were a matchmaker in a former life, hmm?” A young coed bopped by with some of her friends. Her red hair hung past her shoulders, her snug low-rider jeans exposing a tramp stamp tattoo on her spine.
“I’m a matchmaker in this life, too.” Eddie laughed. “At least you make it easy with a broad playing field.”
Tyler reddened and focused on his food. “Not sure what you mean, mate.”
Eddie snickered. He leaned in and dropped his voice. “You’re an equal opportunity kind of guy, that’s what I mean, and you know it. Lucky bastard, best of both worlds.”
“Well, wasn’t Pete married?”
“Oh, sure he was. Why do you think he got divorced? Lots of guys our age who swing the other way ended up married, for a while, at least. He just had the balls to finally come clean and admit it wasn’t working for him. Now me, I faked it in high school, but I knew in college I wasn’t interested in the fairer sex.”
Eddie took a bite of his salad and pointed his fork at Ty. “You, my friend, are bi. Just admit it and accept it. It’ll make your life easier. No shame in it. Then I can open the other half of my address book and stop fixing you up only with girls.”
No, Tyler knew there was no shame in it, but it still took some getting used to. Eddie ramped up his efforts to pair Ty with “someone nice,” in his words, regardless of gender.
Ironically, Tyler found someone without Eddie’s help, a girl who truly captured his interest at a campus gathering of English faculty and grad students. Erin was a little younger than him but not by much. Lithe and in shape, a marathon runner by hobby, a grad student focusing on American Lit professionally, she seemed entranced by the fact that he was an author. She also loved his accent. After a few weeks he found himself chasing her, vying for her affection.
Eddie couldn’t wait to plan the wedding.