Disowned by his family for being transgender, Kale drained his bank account and
set out to go as far as the money would take him. He planned to make a new life
for himself. But when the money stopped, he found himself homeless, his plans
pretty much screwed. Perry set out to find a male hooker to slake his lust.
Instead he found a handsome young man who insisted he wasn't a prostitute. Can they work past their differences and see what's in front
of them, or will the best laid plans stay astray?
Kale shuffled along the sidewalk, kicking
errant leaves as he went. He snuggled his coat around him against the chill of September's
early autumn winds as he pondered just where he was going to spend the night
tonight. He'd finally run out of money. And luck, it would seem. He shivered
and looked away as he passed a scruffy homeless man on a bench. Would that be
him before long?
He skirted
past several scantily clad women who offered him their services, waving them
off with a murmured, "Sorry ladies, I'm gay."
A black sedan pulled up to the curb, and
the window slid down. "Hey!" the driver called out.
Kale looked around, finding no one else
who the man could've been yelling for. He pointed to himself. "Me?"
"Yeah, you. C'mere."
Kale peered into the car without getting
any closer. He didn't recognize the older man behind the steering wheel, didn't
really know anyone in this town yet. "Can I help you with something?"
"Probably." The guy grinned. "How
much for a blowjob?"
A fiery blush steamed up Kale's neck. "Oh.
I'm not um..." He glanced down at his clothing—red button-up shirt, jeans,
boots. He wasn't dressed like a hooker, was he? Then again, what did male
hookers dress like?
"Fifty bucks?" the guy asked.
"No, you don't understand."
Kale shook his head. "I'm not um...working. I'm just..." Just what?
Just a runaway disappointment.
"Fine. Make it a hundred. C'mon. Get
in."
His eyes went wide. A hundred dollars?
For a blowjob? A hundred dollars would get him a room at a motel and a meal for
the night. And a blowjob wouldn't take all that long. But he'd never done
anything like that before with a stranger. The guy looked pretty clean. How bad
could it be? Just a few minutes' work, turn his head, spit, and take the money.
"I don't swallow," he blurted.
The guy shrugged. "I don't care."
The words hit Kale with full force. The
guy didn't care. Not about him, his story, why he was out here on the streets
in the first place. Not about his past, present, or future. Not about anything
beyond his mouth. Kale frowned.
"You coming or not?" the guy
prompted.
"Show me the money."
He held up a hundred dollar bill.
If the guy would pay a hundred dollars
for a blowjob, how much would he pay for something else? But Kale had seen way
too many Lifetime movies about runaways turned prostitutes who got into cars
and were never seen again. He puffed out his chest and straightened his
shoulders, tried to look like he had some kind of guts. "Okay, but we're
not going to a skeevy hotel or your house or anything. Got it?"
The guy shrugged. "Whatever."
Kale looked up and down the street and
reached for the door handle. The car, like the guy, looked clean and tidy,
smelled nice. He smiled at the green, tree-shaped air freshener hanging from
the rearview mirror, and tried not to think of that scene in the movie Seven where the cops found hundreds of
the things hanging in the sloth victim's apartment.
"So." The guy glanced over at
him. "Almond Park okay?"
Not too far away, and he'd been there
before. Definitely not too private. Kale nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."
"There's a spot behind some
trees. It's hidden and quiet," the guy explained.
Kale nodded again. Hidden and quiet. Just
like him. He looked out the window as the scenery passed. What was he supposed
to do here? Make small talk? Keep his mouth shut? Presently, the guy made the
decision for him.
"You from around here? I haven't
seen you before." He coughed and cleared his throat as he pulled into the
park entrance.
"I'm from Boston," Kale told
him. "Moved here a little while ago."
"Boston?" The guy swerved to
avoid a hole and turned the car down a grassy path. He brought them to a stop
and gestured out the windshield. "The spot's a few feet in there, but we
have to go on foot."
Kale opened his door and got out. He took
a deep breath. Even though he knew he wasn't technically in the woods, the air
did smell different—crisper, cleaner, like water and trees and fire all rolled
into one. Made him homesick for backyard campouts with his brother.
"You change your mind?"
He turned to see the guy had started up
the path and was waiting for him. Kale bit his bottom lip. Tall, broad, and
beefy, with a day's worth of beard hinting at a scruffy side and bald, the guy
was definitely his type. Flipped his switches in all the right ways. He'd never
considered himself a cub, but for a bear like that?
"Hello?"
"Coming." He followed behind
the guy to the spot. Definitely hidden and quiet—they had to fight their way
through some overgrown bushes just to get there.
