Rochdale | LGBTQ+

.Sixteen.

I don't think I'd gotten one good night of sleep since I told Lucas I was leaving him. 

Each night I was plagued by nightmares of him calling me faggot, of him telling me I was ruining his life, and of him having sex with Samantha and actually enjoying it. I'd wake up feeling pissed the fuck off- remember it was a dream and feel relieved- then remember it could've very well been real and get pissed off again. 

Even Mrs. Wu noticed a change in my behavior. I was stocking the soup cans on the shelf a little aggressive. She came up beside me and rested her wrinkled hand on my arm. "Calm, boy. Gentle with my soup cans. Soup is money. Got that?"

I nodded and tried to steady the shaky hands. I kept watching the door like a dog waiting for its owner to return, wanting- no, needing- Lucas to walk through that door. But that was never going to  happen. Maddie told me she'd heard them having sex the other night, and my heart shattered into a million tiny pieces that I couldn't be bothered to put together again. 

What was the point? Lucas was married, and was probably going to be having a kid soon. He had just turned eighteen for fuck's sake. Didn't Sammy have a college to go to or some place other than Lucas's bedroom to be at?

Maddie had finally moved all of her stuff into my bedroom. She was sleeping on the top bunk of the old bunkbed, and I'd managed to tidy up my room so that she didn't realize how much Lucas's breakup had actually affected me. I tried working non-stop, but Penny put an end to that pretty quickly, and so did Mrs. Wu. Warning me that if I didn't stop showing up so often she'd have to fire me. 

Mrs. Wu was secretly a sweet little old lady underneath her tough, wrinkled old turtle shell- but I was one of the few people that she actually showed this side to. It kind of reminded me of Lucas. He was such a tough guy until he was underneath you, grunting and whining while you thrust your dick up his ass. Okay, maybe not exactly the same. But it felt like everything reminded me of Lucas lately, especially now that I was trying so hard to forget him.

I slid the last can onto the shelf and headed back up to the counter just as the bell above the door rattled. 

I slipped behind the counter and made my way to the cash register as an old man in a nice button-up and dress pants entered the store. He had on a nice leather watch, but was smart enough to not wear anything shiny down here that would attract the attention of thieves and muggers. I didn't recognize him, he must be from a nearby town. 

He walked up to the counter. I opened my mouth to greet him, but he held a finger to his lips. Puzzled, I remained quiet as he slid a wad of folded bills onto the freshly washed counter. He looked around nervously. "Room 306," he whispered. "A suite."

"Fuzzler's Hotel?" I guessed.

He nodded, pressing his finger against his lips again. "Two hundred dollars. A night with me, that's all I'm asking."

I perked up. Two hundred dollars? Cash? Fuck yeah! And maybe this was my ticket to forgetting about Lucas. I took the cash and slipped it into my waistband. I held out my hand and shook his. "Meet you there," I said. "Shift ends at six. Be there by then," I added.

The man grinned. He nodded knowingly. "Oh, I'll be there. If you get lost, ask for Ned Richmond."

I smirked. "Got it. See you then."

I waved him out of the store. Mrs. Wu came up to the counter. She was short enough that she could hide behind the shelves and not be seen. The man hadn't spotted her, but I was sure she'd been eavesdropping. The question was if she'd succeeded.

"Do you know that man?" she asked.

I decided to lie. "A little."

"Family friend?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"Because right now it looks like you're a gangster," she said, planting her hands on her hips. "Someone important and mean that people owe money to. And that man just gave you a lot of cash. So? I won't have delinquents at my store," she added warningly. "Mafia and gangsters are not allowed to work here."

I smiled. "Don't worry about it Mrs. Wu. I swear, I'm not a gangster or anything. He just owed me something. It was more of an exchange."

Mrs. Wu relaxed slightly. "Very well. More customers, look alive!"

***

The hotel was way more luxurious than any I'd ever stepped foot in. But it was way cheaper than you'd expect for a place so nice. I'd checked the prices before coming,  just to make sure that the man was really rich and not just pretending to get in my pants. But despite the cheaper than expected prices, it was still more than I could ever afford. So I decided to trust him.

I began regretting my decision in the elevator, but when I thought of Lucas and Samantha having sex, it fueled this sort of rage deep inside of me that wanted to forget all about Lucas and get back at him at the same time.

He wants to sleep with other people? So would I. We weren't together anymore anyways. Not that we'd really been together in the first place if you think about it. But we'd had some form of a breakup, and that meant I was free from caring about what Lucas thought. So I slipped out of the elevator doors and headed down the third floor hallway towards 306. 

I knocked on the door, and the door cracked open slightly. The man from the store saw me, and his tense shoulders relaxed. He opened the door wider, allowing me inside. He was in just boxers, his saggy old man cock bulging through the fabric. His body wasn't really doing anything for me. There was nothing special about him. He was basically a skeleton, you could see his ribs for fuck's sake, but he had a big dick. And lots of cash. 

So I shut the door behind me and followed the man inside.