Up in the Air 2: West Coast
Copyright © 2018 – George Loveland
Editor: Victoria Milne (www.victoriamilne.com)
Cover Design: Ethereal Ealain ([email protected])
All Rights Reserved
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, file sharing, peer to peer program or otherwise – without prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Warning
This book contains material that is intended for a mature, adult audience. It contains graphic language, explicit sexual content and adult situations.
Dedication
To BJ, for your words of encouragement, to Victoria for your help and support, to Rhys for your amazing designs. Thanks to Daniel, David, Dori and Lesley for your input.
And to Alberto, this is for you.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Also Available
About George
Prologue
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I sighed with relief and fished it out. The screen flashed on, but there was nothing there. Just like last time, and the time before that.
“Phantom message?” Pete asked me.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Fucking thing.” I switched it to aeroplane mode so I knew I wouldn’t be fooled again.
“Come on, Max. Stop worrying about your phone and look around you. You’re missing out on all these beauties.” He waved his arm around for emphasis. “No point waiting for some tosser to text you back. Let’s have a shot and then get on the dancefloor.”
Club Xtra was filling up. The warehouse club was known for its bigger guys, bears, muscle bears and their admirers. I fell in the admirer’s bracket, preferring a strong, built man over another twink like myself.
“No shots though,” I told Pete. “I’m flying tomorrow night, I can’t turn up hungover.”
“You’ve got all day to get over it. Have one to loosen you up a bit. You’ve been highly strung all night.”
“No I haven’t,” I shouted back as the music went up a notch. “Just a lot going on.”
“Alright, alright.” He held his hands up as a sign of surrender. “One shot and then have a dance.”
“No shots for me,” I shouted again as he walked to the bar.
At six-foot-three and built like a brick shithouse, he wasn’t hard to miss. He liked the twinks, and there was always a guy who made a play for him. As he got to the bar, he knocked, accidently on purpose, into a guy in the queue. The guy rubbed himself up against Pete, and with quick motion Pete bent down to whisper something in his ear before his tongue disappeared down his throat.
At least it might stop him bringing shots back. The music went up another notch and I found a pillar to stand up against to watch Pete from a distance. In true “Pete” fashion, he had one eye on the bar and one on the twink. As soon as the bar opened, he kissed the twink on the cheek and then ordered his drinks. When he turned around, he didn’t have one shot, or even two. He had four. His eyes locked on mine as he approached, and I shook my head.
“I said I’ve got to fly tomorrow,” I screamed at him. Although in the club it came out as though it was normal conversation.
“Just these two.” He winked at me and handed me the shots.
Sambuca. It was an easy shot for most people, but for me it did something else. This wasn’t going to end well.
My phone vibrated again. I was about to check it when I remembered I’d switched it to aeroplane mode. Fucking phantom vibrations. The first shot went back with no trouble at all. Pete cheered. I tapped his shot with my second one and knocked it back. The buzz of the sambuca hit me straight away. It was time to forget about everything and have fun.
I dragged Pete into the middle of the dancefloor, pushing past the bears and sweaty hairy men. A couple pinched my arse and I gave them a smile in return, but I wasn’t interested – yet. When we reached the middle, Pete grabbed my hips and pulled me back into him. It was an old trick of ours, appear to be a couple and everyone would swarm around us. Although we’d got together once in the beginning, we weren’t together and there wasn’t going to be an us. He was a friend now, a mate. It worked because soon a bear was pressed up in front of me, his belly touching mine. Pete lifted my T-shirt up and over my head. I turned around with a scowl, but he was already shirtless, his muscles gleamed in the lights that hit us on the dancefloor. His twink from the bar was back, and Pete took no time in scooping him up and kissing him. The bear that had gyrated up the front of me now thrust his crotch into my arse. I could feel his hardness underneath his jeans, but I didn’t need that now. All I needed was to dance.
Lost in the music, I didn’t know Pete had left the dancefloor until he placed another shot in my hand. I pushed it back at him, but he shook his head, clinked it with his and then knocked his back. Fuck it. I knocked mine back and threw the plastic on the floor. I needed a piss though, so I shouted at Pete and then headed to the toilets.
The queues were long, with most guys either doing drugs or each other instead of going to the toilet. As I was about to go in, another guy walked out, and I sucked in a breath. He was tall and chunky with tattoos of different images etched over his body. The hair on his chest was long and dark, and when I got to his face blood rushed to my cock. His beard was full and his eyes smouldered. His lips curved when our eyes met, and I was sure it was because he knew what effect he was having on me. Then some guy stood behind me pushed me forward and into the toilet.
When I’d finished, I searched the club for him; I knew Pete would be alright with his twink. The guy wasn’t in the lounge, or the cheesy music area. There was no way I’d find him on the main dancefloor, so I went to the other chill-out area. Except I went via the bar, for some much-needed Dutch courage. I squeezed through, ordered a shot of sambuca and set off. When I turned around, he was standing with another group of guys. He laughed at something one of them said, and then I caught his eye. He nodded at me, and then turned to whisper something to another bear next to him. The guy looked me up and down before he shook his head.
I didn’t need to know any more. With my shoulders slumped, I turned around and headed back to the dancefloor. “Fuck him,” I said aloud. I didn’t need him anyway. The bar was close enough and empty enough for me to get to the front of the queue.
“Double Jack and Coke,” I shouted.
I knocked the drink back and headed for the dancefloor. Pete was dancing on his own, and as soon as he saw me, clapped me on the shoulder, and then pushed me away. If it hadn’t been for a bear stood behind me, I would have fallen on my arse. My saviour was six foot tall, muscled and bald. He didn’t look too bad when the light shone across his face, so I thanked him for rescuing me
with a kiss.
We continued to kiss and grope; his hands everywhere until the lights went on in the club. He wanted to take me home, and after the rejection I’d received earlier in the night, it seemed like a good idea. I told him where I lived, and he took me to his car. It didn’t take long for us to get back, and I must have dozed off in the car, because the next thing I knew, we were parked outside the flat.
I knocked into something on the way in and told him to be quiet. James, my flatmate and best friend, was in bed. Music played, and James joined in, but he didn’t. He shouted at me, and then I threw up in the bathroom, I made it in time. James got rid of the guy and then sent me to bed.
My phone rang a couple of times before I picked it up. There was no name or number displayed. Adrenaline shot through my body. Maybe she did get the card, maybe she was calling me. I pressed the green accept button.
“Hello?” I said.
“You’re alive then. That’s good.”
“Pete?”
“Who else would it be? Just checking you got home alright.”
I told him I had but didn’t give him any more details of the guy I’d brought home. He told me about the twink he’d spent the morning with, and then reminded me it was his birthday soon, so we’d be going out. After saying our goodbyes, I hung up and went back to sleep.
When I woke again, James told me he’d swapped flights with me. He’d taken my flight to Johannesburg later that night, and I would go to Los Angeles tomorrow morning. We argued back and forth, but he won when he told me it was too risky for me to fly. If I hadn’t had to leave the argument to throw up, I wouldn’t have agreed with him. In the end, I thanked him, and then went back to my bedroom. There weren’t any other messages on my phone. No missed calls, nothing to show that my mother had got in contact with me. I crawled into the foetal position, wrapped myself in the quilt and sobbed.
Chapter One
“Are you going to tell me what happened last night?”
Gran didn’t even look up from her book.
“Not much. I went out, got drunk, and got home this morning.” I lied.
“Hmmm.”
“What?”
“And why did you get so drunk?”
“It was one of those nights.”
“Just because you don’t live with me anymore, doesn’t mean you can lie to me now. I told you when you moved in with me, no lies. I know what day it was yesterday.”
“You do?” I gulped.
“I don’t forget anything, as you well know. It was your mum’s birthday yesterday, wasn’t it?” She put her book down.
The talent show on the television became very engaging.
“Well, is that why you got so drunk?”
I turned to Gran. She knew the answer, but she always wanted to hear it from me. I nodded, even though it hurt my head to do so. My body still ached from the hangover from hell.
“Did you send her a card again?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I put my number in there this time, wondered if she wanted to get in touch, but, well you can tell…”
Gran got up and sat next to me on the sofa and hugged me. Like she’d done for so many years of my life.
“You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Maxie. I’m worried. James said you’ve swapped flights a couple of times now. Any more and they will suspend you both, and you don’t want that, do you?”
I shook my head. My lip trembled, and I held on as much as I could.
“Come on, let it out.”
I did. I let out the tears which I’d held back all day. It was stupid to think my mother would call, or even text me. But I always held onto a small slither of hope. Part of me thought she might, after all these years.
A tissue was in my hand before I stopped crying. Gran always knew when I was done; when I needed her.
“Oh, if she were any relation of mine I’d tell her what for.”
I laughed. “I think you did tell her what for, many times.”
“Oh yeah, that I did.” She laughed along with me.
Gran wasn’t my gran by birth. When I’d told my mum and her husband I was gay they’d kicked me out. I’d wandered the streets for hours; ending up at my best friend James’s house. His mum took me in straight away, but when it didn’t look like my parents were going to talk to me, let alone have me in the house, I’d moved in with James’s gran. She’d insisted I’d called her Gran, and she’d been my family ever since.
We sat in silence as we watched television. I didn’t feel like talking, and it was nice to sit with her. She loved the talent shows and often reckoned herself to be a good judge and could spot a star in the making. I never followed her advice though; her “sure to win it” acts usually went out in the first week. However, it gave us a good laugh and it helped me to forget the past day.
I made us a cup of tea before bed, checked my suitcase was ready for Los Angeles and had an early night. It was the least I could do for James after he swapped our flights around so I wouldn’t get fired. I needed to turn up at the briefing early and not get in any trouble. James told me the excuse he’d given the shift co-ordinator, he needed to take Gran to hospital on Thursday afternoon; I had to remember the lie and behave.
Gran and I said goodnight as I headed to my bedroom, while she went to James’s bedroom. I lay there for a while, going over what I could remember of the night before. I’d met a couple of friends for a drink, which turned into a bottle of wine, or two, before Pete dragged me to Club Xtra. I shouldn’t have gone but went with the flow as normal. The guy I’d brought home flashed into my mind and caused a shiver to run through my body at the way he’d touched me.
Then I remembered the other guy. The one I’d seen before I went to the toilet. I closed my eyes as I tried to bring him back to my mind. Before his boyfriend rejected me, I was sure we would have had some fun. He had the kind of body I could get lost in. The dark hairy chest, the tattoos I would have explored, those lips.
My cock stiffened at the memory, and I tugged it a couple of times. I imagined his arms around me, my body tight to his, how he would take me. My hand beat faster, yet nothing happened. The need to get off drove me crazy, yet my mental shag wasn’t working. I picked up my phone and loaded my favourite rugby locker room scene. So many hot bodies, kissing, sucking and fucking had me back to wanking myself off with extra vigour. A couple more flicks of my wrist and I was spent all over my hand and belly. Relieved and sated, I cleaned myself up, checked my phone had the right alarm set and fell fast asleep.
When Gran banged on my door, I was sure I’d only just closed my eyes.
“Cup of tea, Max. Up you get.”
I groaned into the pillow, and then shot out of bed and opened the door. Gran stood with her dressing gown tightly wrapped around her and a cup of tea in her hand.
“How long you been up?” I asked as I took the drink from her. Knowing Gran she’d been up an hour or so, worried I’d miss my flight.
“Enough time to make a cuppa. Get on now or you’ll be late.”
I thanked her as I took the cup and had a swig of tea before heading to the shower. The clock on the wall told me I was awake half an hour earlier than I wanted to be, but knew Gran would be making breakfast, so I couldn’t complain. I got ready, checked everything and sat down with her until I needed to get going.
Despite us telling her not to, Gran would give the flat a good clean before we got home. Our beds would be changed, all our washing done and we would have a dinner in the fridge ready to pop into the microwave when we got in. I gave her a kiss on the cheek as I left, and then a hug to let her know how much I appreciated her being with me.
An hour later, I walked into the briefing room, grateful it was empty. I flipped through magazines until other members of the crew came in. Most of them stared at me with open mouths or wide eyes because they weren’t expecting me on this flight. I feigned a smile each time, until Danny walked in. The five-foot-eight blond twink walked straight up to me, his lips white.
“Where’s James?”
“We had to swap flights.” I flicked through the magazine some more.
“He promised he’d come to a show I have tonight. I can’t believe he’s stitched me up like this.”
I looked him up and down, and then raised an eyebrow. He took a straightened up.
“We had to swap shifts to help Gran out.” I let the words sink in. He opened his mouth to say something, but I held up a finger. “Now, I’m sure as he rushed to move things around it slipped his mind that he was going to help you out. However, I’ll help you with whatever you need.”
“You’re going to help me?” his voice was high.
The rest of the crew looked around to see what was happening. An audience was not what I needed.
“Yes, whatever you need.”
“You’re not going to abandon me like you did last time?”
“Last time?” I thought back to when I’d been out with Danny and remembered two occasions. The first time was with James, so I couldn’t imagine much having gone wrong. The last time though? Oh.
“Yes, the last time, in Vegas. You promised me a wild night and got us into some underground club you’d heard about, and then left me there.” He spat out the last words, his face bright red. Like an elephant, well, a skinny blond elephant, he didn’t seem to forget anything.
I took a deep breath and formulated my reply. “I’ll be there to support and do whatever you need, okay?”
Danny nodded, and then sat down next to me and launched into what was expected of me. He was booked to perform at Flamingos, a gay hotspot renowned for its drag queens. I was impressed he’d managed to get in to perform; I’d been there a few times and they had some high-class acts.
When he took a breath, I fired a text off to James, thanking him for landing me with Danny. I owed James for taking my flight of course, but Danny was high maintenance. Danny quietened when the cabin crew director swanned into the room. Jane was all high cheekbones and high bun. She took one look at me and then back to the rest of the room. “Nice to see you too,” I thought.
Up in the Air 2: West Coast Page 1
