by Riley Hart
“Oh God. Not one of those,” he says as I work my way down his back.
“No. He’s not the guy who’s doing everything in his power to draw attention to himself while he works out.”
“Good. I fucking hate that…except when I’m the one who does it,” he says and we both laugh. “You know how I like attention.”
He definitely does.
I finish my massage, not quite sure how I ended up talking about Gary’s whistle. Afterward, I head back to Metropolis. Just as I step through the door, Peter makes his way around the corner, his cocky smirk faltering when he sees me. I really fucking hate this guy. What in the hell did Gary ever see in him?
“Travis.” He nods at me.
“Percy,” I reply and watch his face immediately flush red.
“We’ll pretend I don’t realize you did that on purpose, shall we?”
“Think what you want.” I cross my arms and wait.
“Just finish a massage?” he asks and I shrug. “I bet that job comes with its perks. Men throwing themselves at you left and right. Getting paid a little something extra for a special rubdown.”
Motherfucker. My muscles tighten to the point where they hurt, but I fight hard not to let him see he hit a nerve. My job being a cover-up for selling sex for cash is always one of the first things people assume—my parents included. A dirty queer like me can’t possibly be professional enough to keep it in my pants.
“Aww, come on, Petey. Don’t be like that. I know you gotta miss that ass. Jesus, it’s fucking incredible. He’s a goddamned beast in the sack, but remember, you’re the one who wasn’t man enough to handle him. I can, and he sure as shit is enough for me. I’m balls deep more than I’m not, and I’m sure you remember how much Gary is always hungry for cock.…Or maybe you don’t. He said you couldn’t satisfy him the way I do.”
I can see him working his jaw in anger. His fists tighten just like I knew they would. What a fucking joke.
“If you’re trying to get under my skin, it’s not working. Have you seen Evan? And my name is Peter.”
“That’s cute, pretending you’re not thinking about all the times you fucked Gary and telling yourself you know how to work that dick better than you obviously do. It’s okay. Not everyone can fuck as well as me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date tonight. I don’t want to keep my man waiting. He can hardly keep his hands off me as it is. He has five years of mediocre sex to make up for. Catch ya later, Petey.” Without another word, I turn and make my way toward the elevator.
A few minutes later, I’m in the shower cleaning up before Gary arrives. Afterward, I throw on a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top right as there’s a knock at the door.
He’s a few minutes early. A smile tugs at my lips as I pull the door open and…“It’s like you’re really in a relationship. I never see you anymore.” Cody tries to step inside, but I hold my arm out against the doorjamb to block him.
“No, I just have shit going on—working and now this fundraising shit—and I’m fucking him, but no, it’s not a relationship.”
“Rumor has it you’re at the gym together daily.” Cody cocks a brow at me.
“Making an appearance. It’s part of the gig. Come back later. He’s on his way over so we can work on some fundraising shit.”
Cody frowns at me.
“Why are you frowning?”
“I don’t know. You’re being weird. Why are you being weird?”
“Oh, Jesus.” I roll my eyes at him. “Always seeing shit that isn’t there. I’m not being weird.” But for some reason, I don’t want to hang out with both Cody and Gary at the same time. Honestly, I can’t say why. Cody’s my only real friend. Gary is…well, my new friend, but it almost feels like mixing two worlds.
“Fine, I’ll go, but you and me?” He points to me and then himself like he’s a fucking cartoon character or something. “We’re talking later.”
Just then there’s a noise down the hall. I look up to see Gary standing a few feet away as though he’s not sure what to do.
“I’ll let you two get on with it.” Cody winks at me and then turns toward Gary. “Sorry, your guy is ready for you now.” He heads into his condo, but Gary still hasn’t moved.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” I ask him.
“No…I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything, though.”
I wave him off. “It’s just Cody. You know Cody, right?”
He finally gets his ass in gear and comes into my condo. I close the door behind him. “I’ve seen him around.”
“He’s like my Derek.”
Gary seems to loosen up.
“Sit.” I nod toward the couch.
“You’re getting bossy again.”
“I’m a bossy motherfucker, and it makes your dick hard, remember?” I wink at him and head toward the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I’d offer you something good, but unfortunately, I’ve eaten too many carbs lately.”
When I glance over, I see Gary roll his eyes. “Like you have to worry about that.”
“Everyone has to worry about that. Everyone but you, Superass.” I grin at him.
“Yeah, right.”
“Beer?”
“Wine?”
“Shitty wine.”
Now it’s he who smiles at me. “My favorite kind.”
I grab the bottle, uncork it and pour us each a glass. This time when I nod toward the living room couch, Gary walks over. “Your ex is a dickhead, by the way…I fucking hate him.” I hand him his glass and we sit down.
Gary’s eyes go wide in this adorable, panicked look. “Why? What happened?”
“You’re freaking out inside, aren’t you?” I sit down beside him, not sure why I find him so amusing.
“Yes. I am. And you’re enjoying it. Now, tell me what happened.”
“What will you do for me if I do?”
“Suck your dick?” he replies.
“You’ll do that anyway.”
“True.” He shrugs. “Tell me!”
For some reason, I want to keep it going, but instead I tell him about our run-in. His response is immediate. “Oh fuck. You really called him Petey?”
“Yeah. Cocky prick. I thought his fucking head was going to explode.” We both laugh, but as I watch him, as I think about the things Gary has told me, I realize how different they are. Gary would never do the shit Peter has done or treat people the way he did. He’s a genuinely good man. “What did you see in him?” I ask.
He sighs, taking a sip of his wine. “He didn’t use to be the way he is now…well, I guess that’s not true. Maybe I just didn’t always want to see it. I’d never been in a relationship before. Like I said, I’m not out to my family, so I met this smart, attractive, older man who I thought accepted me in a way no one else had, and I fell in love. And I guess sometimes we wear blinders when we’re in love.”
There’s a sadness to his voice I haven’t heard much from him before. Peter doesn’t deserve Gary’s sadness. “Do you still love him?”
He takes another drink and pauses before saying, “No. I think I stopped a long time before we broke up. I just didn’t let myself realize it.”
I don’t know why, but my chest gets lighter hearing that.
“What about you? Have you ever been in love?” he asks.
I can’t hold back the laugh that jumps out of my mouth. “Fuck no. I would never give someone that kind of power over me.”
He looks at me over the edge of his glass, curiosity in those expressive eyes of his. “Interesting…tell me more.”
Not happening. “That would be another fuck no.”
“What? I just admitted something to you!”
“I admitted something to you too.” When he frowns, I add, “I’m mysterious. Mysterious is hot, right?” And then I down the wine in my glass. “Now what the fuck are we going to do about this fundraiser?”
17
Gary
“That’s not really fair, is it?” I say, not
trying to hide my annoyance.
His eyes widen with surprise.
“When you asked me a very personal question, I answered it,” I continue. “When I asked you a personal question, you told me ‘mysterious is hot’?”
He shifts on the couch beside me and cocks his head back before saying, “What’s eating you tonight?”
I take a gulp of wine. I know this doesn’t have anything to do with his response to my question, and I need to get this off my chest.
“That guy, Cody,” I say.
“What about him?”
“Do you do the same thing that you do with me with him?”
His eyes light up.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I think you did,” he says like he’s so damn proud of himself. “You’re jealous.”
“No. And yes. I don’t ever do this. I know you’re fucking around with other guys. I’m not delusional. I’ve never been in a situation with a fake boyfriend who I fuck occasionally, so I don’t exactly understand the protocol.”
He smirks and leans toward me. “I don’t think there’s a rule book for a situation like ours.”
“I shouldn’t have even brought it up,” I say. “It’s none of my business.”
Travis sighs and scratches the back of his head as though he’s nervous. “I’m not fucking Cody.”
“But even if you were, it shouldn’t matter. I’m going to be totally honest with you and say my mind is programmed for relationships. That’s what five years does to you. I’m used to thinking of everything within the context of a relationship, so I see something like that and it mixes with this confusing thing we’re doing and shit goes a little haywire in my brain.”
He pauses for a second, as though he’s thinking. “Okay. I appreciate you being real with me.”
“Sorry, I made it weird, didn’t I?”
He smiles. “No. You were being honest. Nothing wrong with that. Weird would be you telling me you’re falling in love with me.”
I laugh. That’s one thing I’m definitely not worried about happening.
“Whatever,” I say. “I’m gonna shut up now. I was saying I don’t care what you do with Cody or any other guy. I’m still getting used to this whole situation.”
That’s not entirely true. While I would totally understand him fucking around with other guys, I get tense thinking about it, possibly because of the way things went down with Peter. Still, I don’t have a right to be jealous, especially considering I know this can never really go anywhere.
He stares at me. Looks like he’s trying to read my mind.
“What?” I ask.
“That’s kind of adorable.”
He’s making fun of me. My cheeks are getting warm. God, this is embarrassing as fuck.
It’s easy for a guy like him not to give a shit about stuff like that. He probably wouldn’t even think twice about it if a guy walked out of my condo.
“I don’t know why you look embarrassed all of a sudden. You shouldn’t be…and truth is, Superass, I’m not going to be running around fucking like I normally do.”
“It doesn’t matter either way,” I say.
But I can tell by the way his words brought me a sense of ease that it does matter to me.
“I think part of it has to do more with Peter than anything else,” I add. “Finding out he was running around on me for so long made me feel like an idiot. I just…I guess I don’t want to feel like an idiot again.”
“You’re not an idiot,” Travis says and I’m surprised by how serious his expression is. “Smart people get cheated on as much as dumb people. You know it. I know it. You wanted to believe that Peter was a good guy because you’re a good guy. There’s nothing wrong with that.” It’s nice hearing him call me a good guy. I can’t explain why, but I value his opinion of me.
“Maybe,” I say. “I keep finding myself going back through every day. Remembering when he’d say he was going to the gym or the store. Trying to piece together when he was really going to the gym and when he was heading over to see Evan. Knowing I was sitting around the condo, working on shit or watching TV while he was tossing Evan around a couple hundred yards from me in the other tower. Hell, he was probably watching me from the window while he fucked him.”
I’m lost in my masochistic fantasy about what was going on all along when I pull my attention back to Travis, whose expression is relaxed. I can see the pity in his eyes. I don’t want his pity.
I take another sip of wine. “Life’s shit, right?”
Travis slides across the couch.
He rubs his hand across my leg and leans toward me so his face is right before mine.
“If anyone’s an idiot, it’s Peter,” he says, his voice low. My gaze is fixed on his hazel irises.
He rubs his hand up to my crotch, and my dick stiffens. He leans closer to me and slides the tip of his nose across my cheek. Goose bumps prick across my flesh. Soon, his lips are right beside my ear as he whispers, “He’s the one who’s missing out on this sex-crazed monster.”
I reach out and caress his dick, hard in his basketball shorts.
He pulls his head back. “I’d feel bad for him if I wasn’t so fucking greedy for it myself.”
The heat in my cheeks isn’t from embarrassment anymore, but arousal.
His gaze shifts to my lips. He looks like he wants to kiss me right now. Or shove his fully erect cock down my throat. I’d be fine either way.
“We’re gonna have to wait for this,” I say. “We have a fundraiser to talk about.”
“Fair point. Let’s get this out of the way so we can get on to more important things.”
“Deal.”
“Raymond told me they need ideas for the event they’re hosting. Flirt is letting them host that night. He wants a good money-maker idea. I told him we’d brainstorm.”
“That should be easy enough.”
Travis’s eyes narrow. “I think I have a fun way to approach this. For every good idea you think of, I remove an article of clothing. For every good idea I come up with, you do the same.”
“How do we know if it’s a good idea or not?”
“The person who’s removing their clothes has to agree.”
“It doesn’t sound like there are any losers in this game,” I say.
He grins as he rises to his feet. “Doesn’t that make it the best sort of game?”
He steps back and folds his arms, his gaze trailing off.
We both think for a few moments.
I reflect on fundraisers I helped Peter with.
“Drag shows are always popular,” I say. “Peter would sometimes convince the nonprofits he worked with to put on one when he wanted to make some quick cash.”
I wait for his approval.
He nods and grips the hem of his shirt, pulling it off and tossing it onto the coffee table.
I take another sip of wine, enjoying the view.
“You gonna keep helping?” he asks. “Or just look?”
“I was going to stare for as long as I could get away with it.”
He flashes his teeth as he offers a crooked smile. Cocky, conceited…hot as hell.
His long, thick dick shifts steadily in those basketball shorts.
How is this supposed to help me brainstorm when all I want to do is yank them down and stick that hard-on in my mouth?
“Focus,” he instructs. “Otherwise, you won’t get to any of the good stuff.”
I force myself to think, but before an idea comes to me he says, “You know, drag shows are fairly specific. They make money, but for the people who aren’t into it, they don’t have a reason to show up.”
“Is that an attempt to get your shirt back on?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. But you know, I’ve been to a few fundraisers where they had guys strip for money. That always goes over well.”
I take off my shirt and set it next to his on the coffee table.
“Oh, you like that idea?” he asks.
This sparks an idea.
I hop to my feet. I’m about to grab my glass of wine off the coffee table, but I’m distracted as I try to think this through.
“What if we had a drag queen hosting this big gay strip-show? We get a bunch of guys together—hotties who’ll help us raise money. We can make it a competition. Like hottest ass or hottest whatever. They do like a little version of this at Burkhart’s occasionally, and it’s always a hit. But we could do it on a bigger scale? Between the two of us, we know some pretty hot guys. We could make a Facebook page, promote the shit out of it and get the guys to do the same on their pages. Hell, half of the people who show up will be there to see their buddies strip down.”
I’m getting all sorts of ideas of how we could coordinate this, but before I have a chance to take it further, Travis pushes me back. I go with him until soon my shoulder blades are pressed against his balcony doorframe, and he’s kissing me.
I’m pissed that he’s distracted me, but just for a moment, until I’m lost in those same explosive kisses that make everything else in the world insignificant.
I wrap my arms around him and run my hands up and down his body.
As he pulls away, I find I’m out of breath, gasping for air, my body racing with adrenaline.
I look him over.
“Don’t you have to take off something now?” I ask.
“For that idea, you get it all.”
He kisses me again, pushing his firm body against mine, which feels a little tighter now that we’ve been hitting the gym together. I like to think he gets half as much pleasure out of it as I get out of his.
He yanks down his basketball shorts as I undo the button and fly on my shorts and push them down with my boxers.
He moves close, pressing his fully erect cock against my pelvis. Mine slides up the side of his leg. He kisses my neck, and I throw my head back, enjoying the hot sensations that pool through me and set my cheeks on fire.
