Change comes to all of us. For Theo Bascopolis, the first time is when he's fifteen. He finds his life falling apart when his father discovers Theo is gay and orders him to become straight or leave. Having no choice, in spite of what his father might think, Theo leaves. But where can a fifteen-year-old go? Especially when it starts to rain. He thinks things are looking up when he meets a striking man named Franky, who seems very attracted to him. However, once again Theo's life changes when he learns all Franky wants is for him to hustle. And so Theo becomes the rent boy Sweetcheeks. However, Franky underestimates Sweetcheeks, and the results of the ensuing fight sees Sweetcheeks fleeing to Washington DC, where he crosses paths with a group of rent boys who take him in. Finally Sweetcheeks has a family, a home, and an additional source of income in the form of apartments they're able to rent out. His life changes again a few years later when a mysterious tenant by the name of Mark Vincent becomes the reason behind the assault on one of Sweetcheeks's boys. Vincent visits the boy in the hospital, bringing with him his equally enigmatic trainee, William Matheson. The instant attraction blindsides Sweetcheeks. In spite of knowing love isn't for rent boys, he hopes Matheson can see beyond the body he's offered to so many. But Matheson has secrets of his own. Can Sweetcheeks overcome his insecurities enough to believe in the quiet man who's come into his life? Can Matheson keep his actual occupation a secret without it jeopardizing their budding relationship?

Pick Up the Pieces

But while we were paying the mortgage, we were also paying rent on the apartment we couldn’t vacate as of yet, because it was going to take a while for the third floor to be ready for us to move in.


I spent the next four months chewing my nails as project after project went over budget “just a little.”


“We could ask Tim for a loan,” one of the boys suggested.


“I will personally castrate anyone who calls Tim about this.” He was having some problems ofhis own in Atlanta—none of the locations he’d looked at suited him—and was talking about moving to Savannah. I glared at Paul, since he was the one most likely to contact Tim. “This is our responsibility. We’ll deal with it on our own.”


“What about our retirement fund?” Paul suggested. Socked away in a safe-deposit box were high-risk stock certificates. “We could tap that—”


“We’d take too big a hit. The loss would be too great.”


Chapter 19