Chapter 7 #2
“Daddy McSnack!” He’s bouncing up and down on the mattress, totally stoked by my presence, as if he hasn’t been chatting with me for a few minutes already.
The corner of my lip curls into a smile.
I don’t know where the dumb-ass nickname came from.
It’s the stupidest fuckin’ thing I’ve ever heard. So, why am I blushing?
“What’s up, man?” I type.
He lifts a hand in front of his chest like he’s about to deliver some world-shattering news. “You’ll never believe it.”
“Try me.”
His eyebrow raises. “I’ve got a date tonight.
I’ve been telling the chat all about it, but you were MIA.
” He rolls onto his back, holding his phone in front of his face.
I hope he’s got a good hold on it, because I’ve witnessed him accidentally bust his nose open by dropping his phone before.
It was an ugly sight, but not because of the blood.
It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen, because Ezra was sobbing.
Two long lines of tears poured down his face, blood gushing from his nose, staining his pretty teeth.
Bubba was at the store, so it was just him, me, and Austin at home.
Austin freaked the fuck out, but I launched into action, grabbing two tampons we keep stored in the bathroom in case one of The Core Four’s mothers, or maybe our friend Deidre, come visit from Texas.
I plugged his nostrils, cupping his cheeks with my hands.
It was the gentlest moment we ever shared, and I almost felt like his big brother.
His tears stopped falling as he stared at me, and I just brushed my thumb against his cheeks, spreading the tears into his skin.
“Don’t drop your phone. You’ll bust your nose open again.” The words are sent before they register, and I suck in a sharp breath as confusion clouds my head. Was he doing his psychic readings when he busted his nose? Did he tell the subscribers? Shit. I’m screwed if he didn’t.
“That was one time, you tacky bastard,” he hisses, but then his cheeks go all rosey. “But thank you for having my best interest at heart.” He lowers his phone a few inches.”I like this angle because it makes me look pretty.”
“You’re already pretty.”
“You think so?” He reaches across the bed, not waiting for my response, and grabs two bottles of nail polish. The first bottle he holds up is a light shade of pink, and the other is a deep, dark red. “Pick one.”
The pink would go better with his fair complexion, but the red would really pop.
Both are a massive statement in this shithole hillbilly town, because the fuckers around these parts are homophobic as hell.
God forbid we throw a little gender fluidity into the cooking pot.
I might not like him a whole lot, but I don’t want anyone touching him.
Don’t want them hurting him, because he ain’t theirs to hurt.
“Pink. It’ll look pretty with your bubblegum-pink lip gloss.”
He raises a brow. “I don’t wear lip gloss. I just have a natural coral hue.” He rests his chin on top of the hand not holding his phone like he’s playing Supermodel Photoshoot.
I snort a laugh. “Then why the fuck ain’t they pink right now?”
His lips might not be pink, but his cheeks sure are. “That’s hardly your concern. Doesn’t matter though. I’m pink in all the right places.”
The comment makes me think of all the places on a woman where pink looks best. Nipples, I guess. Their innermost folds, maybe. Truth be told, neither do much for me. Ezra did, though. Those pretty, pink nipples and his tight little hole.
“Yeah. You are,” I type.
He’s quiet for a moment, staring into the camera like he’s staring right into my eyes. “I think Johnny’s excited about the date. I’ve seen the way he looks at me sometimes,” he says, staring right at the camera like he’s looking me dead in the eyes. “He stares a lot.”
The fuck I do!
There’s a knowingness etched across his face that makes it seem like he knows a lot more than he’s letting onto.
He couldn’t know it’s me, could he? I’ve been careful to stay hidden in plain sight.
If he finds out, I’m fucked. He’ll never speak to me again.
It’s a fact that ought to make my heart leap with joy, but I ain’t leaping.
I’m on the edge of my seat, trying to hold on.
“He does?”
Ezra nods, the corner of his lift tugging up into a half-smile. “All the time. I’m not sure if he even realizes he’s doing it.”
Well, now he’s flat-out lying. I don’t just sit around staring at Ezra all day. I mean, yeah, I have to stay on my guard for fear of getting one of those damn cum-balloons thrown at my face, but it ain’t like I’m eyefucking him or anything.
“You always complain about the guy, but you look pretty giddy right now.” I take a nervous breath before typing, “So, this date. Is Johnny part of it? I know you said he was going, but are you thinking of it more as a date with Bubba, and Johnny’s just tagging along?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” I type. “I’m just curious about what a date between three people would look like. I’ve never been on a date with two dudes before.”
“It’s more like we’re all going out as one entity, I suppose. I’ve never been on a triple date, either, so it’s new to me.”
“But do you like the idea of going on a date with him too?”
He looks at me with questioning eyes. “Yes. I think so.”
My heart fuckin’ flutters, and when I look up, Bubba’s smirking at me in the mirror.
“I think he’d want to go on a date with you too.”
Ezra’s eyes widen, and this small, gentle smile spreads across his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, probably.”
He chuckles softly before reaching over to the night stand and grabbing a picture of the three of us.
He stares at it for a while, not saying anything at first. He traces the curve of my face in the picture, and it almost feels like his hand is on my cheek.
God. He’s staring at me like I’m worth staring at. “Johnny.”
“Yeah?” I type by reflex, sending it before I can stop myself.
I suck in a sharp breath. Ez hasn’t looked up, so I quickly type, “That’s the guy’s name, don’t wear it out,” but he looks up before I can hit send.
His eyes widen, and for the briefest moment, he almost seems to smile.
I smash the send button with my thumb, and as soon as it pops up, a disappointed look crosses his face.
“Listen, Daddy McSnack, I am a conundrum of confusion at the moment, spiraling deeper and deeper into the void of unfamiliarly unwelcome unrequited lust.” He pauses, shaking his head like he’s changed his mind. “No. I’m pretty sure it’s absolutely requited.”
“I don’t know what a lot of those words mean.”
“Neither would Johnny, I’m sure. That’s okay.
It’s part of his charm.” Each time Ezra mentions my name, my heart races, because if he ends up putting two and two together, I’m completely screwed.
Royally screwed, because Bubba would probably disown me from our friend group if he knew I’ve been catfishing the man of his dreams. Ezra raises an eyebrow at me.
“It was weird though. When I read his cards earlier, I pulled the same ones I pulled for you. The exact same cards, in the exact same order.”
Fuck. Okay. We’re getting a little too close to the truth for my liking, so I deflect. “I guess that means, Johnny’s going to be meeting someone who’s going to rock his world, too?”
“Apparently. What if you’re the person he’s supposed to meet?
I mean, it would make sense, you know, what with me giving you both the exact same reading.
” He’s got this really weird look in his eyes I can’t read.
“You would love Johnny. Maybe I could introduce you. Then you can cart him off into the sunset, out of my life and away from Bubba.”
The words sting, because while we ain’t exactly best friends, it doesn’t feel like we’re strictly enemies now, either, and I thought we might reach, as he calls it, a peaceful place of coexistence.
That ain’t the case, though. He’s still trying to find ways to get rid of me, and it makes my heart weigh heavy in my chest for reasons I don’t understand.
“Maybe we could even have a double wedding. That could be fun.”
“Double wedding? Like, me marrying another dude while you marry Bubba?”
His eyes bulge, and he shakes his head pretty forcefully. “I have no idea where that thought came from. I have no intention of marrying Bubba Jenkins.” He narrows his eyes and leans in closer. “If you value your life, you will forget I even mentioned it.”
As he rants, listing out the many reasons he didn’t mean to imply he would ever marry Bubba, I try to ease the pressure pressing down on my chest. I know he wants to get rid of me.
I know I’m the man standing in the way of his happy ending, but I’ve got a story too.
I’ve got one that deserves a happy ending just as much as his.
I ain’t a bad guy. I don’t hurt people if I can help it.
I may not be some twenty-something twink with a headful of hair and a body sculpted by God himself, but don’t I deserve to be loved, same as Ezra?
Ezra sighs through my earbud. “For fuck’s sake, Johnny.”
I jerk my head up, eyes bulging, because I know this is the moment he catches me catfishing him, and runs to tattle on me to Bubba.
He’s not talking to me, though. He’s bending over, picking up the pair of underwear I left on the floor this morning.
He carries them into the bathroom, preparing to put them in the hamper where they go, but stops only a few feet away.
He’s holding the underwear I wore to bed last night, staring at them like they hold all the secrets of the universe. “I’ve threatened to castrate him for this.” He looks into the camera and blinks slowly. “Daily.”