When There Is Nothing Left Ch. 03

"He is a pretentious ass, isn't he?" Katie asked finding the conversation was safely away from the actual job.

"Yeah. Total straight guy."

"He didn't finish you, did he?" Taylor watched Katie bite her tongue to keep quiet. The muscle in her neck clenched as she tried to silence her distaste with Riley's job.

Riley barely blushed at Taylor's question. After a year of living with them, he was used to her blunt personality. "No, but the new guy did. He was so sweet and gentle and he even told Joel off. We took a shower together and he actually cared about me." Riley looked at the TV, noticing that one of their favorite shows was on.

"Good. You should have him over for dinner or something," Taylor offered ignoring the glare from her lover.

"I was going to ask if that was ok. He is new in town and I think he could really use a friend."

"Or more," Taylor offered with an impish grin.

~*~*~*~

The overwhelming smell of bleach filled the room along with the steam from a scalding shower. Joel shifted, the pattern of the ceramic tiles imprinting on his knees. If Steven Wells didn't pay so damn well, he would have quit a long time ago. Joel filmed almost every day and had been sent all over the country to the sister websites. For the people that still bought porn DVDs, his parody of 8mile was one of the best selling twink DVDs of all time. Joel reached over the tub into the scalding water to turn the shower off. No matter how hard he scrubbed out the shower, the filth left behind by Steven Wells always lingered and always made him feel that he would never be clean again.

Joel stood up. His lungs burned and his head was swimming. He reached for the terrycloth bathrobe and retreated into its soft confines. He walked to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of wine from the counter, plopping some frozen grapes into a glass and sliding down to the living room floor. With his back against the couch, he could see Clementine slumbering under her log after a good meal.

The slender boy downed one glass and then another before crushing the grapes between his fingers and trading the lip of the glass for the mouth of the bottle. He couldn't help himself. His mind drifted to that stupid new boy. The only thing Joel was comforted by was knowing that he was the best and he would rip the trashy Jersey boy apart before allowing his title to be taken.

The last grape smushed between his fingers. What good was it to screw the boss if you couldn't use it to your advantage? Hayden Tar would regret the day he ever decided to model for The Twink Next Door, he would make sure of that.

~*~*~*~

Small tan fingers slid between the slender pale ones. Antonio could feel the familiar raised scar on the palm of his lover's hand and a smile tried to hide itself on his lips. "Where are we going?" He asked giving Parker's hand an excited squeeze.

Parker shook his head, letting his blonde hair fall naturally back into his eyes "It can't be a surprise if I tell you." He could feel the slight skip back in his lover's gate. That same carefree playfulness that he had first fallen in love with. Feeling it again, knowing Antonio was alright now, made everything he did worth it.

Luckily for Antonio, he didn't have to wonder for long. Parker lead him into an authentic Mexican grill. The smell was fantastic. He could smell fresh cilantro and chilies marinating in different sauces with meats. His mouth watered as he watched a waiter walk by with tamales, real authentic tamales. He wanted everything. It all smelled so good and his body had been suddenly reminded by the lack of good food. "How much can we spend?" He asked dying to get his hands on a menu to pick through his options for something affordable.

Parker turned Antonio to face him and he brushed the dark hair back, cupping his lover's face. He was so proud of him for being so strong, for knowing just because they had it didn't mean they needed to spend it. It was a lesson Parker wished Antonio had never had to learn.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing Antonio. "We are rich tonight. Order the whole menu if you think you can finish it." It was a splurge, and they weren't yet in the place to be spending money, but Parker didn't want to say no anymore. He hated going to bed and feeling the emptiness in his lover's stomach. He hated having to watch Antonio look longingly at store windows wishing he could afford the latest fashions. So tonight, on their first real date in what felt like centuries, he wanted to remember what it felt like to not see his lover go without.

All the lessons about being conservative and the worry over if they would make rent instantly were forgotten. He trusted that Parker would always know what was best, and that included what they could spend on a date. "Anything? I can pick anything?" he asked, shifting excitedly in his spot as they waited to be seated. His mouth was already watering.

"Toñio?" A satin voice purred from around the corner.

Antonio looked and noticed his new friend from school, Anna. "Hey! Anna, this my boyfriend, Parker. Do you work here?" He asked, smushing the sentences together into one spiel.

Parker bit his tongue trying to not be jealous that this night was no longer just theirs. He was happy his lover was making friends but he wanted tonight to just be them. "Hey," he replied, not giving her much attention.

Anna smiled as she picked up two menus. "Come on, I'll seat you guys at my table. Don't worry. I won't be a bother I can see you are on a date." Anna wiggled her eyebrows with an impish grin as she lead them past the other customers and into the dining room. She picked one of the better tables by the window and went to go get them a bowl of chips and homemade salsa while they looked over the choices. She couldn't stop smiling at Antonio. He was too damned cute!

~*~*~*~

I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I went through some pretty big life changes and things are pretty busy. I promise I'm still working on everything, but things might be a little slow to post. I really hope you enjoy this and I will work to not take too long on the next chapter. I have a lot of drama planned.

I thank you all so much who are still reading this and I do hope to be around more despite all the stuff that is going on in my life. Your views mean so much to me.

I want to of course thank my editor who brought me back to writing and returned this extremely quickly. Tangent Joker you have been amazing and I appreciate everything you have done for me and my writing. You have really helped to bring me back and keep me on track with writing.