CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
“It was with a girl.” Grinning, Cameron wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “Charity Jessup, behind the bleachers during a football game. I was twelve, and it was…uninspiring.”
Asher couldn’t help it. He laughed again.
“What happened after your parents kicked you out?”
That sobered him instantly. “I had a little money saved up from mowing lawns and walking dogs, things like that. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get me to New York.”
There hadn’t been any family he could turn to, no friends to help him. In his teenage mind, New York was where people went to live their dreams, even if he hadn’t had a specific dream at that age.
“That’s where you met Kyle,” Cameron prodded gently.
“Yes, but not right away. I spent a couple of months on the street, scrounging for food, stealing what I couldn’t find. I got picked up for shoplifting, but instead of juvie, the judge gave me probation and sent me to live at a youth shelter. I ran away the first chance I had. ”
Cameron moved over to press against his side and rested his head on Asher’s shoulder. “Was the shelter bad?”
“No.” If he had only stayed, none of what followed would have happened. “I was messed up, though. I didn’t want a family. I didn’t want rules.”
Cameron patted Asher’s chest over his T-shirt. “I understand.”
From anyone else, he would have called bullshit, but he believed it when Cameron said he understood.
“I’d been back on the streets for about a year and a half when I met this man named Mitchell Faraday.
” He paused in his story and shook his head.
It was kind of a miracle he hadn’t ended up dead.
“I tried to lift his wallet. He caught me, and I thought for sure he was going to call the cops.”
“But he didn’t.” Cameron’s eyebrows drew together, but if he recognized the name, he didn’t mention it.
“No. Instead, he took me to this café around the corner and bought me a burger and a milkshake. He was only twenty-six at the time, but I remember thinking he really had his shit together.”
“I’m guessing he was also hot.” Cameron pursed his lips and arched both eyebrows.
Despite the aching in his temples and the pressure building in his chest, Asher grinned. “Yeah, he was hot. When he offered me a place to stay, I jumped at it. ”
“Naturally. I think anyone in your position would have done the same.”
Asher shook his head. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want Cameron to make it okay for him. “I was stupid. I thought he loved me.”
This time, Cameron said nothing.
“The first couple of months were amazing. He took me out to fancy restaurants, bought me expensive things, told me how special I was.” No one had ever told him he was special, not once in his entire life, but it was no excuse.
“Because I was sixteen, he said we had to keep it a secret. Obviously, I agreed.”
He would have done anything for Mitchell. A fact he’d proven time and time again.
Cameron’s hand curled into a fist on his chest, and his whole body let loose a long shudder. “You don’t have to keep going.”
“I do.” The dam had broken, and he could no longer hold back the flood.
“It started small. He’d invite people to his place, introduce me.
Show me off.” Asher chuckled darkly. “I was actually fucking flattered. The first time he suggested I have sex with another man, I said no. That was the first time he hit me.”
“Jesus,” Cameron breathed, his body now remarkably still. “Asher…”
“I learned pretty quickly not to tell him no. For the next year, there were lots of private parties at his place with people you can’t even imagine. Rich, famous, respected, the kind of people you’d never believe could be so depraved.”
“Kyle?”
Ashe bobbed his head. “Kyle, Chris, Matt, and Danny. Five of us altogether, all living on the street when Mitchell found us. Kyle was the last, and the youngest.”
“God, Asher, I’m so sorry.” Cameron pressed closer against his side. “How did you get away?” he asked in a small whisper.
“One of the guys he whored me out to liked it rough. Mitchell found me a couple of hours later, passed out in the bathtub.” He spoke without inflection, as if the beating had been something he’d read about instead of something he’d lived through.
It was the only way he could get through the story without completely breaking down.
“He took me to the hospital, told them I fell down the stairs.”
“Fuck.” Cameron slid an arm behind Asher’s back and wrapped the other over his stomach, holding him tight.
Asher hugged him back and leaned in to kiss his temple, realizing he wasn’t the only one who needed comfort and strength just then. “Luke was a volunteer at the hospital. He came and talked to me every day, even though I didn’t say a word to him at first.”
“I can imagine you weren’t very trusting of strangers at that point. ”
That was putting it mildly. Bless Luke for putting up with his shit, because Asher didn’t know if he would have survived without him. “He gave me a place to stay when the hospital released me, and he never gave up on me. Eventually, I started to trust him.”
It hadn’t been easy for either of them, and more than once, Asher had thought about leaving.
Only the fear that Mitchell would find him had kept him tucked away in that tiny apartment.
Little by little, Luke had chipped away at his distrust and sullenness, until one day, Asher had woken up and realized he didn’t want to leave.
“I knew I liked him.” Cameron spoke so softly Asher almost didn’t hear him.
“Long story short, the doctors at the hospital weren’t stupid. They notified the police, who came to question me. Based on my injuries and what I told them, they were able to get a search warrant for Mitchell’s residence.”
“Where they found the other boys.”
Asher stared up at the sky and nodded. “Mitchell was this big shot on Wall Street, and the trial made national news. It was huge.” At least that part of the story had a happy ending.
“Between the evidence the police found and the testimony from me, Kyle, and the others, Mitchell was convicted on about half a dozen charges. He’ll be almost eighty before he’s even eligible for parole. ”
“At least that’s one good thing.” Cameron snuggled a little closer and sighed. “How did you end up in Dallas? ”
“Luke grew up here. After the trial, it seemed like a good idea to get as far away from New York as possible.”
Cameron nodded a couple of times. Stopped. Tilted his head to the side. “Wait. If Luke is from Texas, what was he doing in New York?”
Biting the inside of his cheek, Asher shook his head. He’d tell Cameron whatever he wanted to know about himself, but he wouldn’t divulge Luke’s secrets without his permission.”
“Ah,” Cameron murmured. “Not your story to tell. I get it.” Arching his neck, he brushed a kiss over the curve of Asher’s jaw. “So, what does Kyle want?”
Grateful Cameron was so understanding, Asher leaned in for a proper kiss, feeling the heat of it all the way to his toes. “Mmm, what was the question?”
Cameron shook his head, his laughter a little breathless. “Kyle. What does he want?”
“Money.” It was the simplest answer. “He wants sixteen million dollars, or he’s threatening to tell everyone the famous Asher Dare is a former child prostitute.”
“He wouldn’t!”
Asher shrugged. “He sounded pretty serious.”
“That wasn’t your fault. You were just a kid.” The more he spoke, the more outraged he became. “Why would he do that? He was there. He knows you didn’t volunteer for that shit. ”
This protective side of Cameron was kind of hot. “I didn’t ask a lot of questions, but from what I could tell, he’s angry. He was only sixteen when the trial started, and I think he ended up in a group home. His life hasn’t been a good one, and I think he’s jealous that mine is.”
“How the hell did he even find you?”
“That blog.”
“Jesus, fuck.”
Yep, that about summed it up. “For the first few years, I was careful, convinced that I’d turn a corner one day, and Mitchell would be standing there.
Even when I published my first book, I was careful.
No author photo on the cover jacket. I refused to do book signings.
I even legally changed my name to Asher Dare. ”
Cameron jerked upright, his eyes wide. “Changed it?” Those wide, blue eyes narrowed. “What’s your real name?”
“Asher Dare,” he teased. “My birth name, however, is Ashley Derringer.”
“Shut the fuck up. For real?”
“For real.”
They sat quietly for a few minutes, both deep in thought. Well, Asher was lost inside his own head, so he assumed Cameron had thoughts to think as well. How could he not after the bombshell that had just been dropped on him ?
“Thank you for telling me,” Cameron finally said, whispering a soft kiss across Asher’s lips. “I hate that you went through that. All of it. Everything.”
Asher sighed. “I hate it, too, sweetheart, but I would hate it even more if something happened to you. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Huh?” Wiggling out of his arms, Cameron sat back and cocked his head to the side. “You think Kyle will come after me? He doesn’t even know me.”
“But you’re important to me,” Asher confessed. “I don’t know what he’s capable of, but he’s definitely crazy. If he thinks hurting you will hurt me…” Grinding his teeth, Asher sat back and raked his fingers through his hair. “Just promise me.”
If ever Cameron had a reason to run, this would be it. Asher wouldn’t blame him, either. In fact, a tiny part of him hoped he would.
“I promise.” Lifting his arms, he wound them around Asher’s neck, pulling him into a long, heated kiss that had them both reeling. “Are you going to pay him the money?”
“I don’t know. If I thought it would end this nightmare, then yes, but I don’t trust him.”
“I know it’s not my decision to make, but I don’t think you should. Even if you pay it, he could still go to the press. Or he could ask for more money.”
Asher had thought the same thing, but hearing Cameron agree made it a little easier to believe he was doing the right thing by refusing to let himself be blackmailed.
Maybe Kyle was bluffing, and if he didn’t get what he wanted, he’d go back to Mississippi and forget Asher existed. Not likely, but he could hope.
“Feel better?” Cameron asked.
“Surprisingly, yes.” It had been difficult to talk about his past, but now that he’d expelled the poison, he felt suddenly lighter.
“So, you’re still coming to the Fall Festival this weekend, right?”
The rest of his tension bled away, and Asher breathed deeply, inhaling the fragrance of Cameron’s shampoo. Funny, he’d never cared for coconut before, but it was quickly becoming one of his favorite scents.
“This weekend?” Friday marked the end of the thirty-day celibacy clause in their relationship. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”