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I counted aloud, waiting. “Three, two, one….”
The front screen slammed open, and Theo came onto the porch, his voice shrill and loud, “There is no way in hell I’m staying here! What the fuck were you people thinking?”
“That,” I said to Javi, grinning. “Former owner was a bit of a hoarder and didn’t clean much.”
“Oh, right. Right. Cool, I’ll add them to the bill. The pain in the ass can pay for all of it!”
He got back into the car with a wave that turned into flipping off Theo as he backed out of the driveway, and Theo ran down the steps, screaming for him to stop. “My bags! You cretin!”
Javi stopped and got out, and before Theo could get to him, he’d gotten into the trunk and thrown the bags into the weeds.
Theo turned to me, his hands placed stiffly on his hips, “Get them.”
I smiled but felt no jubilation as I stepped closer to him and said, in a tight, but even voice, “Let’s get one thing straight, Mr. Gentry. I’m not your housekeeper, your butler, or your valet. I’m your bodyguard. That’s it. I won’t clean up after you, do your laundry, cook for you, or suck your dick like you wanted the other night. I’m here to keep other people from hurting you, even if I understand your inclination.”
I took such joy from the way; again, his jaw dropped.
“If you keep doing that, you’ll get a dick in your mouth. Get your bags into the house, pick a bedroom, and start cleaning it.”
I turned and walked away from him, heading for Burke. As I watched Burke’s face, he did the same thing, his jaw-dropping. “Come on, not you, too.”
“No, look,” he whispered to me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Theo carrying his bags, all four of them, which was a struggle, into the house.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
“You broke him.”
“Not yet, but he has potential.”
Burke left with, “Good luck,” and I was alone with my principal for the first time. I didn’t see much of him for the first hour but heard him. He was stomping around the second floor, cursing, ewwwwing, a lot, but he didn’t come downstairs until he was hungry.
“What could there possibly be to eat in his pit of human existence?”
His face was pinched and dusty, and I tried not to laugh, but it was hard to refrain. “I made us some ravioli from a can. That was all I could find in the pantry. I’ll go shopping tomorrow if I can get Burke to come to stay with you.”
“Shopping?”
That was the first time his face didn’t look like he smelled feces.
“Groceries, not clothes or anything, and I don’t want you in public for now. If your friend tells anyone where you are, he doesn’t know where the house is.”
“Jamiah would never tell a soul!”
I glared at him while I dished up some of the canned pasta. He made a face at it and shook his head when I offered it.
“You know as well as I do that gay men gossip like most anyone else. He may not even realize he’s doing it, telling someone where you are. I’m not trying to be a prick.”
“Too late,” he said, then glared at me while I ate the ravioli. “You made him leave. He was the only person in…what? A thousand miles that aren’t some hick or…or you!”
I set the bowl down on the cluttered table and kept myself calm. “Theo, you might want to watch that talk around here. For one thing, Burke and Damon are from the city, your old city, and for another thing, even if someone is from here, they’re not hicks. They’re just people. And, for now, they might be the only people you’re around. Act like a decent human if you don’t want to be the most hated person in those thousand miles.”
“I’m a decent human! I can’t help it if I have standards!”
After I groaned, I smiled at him, speaking gently. “And I'm sure some people you’ll meet here are better in many ways than most people you call friends right now. Be nice.”
“Like you said,” he purred before looking me up and down with slow, roving eyes, “You’re nothing but my bodyguard. I don’t have to listen to you if it does not concern my safety.”
“Oh, I know,” I quickly told him, letting the laughter come with it. “I’m telling you this for your safety. We’re in the country. Everyone here has guns.”
