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The first time was an accident, really. Well. He hadn’t intended to get a sugar momma. He knew what she was proposing, though, and he agreed to it, so it wasn’t really an accident. But he wasn’t looking for it.
She was hot. Even her name, Genevieve, was kinda hot. She had long, black and grey hair that she usually kept up; she basically only took it down when they were about to have sex. She was over twice his age and spent a lot of time looking at him like she intended to eat him. She usually gave him gift cards or cash, but she also bought him his first real suit for their “dates,” a nice (but not, like, Rolex nice) watch, and a motorcycle. When he wondered out loud about dropping out of college, she was supportive, suggesting trade school, traveling, or getting some work experience. When he did drop out, she gave him a goodbye he’d never forget, told him to trade the motorcycle for something that could fit some luggage, and told him to invest his money early.
When Maddie gave him her Jeep, he sold the bike and put the money in a savings account with the rest of his college fund. On the road, he’d learn how to invest it, take care of it.
He got good at finding relationships like that: older women who wanted a young, hot guy to have around, whether as eye candy, an accessory, company, a sex toy, a pet, or some variation thereof, and would take care of in return. In Atlanta, he met another woman like that, but a little different. Paula and her husband were on vacation for a couple weeks and wanted some extra entertainment. It was his first threesome involving another guy, but it was far from bad. By the time she and her husband went home to Oregon, she’d started teaching Evan how to suck dick.
By the time he got to Montana, he was more than proficient with both genders. Things at the dude ranch were probably a little closer to prostitution, but it wasn’t bad. Fooling around with the other workers was messy, but fun. Peru was largely the same: large “tips” from the clients and getting into trouble with the other employees. When Connor suggested L.A., though, and the idea of trying school again, Evan was ready for it. The sex was good and the money was great, but he missed spending time with the same person—or people—for months, getting to know them and their preferences and their kinks.
He had plenty in the bank and a solid resume, so he let himself be a little fancy, and submitted his profile to a matching service. They even interviewed him over lunch, clearly noting his manners and performance. They warned him that it could take time for the right client to come looking, but he wasn’t too worried. He had a light semester of “exploratory” classes at the community college starting in a couple months that were supposed to help him pick a major, as well as a job at a queer bar not far from his new place and the college campus.
They met in a cafe in October, set up by the matching service. Tommy was handsome, a balance of rugged and tidy. He was almost 36 to Evan’s 24, and he hadn’t started greying yet, but Evan knew he’d look good with greys. He was nervous: this was his first time trying something like this. His cousin, Paul, talked him into it. He was running the family foundations, but this wasn’t the original plan. He wasn't good at parties and talking, and he didn’t have the excuse of another job anymore to let him escape events early. Dating had been rough, too, because his lifestyle had stayed consistent from his life before being dragged back into his mom’s family’s businesses, but there wasn’t a lot of overlap between people who genuinely enjoyed his lifestyle and people who could handle the events. Tommy had only really been out and dating for a few years, though. His first career was as a helicopter pilot in the army, from when he was 16 to just after he turned 23. His second career was as a firefighter for the LAFD; he tried to do the foundations and the LAFD at the same time, but he was burning the candle at both ends, and he had to leave the LAFD in 2012. He seemed pleasantly surprised when Evan informed him about the application sent to the fire academy.
It was good for a first date, and ended with them sorting out the details: Evan didn’t need much financially, but Tommy would make sure that Evan didn’t need to touch his savings or work at the bar if he didn’t want to; Tommy would make sure that Evan had the clothes necessary for Tommy’s events; they’d do two to three dates per week for the next few weeks to figure out their dynamic, at places of varying fanciness; Evan would start attending Tommy’s events in about six weeks, if they’re doing well, and attend one to three events per week; Evan may or may not join Tommy on the occasional trip to New York City, where Tommy’s maternal grandmother, Nana, lived and headed the family; Evan’s job at Tommy’s events was to chit-chat and make sure that Tommy got breaks (that appeared to other attendees as Tommy “taking care of” his twenty-something boyfriend in a bathroom or supply closet or available private corner); if Evan got into the fire academy, expectations for his attendance would work around his class schedule; and they’d check in and reevaluate at the six-month mark.
April found Evan Buckley in two forms: Evan, Tommy Kinard’s charming, friendly, and attractive, albeit notably younger, boyfriend who was clearly with Tommy for exactly one reason (getting into Tommy’s pants), but had society wrapped around his finger; and Buck, the academy’s most impressive recruit of the term. It wasn't perfectly smooth, of course. It took time for Evan and Tommy to understand how the other worked, like that Tommy said “by 7pm” and meant decidedly before 7pm and not at 7pm, or how Evan really just liked chatting with people and sleeping with Tommy, and didn’t just do it for the money and gifts. Still, it was good for both of them. They texted throughout the day. Tommy helped Buck study and train. Buck was always ready for a workout, or to be shown a movie, or to be a little company. They ended up spending Christmas Eve and Day together, since neither of them had family close enough. They kissed at midnight on New Year’s, at a charity party. They spent Valentine’s making pizzas at Tommy’s out of flatbread and whatever Tommy has around. They brought each other gifts, just small things that the other would enjoy: a cupcake for Tommy, a new snack or trinket for Buck, and so on. On their six-month anniversary, they sat down at Tommy’s dining room table and agreed that they both wanted something long-term, that they enjoyed that there was something genuine between them (though they didn’t say romantic). Tommy suggested getting Buck his own apartment, so that Buck could move out of the crowded place he was still in, but they agreed to wait until they knew what station house Buck would be working at. It sent a little thrill through Buck, imagining his future as Tommy’s firefighter boyfriend. They agreed that Buck’s official graduation present would be a trip to NYC, where Buck would also have to meet Tommy’s Nana to get her official approval, though he’d essentially gotten it, thanks to a few cameos on phone and video calls, and Tommy's and society’s praises.
A few months later, Buck was lounging in Tommy’s garage, watching Tommy grumble at the Jeep, when Buck got his first job offer with the LAFD.