Page 6 of Learning to Trust

“Sorry, but in my defense, I had a fucking good reason.”

“We figured as much. What do you do for a living?” Leon asked.

“I’m the CEO of an electronics company.”

Simon clicked his fingers and pointed at me. “That’s why Pennant rang a bell when Andrew told us your name. Your company developed the Gofer and Hipenow games.”

“Yes, among others, but they are the most popular at the moment.”

“Man, you’re like a squillionaire!”

Cody elbowed Simon in the ribs, and when he yelped, we all laughed. He apologized for his crassness, which hadn’t caused me offense.

“Tell me about all of you. Will you be living here with Andrew?”

“Dude, we’re gay but not into multi-partners,” Kyle protested.

“That wasn’t what I was saying. Living in one big ass house doesn’t have to mean you’re fucking each other. I thought if you were friends, you might be roomies.”

"Oh, sorry," Kyle apologized. "No, only Andrew will be living here. We all have our own places downtown. We tried to talk him into selling this place and staying near us, but instead, he put his apartment up for sale. He said he couldn't bear to think of some stranger living in his aunt's home. It's only a twenty-minute drive, and we can stay over, so it's no big deal."

“How do you know each other?”

Kyle enlightened me on their association. "Andrew and I met in first grade at President Grammar. His parents had been killed in a car accident, and he came to live with his aunt in this house. My family lived in the next street, so we spent a lot of time together."

"I knew Heather very well. Over the past five years, I spent a few hours with her every Sunday afternoon having tea. She spoke of her nephew with great pride."

"They had a bit of a mutual admiration society—membership of two. Anyway, we met these galahs—" Kyle indicated the other three with a sweep of his hand. "—at Yale when we all studied engineering. We joined a gay support group there, found we had a lot in common, and became good friends."

"Yale, huh? So do you work as engineers? Why is Andrew a locksmith? Did he fail or drop out?"

"He's a long way from being a failure, and we all graduated. The three of us formed an engineering company—Build-It. Andrew inherited a lot of money from his parent's estate when he turned twenty-one and invested in the company. He announced one day, out of the blue, that he was going to be a locksmith but would remain with us as a silent partner. Andrew won award after award for achievements in high school and college. He was valedictorian and top of all his classes in college with Dean's awards, Honor Society, and on and on. Then, two days after graduation, he said he was buying a company in Brooklyn from an old man who wanted to retire and who would teach him to be a locksmith. We were speechless. He argued that he couldn't stand the thought of being trapped in an office. As a locksmith, he'd be out and about meeting a lot of interesting people. He has six employees and is looking at starting another business in Manhattan. He took your job today because he gave everyone else the weekend off. They haven't had much downtime over the past few months."

“He’s happy, which is the main thing,” Simon said defensively.

“Is he in a relationship?” Why the hell had I asked such a personal question?

I didn’t miss the glance that passed between the four men before Leon answered. “None of us are into serious relationships. Our lifestyle is more—”

A glare from Kyle had Leon closing his mouth.

Finally—these were my kind of men. I resolved to speak with them further at another time to get some ideas since, from now on, I was going to be a casual fuck 'em and leave 'em kind of guy.

Having finished their beers and with my water gone, we stood, pitched the bottles into the recycling bin, and Cody got me started on unpacking boxes in the library.

As I pulled books from boxes, I admired the old historical volumes and first editions—some I knew were extremely rare. I was impressed with Andrew's taste, which was similar to mine.

Chapter Four

ANDREW

I finished changing the final lock on the pool house door and was in the process of packing up the toolbox when I heard a car pull into David's driveway. Knowing it was more than likely his sister that he'd mentioned would be over, I threw the rest of my tools inside and snapped the lid closed on the box.

The doorbell echoed through the house, and I hurried to open the door.

Standing before me was a female version of David, so much alike they could have been mistaken for twins. Beside her stood a man about my height with chestnut-brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard in the same color.

“Who the hell are you, and what are you doing answering the door to my brother’s house?”