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He sighed.I really don’t want much out of life.He’d be happy making people smile like Grandpa had done. In his eighty years, he’d volunteered with Habitat For Humanity, even getting the chance to work with former President Jimmy Carter at one point. For him, that had been a thrill.
For Carter, Grandpa encapsulated the ideal kind of Christian. He never spoke poorly of anyone, at least not in Carter’s hearing. He stayed happily married to Grandma for sixty years. He loved to do for others, even if it meant he had to do without. Those were the ideals he’d passed down to Carter. And yes, for the most part they were in conflict with what his parents taught him, but Carter would take his Grandpa’s version of Christianity over his parents’ any day.
He liked to think Grandpa would agree with him about not working in an office. Sure, computers were great, but they were also impersonal. Carter had a Facebook account he hadn’t logged into for like six months, a Twitter account he couldn’t stand, and a Pinterest group he hadn’t looked at in two years. He much preferred to think about the times he’d gone with Grandpa to meet his buddies for breakfast at Ma Fischer’s diner, and sit with his glass of orange juice, the stack of chocolate chip pancakes smothered in butter and syrup, and being allowed to sneak a few sips of Grandpa’s coffee, which had been mostly creamer.
God, he missed the old man. Before he died, he’d asked to speak to Carter alone. He had Carter lean close, and told him it didn’t matter who he loved, as long as he loved with his whole heart, because that could never be wrong. That was when Carter hoped Grandpa was saying it didn’t matter if Carter was gay, he was loved.
‘Love, and you will be loved, Carter.’
That was the hope Carter held in his heart of hearts. It spurred him on when other things tried to push him back. And it was the mantra he tried to live by.
Carter glanced out the window, and gave a start.I missed my stop.He got off the bus and walked back four blocks to the apartment. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of seeing Danny, but it wasn’t something he could avoid. He took the elevator up to the tenth floor and keyed into the room.
It was eerily quiet.
“Danny?”
No answer.
Carter hurried to his room and put the bag containing his prize under the mattress, right next to a porn magazine a friend had given him. A quick check of the Alexa unit told him it was nearly time for dinner. He didn’t know what he wanted to eat. His emotions had been up and down the whole day, and he thought maybe he’d treat himself. He glanced at the Pizza Shuttle menu and decided on a vegan taco calzone, fried breaded mushrooms, fried breaded ravioli, an eight-piece chicken with fries for Danny, and a jumbo chocolate malt. Overkill, sure, but it would hopefully make for a peace offering with Danny so the two of them could talk it out.
After he placed the order, he went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As he turned, he noticed a piece of white paper fluttering on the table. He reached for it and as soon as he saw the handwriting, he knew it was from Danny. His stomach clenched.Why do I get the feeling this is not going to be good?The first few lines confirmed his fears.
Carter,
I’ve thought on this, prayed on it, and have come to a decision. I cannot, in good conscience, live with someone who mocks the word of God. Your choice to ignore the blasphemous bookstore shows me what’s truly in your heart, and it sickens me. You are the worst kind of Christian, one who isn’t willing to stand up for your faith. God will judge you, this I can promise. I hope you redeem yourself before that time comes.
I’ve taken the essentials with me. I’ll come back next week for my other things.
Please, I beg of you, repent of your sinful ways before it’s too late.
Yours in Christ,
Daniel
Carter read the message again. And then another time. Then he sighed.
“Dude, we could have talked. I mean, we probably wouldn’t have agreed, but we could have come to terms. It doesn’t have to be like this.” He took out his phone and dialed Danny’s number. It rang several times. Before he disconnected, Carter knew the truth. Danny had blocked him.
There was an uneasy feeling rolling around in Carter’s belly. He wasn’t sure how to handle this. He called the landlord, who listened sympathetically, tossing in an ‘I’m sorry to hear that’ and ‘don’t panic’ several times. When Carter expressed his fear that he’d have to get a new roommate, the landlord told him that he’d checked the records and Danny’s room had been paid for already, so maybe he’d come back. If he did, the apartment was technically still his so he could stay, but if he didn’t, then Carter had a place to himself for the remainder of the year.
That was a load off Carter’s mind. He didn’t hate Danny. He could be funny at times, but the sticking point about religion had them at an impasse. Though he hoped Danny would come back, Carter had to admit he wouldn’t be heartbroken if he didn’t.
About twenty minutes later, the Pizza Shuttle driver called to let Carter know he’d arrived. As soon as he looked at the mound of boxes, Carter groaned.Well, maybe the neighbors would like what was meant for Danny.He heaped the appetizers and pizza onto a plate and carried it to the couch. He’d eat while he watched something on Netflix. Then he realized he could watch porn—there was no one to stop him, no one to hide it from. And hey, the greasy fingers would be good forsomething, but definitelynotfor smearing on his body, becauseew.
Yeah, he could totally watch porn.
No, he couldn’t. That would be sick and wrong… right? Usually after a meal like this, Carter would crawl into bed and slip into a food coma, but right then, he was horny as fuck. He switched off the television, went to the bathroom, and cleaned up. He left his plate in the living room, because something hard was demanding his attention. He shucked his clothes before going into his room to grab the lube. As he knelt on the bed, a realization struck him.
The book. It was under the mattress. What if itwasreal? What if it could give Carter what he wanted? The man of his dreams, made flesh. Who could it hurt if he tried to cast a spell? It wasn’t like he believed it would work. Yet, Mr. McAffrey assured him it would, and how would it serve him to lie?
I’ll do it. If nothing else, maybe I’ll get a laugh out of it.
He reached under the mattress and pulled out the bag. It seemed oddly warm, but Carter chalked that up to having been hidden for a while. Adrenaline rushed through him at the thought he could possibly have a real boyfriend in just a few minutes. He took the book out and opened to the page Mr. McAffrey had marked.
“What the hell?”
The words on the page were gibberish, at least as far as Carter was concerned. His hard cock withering, he put the book on the desk and opened up a search window on his laptop. He typed in a few of the words, then hit enter. The first hit made Carter’s heart sink.It’s written in Latin?He didn’t know Latin! And it would take forever to type everything to translate it, and Carter wanted his boyfriendnow.
