Husband Hunters

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Matt picked him up promptly at one. That was one of the things Cody really liked about Matt—he was dependable and always prompt. He did what he said he would, which was a rarer commodity in the world than one might first think.

Matt called him from his cell to tell him “I’m outside.”

Cody said, “I’ll be down in a second.” But then he caught sight of himself in the mirror opposite his front door.

Cody had thought he looked good, but now the mirror was pulling him back, telling him the olive green sweater he had chosen simply made him look washed out, too pale. Sickly. Undesirable. To step out the door in that sweater would be the biggest mistake he’d ever made.

“s**t,” he whispered to himself, picking up his phone, bringing up the recent calls, and hitting Matt’s name in the listings.

“Yeah?” Matt answered impatiently.

“I’m gonna be a couple minutes.”

“What’s the matter? You got the diarrhea? Dude, it’s just nerves. We’ll pick up some Imodium on the way downtown. That s**t’ll stop you up good.” Matt laughed.

Cody shook his head, questioning for the hundredth time why he was doing this. “No. Not diarrhea.” Although now that Matt had mentioned it, Cody was experiencing an urgent tingling in his bowels. The power of suggestion. “I just need to change.”

“Yeah, you need to change all right. You could start with that disposition of yours. Add a little sunshine to it, would ya?”

“Yes, Mom. I’ll be down in less than five.” Cody hung up before his friend could make more quips.

He knew what he would wear. He rushed to his closet and pulled out the pale blue Oxford cloth button-down. Yes, it was simple, but it contrasted wonderfully with his sandy hair and dark eyes. He had worn it so many times it hadn’t occurred to him as an option, but now, as he buttoned it in front of the mirror, he saw that all those wearings and washings had made the shirt delightfully faded and soft. The shirt simply looked right. It fit him perfectly, making his chest look broad and his waist narrow.

He finger combed his hair, slid into his winter coat, and rushed out to meet Matt.

The first thing Matt said to him when Cody got in the car was, “So how many times did you change, Miss Mary?”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Only once. Just this shirt instead of a sweater. Kept the jeans and Chuck Taylors.”

Matt put the car in drive and, once he was on the road, looked Cody up and down. With an uncharacteristic bit of kindness, he said, “You look great. Very sexy.” He peered down at Cody’s crotch, causing Cody to feel heat rise up to envelop his face. “And those jeans were the right choice. Nice basket. What did you do? Sandpaper the crotch? You stuffed a sock down there, didn’t you?”

“Watch it!” Cody cried as Matt coasted toward the rear end of a Subaru Forester.

Matt slammed on the brakes, laughing. “That was close!”

“Just keep your eyes on the road, mister. It’s not going to do us any good if we can’t get there in one piece.”

“Right,” Matt agreed. Cody noticed Matt’s hands trembled a bit. He also caught that Matt had gone to some trouble with his appearance and that he actually looked good, in a sexy nerd sort of way. Through the opening in Matt’s coat, he could see Matt had gone to the bother of donning a sport coat, black with a small white check, beneath which he wore a Rat City Rollergirls T-shirt in a nod to Seattle’s roller derby queens. His black jeans and combat boots worked to make him look quirky, yet appealing, Cody thought.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” Cody said. “You’ll be the one who gets picked. I just know it.”

Matt let out a little hiss. “Yeah, yeah. You’re just being nice. We both know it’ll be you, you big stud.” Matt grinned, shifting his gaze toward Cody for only a second.

Cody shook his head. “Most likely, it’ll be neither of us. The snow has changed to rain, and Seattle’s most gorgeous gay men will be out in full force. We’ll be lucky if we even get to talk to anyone connected with the show.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic. We are Seattle’s most gorgeous gay men, after all.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “That’s depressing.”

“Stow the false modesty. The producers will not find it appealing,” Matt warned. “And neither would a potential hubby.”