Trading Partners

Avery looked closer into the painting, and as he scrutinized it, patterns started filtering out of the swirling background. When his eyes picked out the shapes outlined in red, he saw that they were hearts. Not perfectly formed hearts, which is why they didn’t pop out immediately, but hearts nonetheless. And, to his amusement, he saw that they had tails on them—male sex symbol tails—and that these tails were entwining with each other in a most provocative and sensual manner. The painting was clever and sexual—male sexual. Gay male sexual. But you had to examine it closely to see that. Once you had seen it, it’s what popped out at you every time you looked at it. Avery laughed out loud. He loved the painting. It was, by far, the most clever piece of art he’d ever seen from Dominick. Avery was practically the only one who ever went into his library. He would be the only one who knew of its message.

And Dominick had arranged for him to receive it on Valentine’s Day. That was both thoughtful and clever. And it made Avery feel randy. He almost regretted that Dominick wasn’t here. Almost. Thinking of that made him think of Dominick’s ways. Maybe this painting gift—although, if it could be seen as a replacement for the one Dominick took, it wasn’t really a gift—could just be a ploy by Dominick to keep his options open.

Avery wasn’t tired any more. He needed to be on the move, to get out into the world. Maybe find some guy to lay, even though he’d never chanced doing that on a one-night-stand basis in Richmond. He put his coat back on and left the house, walking at random, he thought. But not at random, really. His feet were leading him back to Carytown.