Page 49 of Equalizer
Then he had met the two men who owned his favorite Italian restaurant in Boston, Cesare and Angelo. At first, Calvin had assumed they were brothers despite the lack of a strong resemblance. They worked shoulder-to-shoulder in the kitchen, sometimes arguing loudly and singing off-key at other times. What shone through was their affection for one another, whether it came out as teasing or quiet praise.
Calvin had been surprised to learn they were just friends, but he noticed that they shared an apartment above the restaurant, and although well into their middle years, neither man had married. No one thing made him suspect their secret; rather, many small details suddenly fell into place for him watching the two men argue in the kitchen like an old married couple, and then accidentally overhearing Cesare’s apology.
They’re together. Really together. And they’re like me.
Calvin’s world had tilted at that revelation. While he had never put much credence in the Church’s or society’s condemnation for liking other men, he had assumed it meant he would be a lifelong bachelor. The realization that he might find someone to love who loved him back shook him to his foundations and gave him hope.
All of which was why Calvin intended to hold onto the best thing that had ever happened to him and fight to keep his forever partner.
“Less thinking, more touching.” Owen flicked his tongue in the hollow beneath Calvin’s ear and made him shiver.
Calvin stroked Owen’s cock, then wrapped his hand around both their shafts and jerked them off slowly, relishing the friction as they rubbed together. Owen gave himself over to the sensation, eyes closed and head thrown back, holding on to Calvin’s shoulders hard enough to leave fingerprints.
They came within seconds of one another. Calvin felt pleased he was responsible for Owen’s flushed skin and blown-wide pupils.
“I love you,” he murmured, using an undershirt to clean them both up. “Never doubt that.”
“I love you too,” Owen replied. “And I don’t doubt you. Please don’t doubt me.”
Calvin did his best to reassure Owen with his kiss. Afterward, when Owen had turned to face away, Calvin snuggled up behindhim with one arm draped over Owen’s shoulder. Owen twined their fingers together.
“Try to get some sleep without worrying about tomorrow.” Calvin nuzzled into his neck.
“Can’t promise, but I’ll do my best,” Owen said in a sleepy, fucked-out voice that Calvin loved. Owen fell asleep quickly, but Calvin lay awake for a while, unable to block out thoughts about the case until he finally drifted off after the clock struck midnight.
“Tellme more about this Wild West show,” Calvin said as they headed out after breakfast the next day.
“People back East read all these thrilling tales about the West,” Owen replied. “It’s true that there was danger, wild animals, an unforgiving landscape, harsh weather, and none of the support systems we take for granted. Not to mention that there were people already living on the land who had been there for generations and weren’t keen to have it taken away. Can’t say I blame them.”
Owen paused, and Calvin figured he was gathering his memories. “The newspapers sensationalized things, of course. Sold more copies that way. The truth was it was lonely, dangerous work. The weather could be freezing cold or baking hot, and the wind on the prairie never stopped,” Owen recalled.
“If you were from a settled area, it seemed like a whole lot of nothing out there. No police, no fire departments, none of the things city people take for granted. Sometimes it was hard to find water. Other than some basic supplies, what you could hunt is what you had for dinner. Didn’t catch anything? You went hungry. And that’s on top of days spent on horseback or jostlingaround in the back of a wagon. If you were lucky, there was a trail, but it was nothing like the roads back East.
“It was the promise of a fresh start that kept everyone going, and that was the romance of the West that the newspaper stories sold. All of the inconveniences and dangers were turned into thrilling adventures. They left out the part where a lot of people died,” Owen said.
He was quiet for a moment and then started to talk again. “A guy named Buffalo Bill Cody is the most famous Wild West showrunner, but there are dozens of other performances, and they travel all over the East,” Owen said. “Real cowboys demonstrate roping and riding and do tricks on horseback. Then there’s sharpshooting, knife throwing, and archery. They pay the native people to do their dances and sing. Sometimes they stage a mock battle or do a big parade. All very exciting.”
Calvin angled his head to look at Owen. Something in the other man’s voice suggested that the excitement of the spectacle was hollow.
“If you didn’t know how it really was, it’s a grand exhibition,” Owen said. “But they only show the good parts. Folks died of all kinds of things that aren’t as common in the settled areas—dysentery, cholera, measles. People got hurt and wounds went bad. There were a few doctors but not many hospitals. Travelers froze to death in blizzards. Most settlers didn’t know what they signed up for until it was too late to turn back.”
Calvin figured that while Owen hadn’t been a cowboy, his time in the Army had given him a front-row seat to the tribulations he described.
“Sometimes the Army had to step in if the settlers got sideways with the native people over land or got themselves in a jam with a flood or a snowstorm,” Owen continued. “Once they did pick a place to settle, they had to build everything from scratch. It was a hard go until they finally had a town and couldget crops in the fields and herds onto the range. But that’s not what the Wild West show is about.”
“I get it, I think,” Calvin admitted. “All those things sound exciting until you realize how hard, dangerous, and uncomfortable it must have been. And I’ll be the first to watch a marksman or an archery competition. As for everything else, it’s like going to the theater on a grand scale.”
“With horses.”
“That, too,” Calvin agreed. “How do you think Steven ended up with the show?”
Owen was quiet for a moment. “I imagine he got tired of the Army and wanted something that gave him freedom and still paid the bills. He uses his military background as head of security. Gives him a sense of authority. He gets to move around and see new places without the risk. Not a bad gig if you don’t want to settle down.”
Sounds like what we do, only without the magic and monsters.
When they arrivedat the Wild West show, Owen checked in with the guard at the gate, who glanced at a roster and let them through once Owen vouched for Calvin.
Calvin had been curious about Steven, looking for an insight into what sort of man Owen had been attracted to—however briefly—before their relationship. To his surprise, Steven was close to Owen’s height, stocky, with hair a darker shade of blond and green eyes. Nothing at all like Calvin’s dark hair and blue eyes, or his height and build. He wasn’t sure what to make of that or if it meant anything, considering how varied his former partners had been.
