Whore.

Chapter 17: Blush

Red faced and embarrassed, I stared into Bradley's youthful eyes. Time slowed down. There was no mistaking what I had heard. Meat. What exactly had Swash been telling his son about me? If he knew my whore name, then he must also know what it stood for and what I did for a living. Sure, parents should be honest to their kids but everything had limits. How could a four year old possibly understand the concepts of gay sex and prostitution? Maybe Bradley could, after all no other four year old would pick National Geographic as his first choice of TV viewing. Bradley got up from the  bean bag and waddled towards me. I shrank back into the couch a little before I noticed that he had walked past me and towards the kitchen.

Time regained its speed.

I turned around and saw Bradley attempt to climb the high kitchen stool while Swash smiled lovingly. Then I noticed what Swash had in his hand.

Steak.

I did a mental face-palm. 'Meat' was also an ordinary word for, well, meat. Bradley hadn't even acknowledged my presence in the room and had been looking at Swash, who was directly behind me and currently involved in making a steak sauté. But that expression in his eyes had been a little too emotional. I had to ask.

"Swash? Why is Bradley so excited about meat?"

Bradley looked at me, finally realizing that there was someone else in the room. He suddenly looked shy. Swash turned his attention from his son as he readied his answer.

"Tony is a vegetarian. Cheryl adopted the lifestyle and of course all the kids had to. Bradley only ate meat whenever he stayed with me. But we didn't let his mother know, did we Brad?"

Bradley smiled a little mischievously and his cuteness factor increased by a zillion. I found myself smiling too. There was something about his excited little grey eyes that made me feel all fuzzy inside. He focused his gaze on the meat pieces that Swash was cutting into little chunks and covering with spices. I could imagine what he was feeling. If I had been made to eat vegetables all my life and against my will, I'll probably cum at the sight of meat. I got up and joined them in the kitchen. Swash finished his preparations and tossed the mixture into a lightly oiled pan. There was silence as we listened to the simmering meat and enjoyed the fragrant scents it gave off.  I noticed that Swash was switching his gaze between Bradley and me, and I suddenly grew a little nervous.

"Brad," he said, "This is Michael."

Bradley just stared at me and said nothing. Oh well, I was the adult here.

"Hi Bradley."
"Hi," he responded meekly. He looked away from me. He looked downcast for some reason. Did I do something to offend him at any point? I looked back at Swash and shrugged. He smiled at me reassuringly. Maybe Bradley was just a shy kid. Swash served the meal into three plates, taking care to serve a smaller size for Bradley and took both their plates to the table. I took mine and followed quietly. We ate in silence. Bradley occasionally stared at me and every time I tried to meet his gaze, he looked away quickly. I smiled to myself and continued eating. Once dinner was done and dishes were cleaned, Swash got Bradley ready for bed. I sat in the living room and watched TV. I didn't switch the channel from National Geographic. If a kid could watch this stuff, I could too. After about 15 minutes, I knew enough about the star-nosed mole than I ever cared to and I switched off the TV. I got up and walked towards my room in the hall and I saw Swash emerge from Bradley's. We stopped for a few seconds and looked at each other, silent. Swash sighed, said goodnight and went into his room. I walked into mine and got into bed, covering myself with the duvet. Then I remembered that I needed to turn on the radiator and grumbled as I got up from the bed to do so. After a few minutes of lying in the bed, the room finally warmed up. I turned to my side and closed my eyes. Somehow, it didn't seem warm enough.