Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
And it wasn’t like Frank was around all the time. His mysterious job demanded attention at odd hours of day and night, and for all Ezra knew, he might be hooking up with someone rather than working. Then again, what right did Ezra have to demand any form of fidelity? He’d been an escort for almost all of his adult life, and many of his clients were cheating on their partners, whom they apparently loved and had good relationships with. Humans were a selfish species, and even the kindest man might distort reality for his own gain.
A voice from deep in his chest reassured him that Frank had proved himself as reliable, responsible, and kind even in circumstances when he had to let go of his own wants for Ezra’s sake. But life was a harsh teacher, and it had punished Ezra for having faith in people too many times to count.
He was afraid that the man who made him feel so very safe, so wanted, might not be the real Frank.
And what then?
Ezra’s throat tightened, and he put down the cover of the old scanner he was using to transfer all the neglected papers onto a hard drive. He tried to return to the spreadsheet he created, but his thoughts kept drifting off to the man who’d offered him help when he’d needed it most.
Maybe Ezra was fooling himself, because he’d grown so fond of Frank, but he liked to think that the relationship they’d developed over the past year was real, even if forged in controlled conditions, and that Frank really was the person he seemed to be.
Ezra was blindsided when Frank first told him he wanted their relationship to be more than an arrangement, or friends fucking. But while it might have been a ploy to take advantage of a man in an impossible situation, Frank had always showed his affection for Ezra with actions rather than words and money. And even to a cynic like Ezra, that felt good.
The night at the boat had morphed into an evening with friends, but Frank had prepared everything with his pleasure in mind, down to Ezra’s favorite brand of crackers, and since they were already fucking whenever Frank wanted, what other reason for all that effort was there if not legitimate affection?
It delighted Ezra as much as it scared him.
Too antsy to sit still, he stood up from the desk and returned to the bedroom they now shared. He’d already changed the sheets after last night’s sex fest, but he needed to move, and maybe also see Frank, who was still working on Ros's old bicycle. He’d started repairing it after Ezra complained about the walk to Ros’s place taking too long. He didn’t need to be asked or given a promise of Ezra doing something for him in return and did it because he thought it would make Ezra’s life here a bit easier, like a nice, normal person who wouldn’t turn into a dragon in the third act of a movie, in a twist everyone expected.
Ezra peeked out through the curtains and licked his lips when muscles shifted under Frank’s T-shirt as he tightened a bolt by the bike’s front wheel.
It had been three weeks since Frank had gotten over his weird inhibitions and fucked Ezra, and they’d been on a sensual high since. It wasn’t unusual for a client to touch Ezra in passing, or act in a tender way outside bedroom activities, but he’d never been around one man this much, and Frank’s continuous attention recalibrated something deep inside him.
It got to a point where Ezra was at the door as soon as Frank arrived home, like a puppy eager for petting, and that wasn’t like him at all. He’d always seen himself as a prize to be won, because scarce things were worth more money and effort, but in this new reality where Ezra needed Frank to survive, his value didn’t seem so straightforward.
A part of him worried Frank would lose interest, or start taking him for granted, which made every glance at the mirror nerve-wracking. There were things Ezra did every day to remain the best version of himself. He was still working out with the limited equipment around Frank’s place, and eating well, courtesy of fresh groceries, but without clothes that fit him right, and without regular cosmetic treatments, he might soon stop looking so appealing. The change would not be perceptible to Frank right away, but he would start noticing that something was different about Ezra and eventually no longer see him as worthy of all his efforts. And while Ezra did not want to think about it, he knew that being rejected by Frank would crush his heart, which he’d so recklessly been giving away bit by bit.
The happier he was here, the greater the stakes. And the more painful the potential fall.