Page 51 of Crocodile Tears

“And you’re too good for me. I don’t deserve all this.” He waved his hand at the table again.

“You do. And I want you to know I’ll always be here for you,” Neil told him earnestly. “Let me in, Alex, and I’ll prove it to you. Nobody will ever love you the way I do.”

“I can believe that.” Alex recoiled mentally. “So, what’s this?” He pointed at the present on the plate in front of him.

“It’s for you. Open it,” Neil said eagerly.

“You shouldn’t spend your money on me.”

“I want to. I think you’ll like it.”

He ripped open the paper and pulled out a sleek white box. “What is it?”

“It’s one of those new light box things. Turn it on!”

Flicking the switch on the base of the box, Alex almost dropped it in surprise as a startlingly lifelike 3D image erupted in front of him. A few seconds long, it showed a handsome man in his late twenties emerging from a ring of flames. He was half-naked, his oiled chest glowing in the orange light from the fire, and he was holding a book.

“Wow – this is awesome,” Alex said admiringly. “Who’s the guy?”

“It’s Hudson Brink – we saw him in that movie last week, and you said he was hot, remember? Some arty photographer took this photo of him and released it as a holopic – it’s what got Brink his first big movie break. It’s calledHalo of Fire.”

“Halo of Fire…” Alex reached through the light image and picked upthe white box. He turned it off and on again, fascinated by how realistic the holopic was. “I remember seeing a still version of this photo in a nanomag a few months ago and thinking how much I wanted to fuck him.”

“He’s probably straight.” Neil grinned.

“I bet the guy who took this photo wasn’t.”

It was as if the camera was making love to the movie star, capturing every curve of his biceps, homing in on the hard, flat planes of his stomach, and revealing a hint of a bulge in his tight jeans, while the halo of fire around him seemed to burnish his body, as though he was sculpted from the flames themselves, but emerging unburned like some kind of god.

“I thought it’d look good over your bed. I put a hook in the wall to hold it.” Neil grabbed the light box from Alex’s hands and ran into his bedroom excitedly; the image trailed after, as if it was following him. He hung the light box over Alex’s bed and stood back, admiring it. “See – perfect.”

It looked as if Hudson Brink was emerging from the wall, the flames spreading out around him.

“It looks great. Thanks, Neil.” Alex was genuinely touched. He put a hand around Neil’s waist and pulled him in for a gentle kiss.

Neil kissed him back hungrily, reaching for Alex’s bum – and then suddenly drew away.

“What’s wrong?”

“You… you stink of sex.”

Alex sighed. “We talked about this. We agreed that as long as I didn’t bring anyone back here, then it was okay. That was our deal, remember?”

“You always have to spoil everything, don’t you? It’s our anniversary, for fuck’s sake, Alex.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you had all this planned.”

“Tonight was going to be so good, and now you’ve ruined it. God, you’re such an arse.”

“Tonight wasn’t real. This…” Alex waved his hand at the holopic on the wall. “The present, the candlelight, the great big anniversary meal – it’s all your fantasy, Neil, not mine. I don’t do any of this shit, and I didn’t ask you to do it, either.”

Neil’s face crumpled. “Sometimes I fucking hate you.”

“Ditto.” Alex flung back.

They stared at each other for a moment, breathing hard, and then moved at the same time.

Neil pawed furiously at Alex’s clothes, tearing them from his body, while Alex kissed him hard, then bit down, drawing blood. Neil pulled back, wiped his hand over his mouth, then stared at it. Looking darkly at Alex, he pounced, grabbing him and throwing him on the bed.

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