Page 1 of Joey's Trick

1

The more miles which grew between his new life and the old one the more anxious Joey became. When he’d gone off to the University of Central Florida in Orlando after high school, he’d sworn he’d never go back, no matter what. His mother had tried everything to get him to come home for summer vacation, Thanksgiving, even Christmas, but Joey refused every time claiming he needed to study or to work. It wasn’t a long drive to Fort Lauderdale, but sometimes he felt like the two hundred and fifty miles still wasn’t enough to separate him from the entire reason he’d chosen to leave and never go back.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel in agitation. He’d rather have bamboo shoots shoved underneath his fingernails than go home. The idea of facing Patrick ‘Trick’ Harrison, high school all-star quarterback and all-around asshole, caused his stomach to clench and sweat to build over his body in anxiety. Joey had known Trick his entire life. His older brother Anthony had been best friends with Trick since Joey was in diapers.

Joey could still remember the day his world shifted, and he’d gone from being a starry-eyed teenager to being a tarnished, bitter young adult. The memory had never left him and hecarried it with him always, using it as fuel to push himself, to give no one else the power to hurt him. That fire was why he’d gotten a promotion so quickly after being hired as an intern straight out of college at a sports agency where he already had more than one client under his belt, including the Heisman Trophy winner Wesley Prince. His bosses had been ecstatic at his landing a big win like Prince. What they didn’t know was Prince’s proclivities in the bedroom. The reason Joey landed the contract with Prince had nothing to do with the deal he’d negotiated with the Dallas Cowboys, and more to do with the fact that Prince liked the size of Joey’s cock and that he knew how to use it.

A road sign appeared up ahead stating Fort Lauderdale was only a mere twenty miles away and Joey scowled, his heart thumping hard in his ribcage. He hated what he felt right then and how he could still feel it after all these years. It didn’t matter that he worked out two hours a day to maintain a flawlessly sculpted body, or how he kept his dirty blond hair styled deliberately unkempt so it fell into his dark green eyes precisely, or how he’d perfected his smile which could charm his way into any man’s pants. None of it mattered when it came down to how Trick made him feel inside. Like he was still the same nerdy, slightly chubby dork who’d followed him and Anthony around with hero worship in his eyes.

Joey had known from the time he’d turned thirteen he wasn’t interested in girls. He’d had eyes for no one but Trick. He’d noticed the way Trick’s body filled out, the way his muscles flexed when Trick and Anthony played football in the backyard, the way he smiled and the dimple that popped out whenever he did. Joey had seen the way he’d shot up an entire foot over the summer just before Anthony and Trick started high school. It wasn’t until Joey followed them into high school though, a yearbehind them, that Joey realized Trick would never see him the way he wanted him to.

He’d maintained a fantasy in his head of Trick coming out as gay and sweeping Joey off his feet, the two of them being a couple at Trick’s senior prom, the entire package. But then Joey started seeing Trick walking down the hallways of their high school with a new pretty girl on his arm almost every week. The knowledge Trick liked girls cracked Joey’s fantasy wide open, but it wasn’t until much later when he truly broke Joey’s heart.

Shaking his head, Joey refused to acknowledge the memories. He would get through the next week if it killed him and go back to his life. He had a good life and he sure as hell wouldn’t let Trick-fucking-Harrison ruin it. With resolve straightening his spine, Joey took his exit into Fort Lauderdale and made his way toward his childhood home, refusing to give into the insecurities he’d buried so long ago. Trick didn’t deserve to have any kind of power over him.

Not much had changed in the time he’d been gone. Some neighborhoods looked more run down, whereas others had been built up, but Fort Lauderdale itself had the same familiar feel and Joey navigated the streets with ease. He didn’t even realize until he pulled into the packed driveway how hard he had his jaw clenched as he worked to loosen it by taking a deep breath, holding it for a couple of seconds, and letting it out. He stared at the house he’d called home for eighteen years. It was a single-story contemporary style house painted light green with white trim.

His mom loved flowers and several varieties trimmed the driveway and sidewalks, but Joey couldn’t have named them for the life of him. An American flag drifted lazily in the breeze near the front door and he could see his parents had added some kind of covered two-person swing to the porch.

The entire scene transported him back to when his parents used to have huge barbecues in the summer and all the kids would play with the hose out back while the adults would sit around the picnic tables laughing and drinking beer. He’d still been enamored with Trick back then and, to his consternation, his heart ached in his chest for the much simpler time it had been. Joey mentally slapped himself for even thinking of Trick.

“Joey!” a female voice cried out.

He winced and forced a smile onto his lips before climbing out of the car. His t-shirt immediately clung to him from the humidity after being in the air-conditioned interior of his recently bought moonstone metallic BMW Alpina B7. He hadn’t even received the new plates yet. “Hey, Aunt Susan.”

“Come here and give me a hug, you sight for sore eyes!” she screamed from the front porch.

Joey stuffed his keys in his jeans pocket and wove his way between the other cars to where she stood, engulfing her slender five-foot-four frame against his six-foot-two muscular one. She hugged him as tight as she could before stepping back. “Look at you! My goodness, Joseph Waters! You’ve certainly grown into a fine man. You put on some muscles there. Of course, your mother showed us the pictures, but seeing it in person! I bet you’re beating the men off with a stick.”

His entire family knew he was gay since he’d come out to his parents and brother when he was sixteen. It had been one of the most terrifying moments of his life. He’d considered waiting after reading about some of the horror stories of others and how they’d been disowned by their families, thrown out of their homes, or worse, and feared the same treatment. But he knew his family loved him, and he’d held out faith his parents would still love him afterward. Thankfully, his faith hadn’t been misplaced, and they’d accepted it without blinking an eye. Infact, they’d told him they’d already known, shocking the hell out of him.

Joey blushed. “Thanks, Aunt Susan.”

She smiled at him. “So, how’s that job of yours? Your mother said you’re doing well at it.”

“It’s going great actually. I’m full time and even already have my own client list.”

“That’s wonderful, sweetie. You really shouldn’t have waited so long to come home for a visit though. If you weren’t so big now, I’d bend you over my knee,” she threatened.

Joey laughed and fidgeted. “Yeah, just had a lot going on. I needed to get settled in my job and all.”

“Well, you better visit more often,” Aunt Susan said. “Your mother has missed you so much.”

Guilt stabbed Joey straight in the gut. “I’ll try, Aunt Susan.”

“Go on, get inside and say hello to your mom. She’s with your brother in the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” Joey kissed her on the cheek and headed into the house. He was stopped several times on the way. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives, all happy to see him after so long, all exclaiming over how much he’d changed, and every one of them giving him a trip down shame lane for not coming home sooner. By the time he made it into the kitchen, he felt thoroughly wrung out.

His mom stood at the stove, her back to the door, hair disheveled as per her usual appearance when cooking for a large group of people. Anthony leaned against the counter nearby, a beer bottle in one hand and an arm thrown over the shoulders of a blonde woman. Recognition and delight flashed across the face so similar to Joey’s own. “Joey!” Anthony cried before releasing the woman to rush across the room to crush Joey in a bear hug.

Anthony was only an inch taller than Joey, but there the differences halted. They had the same dirty blond hair, darkgreen eyes, and now, muscular builds. Anthony had apparently kept up his workouts despite no longer being on the college football team.

“Hey, bro,” Joey greeted quietly. It disturbed him how quickly he’d noticed the lack of Trick in the house.

His mother had turned away from the stove, her hands on her hips, elbows out. “Joseph Richard Waters!”

Joey grimaced as Anthony stepped back out of the line of fire at the tone in their mother’s voice. “Hey, Mom.”

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