Simon... Spellbound Read online

  He didn’t give me a chance to get my words out. His mouth was on mine and devouring me before I could even stop to think. I melted into him, wishing I could melt right into his body and become one. Hell fire, he couldn’t half kiss...

  Chapter 17 – Talking it out...

  Simon

  Too late? Fuck! No!

  I shot round the end of the bar and wrapped him up in my arms before he could protest – well, of course he could have protested and I’d have let go again, but he didn’t appear to want to resist at all. He positively welded himself against me as I took him in my arms. Phew!

  “Can I kiss you?” I asked. Please say I can...

  He looked up at, slightly dazed and started to say something but the desire to put my mouth over his and to kiss him was too much. I bent my head, adoring the fact that he was so many inches shorter than I was. I loved the way he fit against me so perfectly. My mind went deliciously blank as I explored his sweet mouth and pressed my cock against his. Bliss. Utter bliss.

  Of course we still had a lot to talk about – not least, Seth – who he seemed to have gotten an idea about me fancying. I really had no idea where he’d gotten that idea from but I was going to set him straight about that one as soon as possible. He could even come with me to see him, but it was pretty dreadful at the hospital and I couldn’t see him really wanting to.

  We finally broke apart. “Come and sit down with me on the sofas,” I said, “I need to explain a few things.”

  “Buzz already told me.” Bailey said, going a little pink, “You don’t have to explain about anything.”

  I shook my head, “I do.” I said, “I have to tell you first hand. I should have already told you in the first place.” He shrugged and followed me to the sofas.

  I took a deep breath and turned to him, taking his hand in mine, “When we met, I wasn’t out at home.”

  He nodded, “I kind of got that from our first date.”

  I cringed a little, “Yeah, well...” I looked at him sheepishly. “I came out when I was fourteen. I was a bag of nerves because they’d already thrown Buzz out and I really didn’t know what I was going to do if they did the same to me.”

  Bailey frowned, “What made you think they’d react any differently?”

  I swallowed, “Buzz was Dad’s flesh and blood but my dad went AWOL years ago and I’ve not heard from him since. I’ve always called Dad, Dad but he’s always treated me differently to Buzz, always been more lenient on me. It was like he never expected anything of me because I wasn’t really his – or that was the way I saw it, anyway. I could be wrong.”

  Bailey frowned, “They sound like a right pair of wankers to me – no offense intended of course.”

  I sighed and nodded, letting him know that I got where he was coming from and that I’d not taken it wrong, “Well, regardless of that, I always loved them...” Whether that made me weak, or stupid, or just a nice guy I really didn’t know. I guess they’d done their best but they’d got it very wrong with both me and with Buzz. They’d probably have been fine if we’d both been straight – they had no issues with Darcy and her many boyfriends. “They just didn’t know how to handle it when we both came out. They handled Buzz really badly –and they wore it a little better when I did – until they realised I was serious – then they made it clear that they really weren’t happy about it and that was when they tried everything – and I mean everything to change me back into a good little straight boy.” Which had been really stupid, since there was nothing little about me and I was about as gay as a picnic basket...

  Bailey frowned, “Shit.” He said, “What did they do?”

  I rolled my eyes, “They enlisted the help of doctors and then they turned to religion and finally, after none of that worked, they sent me to army cadets. That was kind of fun actually – it’s not a particularly well known source to find gay guys to date but quite a few gay guys get sent there by their homophobic parents.” I chuckled as I remembered a really intense three-way blowjob between me Angus and Tim. Like I mentioned earlier, they’d ended up a couple, which was fine. I didn’t want to make it a permanent arrangement. I wasn’t really into sharing once someone had made a commitment.

  Bailey’s eyebrows shot up, “Seriously?” he asked, “You actually managed to have fun there?”

  I shrugged, “Well, mostly it was bloody awful – but like I said, some of the guys there were actually pretty cool.”

  “So, how come you ended up back at home?”

  I grimaced, “Well, I used to live with my brother. But I spent so little time there – sofa surfing all over the place with different friends, I kind of moved out and then Franz moved in and I didn’t think it was right to always be in their way – and my other really good friend, River said I could move in with him but I didn’t want to – he and Jody have far too much noisy sex...”

  Bailey pulled a face, “Ooh, no – that’s just wrong if you’re not involved, isn’t it?” He winked at me and I almost choked on my drink, “So how’s that going, then – being back at home with the folks?”

  I sighed, “Well, thankfully, I’ve moved out again now. It wasn’t what you’d call great – but Buzz helped me move my stuff to his and he came with me to talk to Mum and Dad. I told them I was gay and that I wanted them to accept me for what I am.”

  “What did they say?” Bailey asked softly, “Did they? Accept you, that is?”

  I shrugged, “No. They didn’t. But that’s their decision and they’re gonna have to live with it.” I looked at Bailey’s concerned face and my heart swelled, “I can’t dance to their tune all my life. I’ve found someone that means too much to me for that,” I squeezed his hand, “you mean more to me than anything and I don’t want to jeopardise what we’ve got just to keep them happy in their ignorance.”

  He nodded, “They knew all along, really.” He said, “No one comes out and then says they were wrong. Deep down, they were just happy pretending that everything was rosy.”

  I nodded, “I know.” I said, “I told them that I got my degree in Art and Design too – and that I want to open my own tattoo parlour. I’m pretty good at it and I could hire others to come and work with me.” It had been an idea that had been taking shape for a couple of years. I’d done a couple of tattoos on my legs and I was really pleased with them and when Buzz had seen how good I was, he’d asked me to do a couple for him. I hadn’t tattooed anyone else yet, though – but I was confident that I could. Buzz’s tattoos were pretty awesome though I said so myself...

  Bailey almost choked on his drink as he laughed. “My God.’ He said, “You don’t do things by half when you decide to do something, do you?”

  I grinned, “I don’t.” I agreed with a wink.

  Bailey grinned, “You’re a bad, bad man.”

  I just grinned back at him.

  Chapter 18 – Meeting Nathan...

  Bailey

  “So you’ll come?”

  Simon nodded, smiling at me, “Of course I will.” He said, “I’d really like to meet your friends. You’ve met all of mine.”

  I beamed at him. I was so looking forward to introducing him to Nathan and Sophie. They were my favourite people in the world aside from Richard, Chris and, yeah, I guess my sister Laura – she was one of my favourites too when she wasn’t trying to set me up with dates from hell.

  And now my all time favourite person ever was going to meet them all and I couldn’t have been happier.

  I think Simon was a little nervous – the family barbeque was quite a big occasion and he was able to mill around and not actually have to really talk to anyone – and most people there were Richard and Chris’s friends anyway so they weren’t particularly bothered about the young ones. They were all laughing and chatting amongst themselves and largely ignoring us. That enabled us to sneak away to my room quite easily – not that Simon wasn’t freaking out about it – he clearly wasn’t able to take guys to his room at home and I’d wondered what the hell sort of a life he h
ad at home.

  This time there were fewer of us, just my dad’s my sister – if she was home – and then Nathan and Sophie. I really wanted Simon and Nathan to get along because the really were my two favourite men in the world.

  *

  Simon

  I was nervous about meeting the wonderful Nathan – and yeah, I was a little jealous of how much history he and Bailey had.

  Bailey fell in love with Nathan long before he met me – and I know it was only the love of a couple of kids but still – that sort of love was set for a lifetime. I was quite sure this Nathan guy was going to be protective of his relationship with Bailey. Men always were – whether they were gay, straight or indifferent...

  And I was right to be nervous. Nathan was very handsome, very charming – and very jealous of me. Something I found a little bit disturbing. The guy had his own partner – his wife, actually – so what was his beef with me?

  Well, I guess his beef was that he’d also known about Joss and had witnessed him, first-hand, treating his best friend in a disgraceful manner. I guess the fact that I was a pole dancer in a gay nightclub made me seem to be a similar kind of guy. I really wasn’t and I wasn’t about to have him thinking of me in that way.

  “So, you’re Simon?”

  I nodded, smiling in a friendly way. I had no reason to be otherwise – we’d never met and I wasn’t going to make myself look like an envious twat to anyone. “Yeah, that’s right, Simon Porter – nice to meet you.”

  Nathan narrowed his eyes at me slightly. I doubt anyone else would have noticed but we were sizing each other up and I was eyeballing him. “And it’s nice to meet you too – at last.”

  I grinned. “Yeah, Bailey missed you when you couldn’t make it for the barbeque.”

  He nodded, “we were away on holiday with Sophie’s parents.”

  I nodded, “Oh, yeah? Anywhere nice?”

  He nodded, “Mauritius.” He said, “It was very nice, thanks.”

  I nodded, “I think we’ll have to go somewhere nice and hot next year, what do you say, Bailey?”

  Bailey beamed at me, “Sure.” He agreed enthusiastically, “That sounds fabulous – where shall we go?”

  Nathan’s lips turned up into a grin, “You should go on a gay cruise or something.” He said. A little bitchily in my opinion. Bailey just laughed and shot off to the kitchen to get the nibbles he’d lovingly prepared for his best friends.

  I smiled stiffly at Nathan who was fast becoming my least favourite best friend of my boyfriend... “We can go anywhere Bailey likes.” I said, “We’re not forced to go on holidays that are tailored just for gay people you know – we are allowed to mix with the masses these days.”

  He wrinkled his nose, “Yeah, course you are.” He said, “So long as you keep your PDA to a minimum.”

  My jaw dropped. How the fuck could Bailey be friends with this museum piece? “Excuse me?” I spluttered. “Do you think we molest each other all fucking day or something? We no more overdo the ‘PDA’ than anyone else.”

  Sophie looked embarrassed, “Nathan,” she said quietly, “Stop antagonising the poor guy.”

  He went red, “Sorry.” He said, “I’m being rude to you – I just... I love Bailey, okay? He’s my best friend and we’ve been mates since we were kids. He was really badly hurt by that Joss guy and I just don’t want to see it happening again.”

  I smiled, “Me either.” I said, “I can promise you that I’m not having an affair with my boss or with anyone else.”

  He nodded, “Glad to hear it,” he said gruffly, “Because if you ever hurt him, I’ll have to hunt you down like a dog – and kill you.”

  Bailey came back into the room just in time to hear him say that. Nathan looked like a rabbit caught in headlights while Sophie and I grinned at each other. Nathan might be a bit of a twat but his heart was definitely in the right place.

  Bailey gave him a suspicious look, “You’re not warning off the best thing that ever happened to me, are you mate?” he asked.

  Nathan’s face was on fire, “No, mate.” He lied, “We’re totally good.”

  I chuckled and slung my arm around Bailey’s shoulder, “Totally good.” I agreed.

  Later when Sophie and Nathan had gone, Bailey turned to me, “So, what do you think of Nathan?”

  I couldn’t lie to him. I’d thought he was a bit of an arsehole but I had to be at least diplomatic. “He very clearly thinks a lot of you – and anyone who wants to defend their best friend as fiercely as he defends you is good with me.”

  Bailey’s face fell, “You hated him didn’t you?” he asked mournfully.

  I chuckled, “I didn’t hate him.” I assured him, “But he wasn’t exactly the most welcoming guy in the world so I’ll uh, reserve judgement right now. I’m sure we’ll get along in time when we’ve met up enough times for him to stop thinking I’m Joss the second.”

  Bailey smiled, “You’re nothing like Joss.” He said, “Thank God.”

  Chapter 19 – Who’s that guy...?

  Simon

  “Who the fuck’s that young guy?” I asked River as we arrived at the hospital at the same time as the young, good-looking guy I’d seen the other day was just leaving again. Bailey had decided not to come with me, even though I’d explained all about Seth being one of my best friends and that I’d been coming to see him as often as I could while he was recovering. He assured me that he wasn’t jealous and didn’t think anything was going on.

  River and I turned and watched as the young man slunk off down the corridor and then we sat down on the chairs in the corridor, since we were meeting Jodie too and he was yet to arrive.

  River sighed, “Oh,” he said and then shrugged his shoulders, “Well, you might as well know – it’s Joel Fitzgerald – Harley’s younger brother. Don’t you remember him from their wedding?”

  I shook my head. I was pissed for most of his wedding – why the hell would I remember anyone? “Uh, no.” I said, “So what’s his story?”

  River smiled, “Well, it was pretty obvious that he was smitten that night – but obviously Seth was with Siobhan...”

  We both nodded soberly – she was sorely missed by us all.

  “Well, according to Thai, who’s quite close to Alfie and Harley – Joel was with Harley when he got the call – some sort of ‘bring your brother to work day’ or something. He helped to get him to hospital – and he’s been visiting him ever since.”

  I frowned, “But Seth’s still in a coma.”

  River nodded, “And? It hasn’t stopped us, has it?”

  I shrugged. Good point... “Right,” I murmured. I frowned, “But, really what does he expect to happen? Does he expect Seth to fall in love with him as soon as he wakes up or something? That’s ridiculous man – it’s never gonna happen – he’s still gonna be in love with Siobhan... even if she has gone...” I hadn’t said it to anyone else, but I thought that was probably the reason he still hadn’t woken up. He probably didn’t want to wake up and face reality...

  River nodded, letting out a massive sigh, “I know that, mate.” He said.

  Oh hell. That was going to be awkward once Seth was back in the land of the living... Poor bastard – he didn’t need that to deal with on top of everything else. And poor Joel too; unrequited love was such a fucking ball ache...

  Chapter 20 – It’s all good...

  Bailey

  I got in a flopped down on the sofa. Chris, my other dad, who’d gotten home from work around an hour before me, looked up, “Rich says you’ve got guy trouble – anything I can help you with?”

  Chris was a counsellor and he was really good at what he did but I actually preferred talking to Rich about stuff.

  I smiled and shook my head, “I think it’s all cool, now, thanks, Chris.” I said, “He’s explained everything to me about his parents being a pair of homophobes and he’s told them that we’re together – and he’s moved out – it’s all good.”

  Chris grinned, “Glad to
hear it, son.” He said, “There’s nothing worse than walking on eggshells around someone you love.”

  I raised an eyebrow, “Have you ever had that problem?”

  He shrugged. “Rich wasn’t out when we met.” He said, “He was uh, actually dating my sister.”

  My jaw dropped, “What?” I seriously couldn’t imagine it. Out of the two of my dads, Chris was definitely the one people thought was straight. Richard was adorable – but he was as camp as a row of tents...

  Chris chuckled, “Didn’t you know that?”

  I shook my head, “No.” I said, “I had no idea.”

  Richard appeared in the doorway at that very second, looking the picture of campiness with a towel around his middle and another on his head, like a turban, “What?” he asked, looking at the two of us curiously.

  We just both fell about laughing.

  Chapter 21 – Meeting Joel...

  Simon

  I seriously couldn’t wait for Seth to be back in the land of the living. My daily treks to the hospital were really beginning to get me down – although it was far easier now that I was living with Buzz – and now that Bailey knew everything. It was a massive weight off my mind.

  As I’m sure I’ve already mentioned, hospitals weren’t my favourite places – and particularly since Buzz and Dad were in here together – saving Dad’s life and risking Buzz’s. The risk to Buzz was small but it was still worrying – for Franz and I if no one else.

  Being on my own today was slightly depressing. Bailey had decided not to come with me again, which was fine if a little disappointing. I wanted him to be part of my friendship group and it worried me a little that he continued to distance himself. What was the problem? Was he still jealous of my relationship with Seth? I was going to have to talk to him about it again.