The Handsome Stranger - Part 3

All characters are consenting adults (18+)

“Knock knock”.

Dad’s voice woke me from an uncomfortable sleep. I was still fully dressed, and drool had dried on my cheek. I wiped the tiredness from my eyes and watched as the door opened, and the light from the hallway poured in. “Mind if I come in?”

He sat down on the end of my bed and looked out the window. It was dark now, but there was no way to tell what time it was. I pulled myself up and sat with my back against the headboard.

“You know that your mother and I love you very much, don’t you, Coop?”

I nodded. It was true, I did know it, but that didn’t make it any better. They were clearly more concerned about making Austin feel welcome, than they were about me.

“What you probably don’t know is that your brother was paying rent since the day he turned eighteen, something which we haven’t extended to you”.

I cocked a brow. Bradley had been working since he was my age, but I had never known that he was giving my folks money. I felt a tinge of guilt.

“Now he’s gone, things are a little tighter” Dad continued, “which is why we decided to rent out your brother’s bedroom. I know it’s an adjustment, son, but these are the sacrifices that we have to make right now”.

I sighed. Now that I’d had time to calm down, I could somewhat understand the situation.

“He hates me” I said, at risk of sounding like a silly little boy.

“He doesn’t hate you, Coop” Dad chuckled, “in fact, he probably thinks that you hate him”.

I reeled off the situation that had happened the night before and Dad smiled at me. “If you feel that strongly about it, we’ll tell him to go” he said, and my eyes widened.

“You’d do that?”

“You’re our son. We’d do anything for you, Cooper”.

The words almost left my mouth before I had even thought them through. Of course I wanted him gone. He was a rude, arrogant, selfish, condescending prick, and just as I heard my own voice, I stopped.

“If he goes, you and Mom will struggle with money, won’t you?”

Dad forced a smile. I could always tell when he was forcing it, but this one looked almost sad.

“We’ll manage, son” he said, and tapped my knee with his hand before standing up.

I watched as he walked back around my bed and toward the door, and closed my eyes as I took a deep breath.

“Don’t” I said, and he stopped in his tracks. “Forget about it, I can live with him”.

Dad looked down at me for a moment. “Don’t do this for us, Coop” he said, “if you want Austin to stay, then make sure it’s because you want it”.

I held his gaze. Was he insane?! Of course I didn’t want it, but if they were going to guilt me into obedience, then so be it.

“I do” I lied, and flashed a fake smile.

“I can always tell when you’re faking it” he chuckled, “and get a shower before bed, you stink of sweat”.

All I could do was laugh to myself as Dad left my room. As much as it was a revolting thought to think that I’d have to live with Austin, there were a handful of upsides. I stood up, stretched my aching body and strolled toward the bathroom as I tried to think of them.

He was incredibly handsome, and there was no denying that. The guy looked like a model, if models were rugged, ripe and said things like ma’am. He had the best body I’d ever seen, online and off. He must have spent his entire life working out, and it was evident in every part of his body. Aside from that, my parents clearly idolised him, and as I shoved open the bathroom door and came face to face with a wall of muscle, every single thought that I had, disappeared.

“Fuck, sorry” I gasped, stepping back and crashing into the door frame as Austin stared at me with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He looked even better than I’d seen him before. Beads of shower water dripped down his half naked body. His blond hair had become darker, and was damp on his head. The towel covered only the parts that it needed to cover, and the rest of him was completely exposed. Yet, the sturdy hunk showed not a single sign of embarrassment.

“Don’t you knock?” He asked, as I fumbled my way back out of the bathroom, slipping and sliding as I pushed my back against the wall outside. He slowly walked toward the door with a sly smile on his perfect face, and closed it even slower.

“Holy shit” I whispered to myself, and hurried back to my bedroom.

I slept sweaty. Even when I heard Austin come out of the bathroom and walk across the hallway to his room, I remained pinned to my bed, playing over the scene that I had witnessed.

It was an innocent mistake, of course. How many times had Bradley and I walked in on each other in the bathroom over the years? There was nothing wrong with it, and was part and parcel of living in a house together. So why couldn’t I shake the feeling that I had done something so depraved? Did Austin realise that it was a mistake? What if he thought that I was some sick pervert who had been spying on him? What if he told my parents? What would Dad think? What would Mom think? I groaned to myself as I rolled over and tried to fall asleep, but it was hours later before it eventually happened.

Austin was gone by the time I plucked up the courage to go downstairs. I expected my parents to sit me down and remind me to be cautious when busting into the bathroom, now that we had a new housemate, but neither of them mentioned it. In fact, neither of them mentioned a thing about Austin until I brought it up.

“So” I mumbled, ploughing into a bowl of cereal, “where is he?”

I caught Dad giving Mom a sneaky smile, and rolled my eyes.

“He’s gone out” Mom said, “said he has some errands to run”.

“What is he, eighty?” I scoffed, “who runs errands? What even is an errand?”

Dad chuckled. It felt nice to be the favourite again, but Mom was going to be harder to crack.

“I think it’s very impressive” she said proudly, “a young man like that, going about his business. I admire him”.

“I’m sure you do” I grinned, and she slapped the back of my head as I laughed.

This was better. This felt normal. No Austin. No snide remarks. Just me and my family having breakfast on a Sunday. I sighed contently, until Dad reminded me of something that I wanted to forget.

“Austin made a reservation for eight” he told Mom. “You know, I can’t even remember the last time we had a date, isn’t that something?”

The two of them kissed like dew-eyed college students, and I gagged audibly. “Don’t worry, son” Dad said, tussling my hair, “someday you’ll find the person who makes your heart surge!”

“I doubt it” I mumbled.

My heart surged when I heard the front door open a few hours later. I leaned forward on the chair in the living room and watched as Austin kicked off his boots in the hallway and dropped his jacket on the coat rack.

“You don’t have to do that, you know” I said, nodding toward his boots. “You can wear your shoes inside”.

He studied me for a moment, like I was some sort of lab rat, and smirked.

“Not where I’m from” he said, and turned his back.

“Well this isn’t where you’re from, is it?” I replied, feeling a warm wave of anger rush through me.

Austin stopped walking and turned around again. He didn’t say anything for a moment, but walked back toward the living room and looked around to make sure nobody else was there.

“You’re a brat, do you know that?”

I got to my feet. Despite the fact that Austin was taller, bigger, older and stronger than me in almost every single sense of each word, I wasn’t going to back down from him in my own house.

“Is that right?” I hissed, and the warm scent of fresh sweat made the words stick in my throat.

“That’s cute” he smiled, and using only his shoulder, the man knocked me back onto my ass, and I gawped up at him. “Are we gonna’ have problems, Coop?” He smirked.

“Don’t call me that” I spat.

“Call you what, Coop?”

“That!”

“Coop?”

“Shut up!”

“What’s the matter, Coop?”

I jumped back to my feet and clenched both fists. I’d never punched anybody in my life, but I was ready to change that. I drew back, aimed right at his stupid fucking perfect face, and then my dad appeared, and the two of us snapped our attention toward him.

“Hey, Mr. Lawson!” Austin beamed, and my jaw dropped.

“Dad!” I barked, ready to spill the beans on Golden Boy, but Austin interrupted, and a few moments later, the two of them were engaged in a conversation about football, and I felt like ripping my fucking face off.

If this was how heated things got whilst Mom and Dad were home, then how would the evening unfold when there was nobody here to stop us from murdering each other.