Chapter Twenty-Eight - Experimenting To Be With You
"This is, Taz, what is called a stake out," Carter spoke to his dog, as he sipped from his iced coffee through the straw. "You see," he explained to his pet, "Alex is bound to make a mistake, sooner or later, and we will be able to expose the douchebag to Aron. We're making a great team!"
Now, as he stood behind the wheel of his car, talking to his dog, he didn't feel that convinced that he was making any progress, though. He wasn't exactly the most skillful detective in the universe, and seeing that he was just a beginner, he probably sucked balls. And so far, he had managed to stalk Alex only to beauty salons and fancy restaurants, where probably the guy was just stuffing his face with diet foods. Not once he had managed all week to catch a glimpse of Alex together with Simon.
He had talked to Aron a few times over the phone, and some of the awkwardness of their last get-together still lingered, for some reason he could not fathom. It was like both of them had something to say, but didn't have the guts to start speaking already.
He knew what his problem was. He needed to tell Aron his husband was cheating without sounding like a lunatic slash homophobe decided to destroy his best friend's marriage. Aron had been generous enough to forgive him for his outburst at the wedding, but that didn't mean he was going to believe him, without any proof.
Still busy with sorting his own thoughts, he almost missed Alex exiting the shop he had entered almost one hour ago.
"Sorry, buddy, I need to go on foot for this one," Carter told Taz, who seemingly agreed, by the way he looked at his owner, wagging his tail. "Don't worry, I come back if he goes too far."
Alex was surely quick on his feet. Carter needed to speed up. Ah, damn, where did he go? Carter felt frustration growing and walked round the corner.
Only to almost bump chests with the guy he was following.
"Are you stalking me, darling?" Alex teased.
"Um, what? Stalking you? What have you been drinking?" Carter spoke quickly. "I was just happening to be here, because I needed to ..."
Great way to box yourself in, Carter. You don't even know the name of the street you're on.
He looked around, hoping for providence to show him a sign. Ah, great, there was some kind of parlor across the street.
"I needed to go there," he pointed at the business across from them, although he could not make its name from where he was standing.
Alex looked in the direction Carter was pointing, and his eyes turned back to the other right away.
"Really? You need to have your nails done?" Alex cooed, smiling widely.
Carter squinted and tried to read the handwritten name of the business. What the hell was it saying? Was that even English?
"Come on, straight boy, just admit it already," Alex got closer, well up in his personal space. "You," he poked Carter's chest with one finger, "like me."
"Like you?!"
Wow, he's even more delusional than you!
You think?
"You certainly struggle a lot to get my attention," Alex said with a small seductive smile. "Even now, following me around ..."
"I told you, I just happen to be here," Carter said, but his voice sounded as convincing as a male enhancement ad.
"Ah, then you happen to be where I happen to be quite a lot. Yesterday, two days ago, three days ago ..."
"All right," Carter raised his hands in surrender, trying to ignore Alex's overpowering cologne. Really, too much of a good thing, even if it was some designer fragrance, was too much. "How could you tell?"
"Darling, I've been chased by paparazzi since I was ten. I know when I'm being followed."
"Oh, shit," Carter mumbled.
Now that was a bummer.
"So, Carter, how about being a little honest here? And frankly, I thought you were pissed your best friend was gay, when, all this time, you were hot for me?" Alex shook his head slowly. "So the little speech at the wedding was because of me? Ah, how touching! Yet you were rude. You could have just said you liked me, and we could have arranged something," the guy continued. "Or you were like one of those guys who prefer to admire me from afar?"
"Wow, wow, wow," Carter managed to cut through the guy's speech. "I don't like you. At all."
"Ah. You sure?" Alex batted his eyelashes and burst into laughter. "Too bad. I was thinking about repaying you."
"Repaying me? What for? I thought you were ready to strangle me or poison my drink!" Carter exclaimed.
Alex seemed taken aback.
"Why on Earth would I do that?" he asked.
Funny thing, the guy sounded sincere. But with someone like Alex, one could never know.
"You know," Carter said with a small huff. "Because of the ..."
He wasn't going to talk about Aron and how they had sex. So he steered the conversation to something that was probably more important to Alex than the fact that his husband had experienced pleasure in the arms of another dude.
"Because of your Instagram account!" he said quickly.
Alex looked at him, his eyes going a bit unfocused, like the guy was trying to compute, but wasn't managing to get to the end result.
"What about my Instagram account? Are you following me on Insta?" the guy asked, visibly pleased with this conclusion.
"No, I'm not following you on Insta," Carter replied, now annoyed with the guy's deflections. "Why would I do that?"
"To stare at pictures of me wearing nothing but underwear?" Alex asked, this time smiling and back to his flirty mode.
"Oh," Carter said slowly.
Something was amiss all right. Like the guy had suddenly no recollection of the body swap.
"You don't remember anything about the ..."
Ah, that was definitely it. He was not allowed to say the words out loud. That meant ... that meant ...
"So you chose to remember the accident instead?" he exclaimed.
Alex frowned, and now he was watching Carter a bit warily.
"All right. I have no idea how Aron puts up with you. You're really, and I mean really strange," Alex said, taking a small step back. "And what do you mean I chose? Wait, you don't remember the accident?"
"No, I don't," Carter said. "Ah, but you do, so how about you tell me all about it?"
Alex seemed to ponder for a bit.
"I thought it was a ruse. That you're just pretending you don't remember about what happened. That you don't want Aron to ... you know," Alex said, pursing his lips.
"No, I don't know," Carter glared. "But I didn't push you," he added quickly.
Alex took another step back, and now he was looking at Carter with a mix of pity and disdain in his beautiful green eyes.
"You don't have a lot of money, do you?"
Carter snorted.
"What's that have to do with anything?"
Alex sighed, and then he smiled, but this time it was clear that the smile was directed at himself.
"Then it's all for the best," he grinned. "Stop stalking me, you creep," he added cheerfully, but without the edge needed for that to be an insult.
"Wait, tell me about the accident," Carter tried to prevent Alex from walking away.
"Nope. Not telling," Alex said with satisfaction. "Ah, if you only had money," he said with a bit of regret, as he touched Carter's chest in passing. "You're passably cute. But sorry, I have standards," he shrugged.
"Come on, you have to tell me," Carter began walking side by side with Alex.
"No, I don't," Alex said. "As far as everyone knows, I don't remember squat either. Oh, I love me some attention," the guy added. "It's just so good to be back in the saddle. So no detours for me, darling, sorry about that."
"You keep saying sorry, but you're clearly not sorry," Carter said through his teeth.
"Of course I'm not," Alex shrugged. "Life's too short to spend it being sorry. And really, stop walking next to me. Someone might snap a picture and seriously, the 90s called, they need their clothes back. Or do you still have them since that time? Passed on to you by your papa, or something?"
"My clothes are new ... enough," Carter said slowly, unsure of how a t-shirt and jeans could be considered as belonging to a different century.
"Whatever, now shoo where you have to be, and somewhere that I'm not. I'm not in the mood for charity cases, and you're way too difficult to deal with."
"I really have no idea what the hell you are talking about," Carter insisted. "And you say I'm the creepy one."
"Seriously, Carter, stop following me. I don't want to become unfashionable by association. And if you don't, I'm telling Aron you're bothering me," Alex said, now looking a bit annoyed and distressed.
Okay, the guy knew how to play his hand. Carter had to give it to him. So he needed to stay put for now.
"All right, don't get your panties in a twist," he mumbled.
Alex sped up and looked over his shoulder one more time at Carter before waving for a cab, like he was still trying to make sense of something. The look the guy gave him was giving him the shivers a bit. Now what the hell had happened during that accident?
And he had no means to stalk Alex without being seen. The guy had many talents, apparently, and that is why he was probably not so easy to get caught with his lover's dick in his ass. Carter needed to rethink his strategy.
***
What was Alex playing at? Carter stared confused at the TV screen for a while, even after turning off the device. The last interview the guy gave had been quite a shock, and not only for the audience, but also for Carter who could not give a damn about celebrities' latest gossip. He had caught that by complete accident, as he was browsing through the channels for lack of something better to do.
"We decided to separate for a little while," Alex said, somewhat with self-pity, while the host was staring at him a bit surprised.
"Just a few weeks ago, you stood here, on this very spot," the host insisted, "and told me how much in love you are with your husband. What could go wrong so badly in such a short time?"
Carter remembered the host well, from the show he had attended that time. He also remembered what he had said. And how true the words had sounded.
"People change," Alex replied, shaking his head apologetically. "Sometimes, you know, even too much love can be a bad thing. You can feel, you know, suffocated."
"Was Aron suffocating you?" the host didn't let go.
