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

The battle spilled into the living room. There was no way we could handle him, even though there were five of us, and I was ready to resort to fighting dirty.


Vincent heard the ruckus and came to see what it was all about. His expression, the single timeI was able to focus on him, was bored. He rolled up his sleeves, pulled the Russian off us, and clocked him, leaving him bleeding from his nose on the really nice area rug I’d found in Rockville.


“Call a cab, would you, Sweetcheeks?”


Couched as a question, it was an order nonetheless, and I didn’t think twice about obeying him. I did wonder briefly how he’d managed to get in, then decided one of the boys must have forgotten to lock the door after admitting the Russian.


Vincent dragged the man down the stairs by a leg, muted thuds announcing each time the Russian’s head hit a riser, and out into the street.


Chapter 26