Free Cover Up by KC Burn

had a chance to hear what sounds Parker made when he came. That was the kind of thing you couldn’t unhear. And if they were almost done, the last thing he wanted was to encounter one or both of them right after they’d had sex. Embarrassing for all parties.
    On the lawn in front of the house, Ivan sped through some stretching. With some effort, he managed to get mostly warmed up without glancing up at the windows of Parker’s bedroom. It couldn’t hurt to get some up close and personal reconnaissance of the area, check out unobtrusively if anyone suspicious was keeping an eye on the house.
    With a deep breath, he took off into the warm evening.

Chapter 4

     
    N EIL looked at his watch and swore. “Shit, I gotta go. You sure you don’t want to come to the club tonight? I’ve got some friends who’d like to meet you.”
    Neil’s sudden frantic energy dispersed Parker’s pleasant lethargy brought on by the third joint Neil had smoked, along with the two tokes Neil had convinced him to take.
    “No, you go on. Have fun.” He and Neil really did not have the same taste in men, and almost all the men Neil tried to set him up with weren’t right for him, for one reason or another. Maybe Ivan would watch a movie with him.
    Parker trailed after Neil and waited by the door as he grabbed his jacket and slipped it on.
    “I know why you don’t want to come. You’re hoping your new roomie might want a piece of your fat ass, right?” Neil grabbed a handful of Parker’s butt to punctuate his words, making Parker jump.
    “What the hell, Neil? That’s not why.”
    “Sure, sure. You can’t lie to me, Park. We’ve been friends too long. Good thing he’s not here. He’s bad news, remember that.”
    “Where would he go?” Ivan’s door to his bedroom hadn’t been closed, he couldn’t hear the washing machine in the basement, and, unless he was sitting in the dark in the living room, Neil was right: Ivan wasn’t here.
    Neil patted his cheek. “It’s Friday night. Most people have plans, go out. Maybe he had a hot date.”
    Parker swallowed heavily. Ivan didn’t have to answer to him about his comings and goings, but suddenly his nice evening at home had become another lonely night in an empty house. But he knew from experience this was exactly the wrong mood to accompany Neil to a club. He’d only get more depressed.
    “Yeah, yeah, whatever. See you tomorrow?”
    “Eh, maybe. Depends on how business goes today.”
    Neil wasn’t always the greatest company, and Parker was mellow enough that he almost didn’t care he was alone again. He flipped on the TV, but the selections made it damned clear that the cable company thought everyone was out having fun or on hot dates and therefore only needed to broadcast complete drivel.
    During yet another stupid commercial, he poked around in the kitchen cupboards and the fridge, but nothing piqued his interest.
    Every little sound had him glancing toward the door, wondering if Ivan was home. Which was just too pathetic. If he wasn’t going to have fun, he might as well get some homework done. After grabbing his laptop, he flicked off the TV, intending to head for his room. The last thing he wanted was for Ivan to come home and see what a loser his roommate was. Too humiliating. As an afterthought, he bent down and grabbed the disc of porn he’d tossed behind the TV the day Ivan had moved in. No way was he going to watch it in the communal area, but his homework could wait until tomorrow.
    Poised in the doorway of his room, Parker glanced over his shoulder at Ivan’s room, the entrance dark and shadowed. Deep in the thrall of intense curiosity—possibly due to the pot—he tossed his laptop and the DVD on the bed and strode into Ivan’s room.
    After only a few days, the room already smelled like Ivan. Not bad, not at all. Different from the dry and disused scent of nothingness the room had had before. He sniffed again. It was actually good. He flipped on the overhead