Taming A Jerk - Ch. 3 (Box Shaped Heart Side Story, Patreon Exclusive)

Chapter Three - The Truth And Nothing But

Alex felt pretty much pissed, especially after sleeping on the sofa. Apparently, his faithful husband was no longer in the mood to put up with his moods and whims like he had gotten the guy used to over the last two years. He had so much on his plate he was scared he was going to have indigestion.

And he had other reasons to be scared. Carter Malis was going to be soon out of the hospital, and that meant trouble. So, the homophobe had suddenly discovered he liked sex with guys. By all means, he had thought that man to be a safe bet never to get too near a dick. Yet, somehow, Aron had managed to wear the guy down or ...

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, almost making the flow of the human hive around him stop. The rows of fast walking people found new routes and began sliding by him as he continued to stay there.

Aron had it bad for that guy. He had always had. That was a seriously sore point. Alex wanted to believe what everyone was saying, that Aron loved him more than anything since that would have given him that complete sense of security he had wanted almost as much as money. But the shadow of that childhood friend was present, and Alex was sure that the guy had never left for real from Aron’s thoughts. Or heart.

Which meant that, indeed, Aron wasn’t his, and those weird people on the other side, or in-between, or whatever that place was called, were right, only not for the reasons they thought. Aron was to blame. He should have let go already. But no, he always had to try being good, better than anyone and care for that homophobe.

Alex hadn’t been worried that Aron might get a taste of how sex with his best friend felt like. Until now. Plus, he had great faith in his own charms. He knew, for a fact, that Aron was hungry for touch and affection, and that was a resource he had to use wisely. 

That had been before. Now, things were different. Carter Malis had caused the craziest thing possible - a body swap! - and he had given Aron that resource that Alex had to watch over like a hawk, and he had given it in waves, like a flood if what Aron was saying was true.

It had to be true. Aron never lied. He was a perfect man, who wanted a perfect life, with a perfect husband. Alex winced. He was nothing like a perfect husband; that he knew. Also, even if he could appreciate Aron’s raw masculinity, he had a different type.

And he knew exactly what that was. As he walked through the door at Beauty Ex, he felt cold feet, all of a sudden. So, Carter had screwed his husband and done a thorough job. But what the hell had the guy done to Simon?

A stab of jealousy made him almost bite his tongue, at the thought of Carter Malis all over his lover. Strange enough, that hadn’t been the case when he had realized what had happened during the body swap between Carter and Aron. Of course, he was pissed, but not like this.

Like he needed to find Simon right away and ask him if Carter had dicked him, too. Was that guy at least a bit a homophobe, or what?

He was so scandalized that he was seething in anger. Simon was a gullible sweet idiot. Sure thing Carter had had no trouble ravishing the poor boy. Although the image he had of Carter, which was pretty much of a dork, did not fit well with some pervert jumping at the opportunity to take a big bite out of Simon.

Well, Carter had had the advantage to be inside the body of a supermodel, so he had had every edge to make things happen the way he had wanted. But was that dork really capable of screwing Simon, too? Aron was a different thing. He and Carter had been best friends. That until Carter had decided to behave like a total homophobe at the wedding.

At some insidious level of logic, he could understand Aron and Carter going at it. What he could not stand, however, was even considering the possibility of Carter getting freaky with Simon.

Whatever. Both guys were his. Aron was his husband, and Simon was his lover. There was no room for Carter in there and his homophobic attitude. It was still a damn mystery how the guy had put his ass up to get fucked.

Of course, it hadn’t been his own ass, but Alex’s. So, all in all, the guy had taken advantage of having a desirable body for a change.

He was going to work so hard to get Aron back on track. At first, he needed to play the role of a loving husband. That, at home. Outside of it, he needed to find out if the homophobe had tried anything funny with Simon.

However, if the guy had rejected Simon, which was what Alex was clinging on as on a straw handed to a drowning man, Simon had to be desperate by now. Somehow, that could work to his advantage if he was thinking about it.

“Hey, Alex,” Fiona from marketing began walking toward him with her arms open wide.

Hmm, what could that be? The young woman pulled him into a hug and sighed dramatically. He froze on the spot.

“Ah, daily hug,” some guy he could not remember how was called hurried toward him, as well.

Fuck. Carter Malis. What the hell did you do while you were me?

***

He managed to get inside his office with some difficulty and after almost crying to be left alone. Great. It looked like his personal assistant wasn’t there. The day was already bad as it was. 

Now he needed to find Simon and find out what Carter Malis had done to ruin his lover, too. But, first, the army of huggers outside his door had to disappear. So, he stood there, listening at the door and sneaking glances until the hallway was quiet, too.

He barely put one foot out, that Yolanda’s voice calling for him from the end of the hallway made him grind his teeth.

Could people just understand already he wanted to find his lover and check the damages?

“Alex, your Instagram is blowing up,” Yolanda chirped as she walked over to him, grabbed him by one elbow and guided him toward her office.

Instagram? Oh, no, the day was getting even worse! And that woman in the white room had dared to tell him that the homophobe had been busy making his career thrive. But Instagram?! Things were bad. Really, really bad.

“Now we have so many manufacturers of sexy underwear for guys fighting over you that we must make a serious selection. And, of course, I need you for that,” Yolanda cooed.

“Underwear?” he murmured through his teeth.

“Yes, dear,” Yolanda said. “Don’t tell me Aron is still pissed over that thing with the … video,” she cleared her throat, a sign that she felt a little embarrassed. “I cannot blame your husband. That particular episode was definitely out of line. But you solved it so nicely, and now our little enterprise is booming.”

“I’m not really in the mood for posing in underwear,” he played his usual card.

For some reason, he liked it when people begged him to do something only because he was the only one to do it. It sort of empowered him. 

Made him feel useful. 

Now, where had that come from?

“Are you sick, Alex?” Yolanda now seemed worried. “You have worked so hard over the last week or so. If you need a day off …”

“No,” he answered right away.

So Carter Malis had made a mighty great impression on everyone. Well, he was sure he could do better.

“How many followers are we talking about?” he questioned, as he set foot in Yolanda’s office.

“Ten thousand,” Yolanda said, looking very much excited.

Ten thousand? He grimaced. That was meager, to say the least. What the hell did those people on the other side think social media success had to look like?

“Since this morning,” Yolanda added.

Now he looked at her, without hiding his surprise.

“And the exact number … let me check socialblade for trends … oh, it’s 137.455,” Yolanda said with satisfaction.

Alex cleared his throat. Somehow, the number seemed higher than what he had expected. So had Carter done that good a job to pose in nothing by skimpy underwear? 

“What pics were posted?” he asked.

Yolanda looked at him a bit strange.

“Don’t you have the app installed? And I thought you would be all over it, with your eyes constantly on the latest notifications. Instead, you’re asking me about the numbers … Are you sure you’re not sick, Alex?” Yolanda returned to her worried mode, again.

With a frown, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Oh, great, Carter Malis could not be bothered by push notifications, so they were all turned off. But he could not keep a smile of genuine satisfaction as he perused through the stats.

His eyes landed on the posted pics. He almost gasped.

“Even you are surprised with how good you look in these, aren’t you, Alex?” Yolanda giggled. “I must say, I have no idea what Aron is doing, how much he is showering you with his affection, but in these pictures, seriously, you look so … in love, because I think that it must be …” she babbled.

Alex squeezed the phone in his hand, tuning out his boss’s voice. It wasn’t fair. He could feel tears welling up. Why of all people in the universe, had Carter Malis had to be the one inside his body all this time? He had … not ruined things. He had made them better. And that wasn’t fair. No one had to be better than him, Alex, at being him. Yet, that dork had just gone and even made him friggin’ Insta-famous.

“Baby, you’re really not okay,” Yolanda spoke, caressing his cheek gently.

He usually did not allow people to touch him. But, somehow, Yolanda’s small smooth hand on his cheek felt nice. 

And it was just making him want to cry more. 

“Um, I’d like to spoke to Simon from marketing, about some new ideas,” he sputtered.

“Sure, no problem, I’ll have someone tell him since somehow your assistant had suddenly decided to quit yesterday after you left.”

“What assistant?” he mumbled.

“That hipster-looking young man, Mark. He was great while working here, but said something about some urgent family business, and we could do nothing to keep him from leaving. And I don’t know how he didn’t speak to you first about it. You two seemed to get along so fine. But maybe his emergency was really sudden.”

“It’s okay,” he waved. “I can live for a couple of days without an assistant.”

Yolanda smiled at him.

“Seriously, Alex, I’m so amazed by how much you’ve grown. Any other time, you would have thrown a hissy fit, and I should have produced an assistant for you, even a temporary one, out of thin air.”

Alex stared for a while at his boss, as if he could not comprehend completely what she was saying. But that was true. He would have done that. He would have tortured the temporary assistant, too. Right now, though, he was not at all in the mood for that. 

What he wanted was to see Simon and really check the damages.

“Well,” he sighed, “I guess I did … some growing up. I’ll check with you later after I talk to Simon for a little while.”

“Take all the time you need. I know how much you enjoy Simon’s company.”

Alex checked Yolanda’s motherly eyes for any sign of innuendo or sarcasm and found none. He mumbled his goodbyes while stealing glances at his phone.

***

There was a discreet knock on the door, and, as lost in thought as he was, he almost missed it. 

“Come in,” he replied, feeling irritated with the interruption. 

He hoped there wasn’t someone who was going to force him to postpone his conversation with Simon. But no, it was actually Simon, who was looking at him, from the door, without coming in. 

And the guy hadn’t used their secret knock routine, like usual. So, something had happened. And Alex had to undo it, and fast.

“What are you standing in the door for?” he almost snapped. “Come inside and lock the door.”

Simon stared at him, opened his mouth to say something, but eventually obeyed.

Alex took in his lover. Simon looked as beautiful as ever, dressed smartly in a designer suit that hugged his lean body well. But the caramel eyes watching him were a bit wary, and the guy wasn’t taking any steps toward him, hovering close to the locked door, as if he wasn’t decided whether he should stay or not.

Alex rolled his eyes and murmured a small curse. Of all things that Carter Malis had fucked up for him, this one should be easy. So he stood up and sauntered from his chair, going straight for Simon.

Without a word, he grabbed the guy by the lapels of his suit and kissed him. Simon grabbed his arms and pushed him back an inch or two.

“Um, Alex, what are you doing?” the guy asked, looking pretty much dumbfounded with being welcomed like that.

Alex frowned and pouted.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m kissing you, dummy.”

“Wait, I mean, why?” Simon asked.

Alex opened his mouth, and almost let out a not so well thought ‘I missed you’, but he caught himself right on time.

“What do you mean, ‘why’?” Alex replied, feeling his irritation growing again.

Simon frowned, too, and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Why don’t you go home and kiss Aron?” he said, like a miffed child.

Ah, damn, so things were going to be difficult. But, at least, it seemed pretty much clear that Carter Malis hadn’t fucked his lover. Only his husband. Well, he could work with that.

“Why would I do that?” he shrugged, feigning disinterest.

It was Simon’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Geez, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re in love with your husband now, and you don’t want to have anything to do with me. As you told me.”

Good, that was good. Maybe Carter Malis was going to live, after all. At least Simon had been left untouched. He grinned as he realized that.

“Alex, are you okay? You have a pretty weird smile right now,” Simon said, a bit warily. 

“I think I am,” Alex looked at his lover. 

“Yolanda tells me you want to discuss some new ideas …”

Alex drew close again. Simon was just a little taller than him, and that was something he liked. It was sort of a principle for him not to bottom for a guy who was shorter than him. Wait, who had come up with that rule for him?

He frowned, searching his mind for an answer.

“Alex,” Simon called for him.

He shook his head. 

“Sorry, I somehow end up spacing out a lot lately,” he mumbled.

Great, his attempt at seducing Simon could fell flat on its face if he was going to keep it up like that. 

“Are things okay at home with Aron? You two are now like the power couple or something,” Simon said, with a bit of an annoyed voice.

“Power couple?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I mean it is not like it’s general knowledge, but I heard it through the grapevine how you two took care of that reporter.”

The reporter. Alex pondered. Yolanda had mentioned some video, and Aron had said something about the same thing …

“And how did we?” he asked Simon, genuinely interested in finding out now what the hell had happened.

Seriously, those guys in the other world, or whatever that was, had to have a pretty twisted sense of humor, sending him back without him having any little bit of knowledge of what the hell had happened with his life while he hadn’t been present. 

“You’re asking me?” Simon’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Yeah, I’m asking you,” Alex placed one hand on the door, crowding Simon to prevent him from running away.

“That’s weird, even coming from you,” Simon mumbled.

Alex came closer.

“Okay, okay, I’m telling,” Simon hurried to say. “Well, basically, rumor has it that you two went after him at some party, pulled him out of there, almost beat the crap out of him, and got him to admit to having stolen that video from Aron’s phone …”

“Why did some reporter care about some video from Aron’s phone?” Alex was now right in Simon’s face, and he was looking the guy dead in the eye.

“Are you kidding me?” Simon moaned, but Alex pressed against the guy, and it looked like Simon had serious trouble breathing normally. “Okay. It was like gold for the tabloids. You, in friggin’ sexy lingerie, getting serious dick from your hunk of a husband,” the annoyance was back in Simon’s voice as he pronounced the last words as if he was mimicking someone else.

Alex almost cursed under his breath. He never cursed out loud. But Carter Malis doing all sorts of crazy things while in his body, including, apparently, a celebrity sex tape, could make him change his ways. 

No, he wasn’t going to change his ways. He was going to refuse that, with every fiber of his being. Regardless of what the woman in the white room had tried to tell him. He had every right to be himself.

“Alex, you’re a bit scary right now,” Simon mumbled. “Are you still pissed at that reporter? If it helps, you really, really looked amazing in that video.”

“Oh, damn, have you seen it?” Alex asked, this time alarmed.

“What kind of question is that?” Simon revolted, again. “I told you I saw it! And so did everyone else!”

Alex moved away and ambled toward his desk where he sat and buried his head into his hands.

“How come you’re so affected now? When that happened, you didn’t seem so … upset. I told you. You looked great in it. Aron, too. You two, together, actually. It made me realize, as I said to you, that you’re really in love with your husband. And that … okay, there I say it, that it’s not actually room for me in your life.”

Simon seemed pained while saying those words.

“I’m not in love with Aron,” Alex said slowly, without looking up. 

“Oh, damn, Alex, what kind of game is this?” Simon’s voice was anxious now. “You told me …”

“Yeah, it seems like I told you a lot of things,” Alex said and pursed his lips. “So that video … is there anywhere anymore?”

“On some … sites,” Simon grimaced.

“Tell me which,” Alex demanded.

“They’re not exactly the sites you can sue, Alex,” Simon replied.

“I don’t care about suing,” Alex said quickly. 

“Then why?”

“I’m just curious about something, that’s all.”

Simon sighed and pulled out his phone. He fiddled with it a little, and then he handed it to Alex.

Alex braced himself as he hit ‘play’. He could feel his breath hitching in his chest, as he watched. Fuck, fuck, a million fucks! His mind was screaming at him, without caring an iota that he wasn’t the kind to curse. 

So that had been happening. Fucking Carter Malis was in love with Aron! He could see it clearly, even in the shaky video. The guy was looking at Aron like there was no one else on the entire planet.

He pressed ‘pause’ and handed the phone back to Simon.

“What is it, Alex?” Simon’s voice was now gentle. “You look upset.”

“It’s nothing,” he said quickly.

It was, actually, everything. So Aron had had a lot of fun during the body swap. Carter, too. He had been the only one forced to face his … He used his index fingers to rub against his temples. So everyone in the world was free to do whatever he wanted, only he, Alex, needed to mend his ways or something. The nerve on some people. 

Practically, Carter was a friggin’ snake, banging his husband on the sly, and Aron was … a friggin’ cheater! Yeah, he had suspected Aron of cheating before, but, to some degree, he had had to tell himself that it was just a piece of the arsenal he could use to piss off his husband once in a while. He hadn’t truly believed that. 

Until now. He had had the proof right in front of his eyes. Yet, he couldn’t use it in any way. Because no one was going to believe such a crazy story involving body swaps and what not. 

Either way, he was fucked royally and not in a fun way. 

“You seem different,” Simon pulled him out of his reverie. “Like you’re not really yourself. Could it be that … you remember more now? Or less?”

Simon seemed confused. Alex ground his teeth. He was himself. And no one else had the right to be him, except for him. What cruel joke had those people thought up! He could feel his hands trembling.

“Remember?” he said in a loud voice. 

“Yeah, you were a bit amnesic after the accident, so I thought, for a while, that,” Simon sighed, “you hadn’t really forgotten me for real. But then, seeing how much you insisted that you only care for Aron … Alex, can you please just tell me what’s going on? It feels like only yesterday you were giving me the boot for real, and now you’re jumping into my arms, kissing me … It’s not fair, you know?”

Alex could feel the reproach in Simon’s voice, even beyond the words the guy was speaking. In a way, it felt like the same way as it had happened with Aron. He wanted to be upset, at everyone surrounding him, yet, what he felt for real could only be interpreted as guilt. 

When the hell had that started? What was he feeling guilty about, anyway? Oh, no, was he starting to have a conscience now? He groaned and hid his face in the crook of his bent elbows, stretching over his desk.

“Go away, Simon,” he spoke softly.

“Seriously, some people must work around here. And you know what? Despite your telling me you love Aron now, I think I liked your yesterday version more than how you are now,” Simon walked away.

The guy almost slammed the door on his way out. Simon was pissed. Aron was pissed. Was there anyone in his life who wasn’t pissed?

Well, Yolanda was pleased with him. But, again, she was pleased only because Carter the dork had gone and begun posing for lingerie almost as good as naked. And the truth was his Instagram fame was on the rise. He pulled out his phone and looked at the pictures again.

Yeah, that was precisely it. So that rant at the wedding had been nothing but a ruse, after all. The dork loved Aron. And Aron loved the dork. If he wanted to keep what was his, he needed to make amends with Aron. He risked losing his husband, once Carter was going to be out of the hospital.

He took a look around his office, and for the first time in his life, he found it too large, too opulent, and too obnoxious, if that could be a thing applicable to interior design. What was happening to him?

And Simon was a mess. Carter hadn’t fucked him, but the guy was a total mess. And it looked like getting him back was going to take a bit of effort. Never before had Simon felt doubts about him. And now, the guy was ready to judge him, too.

Any way he looked at things, he could not ignore the fact that he had been treating Simon as a boy, not as a man. Of course, in bed, the guy was a skillful lover, but outside of it, he was so trusting and gullible that Alex wanted, sometimes, to slap him silly. Of course, that had helped a lot.

Taking advantage of Simon had been easy. The guy was not exactly in the same league with Aron, wealth wise, but he had enough money to buy him expensive gifts. So, for him, it was a good deal.

Only that, right now, it didn’t feel at all like a good deal. He felt guilty. For everything. For Aron being upset. For Simon being confused. For himself wanting nothing but material things.

It had to be because of the time spent in the In-Between. Could it be he had imagined everything? But no, it couldn’t be. 

So he had changed. And he needed to get back to being himself. Because, if he wasn’t himself, who was he going to be?

***

“Hey,” he jumped directly into Aron’s arms, the moment the guy walked through the door.

He needed to gain back what he had lost because of the body swap and fast. Step number one had to be gaining back Aron. Simon could wait. He didn’t like it, but he needed to stay focused and solve everything Carter Malis had turned upside down in his life one step at a time.

“Hey,” Aron said, not exactly returning the hug, but not pushing him away, either.

“What do you say about spending this evening at home, just the two of us?” he said, using his most disarming smile.

Why was it hard to keep the appearances right now? He felt his face taut like it was about to stretch too much and break. 

“Okay,” Aron replied, eyeing him with something that could only count as a suspicious look.

“Have you seen your friend?” Alex asked, caressing Aron’s hair slowly.

“The guy who pushed you in front of a car?” Aron didn’t miss his chance to tell it like it was.

“Um, sorry about that,” Alex cast his eyes down. “I overreacted. The moment I was there, seeing him in that hospital bed, and thinking that could have been me … I don’t really have an excuse.”

“You don’t,” Aron said sternly but didn’t move away from his husband’s touch.

“I want to make it up to you,” Alex said slowly, moving just enough so that he could kiss a small spot behind the ear which Aron liked.

“Okay,” Aron said with a sigh. “Let’s just have a bite. We can go out if you want. I guess the last days have been a little too eventful.”

“How’s Carter?” Alex asked, the smile never leaving his face.

“He doesn’t want to see me, for now, at least,” Aron said, looking down with a frown.

Ah. Interesting piece of information. Alex could feel his smile growing wider and more genuine.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he continued to caress Aron’s ears and neck.

“Ah, well, he’ll come around,” Aron said with determination. “And then, I’m going to hold you on your promise. You’ll make an effort to at least be civil toward him. Because I don’t intend to exclude him from my life ever again.”

His husband wasn’t asking him to do something. He was telling him to do something. This was also new. Alex swallowed, but when he kissed Aron, he knew that he had nothing to do to change things back precisely the way they had been before that freakish accident.

TBC