Page 22 of Peach Tree Family

During the break in their conversation, Theo had come to a decision. He needed to resolve one question about Seth, so he asked him, "What did you think of Wyatt Hayes?"

Seth thought for a moment. "There's something about him," he said uncertainly.

Theo figured he must be talking about him being gay. "Something that bothers you?" Theo prodded him.

"No, just... He comes off like a man who has everything, I guess."

That wasn't the answer Theo expected. "Everything? Really?"

"I mean he's just happy with his life, his home, his kids," Seth said.

"And his husband," Theo finished for him.

That surprised Seth. "Husband?"

"You didn't see the pictures of the two of them at their house?" Theo asked.

"I admit I was distracted by those two little dogs." Seth didn't say anything more about Wyatt, and Theo wondered if he felt differently about his happy life now that he knew he was married to a man.

Theo couldn't tell what Seth was thinking, but he wanted to make himself clear. "Just don't tell me you have a problem with gay people because I don't want to hear it."

"I don't," Seth said.

"Good. Because for your information, you've spent two nights under the same roof with a gay guy," Theo told him.

While Seth gaped at him, Theo parked under some trees. If things were about to get unpleasant, he didn't want to be in a moving vehicle.

Just then a downpour started and he rushed to close the window. The bare branches of the trees offered no shelter. Sheets of water came down, pounding on the windshield and the hood. Inside the truck, the silence stretched out.

Theo half expected Seth to want to jump out of the truck, or to try to shove him out of it, but he just looked like he was thinking. Theo looked out at the heavy rain, not seeing much of anything else, and that's how he missed the movement next to him.

Seth leaned into his space, giving Theo a dark look. Getting ready for anything, including an act of violence, Theo braced himself. He didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't to have his face cupped in both of Seth's big hands or to have their lips make contact then their tongues.

Stunned, Theo didn't stop the kiss, didn't think, just let his lips move over Seth's, his tongue lick inside. He grabbed Seth's jacket, pulling him in and then realized he should be shoving him away.

It took him too long to drag his mouth away from the unexpected kiss that left him panting. When he finally did push Seth back, Theo found that his hands were weak and shaky. He clenched them in his lap and glared at Seth.

"What the fuck was that?" Theo breathed, pissed off at himself for letting Seth catch him off his guard. He wanted the question to come out strong and angry, not like he didn't know what a kiss was and he needed Seth to explain it to him.

But he didn't need Seth to explain anything. Theo knew what this was. He'd been there before.

Seth thought Theo was making himself available to straight boys for furtive blowjobs followed by threats to keep his mouth shut about it. He shouldn't have parked where he did. It was too secluded.

"Did you think I stopped here so you can have a go at me? Use me?" Theo asked, seething, kicking himself for kissing Seth back.

"I didn't think. I just..."

"I guess I better take you to work now," Theo said.

"Sorry about..."

"Don't." After a few failures, Theo managed to put the car in the right gear and drove back toward town.

He couldn't calm down after that kiss. Why the hell was it so crazy and hot? But that didn't matter. Theo wouldn't give in, wouldn't let anyone use him.

His former best friend had tried the same thing. Theo came out to Damon in his last year of high school, and then everything between them changed.

Damon didn't seem to have a problem with it, and Theo was so relieved, happy to keep hanging out with him. Then one day as they were chilling, kind of bored, Damon proposed a way to pass the time. "You can blow me. I mean it shouldn't be too different from when a girl does it. You guys like doing that kind of thing, right? I'm willing to let you. What do you say?"

"Only if you go first," Theo had challenged him and Damon laughed.

"Oh, hell, no, man." He then shrugged. "Whatever. I'm not dying for a blowie from a dude."

Back then, Theo wasn't even a little bit tempted, not that time or the other times Damon generously offered his dick for sucking. But when he was telling other people what happened, Damon claimed it was Theo who begged to suck his dick and he had to fight him off.

Now Seth had the same idea. Their approach might be different, but they were both after the same thing for the same reason, because they thought being gay was the same as being easy.

Theo just wished he could go back to that moment when the rain started and not just sit there, not let Seth kiss him, and definitely not enjoy kissing him back.

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