Cliff's phone woke him up around eight in the morning. He was pretty irritated when he heard the twinkly jingle. His ear was sore from sleeping on it. He was hungry. His memories were full of Eric's ridiculous snuggling. So, when Cliff rolled over in his bed to look at the flashing cell phone, he was answered it with a growling voice.
"Cliff!" It was the voice of his brother, Ryan. "Rebecca's gone!"
"What?" Cliff sat up in his bed. "Where is she?"
"I don't know! She's not in her bedroom. A note was taped to the window from the outside. It says, 'Get into my car. You may pack two bags.' The lock on the door knob was locked, but the bolt lock wasn't. Rebecca doesn't have a key to the house. She must have locked the first lock as she left."
A cold lump was forming in Cliff's bosom. He was shaking. "No sign of anyone breaking in, right?"
"No. Actually, her computer's gone. I think she packed that up. I think she really did just leave. She's not answering my phone calls, though."
Massaging his sore ear, Cliff grumbled, "The ass-wipe doesn't need to use any threats or break in. Just being there is threatening enough for her. She left because she's afraid of anyone getting hurt."
"What do we do?"
"You guys shouldn't do anything. Eric said he'll call me soon. All I have to do is wait and see what he has to say."
It turned out that he had to wait a good long while. It was seven in the evening when his phone rang again. Eric's phone number was almost glaring at him from the screen. Cliff was sitting at his kitchen table, eating a bowl of canned soup when he answered.
"Hello? Eric?"
"Heeeeeeeeeelo! I'm thinking you've already figured this out, but I have my Baby Doll safe and sound at home! She's been really bad lately, running away and making you think you needed to hide her!" His tone was just too happy. Cliff and Michael both hated it. "But don't worry! Everything's okay now! I forgive you! It's not your fault. You were deceived. When a pretty little girl shows up and says she's scared of her ex-boyfriend, of course you'd want to help her. It's only natural. That's one of the reasons why I like you. You have a tender heart."
Cliff pushed his bowl of soup aside. "I thought you'd be angry."
"I'm angry at Baby Doll! I gave her a good, hard spanking, and she's grounded forever, or until I change my mind. In fact, I think she needs to apologize to you, so you have to come to my house. You have to!"
Cliff's free hand curled into a very shaky fist. "I'm curious. Did you spank her with a belt, or maybe a paddle?"
"Ah! Oh no! I used my hand, of course! I'm not abusive like her whore mother was!"
Well, there's something Cliff wasn't used to hearing. He pushed his dining chair back and stood up. "Was her mother that bad?"
"I wasn't there to see it, mind you. But Rebecca told me everything I needed to know. She'd never lie about something like that. But it doesn't matter now, does it? I need you to come over here! I'll text my address to you. Are you free tomorrow? Oh, you might want to pack a bag of spare clothes and a toothbrush. You could be staying the night."
"I'll come over right now if you want me to." Cliff and Michael both wanted blood. They knew they probably weren't going to get it once they were in his house, but they at least needed to see Rebecca.
"Really?" Eric sounded too excited. "That would be wonderful! Hurry! Please hurry!"
"Okay. I'm hanging up now. I'm going to pack a bag up. Goodbye."
"Bye Honey!"
Cliff pressed the red square in the screen. He had to stop himself from throwing his phone against a wall. When did Eric figure out Rebecca's location? Was it before or after he showed up at Cliff's house, gave him a blowjob, and made Cliff never want to use his pink dildo ever again? If Eric figured it out before all of that happened, then what in the ever loving fuck was going on in that creep's head?
Cliff shook his head and told himself that he needed to pack up some things. His phone was already beeping. Actually, it was beeping a lot. He was getting a lot of text messages. He checked his phone.
Not only had Eric texted him the address, but he was sending a bunch of random flirty texts too. Cliff tried to ignore them, but as he was gathering up his belongings to put in a bag, his phone urgently beeped at him over and over. Curious, Cliff looked at the messages.
Well ... it seemed that Eric didn't want him to forget what his asshole looked like.
***
It took him fifteen minutes to get a bag ready. So, by the time he had found Eric's house in the historical district, it was at least fifteen minutes after eight at night. Cliff didn't know much about the area, but he was pretty sure that in order to live in this neighborhood, one had to abide by strict rules, so that the place was able to keep up its dignified, historical look. No overgrown lawns. No tacky lawn ornaments. No painting the house pink with yellow polka dots. Eric's house wasn't a giant mansion, but Cliff knew that it cost quite a bit of money.
Finding a parking spot was difficult. Cliff was too shy to put his car onto the lawn or driveway, as he would have done in his home neighborhood. Most cars were in diagonal spaces that were sort of part of the road. It was kind of wrong to a country boy like him.
When he did find a place to park his truck, Cliff rubbed his eye and checked his phone. Eric had been texting him obsessively for the whole trip. Some of the texts had pictures attached. The content of the pictures included Rebecca's closet full of wedding cake-like Lolita dresses, a large jewelry box full of sparkly things, and weird bondage furniture. Well, the bondage furniture was weird to Cliff, since he hadn't explored that sort of thing very often. To someone accustomed to such things, they probably weren't weird at all.
Cliff sent a very neutral text to let Eric know he had arrived. Then he exited his truck and locked the doors with his key-chain remote. He could smell perfectly groomed grass and happy little flowers. It would have been nice on a different occasion.
A few windows of the old, but well maintained house lit up. Michael was like an aggressive dog on a leash barking and snapping its teeth. Cliff had to remind him that if they screwed up then a whole lot of shit would go down, so he had better calm down.
He walked down a smooth pathway and up the steps of an old fashioned porch. One hand had a heavy bag full of stuff, even condoms, because he was worried that he actually might need them. He didn't want there to be a situation where he'd need them, but the best case scenario was that Eric was madly infatuated with him, which meant that condoms would be needed. The worst case scenario was that Cliff was walking into a trap.
Cliff rapped onto the front door with his knuckles. The door opened immediately after he was done, as if Eric had been waiting by the entrance like a little kid beside a chimney on Christmas. Eric pulled him in by his arm, and it was very easy for him to do so. Cliff almost tripped into the brightly lit foyer. He heard the door shut, and then the clunking sound of the locks being set in place.
Cliff turned to give his host a friendly greeting, but he was stopped. Eric pushed into him, and he was suddenly against a wall. His bag fell, the thudding sound muffled by the carpet. The idea that he was being attacked flashed in his brain. When Eric's mouth went against his, however, relief had him loosening up. He almost liked Eric's hands running all over his body. He even almost liked Eric sucking his tongue up and playing with the tip.
