The Current Between Us

Apparently the rumors running around the site were true. Gage did intend to live upstairs, above the studio. Seeing Gage professionally dressed was a stunning figure, but a casual Gage dressed in sweatpants and a tank caused his heart to stop beating, multiple times, and his hard-on to demand his attention. Trent had broken out in a cold sweat the minute he lost focus on his plan to keep his eyes averted at all cost and looked up to see Gage standing above him, at about the angle he would need to be to take the guy’s dick into his mouth. It was all so much bullshit on how his body immediately reacted to the site of Gage standing there. He’d immediately retreated to the bathroom, in the middle of the panel change, to jackoff before he embarrassed himself in front of his entire crew. Fuck! How unprofessional was that crap?

In spite of Trent’s erratic behavior, they finished the panel change in just under thirteen hours. Daylight was just making its presence known, around seven in the morning, and his men were loading up, preparing to leave as he stood in the bathroom, hiding. The city had been standing by and gave a green tag on his work, which allowed the electric company to do their magic and turn the power back on. He just needed to wait and make sure it all worked before leaving. The other contractors would be arriving soon, and he prayed everything was installed correctly because he needed to get the hell on up out of here as soon as humanly possible.

After finger combing his hair back in place, Trent retucked his shirt while forcing himself to man up and stop hiding. He needed to get back out there, face the situation. His guys were gone to get a few hours’ sleep, before needing to be back here midday, working their scheduled shift. Auntie Crazy made plans for today, Rhonny was headed to Milwaukee, and his children would be waiting for him. Trent needed to focus, and stop acting like a teenage girl. Today would be shopping for birthday party decorations and getting the kids ready for the week, nothing more or less than his normal life. He looked at himself critically in the mirror and pointed a finger at the image staring back at him. Act right, he mentally chided, before his phone rang.

“Daddy, it’s me,” Emalynn said before he even got a chance to say hello.

“Em, I was just thinking about you,” he said. Well, he’d sort of been thinking about her.

“Daddy, we put breakfast in your truck. Aunt Sophia said we couldn’t bother you to tell you, so I called from the car. When are you coming home? Should I be ready to go look at my decorations?” Emalynn said it all on one breath, her excitement for the upcoming promised shopping trip bubbling over the connection.

“We’ll go right after lunch, I promise,” Trent replied, finally stepping from the bathroom. He could hear Sophia asking for the phone and then the radio got louder in the background.

“All right, Trenton Cooper, I saw the hottie in the window again. Start talking, mister,” she said.

“My name is Trent. It’s never been Trenton, ever in my life, and you saw nothing but the owner. Thanks for the breakfast,” he said, coming to stand in the middle of the gallery, but kept his eyes averted from the office. He turned his back to the office windows in order to ensure he couldn’t look that way.

“Are you sure he has nothing to do with how strange you’ve been acting?” Suspicion laced her words.

“I haven’t been acting weird, just busy, nothing else. Well, I’m tired, that’s all. Waiting for the power company to do their thing so I can pick up the kids and go shopping. You know how much I love shopping…” he said, then waited to see if he successfully changed the subject.

“Do you need me to stay longer today? I can cancel my plans and go with Em and Hunter to get her decorations,” Sophia asked.

“No, I promised I would take her, let her look all around. I was thinking maybe I could take a nap first and then we could go,” he said.

“Tell Daddy I’ve been thinking Dora the Explorer decorations,” Emalynn called out from the backseat. He could hear her voice loud and clear over the music playing on the radio.

“Whatever you want,” both Trent and Sophia said at the same time, causing Trent to smile.

“Trent, let’s go back to the guy who was looking out the window? He’s pretty hot… He looked familiar to me,” Sophia asked. All Trent could do was roll his eyes to the ceiling. Here we go.

“His name is Gage Synclair. He’s the reporter guy. His office is right by the window. It’s his gallery we’re working on,” he said.

“Trent, he’s gorgeous. Oh. My. God, you love his work! You have all his DVDs. That’s what’s wrong with you. It’s him!” The electric company truck pulled up in front of the gallery, saving Trent.

“Sophia you’re way off base, and I have to go. The power company’s here,” Trent started to move toward the front door.

“Trent, he’s gorgeous… You two would be great together. How hot would that be?” Surely she didn’t expect him to answer her question.

“You’re so not even in the ballpark of being correct, Soph. I gotta go.” Trent didn’t wait, but disconnected the phone before he could hear anything more and met the power company at the front door.

****

“He’s taken a vow of silence,” Gage’s first onsite contact, Javier, said into the phone.

“A vow of silence? Like he isn’t speaking at all?” Gage asked, completely confused by what he’d heard.

“Yeah, and he spends lots of time with the highest bishop, the leader here,” his contact said. The weak signal faded in and out, and Javier’s accent so thick, made him harder to hear and understand.

“Is this a set up?” Gage asked, although he’d talked himself out of that as an option weeks ago.