How to Train Your Dom in Five Easy Steps (25 page)

Chapter Thirty-Three

“So you’re going to do all the talking?” Eddie asked, for what must have been the twentieth time, as they walked down the hill to Jeff’s folks’ the next day. Jeff had contemplated bringing the truck for a quick getaway if necessary, but it was always a nightmare parking it down there on the narrow roads, and it was a lovely day.

Also, his hands had been shaking too much to trust himself driving.

“I told you, I’ve got it sorted. I’ll be fine.” He was kind of terrified, but he just wanted to get it all over and done with as soon as possible.

“I just want you to know I’m there for moral support if you need me.”

“I know that.” Jeff smiled at his boyfriend. Boyfriend. The thought made him all gooey inside, like someone had scooped out his innards and replaced them with warm caramel sauce. He wanted to take Eddie’s hand as they walked, but knowing the Hook St. Norton grapevine, someone would see them, ring up his folks and steal his thunder.

Although maybe that would be the best way to do it, and save himself the ordeal of coming out.

Nah, that was the coward’s way out. Eddie would respect him far more if he told his family face-to-face.

He just had to keep thinking about that and how amazing things had been last night. And this morning, when he’d spanked Eddie scarlet before fucking him every which way. And the way Eddie had looked afterwards, all blissed out and happy. The warm caramel sauce bubbled, and Jeff was in danger of popping a stiffy if he carried on in with that train of thought.

But then they turned the corner, and he could see his dad outside the house, smoking, and his dick shrivelled. Bert watched them approach, smoking his ciggie with a kind of defiant rage. That must mean Tony and co were here already, as Mags wouldn’t let Bert smoke in the house when the kids were there.

“This your mate, then, is it? The one you texted about?” Bert said, tipping his head back so he could look down his nose at Eddie, who towered a good six inches above him. Jeff rolled his eyes at the macho posturing. And it was only going to get worse when Bert found out the truth.

“Yep, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is my dad, Bert. Come on. Mum’ll be in the kitchen, I expect.”

Bert held out a hand, and Jeff watched as he squeezed Eddie’s hand hard. That had to hurt. “You got a last name, son? I don’t recognise you from round these parts.”

“Powell. And I grew up in Bradford on Avon.”

“Ah. Bradford on Avon, eh? Bit posh there, isn’t it.” Bert was clearly doing his best to wind Eddie up.

But Eddie just smiled. “I suppose it is.”

“Not sure what you’re doing hanging around with a reprobate like my Jeff, then.”

“Dad! Since when have I been a reprobate?”

“Since that time you stole a car and crashed it.”

“You mean the time I borrowed your car without asking and backed it into a wall? Come on, Dad. That was ten years ago. One little dent is hardly writing the thing off. And it wasn’t like I’d been drinking or anything. And I’d passed my driving test and everything.” Jeff turned to Eddie, who was giving him a look he recognised as amusement. “Come on, let’s find Mum.”

They headed inside, and Jeff pulled Eddie to one side in the hall before heading through to the noise of the kitchen. “Sorry about that. Did he hurt you? He’s always trying to prove he’s the top dog when he shakes hands.”

“I’m fine.” Eddie flexed his fingers and winked. “Good thing I’m a masochist, that’s all I can say. And you know how I love a dominant man.”

“If you’re getting turned on my dad’s handshake, that’s just wrong.”

Eddie gave him a challenging look. “You think you can do better?”

“Arm wrestling. Later. My place. Winner gets a blowjob. And a rimming.”

“Mmm, I like your thinking.”

Jeff licked his lips, sorry they had to go through with the whole coming-out-to-the-family ordeal first, but that was just the way it was. He squared his shoulders and headed into the kitchen.

“Hi, Mum. I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

Mags was bent over the oven, and all they could see was her ample bottom in leopard-print Lycra. Jeff groaned inwardly, wondering what Eddie made of his folks. Eddie’s own family sounded so very different. Respectable, for a start.

“Hold on a minute,” Mags called. “Just testing the bird. Okay, another half hour should do it.” She slammed the door shut and turned to give him a hug. “Hello, darling. You’re looking good.” She narrowed her eyes. “You look like a man who got lucky last night.”

Jeff scratched his neck, which was getting very hot.

“Oh sweetie, I am happy for you, you know that. Now why couldn’t you have brought her with you? Not that I mind having your friend instead. Eddie, wasn’t it?” Mags turned to Eddie and hugged him tight. “Ooh, you’re all skin and bone. Good thing I’ve got plenty of grub to fatten you up, isn’t it?”

“Mum, he’s hardly starving.”

“This is all lean muscle, Mrs. White,” Eddie said, his face serious but his eyes twinkling. “I can assure you I eat plenty. I just don’t seem to be able to pack much weight on. Unlike your son.”

“Ooh, listen to you. Dead posh, you are, aren’t you? And it’s Mags, sweetheart. No need to stand on ceremony here. Now why don’t you two get yourselves drinks and head on out to the garden. Your brother’s here, with all the family.”

Jeff went and fetched a couple of lagers from the fridge, handing an open bottle to Eddie. “Come on, then,” he said when Eddie lingered over a pile of vegetables.

“Can I help you with anything, Mags?” Eddie offered. “I could peel these carrots if you like.”

“Well I never. A man offering me help in the kitchen! Jeff, you can bring him back anytime. But no, love, it’s all under control. I do this every week. You want to come back and help me on Christmas Day, though, love, and I’ll gladly take you on.”

“It’s a date,” Eddie said, kissing her hand.

Mags giggled and blushed. “Be off with you, Casanova, or my Bert’ll be getting jealous.”

Jeff just shook his head at Eddie and let him out to the garden.

“All right, bro. You feeling better today?” Tony called from over in the improvised goal.

“Yeah?” Jeff puzzled for a moment, then recalled his hasty exit from the pub the night before. So much had happened since, was it really less than twenty-four hours ago? His whole life had changed since then. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just needed to sleep on it. This is Eddie, by the way. Eddie, this is Tony, and that’s his wife Denise.” He pointed out Denise, who was flicking through a magazine, her feet up on a sun lounger. “And these four balls of energy are Jayden, Tyler, Jackson and Chardonnay. Don’t laugh,” he muttered to Eddie. “It was better than some of the other names they came up with.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Eddie said. “Do you need a couple of extra players on the field? Because it’s been a few years, but I was a pretty mean midfielder when I was at college. And I think we could put together a game of three-a-side if me and Jeff join in.”

In the end, they played football with Tony and the kids for a good half hour until Mags called them in, and Eddie proved to be pretty bloody amazing with the ball. Jeff could see him gaining points with the kids and with Tony, and he was feeling pretty positive about the whole situation when they headed inside. This would go fine. It had to. They’d all liked Eddie. Even his dad had shown a kind of grudging admiration when Eddie didn’t wince at his monster handshake.

The table was set up in the front room, as there just wasn’t space for them all in the kitchen, and Jeff looked around at everyone. Eddie was listening to Jayden’s recital of footie statistics with an expression of interest—definitely a masochist—and even his dad was smiling at something Tony was saying. It would be a shame to break up the happy party with his announcement. Maybe he should leave it till after the main course. When everyone was feeling too full of food to object to anything much.

Unfortunately, Mags got in there first. “So, Eddie,” he heard her asking, and the sly tone to her voice set off alarm bells. “You know anything about this new girl of Jeff’s? He’s being awfully secretive about her. He hasn’t even given me a name. I’m going to start thinking she’s married or something if he doesn’t introduce me to her soon.”

“Or completely fictional,” Tony chipped in.

“Have you got a girlfriend yourself?” Mags asked Eddie. “Oh, are they friends or something? She some posh bird he doesn’t want to bring round coz he’s ashamed of us or something?”

Eddie was looking at him expectantly. “Jeff? I think you’d better handle this one.”

Right, yes, because Jeff had said he’d do all the talking, hadn’t he? Now why had he said that, exactly? Jeff stared down at his half-eaten dinner, but the roasties weren’t giving him any inspiration, other than reminding him that they were just about the same size and shape as Eddie’s balls. Balls which he’d had in his mouth for the first time yesterday. And he’d enjoyed it, oh so very much.

“Eddie doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Jeff found himself saying. It was a roundabout way to get to the point, but he needed to build up to it. “He has a boyfriend.” There, he’d outed Eddie. Now he just needed to out himself. “Me.” He cleared his throat and looked up from his roast dinner. “I’m Eddie’s boyfriend. So now you know.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Every pair of eyes at the table was staring right at Jeff. All except for Chardonnay, who was looking at Eddie. “Does that mean you’re my uncle?” she asked. “Cool. Mum, Dad, I’ve got another uncle. Shakeisha’s going to be well jealous. She’s got two mums,” she announced proudly, “but she ain’t got no gay uncles.”

“Hasn’t got any,” Denise muttered absently, “not
ain’t got no
.”

Jeff looked from one to another of them. The boys had all lost interest by now and were eating. Tony was staring at him with his arms folded, like Jeff was a Sudoku puzzle that needed solving. Denise was wide-eyed, but she gave him a small smile. His dad was… Well, his dad was getting up and walking out of the room. His mum was biting her lip and worrying her charm bracelet, and Eddie was looking at him with those big golden eyes all suspiciously bright, but he was smiling proudly, and that was the best sight in the whole bloody world.

Better than Jeff’s garden in full bloom at dusk.

Better than the most spectacular sunset.

Better than his mum’s treacle sponge, which he could smell cooking in the oven.

Jeff took hold of Eddie’s hand on the table and squeezed it in full view of everyone. It was scary but exhilarating. “Mum, I know Dad’s not going to like it, but I hope you can get used to Eddie. He’s good for me. He makes me happy. And I…I love him.”

Mags was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue now and making a right mess of her mascara. Oh dear. This really wasn’t going too well. Now Tony was staring at Eddie. He looked like he wanted to start trouble, but he’d be up against the two of them if he tried anything with Eddie.

“I think we should probably go,” Jeff said to Eddie, who grimaced and nodded. “Mum, I’m sorry for spoiling dinner. We’ll be off now and let you finish in peace.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.” Mags got up from her chair and trotted round the table. “You’re my firstborn. You’ll always be welcome here.” She wrapped her arms around Jeff and suffocated him in a perfumey hug. “Honestly, I think we’re all a bit shocked, that’s all. I never in a million years would have thought you’d turn gay, Jeff White. You always had such an eye for the girls.”

“I still do. I’m bi, not gay,” he protested. “Uh, not that it matters either way,” he added hastily, catching Eddie’s raised eyebrow. “I’m off the market now I’m with Eddie, so no trying to set me up with anyone, you hear?”

“As if I would.” Mags let go of Jeff and turned to Eddie. “Come here, you. You’re not getting off that easily, my boy.” Jeff just caught Eddie’s look of alarm before his face was squashed against Mags’s boobs. “Never thought I’d see the day when I had another son-in-law. But that’s good. Always did get on better with men than women. ’Cept you, of course, Denise. But then again, you and me could be peas in a pod, couldn’t we?”

Denise grinned back at her. “Yeah, that’s right. And we’re dead chuffed for you, aren’t we, Tone? It’s nice to see your brother happy again, isn’t it?”

Jeff’s brother mumbled something he couldn’t quite catch, but at least it didn’t sound like an insult.

Mags huffed. “You’ll have to do a bit better than that, my lad. You and your dad both. Don’t you worry about Bert,” she said to Jeff and Eddie. “It’ll take him a while to come round, but he’ll get there, I promise. I have my ways of getting him to do what I want. It’s amazing what a few weeks’ withdrawal of conjugal rights will do, ain’t it, Denise?”

Denise smirked back at her, and Tony and Jeff both said “Oi!” at the same time.

“I don’t want to hear about your sex life, Mum,” Jeff protested.

“And we don’t want to hear about yours either,” Tony added.

“Like we’d sit here and give you all the juicy details,” Eddie said. “I absolutely don’t kiss and tell. And Jeff doesn’t either.”

“Ugh, kissing. That’s gross.” That was Jayden. His other two younger brothers were flicking peas at each other across the table.

“Okay, enough of that, boys. Anyone ready for pudding? I don’t think I can manage any more of this. I see you’ve eaten all of yours, though, Eddie.”

“It was delicious. Thank you, Mags. It’s been ages since I’ve had a roast dinner, so that really hit the spot.

Mags flashed Eddie a big grin, and Jeff relaxed some more. So long as Eddie devoured her treacle sponge with the same enthusiasm, he’d be welcomed into the family.

When they were all settled down with treacle pudding and custard (or ice cream in some cases, or both in Jeff’s), Jeff noticed his mum heading out of the room with a bowl of pudding. Was his dad hiding upstairs, or outside smoking himself into an early grave? The treacle sponge turned to flavourless paste in his mouth. He’d have to face the music and talk to the old man. Today, really. Leaving it any longer could do more harm than good.

But he should let him finish his pudding first. He was always grumpier with an empty stomach.

They stuck to harmless talk about what was on the telly while they polished off pudding, and afterwards, Eddie offered to help wash up. Jeff hovered for a while, more in the way than a help, but Eddie and Mags seemed to be having a whale of time laughing about some celebrity he’d never heard of on Strictly Come Dancing, so he decided he’d better seek out his dad. He’d try out the front first. But Tony grabbed him by the arm first.

“A little talk, bro? Let’s go for a walk. Out the back way.”

It’d be practice for talking to his dad, he supposed. The junior version.

“So you’re really a bummer?” was the first thing Tony asked.

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t get it. If you still like birds, why’d you want to go and get involved with a bloke?”

“Because I love him?”

“Yeah, but women are sexy.”

“Eddie’s sexy. Really fucking sexy. And filthy too. You would not believe some of the things he does.” It was fun watching Tony’s expression turn to horror.

“Oh my God, I don’t want to know. That’s disgusting.”

“No more disgusting than if it was a woman doing it to you. You’d love it then.”

“So it’s just the sex, is it?” Tony pulled out his packet of Marlboros and lit one up.

“For fuck’s sake, weren’t you listening to a word of what I said in there? I love him. End of story. He’s not just some sex object. I mean, it might have started out a bit like that…” But had it really? They’d started out by talking. From what he’d heard from Eddie, they’d talked a lot more before they first had sex than Eddie had with some of his previous hookups. “It’s not just sex. He’s a good bloke, and we have a laugh, you know? He gets me in a way that Sarah never did. And I get him. I don’t have to spend my time wondering what’s going on in his head. He just tells me if he’s got a problem, and then we fix it.”

Tony was staring down at a pebble like it was fascinating. “So this is why you got so weird at the pub yesterday. You weren’t really sick after all, were you?”

“I was sick of hearing that shit coming out of your mouth.”

Tony pursed up his lips and blew out a long stream of smoke. “Sorry,” he eventually muttered. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well even if you didn’t, you should try thinking about who you might be offending before you open your mouth. Could be any number of gay blokes around that you don’t know about. You can’t always tell from the way people look. Eddie, for instance. Bet you never figured that one out before I told everyone.”

“All right, all right. I said I was sorry, didn’t I?”

“Words are cheap. I just want to know you’re not going to be saying homophobic shit to your boys when you get home. This crap has to stop somewhere, you know? I’ve had enough of it from Dad over the years. I don’t want to be hearing it from my nephews too. I deserve better than that. Eddie deserves better than that. We need to break the pattern. Not let the old bastard poison everything.”

Tony flicked his eyes up to meet Jeff’s. “Yeah, okay. I’ll do my best. But Jeff, mate, what are you going to say to everyone down the pub? You gonna bring Eddie down there to watch the footie? You think he’d fit in? What if someone tries to gay bash you?”

“I can look after myself. And so can Eddie. He’s tougher than he looks. And we can count on you too, can’t we?”

“Yeah. I s’pose.” Tony didn’t sound all that enthusiastic, but at least he wasn’t trying to persuade Jeff to give Eddie up. Or that he wasn’t really gay.

“You’re really serious about him, aren’t you?” Tony said. “I never heard you talk like this about Sarah.”

“I think Sarah and me got together too young. We weren’t really all that suited, but we stuck together for some reason.”

“Your house, I reckon,” Tony muttered. “Good thing you never married her or you’d have had to sell it and give her half.”

“No, it wasn’t that. I think we were both too comfortable to want to shake things up. And probably a bit scared of going it alone. But I’m glad she left me now. Really glad. Because if she hadn’t, I’d never have found Eddie, and I’d still be miserable but not admitting it to myself. So I’ve got to thank her, really. I might do that, actually.” The more he thought about it, the more he warmed to the idea. “I could call her, and we could all meet up. Better she hears it from me than on the grapevine.”

“Rather you than me,” Tony said. He sighed deeply as he ground out his cigarette. “Listen, you want me to talk to Dad for you, I’ll have a go. He’s not all that bad, you know. He was laughing at Julian Clary the other day.”

“At him or at his jokes?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah, it kind of does.” Jeff kicked a stand of nettles back that had encroached on the path. “Don’t worry about it. I should be the one to go and talk to him. It’s my life. My responsibility.” And something had lifted inside him since he’d told everyone. Like he’d been tethered down and now he was free to take off in whichever direction he wanted. It was kind of scary, but also exciting. He’d just have to focus on that feeling, rather than the dread of facing his old man.

They turned to walk back towards the house, and their dad was waiting for them on the pathway. He looked smaller than usual, and out here it really struck Jeff just how much of a toll the accident had taken on him. The large, powerful machine of a man from their childhood was now wasting away. Stooped and paunchy where he had been broad and muscular. It was easy to see now what he’d be like as an elderly man. He was almost there already, despite not having hit retirement age.

Seeing him that way deflated some of Jeff’s righteous anger, and he approached him with reconciliation in mind.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” were the first words that came out of Bert White’s mouth, but this time Jeff listened to the hurt and fear underneath them.

“I know you don’t. But I think you should, seeing as how I’ve spent the whole of my life listening to you.”

“Me? You never listened to a bloody word I said.”

“Of course I did. Why do you think I went into building when what I really wanted to do was the horticultural course at Lacock? But that wouldn’t have been man enough for you, would it? Well, I’m sick of living up to your standards. I’ve got different ones, and as far as I’m concerned, loving another man doesn’t make me any less of one.”

“But it’s wrong.”

“Who says?”

“God, for one.”

“Don’t give me that. You don’t believe in God. You’ve never even been to church.”

“Yes, well… There’s other people that think it’s wrong too.”

“Like who? Some of your old workmates? Some blokes down the pub? You know what, Dad, I really don’t care about what a bunch of homophobic bigots think. I can look after myself. And I can look after Eddie too. Not that he probably needs it. He’s tougher than I am.”

“He doesn’t look particularly tough.” Bert sneered a little, but it didn’t seem like his heart was in it. “What d’you have to go and take up with a posh bloke like that for? And all this rubbish about you messing around with flowers and so on. What’s wrong with the life I brought you up to? It hasn’t done me any harm.”

There was no point in bringing up the injury or the fact the man was chain-smoking himself to an early grave. If he couldn’t see those problems himself, then the stubborn old git was hardly going to accept it from Jeff. “I’m not you, Dad. I have to make my own choices, and they’re not always going to look like yours.”

“You’re telling me. Are you seriously saying you’d rather have some man like that rather than a bird like my Mags? You’re going to give up all that soft skin and a nice pair of tits? What exactly can you do with a man, anyway?”

“You really want me to fill you in on our sex life? Because it’s pretty wild.”

“Don’t be disgusting.”

Jeff shook his head, starting to lose patience. “I’m not being disgusting, Dad. You’re the one who’s disgusting. And if you can’t accept me and Eddie, then I don’t want anything to do with you. I’ve had enough of trying to keep you happy. I’m living my own life now.”

Burt sniffed loudly and looked like he was about to start a tirade but turned away instead. Fine. If he didn’t want to listen, Jeff wasn’t going to waste his breath.

As he walked away back to the house, Jeff felt something lifting inside him. His steps were bouncy, like gravity had finally gone and given up on holding him down.

It felt like he could fly.

And when he saw Eddie smiling at him through the window before turning to flick bubbles at Jeff’s mum, he knew everything would work out somehow.

The worst was over, and what didn’t kill you only made you stronger.

This was going to make him and Eddie stronger together. He was sure of it.

As they walked back up the hill towards Jeff’s house, Eddie was surprised to feel Jeff’s hand land on his waist. “Someone might see,” he warned, but Jeff just grunted and gripped him tighter.

Eddie’s insides curled up into a body-sized smile. “I’m really proud of you, you know.”

“It’s no big deal. Hardly anyone around at this time of day, anyway. They’ll all be inside, too stuffed full of roast to move.”

“Not for holding me in public. For coming out to your family. That took a whole heap of guts. And then some. I mean, I remember how scary it was for me, and my family were a hell of a lot more liberal than yours.”