Summer Swap: Evan and Ty

Chapter 1 “Hey, pal, how’s about dinner? I’m finally finished.” Evan Romer tapped on his best friend’s door one more time, then reached for his key. Lucas was home—Evan could hear the stereo blaring away. Funny, it sounded almost like country music, but Lucas only listened to jazz. “Lucas?” he called once inside, detouring to the main room to turn down the music. That done, he could hear the hiss of the shower. No wonder his friend didn’t hear him knocking. Evan rustled in the fridge and pulled out a beer, then found an open bag of pretzels in the cabinet. Flipping the stereo off, he dropped to the sofa and switched on the TV to catch the local news. KPIX was predicting near-seventies tomorrow. Well, depending on the fog, of course. Like Mark Twain said, the coldest winter he ever spent was one summer in San Francisco. If tomorrow was foggy, forget the predicted high and wear a sweater. Finally, the shower shut off and Evan heard the buzz of Lucas’ electric razor. Time for a little fun. He’d teach the man to sleep until the middle of the afternoon. Leaving his snack on the coffee table, Evan crept to the bathroom door and readied his phone. Flinging the door wide, he shouted “f*******: post!” and snapped a quick photo. A blood-curdling shriek sounded from the steamy room. Evan took a second look, then let out a yell of his own. “Who the hell are you?” His surprised shout was echoed by the total stranger standing in Lucas’ bathroom. The man fumbled around on the counter, finally coming up with a’ bud vase, which he brandished like a sword, either forgetting his nudity or ignoring it. “What the hell are you doing here?” The voice was low-pitched and melodious, with a Southern accent that brought to mind magnolias and mint juleps. The body behind that name was not quite so hospitable. Though on the short side, the man looked like he could hold his own in a fight, with broad shoulders and rippling muscles. Evan took a step back. “I asked you first.” He thought about going for a weapon of his own, but the only thing Lucas had in the apartment that fit the description was his collection of plastic light sabers. Evan crouched and tried to look like he knew how to fight. “You’re the one in my apartment, pal.” The stranger waved the bud vase beneath Evan’s nose. “You’d better have a hell of an explanation or I’m calling the cops.” “Your apartment? This is Lucas’ apartment. How’d you even get in here?” The stranger backed down just a bit, lowering the vase with an understanding expression on his face. “Oh, you must be one of his friends.” “I’m his best friend, and you’d better do some explaining of your own before I call the cops first.” “We did a house swap. I’ve got his place for two weeks and he’s staying at my house in Greenville.” “You did what?” Where in hell was Greenville anyway? The man set down the vase and yanked a towel from the rack. “Do you mind?” he asked, wrapping it around his middle. Evan felt a brief pang of sorrow that the fine set of family jewels was now out of his sight. Then, he refocused on the situation at hand. “What the hell is a house swap and where is Lucas?” “I told you: he’s in Greenville. That’s in South Carolina by the way.” The man dropped to a seat on the edge of the tub. “And a house swap is exactly what it sounds like. We swapped places for two weeks. There’s a great gay-friendly site we used.” “That’s crazy. Lucas would have told me if he was planning something that big.” Evan suddenly remembered several calls from Lucas over the past few days. He’d let them go to voice mail—when he was in the zone, he ignored interruptions. Lucas knew that, just as he knew Evan would return his calls once his creativity was satisfied. But a house swap? He pulled out his phone. Three voicemails from three separate days. Had he really been working on the new game that long? That bit of coding hadn’t seemed to take more than a few hours. The other man swiped his longish, dark, and very wet bangs out of his eyes. “I think he said it was a last-minute decision. Something about a bad break-up.” Oh crap, Lucas had finally broken up with that sleaze-ball he’d been dating for the past year. Not that all of them hadn’t been after him to do just that, but Lucas had thought the man walked on water. If he’d been despondent, there was no telling what he might have done. “A house swap?” The stranger nodded firmly. “I’m Ty Mitchell. Lucas is staying at my house in the Upstate and I’m staying here. Just got in today, which is why I was in the shower when you so rudely interrupted me.” Evan belatedly realized what it must have looked like from the man’s point of view and felt his face flushing. He ran a hand through his own dirty blond mane. “My name’s Evan Romer. I wasn’t really going to post anything on f*******:. Especially since I don’t know you. I thought you were Lucas and—” “Do you post photos of your friend’s naked behind on f*******: much, or was that a spur-of-the-moment decision, too?” “Oh hell, I was just going to rag him about getting up in the middle of the afternoon. I thought he’d overslept.” One thick black eyebrow rose. “Does Lucas make that a habit? If he does, he’s going to be unpleasantly surprised when the neighbor’s rooster crows at six o’clock every morning.” “Lucas is usually up at a decent hour. We’re both in the computer business and sometimes we keep weird schedules.” Evan realized he was staring at the rather skimpy towel and cleared his throat. “I should let you get dressed. I’ll go…er…tidy up the living room a bit.” “Thanks, I’m sure.” Ty rose and closed the bathroom door quietly but firmly. Evan ran a hand over his heated nape and headed back to the living room. How much worse could that have gone? Who’d have imagined that Lucas would have loaned his apartment to a total stranger? He picked up his mess, flipped the TV off, and returned the pretzels to their rightful place. Ty stepped out of the bathroom, a pair of jeans riding low on his slim hips. Evan tried not to ogle the muscular chest, but as Ty toweled off his hair, Evan couldn’t help but notice the man was put together quite well. “I guess I should apologize,” Evan said. His face was still red. “I should have checked my voicemail before I came over.” “I reckon you should have.” Ty draped the towel over the back of a chair and put his hands on his hips. “I guess no harm’s been done, though, other than scaring me half out of my wits.” “You say you just got in—have you had dinner? I’d be happy to take you out by way of apology.” “Might just take you up on that one. Lucas emailed me a few of his favorite places, but I don’t know where anything is yet.” “Please.” Evan held out a hand. “Let me show you around town and get you a good meal. It’s the least I can do.” The man might be shorter than Evan, but he was tall enough to look him in the eye. Evan always thought he preferred green eyes, but he discovered that brown was his new favorite color. Ty closed long fingers over Evan’s fist, squeezing firmly. “It’s a deal.”