Bound in Blood by J. P. Bowie Page B

son.”
    “I’d like to try it though, Dad, if it’s okay with you.”
    Jack was about to nod his assent when Anita jumped in again. “Well, if it’s so easy to do all that on the internet, why can’t you do it from here? You’d have your own office, and you’d be home.”
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    J. P. Bowie
    74
     
    Joey and Chris exchanged glances then Joey said, “Oh, Anita, you’d be taking my best buddy away from me. I’d be all lonesome in the big, bad city!”
    Anita gave him a narrow-eyed look. “You should come home too, Joey. Your mother worries about you being down there, just like I do.”
    Jack Jeffries let out a long, low chuckle. “They’re not mamma’s boys, Anita. They’re young men needing their own lives. I’m sure Chris can share his time here and in LA.”
    Chris felt a huge surge of relief at this father’s words. Good old Dad — always ready to come up with a compromise .
    “I can do that,” he said eagerly. “I’ll talk to Mr. Galeano about it. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
    “This Mr. Galeano…” Anita was not so easily persuaded. “What do you know about him, exactly?’
    Chris ignored Joey’s muffled snort. “He’s a very successful, sophisticated kind of a guy.
    You’d like him, Mom.”
    “Then perhaps you should bring him here so we can meet him.”
    “Sure.” Chris smiled sweetly at his mother. “I can do that.”
     

     
    Later, lying in their separate beds in Chris’ old room, Chris had to listen to Joey’s criticism on how he’d handled the situation.
    “You should’ve told them right there and then that Carlos was your boyfriend,” he hissed into the darkness of the room.
    “I don’t know that he is my boyfriend, yet.”
    Joey sighed loudly. “Well, when are you going to know? I let a guy fuck me more than once, he’s my boyfriend!”
    Chris chuckled. “Well, we can’t all live by your high standards, Joey dear.”
    “Watch it,” Joey growled, then giggled. “That was a bit whorey, wasn’t it?”
    “I miss him already,” Chris whispered, more to himself than Joey.
    “Poor baby. Want some company over there?”
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    J. P. Bowie
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    “No thanks. And Joey, if you have to jack off, please don’t mess up the sheets. My mother still checks for tell-tale signs like that.”
    “Anita loves me, and she’ll understand.”
    “Oh, boy.”
    After Joey had fallen asleep, Chris lay awake for some time, thinking about the article he’d read about the attack in the alley. Of course, he knew the piece had been about the guys who’d tried to put Carlos down, and who had failed miserably in the attempt. Their story, in order to justify the whipping Carlos had given them made him smile. They couldn’t just say they’d been beaten by a better and stronger man. No, they had to make up some cockamamie story about Carlos having fangs and being seven-feet tall.
    Jeez, what losers.
     

     
    He was in a long, dark and deserted alleyway. No matter how fast he walked, ran even, the end of the alley seemed nowhere in sight. He could hear his heaving breath, feel his heart pound in his chest and a film of cold sweat coated his skin.
    He knew he was being followed, and he knew danger lurked ahead. Which one to face? Either way, the odds were insurmountable. Alone, he couldn’t take on the three men who now stepped out of the shadows in front of him. If he ran, he would have to face whoever was behind him. Three or one?
    He turned and ran straight into the strong arms of a tall man wearing a long, dark coat.
    Chris looked up, and his heart leapt with exhilaration. “Carlos,” he murmured. “Oh, thank God.”
    “You’re safe now,” Carlos whispered. “Safe, my love.”
    The three men snarled their defiance and charged forward, clubs and knives raised to strike and slash. Carlos plunged in among them, hurling their bodies away with superhuman ease. But the men returned, time and time again. They would fall, hit the ground then rise again. One