Life in Fusion (5 page)

through the bureau, looking for a pair of briefs. It was the only

other piece of furniture aside from the bed that fit into the cozy

bedroom. I always found it odd that the smaller bedroom was

the one with the attached bathroom. It was tiny a bath at that,

but considering they weren’t all the rage back in the thirties and

forties, I was happy there was one at all.

My queen sized bed appeared to be larger than it was. I had

one of those four poster beds with the mattress set that made it

look as though the bed had been jacked up. It was kind of an old-

timey style, had actually belonged to my uncle, who’d had quite

the exceptional relationship. I’d hoped it might one day perform

the same magic for me. Probably silly, I realized. But it had the

added benefit of being just the right height to be bent over and

fucked from behind. Don’t judge me…we all have different ideas

of what it means to be a good hostess.

My phone started to ring so I dashed around the bed and

snagged it up off the night stand. I’d barely gotten hello out

before I started laughing as Wade’s sister, Jackie, squealed in my

ear.

“I just talked to my brother, and I’m so excited,” Jackie said

in a hushed voice.

What a coincidence, I just talked to your brother and he had
me
all

excited
. “We must expose his secret powers at once!”

“Huh?” Jackie asked, confused since she was unable to hear

the running commentary going on in my head.

“Never mind, Jackie.” I shook my head at myself.

“Well, I can hardly stand it. I can’t believe you’ll be here for

good in a few short months.”

32 Ethan Day

I felt my jaw clench, irritated that Wade was still working the

angles, like he could manipulate the terms and conditions. “I’m

not so sure about that.” I grinned, liking the way defiance tasted

on my tongue when Jackie went silent.

Finally I heard her breath blowing softly into the phone.

“Please don’t tell me Wade imagined the whole thing?”

I sighed. “No—it’s just, well, I’m not sure I can deal. Being

tagged Uncle Butt Boy for the rest of my life?”

Jackie laughed, her voice quickly going back to a hushed

whisper. “I was under the impression it wasn’t all that far from

the truth.”

I took in a sharp breath. “Hey, I refuse to be pigeon-holed…”

“Only corn-holed. I get it.”

I laughed, hopping up onto my bed. “I’ll have you know my

range stretches far beyond mere ass-play.”

“Of that I have zero doubts.”

I positioned the phone between my shoulder and ear so I

could open the towel and slip on my briefs. “Why the hell are

you whispering?”

“I snuck down to the laundry room in an attempt to hide

from my Children of the Corn. Some days they just creep me

out, you know?”

I didn’t know, but it felt wrong to contradict her.

“I woke up to the four of them standing at the edge of my

bed watching me sleep, and I’ve been wigged ever since.”

I felt myself smiling, knowing full well she was being slightly

melodramatic for my benefit. Glancing down at my feet, which

were dangling several inches above the floor, I said, “Granted I’m

no expert, but aren’t kids supposed to fear their parents?”

“I’ve given up on that ever being a reality. I’ve switched to

guilt and telling them they’ll go to hell and burn into little crispies

if they don’t do what I tell them.”

“Oh my God!” I burst out laughing. “That’s terrible!”

Life in fusion
33

“It’s all I have left.” She hissed into the phone. “I used to

have Santa and the whole coal thing, but between Wade and their

father, the little shits get whatever they want. They no longer feel

like they need the fat bastard!”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I said, before remembering how

spoiled Wade was.

“No, seriously—one of them actually said,
What do we need

Santa for
?”

I lay back onto the bed, running my hand over my abs, which

were still slightly sore from all the crunches I’d done after my

run. “I think I’m going to enjoy having a sister.”

“Ah ha!” She gasped, cursing under her breath before dialing

it back down to a hushed whisper. “So you are planning on being

my big brother’s boy-bitch.”

“We have a deal, of sorts…”

“Shhh!” Jackie cut me off. “I think I heard something.”

I rolled my eyes, wondering why I had to be quiet. It wasn’t

like her litter could hear me. I sat up, practically jolted off the

bed as Jackie let out a blood curdling scream. I scrambled for

the phone, which I’d dropped when my entire body tensed in

reaction. I quickly placed it back up to my ear in time to hear the

chorus of voices all giggling as they yelled, “There you are!”

The line went dead and my mouth fell open. I started to

call her back, but thought better of it, feeling as though any

semblance of an adult conversation would now be impossible. I

paused for a brief moment, wondering for her safety, after that

whole,
Children of the Corn
reference. I rolled my eyes at having

gotten sucked in.

I turned and looked over at the clock. It was only about a

quarter till seven, but I was friggin’ exhausted. I decided it

couldn’t hurt to lie down for a quick nap, before calling Gabe

and my mother. I smiled, knowing full well I was merely trying

to avoid answering their slew of nosy questions, which would

inevitably end with me telling them all about Wade. I played with

the buttons on the side of my phone until I stumbled across

34 Ethan Day

the one that operated the volume of the ringer. I tapped it until

it said
silent,
and tried to make a mental note of which button

controlled that function.

I pushed the damp towel off the bed and onto the wood

floor and paused momentarily before relenting, sliding my fresh

pair of undies right back off. I tossed them as well, and yanked

down the blankets, crawling underneath. I grinned, letting out a

soft sigh as I curled up with the two pillows I’d placed together

and buttoned Wade’s stolen-from-the-laundry blue flannel shirt

around—it smelled so fucking awesome, and I felt all tingly from

my nipples down to my cock. I fumbled behind me until I found

my sleep mask on the night stand and slipped it on. I pressed my

face into Pillow-Wade, inhaling deeply, and felt my head get all

fuzzy as I drifted off to sleep.

q q q

“What the fuck?” My entire body went rigid, ripped out of

sleepy time by the loud bang of my bedroom door slamming

into the wall. I reached up, searching the room in a haze after

pushing my sleep mask up onto my forehead. My gaze settled

on the fuzzy form standing in the doorway. “Wade?” I asked, in

my husky morning voice, blinking until my eyes came into focus.

“Thanks for calling me yesterday to let me know you made

it home safely,” Gabe said in a none-too-happy tone. “And who

the fuck is Wade?”

I placed the palm of my hand to my chest, breathing steadily

in an attempt to get my heart rate down to normal. I turned to

the clock, seeing it was almost seven a.m. “You practically gave

me a heart attack, asshole.”

“Good!” Gabe folded his arms, his face all contorted with

angry lines running across his forehead. “Next time you’ll at least

pick up your god damn phone when I call you.”

I couldn’t believe I’d slept for almost twelve hours
.
I whipped

the blankets off me only to cover myself once Gabe pointed,

yelling “Boone boner!” and averted his eyes toward the ceiling.

He’d done that ever since we discovered exactly what a hard-on

Life in fusion
35

was.

“You’ve seen me naked before, Gabe,” I scolded, desperately

trying to force myself fully awake while thinking I could probably

handle another twelve hours after that week with Wade. “And

why is everyone suddenly so set on taking away sleepy time!”

“What the hell are you going on about?” Gabe asked, peeking

down at me again to see if it was once again a boner free viewing

zone. “And naked is one thing, fully engorged is quite another—

and who the hell is Wade?”

“A sleep deprivation conspiracy,” I grumbled. “All part of his

evil plan to get me weak and pliable, caving in to his…” I cringed

slightly, realizing Gabe hadn’t forgotten about that whole Wade

comment in all his anger. I ripped the blankets off again, flashing

my woody.

“Aw man…damn it, Boone.” His gaze flashed back up toward

the ceiling. “I’ll call and schedule my lobotomy now, thank you

very much.”

“Me and my big swollen Boone boner are getting out of bed,

now.” I smiled, seeing the slight panic rush over his face as he

took a step backward.

His voice cracked slightly and he reached up to adjust

his glasses. “And why in the name of hell do you have a blue

flannel shirt buttoned around that pillow? Good lord, it’s finally

happened, you’ve snapped and lost your mind.”

I hopped out of bed, feet thumping onto the cold wood floor.

I cursed, tossing the blankets over the pillows I’d dressed up in

Wade’s shirt—a good idea at the time, despite feeling somewhat

silly in retrospect.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve named the pillow Wade, having

made up some imaginary lumberjack boyfriend.” Gabe laughed.

“Well I suppose I could just grab hold of you Gabe, rip those

jeans down around your ankles and bend you over my bed?” I

took a few steps toward him, causing him to retreat further back

toward the door. “Fuck you with my big, hard Boone boner?”

36 Ethan Day

Gabe let out a low guttural sound, placing a hand over his

stomach, which was already making little creaking sounds of

protest. “Stop that! You’re like my brother, you sick-o pervert.”

I started laughing as I continued to advance on him, forcing

him back out into the hall after he backed into the door jam.

His eyes were still on the ceiling as I took hold of the door and

slammed it shut in his face.

“And you’d better have coffee if you know what’s good

for you!” I yelled. I held my ear up to the door, listening to his

muttering fade as he disappeared down the hallway. My erection

may have vanished, but torturing Gabe had put a spring in my

step as I headed for the toilet.

Gabriel De Luca had been my best friend for so long I was

no longer able to remember a time in my life when he wasn’t in

it. His mother, Roberta, had left New York City when he was

four, apparently the gun moll of a real life Mafioso, who’d been

murdered by a rival family.

I say gun moll because it sounded more dramatic than

the truth, which was that she was, in reality, the stereotypical

good little Catholic girl who’d married a low level hood. And

I don’t really know who killed his father or why. But I enjoyed

embellishing things and inserting them into Gabe’s family

mythology. Something Roberta never really appreciated about

me.

After the death of Gabe’s father she decided to leave the

city, in fact the entire state. But apparently not even that was far

enough, as she continued working her way across the country,

stopping only when she believed her own son would be safely

tucked away from the sins of the father.

To look at him now, it seemed near impossible that Gabe

could have ever wound up a gangster. Aside from the fact he

was gay, he was a bit of a nerd; kind of a cute one, but a nerd all

the same. The very same thick, black framed glasses that were

so trendy at the moment somehow managed to come off geeky

on him. But he had the most beautiful, light olive toned, model

perfect skin which was, and always had been, completely blemish

Life in fusion
37

free.

His hair was velvety black, and had an enticing sheen when

it caught the light. It was thick, wavy, and practically screamed,

Run your hands through me!
At only five-six, he was on the short

side, but when he looked up at you with his big brown eyes, you

melted. Unless he was doing it without glasses or contacts, then

he came off like a squinty eyed dork. Poor boy was blind as a

bat without them. Anything outside of a four or five foot radius

went all fuzzy on him.

We were Lady and the Tramp, minus that whole spaghetti

scene. His altar boy attitudes on sex and relationships were right

out of the stone ages. Gabe was old fashioned. He disapproved

of my
little adventures,
as he liked to call them. It was slightly

annoying as I never judged him for being a tight assed, priggish

Pollyanna. Well, okay—so maybe I judged him a teensy bit—but

he started it!

The thing that really got to me was that I believed he was

honestly jealous. Not of me or my appearance, necessarily, but

at some point during our senior year of high school I magically