“You need to be quiet, Elroy,” Kyle said. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a foot fetish or any other kind of fetish. I’m talking about the way he led me to believe he wasn’t interested in sex. I’m talking about the way he led me to believe he was more interested in my mind than my body…or in this case, my feet.”
That’s when Lev got a little defensive. He climbed out of bed and grabbed his jeans. “I’m only human, Kyle. He’s a hot guy and God knows I’m not getting anything from you. We’ve never even kissed and I’ve been coming here to study for a long time.”
“You never even kissed?” Elroy asked. This was getting more entertaining by the second.
“Shut up, Elroy,” Kyle said. He frowned at Lev. “I’m sorry if I led you to believe there would be a physical relationship between us. I thought you were different from other guys. I guess I was wrong.”
Lev put on his shirt and reached for his socks. “Well, I’m not different from other guys. I have needs, too, Kyle. And if I’m going to keep seeing you I need to know there’s going to be more.”
Elroy sat up; he wished he had popcorn.
“I don’t think you should come back,” Kyle said. “I’d never feel the same walking around barefoot again in front of you. I’m sorry, but I think you should leave now. I hope we can still be friends.”
Lev glanced at Elroy and asked, “Is he serious?”
Elroy folded his arms across his chest and shrugged. “What do I know?”
Kyle crossed to the door and opened it. “I’m always serious about these things. You deceived me, Lev. I thought you were better than this.”
After Lev Godwin left, Kyle went to his bed and sat down. “Well, Elroy, I guess you were right about him. He really is just like everyone else and all he was interested in was sex.”
Elroy had never seen such a dismal expression on Kyle’s face. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought someone had died that night. “You wanna go out for coffee or something? I can get dressed fast.”
Kyle lifted his hand and said, “No, thank you, Elroy. You’ve already done enough for me tonight. I want to go to sleep now. I’m exhausted.”
“What did I do?” Elroy asked in a defensive tone. “Lev is the one who lied to you, not me.”
“Don’t pretend. I know you orchestrated this whole thing. You wanted me to walk in here and find Lev in bed with you. I’m not an idiot.”
Elroy frowned. He saw no point in denying this; it would only make things worse. “I didn’t plan the foot thing. He did that on his own. I swear on my life. Are you mad at me?”
Kyle laughed. “Actually, I’m not mad at you. If Lev had been the man I thought he was he would have turned you down. He didn’t have to get into bed with you. You didn’t force him into bed with you. And you didn’t force him to do those things to your feet.”
“Of course not,” Elroy said. “I would never force anyone into bed with me. And I’d never force anyone to suck my toes.” He wanted to laugh again, but held back.
“But you knew he couldn’t resist you,” Kyle said. He glanced down at Elroy’s feet and made a face. “Or your big old feet.”
“That’s true.”
“And I have to admit you were right about Lev all along.”
“You sure I can’t get you anything?”
Kyle turned out the light next to his bed and started to undress. “I’m fine. I’m just tired, is all. It’s not the first time I’ve been disappointed by a guy and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
Elroy felt a pull in his stomach. When he heard the disappointed tone in Kyle’s voice he wanted to get out of bed and hug him. “Would you like me to get into bed with you tonight? I promise no sex at all. I’ll just hold you. I won’t even try to kiss you.”
“On one condition,” Kyle said.
Elroy thought for sure Kyle would reject him again like the many times he’d rejected him in the past. “What condition?”
“Go take a hot shower and get Lev off our body,” Kyle said. “Make sure you scrub your feet well. And put on clean socks before you get into bed.”
Elroy jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. He took a hot shower, brushed his teeth, and put on clean white socks. By the time he came out of the bathroom, Kyle was in bed. He was on his side with the black comforter that had stars pulled up to his shoulders. Elroy climbed into bed and snuggled up beside him. He wrapped his arms around him and kissed the back of his neck. “That’s not a sex kiss,” he said. “That’s just a goodnight kiss.”
Kyle laughed and said, “Goodnight, Elroy.”
Elroy snuggled up closer and held him tighter. “I can’t guarantee I won’t get wood tonight.” He felt his dick getting harder.
Kyle patted his leg and said, “But I can guarantee you won’t do anything with it.”
“How can you be so sure?” Elroy asked. His dick was rock hard and pressed up against Kyle’s ass.
“Because I’m not like the other people you’ve been with,” Kyle said. “I’m not the married man, I’m not the guys you meet at clubs, I’m not the guys you cruise at those places you go to, and I’m not Lev Godwin begging to suck your toes. That’s how I know for sure.”
“I see.”
“Go to sleep, Elroy.”
Elroy took a quick breath. “You smell good. What cologne is that?”
“I don’t wear cologne,” said Kyle.
“Do you still love me?”
Kyle reached for Elroy’s hand and held it. “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
That was good enough for Elroy. It was before eleven o’clock and he hadn’t gone to bed this early since he’d been a child. But he knew he wouldn’t have trouble sleeping that night, not as long as Kyle was in his arms.
Chapter Seventeen
“Let’s get out of here this weekend,” Elroy said. “I’m bored.” “It’s Thanksgiving,” Kyle said. He was in his bed, wearing the same old gray sweatsuit, playing a game on his phone. He didn’t even bother to look up.
Although Elroy had plans for Thanksgiving with his extended family, the thought of spending the entire weekend at the family home made him nauseous. There wasn’t enough weed on Earth to get him through four days with Aunt Hilda, Uncle Fred, and those two ridiculous teenage cousins, Delbert and Oliver. These relatives didn’t live on the estate; they only visited on holidays and it had become family tradition for them to be there every Christmas and Thanksgiving. Elroy’s mother and father had started this tradition years earlier, and now that they were both gone his relatives wanted to continue it for reasons that passed him by. Elroy owned the estate and they all worked for him. He didn’t speak to them more than once or twice a year. He could have told them not to come, but they always seemed so excited about sucking up to him and spending the weekend on the estate, he didn’t have the heart to say no.