Rentboy

you cocksuckers. I don’t give a shit about equal fucking rights and gay
    fucking marriage. Sex in public parks is against the law.”
    “Now,” Fox screamed. Holding hands, they rose up out of the bushes and ran. Two police
    constables ran after them, but with Eddie’s long legs and his firm grip on Fox’s hand, they soon lost
    them. They left the park and disappeared into the side streets, not stopping until they were safe.
    “Oh my giddy aunt, my willy is still hanging out.” With a look of horror, Eddie tidied himself up
    while Fox smiled. His heart still pounding, he hung on to Eddie’s arm while they walked quietly back
    to the flat.
    “Was it worth it?” he asked.
    “What?”
    “Getting your cock sucked in the park. Was it worth nearly getting arrested for public
    indecency?”
    “Oh, Fox, what am I going to do with you.” Eddie said, sounding like a grown-up talking to a
    kid. “Yes, it was worth it. Come on, let’s get home.”
    But it wasn’t his home. It was Eddie’s. He just wished it was his.
    Great Russell Street was quiet. At Eddie’s house Fox stood on the bottom step to bring him
    closer to Eddie’s height and kissed him on the lips, just a peck at first. The streetlamp cast a circle of
    light a few doors down, making a halo around Eddie’s head. “My angel,” Fox whispered and closed
    his mouth over Eddie’s, their tongues dancing around each other. Fox broke the kiss. “I’m getting a
    hard-on again.”
    “Let’s go in and do it again. I’m going to owe you a fortune.” Eddie stuck his key in the door,
    making the hall light flick on. It was on a timer and would go out almost the minute he had his key in
    the door of his flat.
    Ahead of him on the stairs, Fox turned round. “Tonight’s free, for your birthday.”
    “Keep your voice down,” Eddie said in a slightly panicky tone, but he was smiling. Fox loved to
    make Eddie smile.
    “How did you manage to wipe my hard drive if you’re not very computer literate?” Eddie asked
    as soon as he closed the door. “Do you want a beer?”
    Eddie was sharper than he appeared. He was obviously brilliant, but in so many ways he
    seemed really slow. “God, yeah. And I could kill a shot of vodka.”
    “Sorry. I never touch the hard stuff.” Eddie went to the kitchen and brought back a couple of
    cans. He handed Fox a beer, and they sank down side by side on the couch. “So how did you manage
    to wipe my hard drive?”
    “Any idiot can do that.” Fox tipped back his head to drink his beer and felt Eddie’s fingertips
    running gently up and down his throat.
    “Stay the night,” Eddie said quietly. “It’s better than sleeping in a box.”
    “Yeah, that’s true.” Fox had never actually spent the entire night in the alley. He had staked it out
    for a week or so before encountering Eddie but never slept there.
    “The tramp who spends his days and nights there told me you are only there occasionally.”
    Shit! Was he about to be unmasked? “How do you know?”
    “I went looking for you to get my laptop back.”
    Turing his head to kiss Eddie’s cheek, Fox said, “I’m really, really sorry.”
    “I know. It’s all right. You’re forgiven. Fox, come with me to Mitton for the weekend. You told
    those girls I was your boyfriend.”
    Laying his head back on the couch, he said, “I was proud of you for standing up to the yobs. But
    I’m not your boyfriend. I’m a thief and a whore.”
    Scrunching his face, Eddie said, “Don’t say that about yourself.”
    “But it’s true.”
    “I still want you to come.”
    “Who do we tell your family I am?” Fox asked. It would never work. His lies were going to
    catch up with him.
    “Just a friend.”
    “So they don’t know you’re gay?”
    “No. Nicoletta has been insisting I tell them. She’ll stand by me. I think she likes the thought of
    having a gay brother. But I dread to think what my parents will say. Mum is obsessed with what the
    neighbors think, and Dad wouldn’t understand.”
    “I wouldn’t help, looking like this, would I?”
    “No, that’s true,” Eddie agreed.
    Disappointed at the response, Fox got up and went to the window. No sign of the police. That
    was a relief.
    “Fox, I don’t actually care what they think. I just want you to come with me. And since you’re
    not my boyfriend, it’s not a lie to say we are just mates. Is it?”
    From disappointment to happiness in a split second, Fox turned and gazed at him. “S’pose