“Well, I don’t love you,” Treston said. “And you’re too old to strip.”
Chad laughed. “Yes, you do. You just won’t admit it. And I’ll bet I could shoot ping-pong balls out of my ass better than you.”
“I don’t have to admit anything,” Treston said. “And you only think you love me because I keep rejecting you. I know how that works, trust me. It’s all a big game with guys like you, the assholes of the world, and the only reason you want me is because I don’t want you.”
“I’ve changed,” Chad said. “I’m not an asshole anymore. I’m not even an asswipe.”
“That’s not what I read in the newspaper,” Treston said. About a week after Treston had had dinner with Chad, while Chad had been sending him roses and gifts, Chad’s blond boyfriend with the potty mouth had discovered Chad in bed with his brother again. The blond potty mouth went berserk and chased his brother down the street naked. When potty mouth caught his brother, he beat him up—kicks and scratches—he wound up getting arrested and the brother pressed charges against him. Of course Chad had kept his own name out of the paper, and what that had cost him Treston could only guess. But Treston knew the moment he read the article and recognized the photo of the blond potty mouth on the front page, Chad had been the man they’d been fighting over.
Chad jumped out of the limo stark naked and jogged to where Treston was standing. “You don’t have to worry about Dare anymore. We broke up after that unfortunate incident.”
Treston pulled him to the left, behind a large rock. “You’re going to get arrested. A man your age in your position shouldn’t be running around naked in the middle of the day. Have you lost your mind completely?”
Chad continued to smile. His steel blue eyes and the little fleck of silver in his hair sparkled in the bright sun. “I don’t care if I get arrested. I love you and nothing else matters.”
“Oh please,” Treston said. “You’re a horny middle-aged man is what you are. The only thing you want is the one thing you know you can’t have. Now once and for all, leave me alone. Go sleep with someone’s brother or cousin. I’ve told you a hundred times I’m in love with Cooper and I’m planning to marry him.”
“There’s something weird about that dude,” Chad said. “I can sense it. I’ll bet he’s into feet, or some kind of kinky shit. I can spot a fucking perv a mile away. Does he pee on you?”
Although Cooper had actually spent hours sucking Treston’s toes—usually on Saturdays—and it seemed to be the only thing he wanted to do on that particular day, Treston was not going to admit this to Chad. “He’s a good, decent man. And he’s got more moral fiber than you’ll ever have. I’m in love with him and he’d do anything for me.”
“A guy like him can’t make you happy,” Chad said. “I know you too well. You need someone like me. Just get into the car with me now and we’ll go right to the airport. We’ll take my private jet to Maine and have fresh lobster for dinner. You don’t have to look back.”
Treston turned toward the trail and said, “I’m leaving now, and I suggest you go back to the car and get inside before someone sees you like this.”
“I know what you mean,” Chad said. He frowned and glanced down at his body. “No one wants to see a middle-aged man running around naked. It’s the old skin. It creeps them out.”
“Oh, knock it off,” Treston said. “You know damn well you’re gorgeous.” Though Treston didn’t want to feed his huge ego, he knew if Chad stripped at the club, he’d blow them all away.
Chad smiled and tugged on his dick. He was fully erect now. “I know I am, but I wanted to hear you say it.”
As hard as he tried, Treston couldn’t get mad at him. But he had a good life with Cooper now and he wasn’t going to let a man like Chad ruin his one chance at happiness. So he turned around this time and started walking up the trail. He knew Chad wouldn’t follow him in bare feet because there were too many small, sharp rocks. “Go home and find someone else to bother,” Treston said.
Chad didn’t follow him. He remained where he was and said, “I love you.”
Treston smiled but he didn’t turn around. As he continued up the trail, he lifted his arm, waved, and said, “Go home and torture someone else. I’m going to look for the man I plan to marry.”
Chad shouted one last time he loved him, and then he must have gone back to the car. Treston heard the door slam in the distance but he didn’t turn around. For the first time he felt strong and he couldn’t wait to get to the club and tell Lyon and J.D. how he’d turned down Chad Pratt once again. He knew J.D. would tell him he’d lost his mind. He knew Lyon would listen without saying anything. He liked this trait most about Lyon: he never gave advice and he never judged. Treston had learned straight men sometimes gave the best advice by not saying too much—they didn’t seem to crave that false sense of exaggerated emotion and drama that Treston sometimes had a tendency to cling to. While everyone thought they were clueless, those big dumb straight guys went far deeper than even they realized.
Then Treston wondered how on earth Chad Pratt could have guessed Cooper had those silly little sexual kinks, especially the foot fetish. They weren’t anything serious. Treston didn’t have a problem overlooking them because Cooper was such a good, decent man. In spite of this, he had to admit Chad’s instincts were far better than his morals or his ethics.
As he rounded a corner on the trail, he fought the urge to look back. An hour later, he smiled when he saw Cooper’s horse approaching in the distance. It was early; he hadn’t expected to see him this soon. He took this as a sign of good fortune. In only a short time they would be married and living together and everything would be perfect. The only thing Treston had to do now was teach Lyon how to shoot ping-pong balls out of his ass so Chickey wouldn’t lose the most important show he had. J.D. had offered to learn the ping-pong ball act, but Lyon told Treston he really needed the extra money. He’d just learned his wife was going to have a baby. Treston couldn’t say no; Lyon was his best friend in the entire world. Only he wasn’t so sure a straight man could learn how to shoot ping-pong balls out of his ass. This required a certain tolerance he wasn’t sure Lyon had.