Read Online A Portrait of Emily by J.P. Bowie - Free Book Online

had even pleaded with him not to go, had told him how much he loved him.
    “Please stay with me tonight.” He had clung to the young man’s hand. “I want to wake up in the morning and find you still here. Please…”
    “Sorry Joey. I can’t do that. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He’d ruffled Joey’s hair and left.
    Joey had wanted to follow him just to see where he was going, but what if he was seeing someone else? Joey knew he wouldn’t be able to stand it if it were so. “Oh God,” he moaned aloud, staring up at the ceiling. This agony of not knowing was surely worse than if he found out. Or was it? Angrily, he flung himself off the bed and began pacing the floor. Why had he allowed himself to fall in love with this man who obviously could care less? What was he hiding from him?
    He knew absolutely nothing about his background. Where he lived or what he did. He had gone through Adam’s jeans’ pockets one night when he had gone to the bathroom and found nothing. No driver’s license, no billfold; just some dollar bills and loose change. Any personal questions Joey ever asked were met with either a vague reply or dead silence.
    Once, when he had asked if his parents were still living, he had seen anger in the young man’s eyes for a moment before he looked away and simply nodded. Before Joey could pursue the subject, he had abruptly left with his usual departing words, “I’ll call you.”
    “Damn it!” Joey muttered under his breath, still pacing. He would go mad if this continued. He should tell him never to come back, but who would be more hurt by that? He wished Jeff thought more kindly of him. Maybe then he could ask him to do some kind of background check. But Jeff would never go for that. He was too much the honest guy, the straight arrow—and all the rest of that bullshit.
    He had hoped for more from Jeff. He had thought perhaps he might have been only too willing to pick up where they had left off. Joey could have used that desire to his own advantage. Blondie must be really good in the sack if Jeff didn’t want to come running back into his arms. Never mind that he had broken Jeff’s heart when he left—he was back now and he needed Jeff’s friendship.
    Maybe he’d made a mistake leaving Jeff without a word. He should have known one day they would meet again. He had loved Jeff in the beginning. How could he not? He was so good looking, so strong, so damned good . But Joey couldn’t bear to be so restrained by a relationship. He had cheated on Jeff almost from the beginning. At first, he had felt some remorse. He knew Jeff would never forgive him if he ever found out, and so he went to extreme lengths to make sure he never did. But the last one, the one he ran away with—that one, he could not give up. Or rather, he could not give up the wealth, the Armani wardrobe, the red Jaguar convertible—those were just some of the gifts his new love had showered on him. How could his head not be turned by things like that?
    Poor Jeff. Poor indeed—struggling on a police officer’s pay. He could never compete. So he had left him without a word and with just a little sadness. Oh, he had thought of him often and many times he had even wished it was Jeff there with him as he lay on a Caribbean beach or poolside in the south of France. The man who had footed the bill for Joey’s pleasures had not a tenth of Jeff’s good looks or charm. There was always some little flaw in every arrangement, was there not?
    There was certainly a very big flaw in this present arrangement. Try as he may, Joey could not figure out Adam’s reluctance to open up more. They enjoyed the most exciting sex Joey had known in years and they were both always ready for it. There was little conversation for sure, but Joey had figured the man to be the silent type, not a senseless talker. But when they made love, it was as if he gave Joey his whole soul. Their bodies would cleave to each other with an intensity that would leave