And though Derrick didn’t know it yet, Luis had put a used pair of underpants in the bag as an added bonus.
“I had so much fun this afternoon I almost forgot,” Derrick said. He stared at the bag and smiled. “Thank you so much for remembering.” Then he took the bag, pressed it to his chest with one hand, and reached into his back pocket with the other for a white business envelope that had been folded in half. He handed the envelope to Luis and winked. “See you next Friday.” Then he turned and grabbed Thomas’s arm so he could walk Thomas back to the subway where Thomas would catch a train back to Brooklyn.
Luis and Jase turned in the other direction and walked back to where the truck was parked a block away. When they were there, Luis pulled the white envelope out of his bag and handed it to Jase. “Here you go,” he said. “I told you I’d give you the five hundred for coming with me today. I always keep my word.”
Jase pulled his keys out of his pocket and stared at the envelope. He lifted his arms and stepped back. “I don’t want it,” he said. “I had fun this afternoon. Derrick was refreshing, and I actually learned a few things from Thomas about cheese making.”
“A deal is a deal,” Luis said. He pressed the envelope to Jase’s chest. He was serious, too.
He’d promised Jase the money and he wasn’t going back on his word. Though he needed this money to help with the rent that month, not to mention he’d missed a credit card payment the previous month, he’d figure out another way to make money.
“Absolutely not,” Jase said, refusing to take the envelope. “I’d sooner cut off my arm right here on the street than take your money. You keep the money and you’ll owe me a favor now.”
“Are you sure?” Luis asked. He really did need the money for the rent. And that damn phone bill was coming around again, too. No matter how much he made there never seemed like enough to do anything more than just get by.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Then you have to promise me that you won’t hesitate the next time you need a favor.
I’m serious.”
Jase crossed his heart, licked the tip of his pinkie finger, and lifted it in the air. “I promise,” he said. “You’ll be the first one I call.”
Chapter Six
A week later, while Jase was sitting at his desk checking out photos of nude men, he heard music coming from his bedroom window. Jase wasn’t wearing anything. He was holding his dick with one hand and clicking through photos with the other. Though he’d never been with another man, he’d been relieving his sexual tension this way since he’d learned how to use a computer. He didn’t go to the hardcore all-male porn sites. There was something about them that left him feeling cold and lonely. But he did enjoy Web sites that focused on nude males who weren’t engaged in sexual activity. The models on the these Web sites didn’t look as if they were being exploited or forced to do this for money, where the models on the hardcore sites always seemed so ill-fated.
The music was coming from the fire escape outside his bedroom. It was one of those breezy evenings that portended warmer days to come. Someone was playing an old Beatles song on a keyboard. It was a slow song, and the volume wasn’t very high. When Jase inhaled deeply and held his breath, he could almost smell the ocean.
So he stopped jacking and closed the laptop. He shook his dick a couple of times and pressed it down. Then he stood from his desk and picked up a pair of light blue sweatpants he’d tossed over the back of his desk chair. He put them on quickly and walked to the window, checking his dick one more time to make sure it wasn’t rock hard. When he pulled back the sheer draperies to see who was playing, he looked to his right and smiled. Luis was sitting on his windowsill with a tiny keyboard on his lap and his little dog at his feet. He was staring intently at the keyboard and playing the song without music. His full lips were pressed together and he was humming quietly.
Jase stood there without making a sound. Luis was wearing his short white bathrobe and his legs were parted just enough so that Jase could see the softest part of his inner thighs. Jase leaned into the wall and folded his arms across his chest. While Luis stared down at the keyboard, unaware Jase was watching him, Jase smiled and watched Luis’s delicate fingers glide across the keys. Luis had the smoothest most delicate fingers Jase had ever seen. At that moment, he wanted to grab those hands and lick them one at a time.
When Luis finished the song, he looked down at his dog and frowned. He still didn’t know Jase was watching him. He patted the dog’s head, took a quick breath and sighed so loud the timid little dog jumped up and ran back into the apartment.
A moment later, he looked up and saw Jase standing in the window. But he wasn’t startled or annoyed. He just smiled and said, “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Have you been there long?”
“Just a few minutes.”
“You want a drink?”
Jase shrugged. “I’ll get a shirt.”
“No,” Luis said. “You don’t need a shirt. You’re fine just the way you are.”
Jase hesitated for a moment, then slipped his leg through the window and walked out on the fire escape. By the time he reached Luis’s window, Luis was standing. The white bathrobe Luis was wearing wasn’t fastened as tightly as it could have been. The belt drooped below his waist as if ready to come untied and the edges of the bathrobe were parted about a half inch down the middle of his body. He was holding the keyboard in front of his private parts and he was smiling. When he turned and lifted his leg to climb into his apartment, he lost his balance and fell backwards.
Jase was right behind him. Jase reached out and put his arms under Luis’s arms. When Luis fell backwards, he landed on Jase’s chest. The bathrobe came undone and opened up completely. It fell to his sides and exposed his entire body. Luis covered his private parts with the keyboard and lifted his head. He looked into Jase’s eyes and said, “I’m glad you were there. I could have broken something.”
Jase placed both palms on Luis’s bare chest and shook his head. “You’re more dangerous right now in this position than I am driving through Manhattan in a pickup truck.”
“I don’t know about that. I’m actually fairly harmless. Ask anyone.”
Jase was becoming erect again. His heart was beating fast and his chest began to heave.
He took a quick breath and exhaled. He looked into Luis’s eyes and asked. “Can I kiss you?”