Sucker
Copyright
Rating: NC-17 for graphic male-male sex
Pairings: Backstreet Boys/*NSYNC/O-Town
Disclaimer: The young men who comprise the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC,
and O-Town are their own people. The author has not met anyone here
described, nor does the author mean to suggest that these people act this way
in real life. This writing is a work of fiction. I make no money
from this venture.
Continued from part eighty-two
“You were great!” Lance cupped Brian’s face, kissing him, kissing him again. “You were great!”
“Did you see it?” Brian asked, bright-eyed.
“What did you think? Was it too much? Did I go too far?”
“You were perfect!” Lance said. “It was terrific. He was terrified! I didn’t think he’d be that scared.”
“I tried to have the right expression,” Brian said. “I was afraid that he’d punch me or something, but he just looked so surprised, I don’t think that he knew what to do. I was so nervous!”
“You were great,” Lance promised him, kissing him again, caressing his cheek. “I was really impressed, I didn’t think it would go that well. What happened after that? What did he do?”
“I didn’t know that you were back together,” Dan said. “That’s great.”
JC looked at Howie, and when their eyes met and Howie smiled, he smiled back. “It’s a recent development,” he said.
“Very recent,” Howie said, checking his watch. JC laughed.
“That’s great,” Dan said again. He seemed to mean it, which was nice of him. “I know that you probably didn’t expect me to drop in like this, but I have a few questions I wanted to ask you.”
“All right,” Howie said, sitting back, attentive. “About what?”
Dan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees,
hands clasped. “Have you seen AJ hit Justin?”
“Hit Justin?” Howie asked. “No.”
“I’ve seen them push each other around,” JC said, because admitting that much would show Dan that he was honest. It wouldn’t be believable to suggest that there was nothing aggressive about their relationship; Dan would write them off as covering up for AJ.
“We all have,” Howie said. He considered it, turning to JC. “I don’t think that I’d call it hitting each other.”
“I wouldn’t,” JC said. “They get in each
other’s faces, and they throw things around the room, but - - no, they did punch
each other, that time, recently,” he remembered suddenly. “How could I have
forgotten that? Justin came over to my house after it happened.” They had to
acknowledge the fight, because Dan had seen the bruises, and JC had to seem in
the loop, informed, and honest.
“We didn’t see it,” Howie told Dan.
“I saw Justin’s bruises,” JC said. “But I didn’t see the fight.”
“Then you know that AJ’s abusive,” Dan said.
“Abusive?” Howie asked.
“Justin told me that it was a back-and-forth
fight. He made it seem like one of their usual fights had escalated and gotten
more physical,” JC said. “I was really upset, but he was casual about it,
dismissive, like it didn’t even matter.” That, at least, was true. Justin
hadn’t cared.
“I know how rude he is to AJ,” Howie said. “He’s hateful, he’s
demanding, he’s always pushing AJ’s buttons.”
“It’s not the kind of relationship that I’d want to be in,” JC told
Dan. “I couldn’t be mean to someone I love, and I can’t take that kind of
drama. But they thrive on it.” He’d had enough chaos with Nick, more than
enough to know how excruciating it could be.
“You’ve seen Justin be mean to AJ,” Dan said.
“I don’t like to brag about that, but, yes, yeah,” JC said. “Justin can be very manipulative.”
“Justin broke up with AJ and went to New York with you,” Howie said. “We all know how AJ felt about that. Even now that they’re back together, Justin brings you up all of the time, talking about how great you are, insinuating that he’d rather be with you. He knows how to get a rise out of AJ and he does it on purpose.”
“They’re so possessive and territorial,” JC said. “Both of them.” He had to hit that point hard. “If Justin ever suspects that AJ’s attention is going to someone else, he either throws a huge fit or makes it look like he’s cheating. AJ’s usually the same way, from what I can tell. They can’t stand the thought of each other being with someone else. Justin dumping AJ for you, spending all of that time with you, having you practically move in, everything going so fast, it must have torn AJ apart.”
“And Justin’s still throwing it in his face,” Howie said. “I couldn’t take it.”
“How does AJ take it?” Dan asked, studying them. “How does AJ react when Justin upsets him?”
“They fight,” JC said. “Yelling, cursing, shouting, kicking walls. Justin doesn’t scream at anyone the way he yells at AJ, but he says that he loves AJ more than he’s ever loved anyone.”
“AJ gets mad,” Howie said. “He gets furious. He’s very passionate, very physical. He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to get quiet or pull away or take a walk. When he’s mad, he gets right up in your face and lets you know about it.”
“I don’t know, I still wouldn’t call him abusive,” JC said, knowing how important his next sentence was. “Unless you’d call Justin the same thing.”
“Their relationship doesn’t look healthy, from the outside,” Howie said. “But we’re only talking about the negative things.”
“They’re so in love,” JC said, picking up on Howie’s point. “So in love. It’s like they only want to breathe each other’s air, sometimes.”
“Because they’re so intense, they have a lot of ups and downs,” Howie said. “They can’t get enough of each other, and then they’re fighting and furious and pretending to cheat on each other, and then they’re making love incessantly.”
“Incessantly,” JC agreed, as if he’d been exposed to much more of their sex life than he wanted.
“You really don’t see any inequality between them?” Dan asked.
“I don’t,” Howie said.
“I see a lot of passion between them,” JC said. “A lot of tension, good and bad.”
Dan nodded, rubbing his hands together. “Okay. Let me ask you about something else.” He paused, considering his phrasing. “Brian doesn’t have a girlfriend right now?”
“He hasn’t had one for a while,” Howie said.
JC laughed. “We used to joke that Lance might be his boyfriend, they spent so much time together.”
“I don’t think that Lance would mind,” Howie said with a smile.
“After all of these years, I think that if Brian were gay, you’d know about it by now,” JC said. Interplay between himself and Howie would show Dan how close they were, how together they were. That was important; they needed to be an established, respected, strong couple in everyone’s eyes.
“I think so,” Howie agreed. “His last girlfriend was over a year ago,” he told Dan. “When Brian commits to someone, he really commits, for long-term relationships. He says that he isn’t ready for that right now, that he’s in, what did he call it?” he asked JC.
“A period of transition,” JC said, wanting to smile, pleased that Howie had turned to him to supply the phrase. Small moments like that could demonstrate how shared their lives were.
“A period of transition,” Howie told Dan.
“Is he a good boyfriend?” Dan asked. “He has healthy relationships?”
“Brian’s a great boyfriend,” Howie said. “He’s incredibly faithful, he’s very attentive.”
“You haven’t heard his girlfriends complain about him?” Dan asked.
“They don’t like how busy he is,” Howie said.
“That comes with the territory,” JC said. “You know how that goes.”
“Are we being interviewed?” Howie asked Dan, friendly but puzzled. “Why are you asking about Brian?”
“He’s never been accused of anything?” Dan asked.
“Anything like what?” Howie asked.
“Is something going on?” JC asked. He didn’t want to sound alarmed, merely confused, wondering.
Howie looked at Dan more closely. “Is
something wrong?”
Dan hesitated, apparently not sure how to answer.
“Is something wrong?” JC asked.
“Tell us,” Howie urged.
“You’re starting to freak me out,” JC said, the moment escalating as Dan refused to clear up their confusion. “Did something happen?”
“I’m about to call him,” Howie told JC.
“You might need to,” Dan said. “He groped Ashley today.”
“Groped?” Howie asked.
“Ashley Angel?” JC asked. He hated even saying the bitch’s name, but he didn’t let that show.
“Brian?” Howie asked.
“He cornered Ashley in Jacob’s room and groped him,” Dan said. “He said some really crude things.”
“In front of Jacob?” Howie asked.
“No one else was there,” Dan said.
“Then you don’t know that this happened,” JC said quickly, frowning.
“I know what Ashley told me,” Dan said firmly.
“What exactly do you mean by ‘groped?’” Howie asked.
“Grabbed his package,” Dan said.
“Does Brian know that Ashley’s accusing him of this?” JC asked. He and Howie had gone over some simple questions that someone who hadn’t already been informed would normally ask.
“Yes,” Dan said. “He said that Ashley’s lying.”
“Couldn’t it have been a mistake?” JC asked. “A misunderstanding?”
“No one misunderstands a crotch squeeze,” Dan said.
“Brian’s very friendly,” Howie said. “He’s very physically affectionate with certain people. I’ve seen him be more intimate with Nick and AJ than I was with some of my lovers. But he’d never put his hand on another man’s…” Howie gestured.
“He touches Jacob,” Dan said. “But it’s safe to say that he doesn’t grab Jacob’s dick. And he said some very crude things to Ashley, calling him a whore and saying that he’d give it up for anyone.”
“Brian doesn’t talk like that,” JC said. “At least, I’ve never heard it,” he added, glancing at Howie, emphasizing their partnership.
“Brian’s struggled with cutting certain words from his language,” Howie said. “I think that he’s given up on some of them. But he doesn’t curse people out or say rude sexual things to them.”
“Were they arguing?” JC asked, as if trying to set the scene.
“He invited Ashley to Jacob’s room, to talk to him alone, about Joey and Nick,” Dan said. “The conversation took a strange turn, he started to ask about Ashley’s sexual habits, and things got ugly.”
“Brian wouldn’t grope anyone,” Howie said. “Especially not intentionally, with crude language. He wouldn’t do it to a man or a woman.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” JC said.
“Has Ashley ever accused anyone else of this?” Howie asked.
“No,” Dan said. “Never.”
“I don’t believe any of it,” Howie said. “The strangest thing is that if he wanted to accuse someone of groping him, and he’s lying, Brian’s the last person he should’ve chosen.”
It was time to segue into analyzing Ashley’s motivations. They didn’t want to convert Dan, but they did want to make him understand why they, as reasonable and good people, could be on Brian’s side. It would take some careful navigating to get there, but JC trusted Howie to help him guide the conversation. “You’d think that he’d accuse AJ,” JC said. “After everything that’s happened lately, AJ makes more sense than Brian.”
“Anyone makes more sense than Brian,” Howie said. “But Brian’s around a lot, so it would be easier to accuse him, because he’s there to be accused.”
“Chris is around the Townhouse a lot,” JC said. “And Chris is into guys, sometimes. Was he there at the time?”
“No,” Dan said, “just the five of us and Brian.”
“None of it makes sense,” Howie said. “Brian? Touching Ashley wouldn’t even occur to him.”
“Ashley wouldn’t say this for no reason, would he?” JC asked Dan, including Dan in the speculation, respecting Dan’s role as Ashley’s friend. “He must have a motive.”
“Maybe he’s mad at Brian for something,” Howie said.
“Is he jealous of how much time Jacob spends with Brian?” JC asked. “Does he want to end their friendship?”
“The relationship Ashley wants to end is Nick and Joey’s,” Howie said. “Wait, JC,” he said, as if struck by an idea, his hand on JC’s thigh. “Wouldn’t this put Joey in the middle?”
“In the middle of what?” JC asked, not wanting to be suspected of making unwarranted leaps in logic.
“Ashley says that Brian groped him, and Brian says that he didn’t. Ashley’s going to want Joey to believe him, and Nick’s going to be on Brian’s side.”
“Joey’s going to have to choose between them,” JC said, as if suddenly realizing it.
“This puts Ashley and Nick on opposite sides,” Howie said. “They’re both going to demand that Joey choose a side. It’s a serious enough accusation for Nick to have a huge reaction and force Joey to decide.”
“He had to accuse one of you,” JC said, thinking through it. “You and Kevin are never there, and AJ’s stopped dropping by, so that leaves Brian.”
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Dan said, sitting forward. “If this was about Joey he would have run straight to Joey and made accusations. He confronted Brian in our kitchen in front of all of us. I don’t think that he would do that if he were lying. It would be easier to say things behind Brian’s back.”
“But this way he’s created something that can’t be ignored,” JC said. “He could be trying to force Joey’s hand by accusing Brian in front of other people.”
“I have to talk to Brian,” Howie said. “And Nick.”
“This is sick,” JC said. “I won’t let him manipulate Joey like this. Joey’s had girlfriends try to cause trouble for him before. He’s too smart to fall for this, but he shouldn’t have to deal with it in the first place.”
“I won’t let
Ashley spread lies like this,” Howie said, turning to Dan. “This is a
serious accusation. He can’t play games.
This kind of thing has real consequences.”
“No one would believe him,” JC said, as if trying to reassure Howie.
“It would still be out there,” Howie said. “Even if no one believes it, they’ll hear it, and that can do enough damage. To Brian’s career, to the group. His lies can damage everything that we’ve worked for.”
“Ashley’s telling the truth,” Dan insisted.
“And Brian’s an evil pervert?” Howie asked. “No.”
“I’m not a big fan of Ashley,” JC said. That was an understatement. “Most of us aren’t happy with him putting himself in the middle of Nick and Joey’s relationship. There’s no way we’re going to let him tell anyone that Brian groped him.”
“If you can get him to apologize and admit that he was lying, before this goes any farther, we’ll let it go,” Howie said.
“And if he’s telling the truth?” Dan asked.
“It will take a lot more than his word to convince me of that,” Howie said.
“I have to talk to Joey about this,” JC told Howie.
“Look, we appreciate you coming to us,” Howie told Dan. “I’m sorry that we can’t help you, but nothing on Earth would make me believe that Brian’s done anything like that, unless Brian himself admits to it.”
Dan looked back and forth between the two of
them, then let out a long
breath and seemed to resign himself to the fact that he wouldn’t get any
further. “Well, thanks for your time,” he
said, getting to his feet. “You’ve been civil about this, which is more than I
expected.”
“You genuinely seem to want to help your friends,” Howie said,
rising with JC, the three of them walking to the door. “I admire your loyalty,
but you see these situations a lot differently than we do.”
“I’ll talk to Justin,” JC said. “His relationship with AJ has never been perfect, but things may have changed. I’ll look into it and see what’s going on.”
“Thank you,” Dan said. “Thanks for your time,” he said again, and left.
Howie closed the door, turning to him with a wide smile. “We did it.”
“We did it,” JC agreed. The most surprising thing was, “It was so easy!”
“You were brilliant,” Howie said, a hand on his arm.
“It was so easy to balance you, to go with what you said, to give you room but work in my points,” JC said. “You were great!”
“He believed you,” Howie said. “You were right there in the right spot, surprised by what he said but willing to listen, open-minded but honest about what you knew.”
“I think that he trusts us,” JC said.
“No one else has been willing to admit that anything could be wrong with AJ and Justin,” Howie said. “We admitted that they’ve fought, we admitted that they’re not perfect. He’ll think that you know and understand Justin better than the others, and when you come back and tell him that nothing’s going on, he’ll really start to wonder.”
“I loved it when you ask him if Ashley had ever accused anyone else,” JC said. “That was a smart question.”
“You were terrific,” Howie said, giving him a kiss. “I love working with you, I love that we’re back in action.”
“Doing that on my own would’ve been much more stressful,” JC said. “I loved doing it with you, I loved playing him like that.”
“You’re so good at it,” Howie said with a proud smile. “I knew that you would be.”
“I’ve learned from the master,” JC said, kissing him.
They lingered in the moment for a bit, enjoying the kiss. Then, Howie said, “I have to call Brian, AJ, and Nick. Can you call Kevin and catch him up before Dan gets there?”
“Yeah,” JC said, surprised at the suggestion but perfectly willing to comply.
“Then maybe you should call Chris,” Howie said. “Let Trevor or whoever’s around him hear you calling to check up on things at the Townhouse.”
“He is our resident authority,” JC said, already dialing.
“You were great,” Howie said, gracing him with another smile. “I can’t imagine working this well with anyone else.”
“Wow,” Brian said, staring at the monitors, eyes wide with interest. “It’s so clear. I can’t believe that we can just watch him.”
“He’s not really that interesting,” Lance pointed out, sitting back on the bed.
“Hello,” Brian said, as Jacob walked into his bedroom onscreen. Sitting beside Lance, he said, “It looks like a pretty good angle. Do you want me to move it?” Jacob looked tense. Brian wondered who he’d been fighting with.
“No, leave it where it is,” Lance said.
“Okay.” Brian watched Jacob reach for the phone. Before he could pick it up, Chris came into the room. Intrigued, Brian slid his hand over Lance’s, stroking Lance’s fingers.
“What?” Jacob asked, in the tone that he used when he was pissed off at someone else but didn’t want to snap at the person he was talking to.
“Everyone else is avoiding you, so they wanted me to check on you,” Chris said. Brian could only imagine how Chris felt about that. Jacob liked Chris, which Brian found adorable.
“Check on me?” Jacob repeated. “What do they think that I’m doing in here?”
“Stripping the paint off of the walls by glaring at it,” Chris said. He tapped his fingers against his thigh. “That was quite an interesting conversation you all just had. Interesting and loud. Very loud.”
“What Ashley’s doing is sick,” Jacob said harshly, and launched into a tirade.
“Ah,” Lance said. “Sick is Jacob’s favorite word for me. I didn’t think that he’d use it on Ashley.”
“He’s very upset,” Brian said, running his fingers over a seam in the bedspread.
“I can see that,” Lance said. “I can’t believe that he chose you over Ashley.”
“You’d choose Howie over Justin,” Brian said.
Lance didn’t reply.
“The interesting thing is that it wasn’t a hard decision for him,” Brian said. “He didn’t even think about it.”
“Does that mean that he’s really that far in love with you?” Lance asked. “Or does that mean that he was never that close to them to begin with?”
“Both,” Brian said. “The friendship that the five of them have is nothing like your bond with the rest of *NSYNC. They’re very good friends, and they feel emotionally connected, but it’s easy for them to take each other for granted.”
“They take everything for granted,” Lance said.
After tearing apart Ashley’s morality, Ashley’s sexuality, and Ashley’s general weakness and dependency, Jacob praised Brian, exalting him and raising his pedestal another few feet.
“Just hearing him say my name makes my head itch,” Brian said.
“You’re not that wonderful,” Lance said, stroking his scalp for him.
“Thanks,” Brian said, laughing.
“It’s like your own little fan club in there,” Lance said, watching the screens.
“Chris is very…devoted,” Brian acknowledged. His sweet pet loved him past the point of obsession.
As Jacob wound things down, Chris said, “You know, uh, I don’t want to suggest anything negative about Ashley, because you’ve done a terrific job of that already, but isn’t it possible that if Ashley’s making crazy accusations, he might be in trouble? He might need help?”
“He’s going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble
if he keeps this shit up,” Jacob snapped. “He’s going to need a whole hell of a
lot of help once I get through with him.”
“Well, I’m glad that we had this talk, then,” Chris said, backing
towards the door. Brian smiled; he adored his pet’s sense of humor. “Can I get
you anything? Some water? A nice book to read? A tranquilizer?”
“No, thanks,” Jacob said, sitting on his bed.
“Okay, then. Have yourself a good afternoon.” Chris left, closing the door.
Lance’s fingers stroked down Brian’s scalp, caressing his nape.
Jacob fell to his back across the mattress, closing his eyes, rubbing his forehead.
Brian’s heart ached for him. His precious, precious love. Brian wanted to be with him, to comfort him, to soothe him. Brian’s hand stroked over Lance’s thigh, squeezing gently.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” Lance asked.
“I love you,” Brian said, meeting Lance’s eyes. “I want to do this right, I want to do everything that I can. I know how important this game is, I know how much you hate Jacob and how much you want to bring him down. Having sex with him, being intimate with him, playing best friends and boyfriends, none of it’s going to be easy. But I want to do it, for you.”
“The game is important to you, too,” Lance reminded him. “You’re the strategist. You hate Jacob.”
“I’m not the strategist,” Brian said, redirecting Lance’s attention. “We’re in this together, we’re partners.”
“You’re better at this than I am,” Lance said. “You’re probably better than everyone.”
“You’re terrific in the moment,” Brian said. “The way you are with Jacob, it’s perfect. When we all had lunch together, I thought that you were fantastic.”
“Jacob hates me, and I hate him,” Lance said. “What you saw was our natural animosity. We do everything but claw each other’s eyes out.”
“I can’t imagine why he hates you as much as he does,” Brian said, rubbing Lance’s thigh.
“Because I’m successful and he’s not,” Lance said.
“He doesn’t know you,” Brian said. “He doesn’t understand you.” Brian kissed his cheek, twice, then gazed into his eyes with a smile. “I think that you’re wonderful.”
“I think that you’re too romantic,” Lance said, an arm around his shoulders squeezing him closer.
“Maybe.” Brian kissed his mouth, still smiling. “But I’m romantic enough to fall in love with you, so don’t knock it.”
“…and then he left,” JC finished, while Howie murmured on another phone in the background.
“He believed you?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, he did,” JC said. “He didn’t get what he wanted, because what he really wanted was for us to agree with everything that he said and tell him that he’s right about Justin and Ashley, but we were respectful and we were open-minded.”
“He must have liked that, after everyone else refused to play along,” Kevin said. “That’s the doorbell, he must be here. Thanks for calling, JC.”
“No problem,” JC said. “Good luck.”
“It’s good to have you working closely with Howie again,” Kevin said. “Bye.” He hung up.
JC hung up, too, glancing across the room at Howie and smiling.
Howie caught him looking, and winked.
Dan had been frustrated and ready to dismiss all of Justin and AJ’s friends, but Howie and JC had given him hope. Trying to keep the faith, he talked to Kevin, the last person on his list.
Kevin offered him a drink; he declined, and they sat in the living room. While Dan spoke, Kevin listened attentively, nodding, asking pertinent questions. He stayed calm, analyzing the situation. Glad to have found someone reasonable, someone who didn’t reject him out of hand, Dan explained Justin’s situation and Ashley’s accusations as thoroughly as he could.
Finally, Kevin said, “Brian told me that he had a problem with Ashley, because he didn’t understand what kind of role Ashley was trying to play in Joey’s life, and he didn’t want anyone to interfere in Nick and Joey’s relationship. But he told me that he learned more about it, and he prayed on it, and he’d decided to ask for Ashley’s forgiveness for his rudeness.”
“He did apologize to Ashley, yesterday,” Dan admitted. “He apologized to all of us.”
Kevin nodded, thinking. “I understand how close to Ashley you are, and I understand that you’d believe him,” he said. “But I’ve known Brian for all of his life, and that’s going on thirty years now. He’s not just my friend or my band mate, he’s my family. I respect that, out of loyalty, you trust Ashley, but I’d trust Brian with my life, and there’s no possible way that he could have done what Ashley says.”
“It all comes down to what Ashley says against what Brian says,” Dan said. “We don’t have witnesses or evidence. I don’t expect you to believe my version of what Ashley told me. But you could talk to Brian about it.”
“I will,” Kevin said, nodding. “Now, what you say about AJ and Justin, that’s a little different.”
Alert, Dan sat up straighter.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Kevin said, holding his gaze. “AJ blames you for breaking up him and Justin, and that makes me not believe a word you say about either one of them. You’re not impartial and unbiased. You’re the guy Justin dumped AJ to run off to New York City with. Now that they’re back together, you claim that Justin’s being abused.”
“Justin’s problems with AJ, and the abuse, were obvious before he ever went to New York,” Dan said. “That’s why he broke up with AJ. And we’ve never had a sexual relationship.”
“You are very close,” Kevin said.
“Yes,” Dan said. “Justin trusted me enough to
open up to me. That’s why I can’t let him down again.”
“If Justin had the opportunity to get away from AJ, and chose to
stay with him instead, what does that say?” Kevin asked. “Justin has money, he
can get on a plane whenever he wants to, he has his own home. Several of them.
Why would he stay?”
“Emotional dependency,” Dan said. “Psychological dependency. AJ’s convinced Justin that he can’t be alone, that he can’t survive without him.”
“AJ isn’t that twisted,” Kevin said. “He’s not a mastermind, and he’s not that great at psychological manipulation. But he has been more aggressive lately, more violent. So has Justin. I was there when AJ fought Jacob, and I’ve heard about the other times he went to your house for Ashley and Erik-Michael. I know about Justin strangling Jacob, too.”
Since Kevin seemed to be following a train of thought, Dan didn’t interrupt to defend Justin, even though he wanted to.
“AJ’s always been capable of acting out dramatically,” Kevin said. “Sometimes it gets violent. But there have never been so many confrontations so close together. I never approved of any of it in the first place, but now it looks like it’s escalating.”
Dan couldn’t believe that there were Backstreet Boys willing to consider the possibility that there was a problem. He should’ve talked to Kevin, Howie, and JC long ago.
“It sounds to me like Justin’s exaggerating what’s happening,” Kevin said. “It wouldn’t be the first time. But AJ has to learn to grow up and stop bullying people to get what he wants.”
“Even if Justin’s exaggerating, their relationship isn’t healthy,” Dan said. He didn’t care what it took; he was willing to pretend that Justin was part of the problem if it would lead to a solution.
“I’ll talk to AJ,” Kevin said. “And Brian. And Justin, even Ashley if I need to. And I’d like to get back to you after I hear what AJ has to say. Could I get your number?”
“Yeah,” Dan said, reciting it as Kevin put it in his phone. A few minutes later, Kevin showed him to the door.
“Thanks for coming over,” Kevin said. “I should have talked to AJ about this before.”
“I hope that it does some good,” Dan said.
“I’ll make sure of it,” Kevin said. “That’s a nice bracelet.”
“I bought it for Justin,” Dan said. “AJ made him send it back to me.”
Kevin’s expression indicated surprise. “You can see why AJ would object to that. I can see why AJ would assume that your relationship went farther than friendship.”
“You practically bought Trevor a car,” Dan reminded him.
“How is Trevor?” Kevin asked.
“He’s great,” Dan said. “The car’s great, too. He loves it.” Kevin’s question had been simple, but his tone and expression weren’t exactly casual. “I’ll tell him you asked.”
While Trevor watched TV, Chris sat in Trevor’s lap, slumped casually, playing with a plastic fork that he’d found in the kitchen. Occasionally, Trevor petted him somewhere, which was nice. Ashley was locked away upstairs, Jacob was locked away in the guest house, and Erik was stalking around like something besides Ashley was on his mind.
After enough time passed, Chris asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Trevor rubbed his stomach.
“Something’s on your sexy mind,” Chris said.
“My mind is sexy?” Trevor asked.
“You think that my mind is sexy,” Chris said.
“Because it is.”
“There you go.”
Trevor sighed. “I keep wondering what else Ashley lied about.”
“Maybe nothing,” Chris said.
“Someone kept doing shit to Erik, and it wasn’t me,” Trevor said.
“Why would Ashley harass Erik through secret pranks?” Chris asked.
“Someone was doing something,” Trevor said. “Someone let me take the blame for it.”
“It wasn’t necessarily Ashley,” Chris said, since it hadn’t been.
“It was someone,” Trevor said.
“Ashley’s all about Erik,” Chris said.
“They’re best friends. Not close enough for Erik to believe Ashley about the
groping situation, but still, you know, friends.”
“We’re all friends,” Trevor said. “That didn’t stop Erik from
blaming me for everything that went wrong.”
“But you have a super-hot car and a regular sex life,” Chris said. “He doesn’t. Really, you should feel sorry for him.”
“He’s fucking Howie Dorough and JC Chasez,” Trevor said. “No one feels sorry for him.”
“Um… Did he tell you that?” Chris asked.
“He says that it never happened and they’re just friends,” Trevor said. “Either way, he lied about something at some point.”
“You really can’t trust anyone these days,” Chris said.
Trevor squeezed him close, kissing his neck.
“Except me,” Chris said. “As long as you overlook the evasions, exaggerations, fabrications, and outright lies, I’m completely trustworthy.”
“I trust you,” Trevor said. “I trust Dan.”
“You don’t believe everything that he says.”
“I don’t believe everything that you say, either,” Trevor said. “Where’s that soybean farm you own?”
“That’s classified,” Chris said, as his phone rang. “Excuse me, this must be the CIA. Kirkpatrick.”
“Chris, it’s JC,” JC said. “Are you alone?”
“I’m very comfortable in Trevor’s lap,” Chris said.
“Good,” JC said. “Dan visited us, and we wanted to check in and see how things are at the Townhouse.”
“Us?” Chris asked. “Who’s us?”
“Me and Howie,” JC said. “I’m at his house.”
“Are you back together?” Chris asked, surprised, frowning. “Did I know about that?”
“It happened last night,” JC said.
“Well, congratulations,” Chris said. “I hope that you’re very happy together. I’ll send over a crystal gravy boat later as a token of my good wishes.”
“Thanks,” JC said. “How’s everything there?”
“Are you referring to Gropegate?” Chris asked.
“Who believes Ashley?” JC asked.
“Dan,” Chris said.
“Is everyone else unsure, or do they really
think that he’s lying?”
“As far as I can tell, no one’s on the fence. Does Erik know that
you’re back together?”
“He knew that we were having dinner last night, but we haven’t talked to him yet.”
“That must be why he’s nervous and preoccupied,” Chris said. “Give him a call.”
“Don’t tell him yet,” JC said. “I want to be the first.”
“I’ll try to resist making virgin jokes,” Chris
said. “Have you talked to Lance?”
“No. Have you talked to Joey?”
“Joey?” Chris asked. “What have I missed?”
“Nick’s playing in Vegas, and Joey’s going with him. Howie and I
are going, too, to get some time together.”
“You’re reuniting with your lover under those circumstances?” Chris asked.
“I haven’t talked to Joey about it yet,” JC said. “Or Nick.”
“Didn’t you and, you know, what’s-his-name go
to Vegas?”
“Yes.”
“Joey and that other guy used to go to Vegas to hang out and drink and pick up girls, didn’t they?” Chris asked. “I was a bit preoccupied during those days, with a circumstance of my own, but I remember them hitting up Vegas for booty.”
“It was one of their favorite places,” JC said.
“Well, you’ll have an interesting trip,” Chris
said. “Don’t invite me.”
“Did you and Brian hang out in Vegas?” JC asked.
“We spent time everywhere,” Chris said. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Sorry,” JC said. “Bye.”
“Bye.” Chris pocketed his phone, slouching
comfortably on Trevor. “JC and Howie are back together. Don’t tell Erik yet.”
“Thanks for the update.” Trevor stroked his chest. “You must be a
lot of fun in Vegas.”
“I’m a lot of fun anywhere,” Chris said.
“I know,” Trevor said. He sounded like he was smiling. “That’s why I like you.”
“We should call him,” JC said.
“I know.” Howie sighed, running his fingers through JC’s hair. “I’m enjoying this time with you so much, I don’t want to ruin it.”
“We have to see him,” JC said.
“He can come over,” Howie said. “But he can’t stay.”
JC smiled, amused. “You’re going to kick him out?”
“He doesn’t get any action,” Howie said.
“Oh, he’s going to hate that,” JC warned.
“I’m not ready to share,” Howie said with a few light kisses. “He’s had you all of this time. I want you all to myself for just a little bit.”
“If he doesn’t get sex or a sleepover, he’s going to get scared,” JC said.
“Let him sweat,” Howie said. “He should be a little worried about his place with us. That’ll make it easier to get what we want in Vegas.” He handed JC the phone. “You call him.”
“You should do it,” JC said. “Call him, invite him over, and I can surprise him.”
“That’s a good idea,” Howie said. “You’re good at this,” he said, taking the phone back and dialing.
“Yeah,” JC said, sitting back with a smile. “I know.”
Erik had never answered a phone faster in his life. “Howie?”
“Erik-Michael,” Howie said warmly. “Are you busy?”
“I’m busy losing my freaking mind!” Erik exclaimed. “What happened last night?!”
“Could you come over?” Howie asked. “I’d like to talk about it.”
“Where’s JC?” Erik demanded. “Is he with you? Did you get back together? How did it go?!”
“We’ll talk about that when you get here,” Howie said. “Bye, Erik-Michael.”
Howie had hung up on him. Erik’s first instinct was to beat his phone until it broke, but he couldn’t waste time.
Cursing, squeezing his eyes shut, Ashley listened to Joey’s voicemail again. “Joey, it’s Ashley,” he said, one more time. “I’m at home and I’m really freaked out right now. Something happened and I really need to talk to you. Please call me back.”
After hiding his car in Howie’s garage, JC changed clothes, wearing tighter jeans and a simple, lightly clinging T-shirt. There was no sense in denying Erik access to his body if he didn’t encourage Erik to want it in the first place.
While he and Howie discussed strategy, they made out a little, to get each other in the mood. When the doorbell chimed, Howie murmured, “We’re having sex as soon as he’s gone.”
“Okay,” JC said, finding it hard to disagree while Howie was caressing him like that.
“You’re so beautiful, JC,” Howie whispered, kissing his neck, raising his shirt to stroke his skin. “I could make love to you for hours.”
Moaning, JC couldn’t resist kissing Howie’s mouth again, grinding up against Howie’s thigh. “We have to answer the door,” he said, but his heart wasn’t in it.
The bell chimed again.
“Shit,” Howie muttered, kissing his cheek. “He owes me.”
JC laughed, pulling his shirt back down as Howie’s hands left him. “I’ll get it.”
“No, I’ll get it,” Howie said. “You just get ready for your grand entrance.” Another kiss and Howie climbed off of him, leaving the room.
Aroused, pleased, anticipating a fun evening of games with Erik and sex with Howie, JC smiled.
When Howie opened the door, Erik knew. His clothes were perfect, and there wasn’t a hair out of place, but Howie had been doing something. His lips were kiss-bruised, his face was flushed, his eyes were bright, and there was a little perk in his pants. “Where’s JC?”
“Erik-Michael, come in,” Howie invited, ushering him inside and kissing his cheek. “I’ve wanted to talk to you, but I’ve been busy all day.”
“You made up last night and he’s here right now and you’ve been fucking for hours,” Erik said. He was so excited, his heart was racing. They were back! They were together! He’d done it! “Where’s JC? Did he like the dinner? What’d you talk about? Where is he? JC!”
“Erik-Michael,” Howie said, sounding amused. “Would you like to sit down before you hurt yourself?”
“Do you not know how huge this is?” Erik asked, looking into the living room. “Do you not realize how important this is to me? I’ve been going back and forth between you, trying to convince you to talk to each other, playing ambassador of love, trying to get you back together.” The kitchen was empty. “JC!”
“Honey.” A touch at his back; he jumped, turning as JC came into the hallway. “You’re yelling all over the house.” With a smile, JC kissed his cheek, touching his chin. “Thank you.”
“For what?” JC was back in Howie’s house. Howie’s hand was rubbing over JC’s back. “You’re together, aren’t you?” he asked, grinning. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes, we are,” JC said, smiling. “That’s what we’re thanking you for.”
“You’re talking like a couple,” Erik said, loving it.
“You’ve done so much for us,” JC said, hugging him. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”
“You helped us so much, Erik-Michael.” Howie hugged him. “Thank you.”
“We want to do anything that we can for you,” JC said.
“Anything that you want,” Howie promised. “Whenever you want it.”
Erik almost said the first thing that came to mind. At the last second, he stopped himself. They were together again. They stood before him as a couple, smiling and united. They were touching each other, not him. This was their time together; if they were ever going to invite him back into their bed, it was up to them to make the offer. He couldn’t ask. Dealing with JC and especially Howie had taught him to pay attention once in a while to details and nuances. Reading between the lines had never been one of his strengths, but he was learning. He respected JC and Howie’s relationship, and he didn’t want to cross a line. So he said, “What I want is for you to tell me what happened. How was dinner?”
After an early dinner, they went to Joey’s house. While Nick emptied shopping bags, Joey checked his messages.
There were roughly forty from Ashley.
Immediately suspicious, Joey stepped just
inside the closet. “What happened to Ashley today?”
“Nothing serious,” Nick said. “If he weren’t a crying vagina, he’d
get over it.”
Joey shook his head to dislodge the mental image. “Who did what to him? Was it AJ?”
“Brian. I should have ditched these pants.”
“They looked good,” Joey said, to humor him, frustrated at unresponsive answers. “What did Brian do to Ashley?” His tone was less urgent now, since it was Brian; it couldn’t have been that bad.
“Cornered him, said crazy shit, groped him. You think that I should wear this for the show, or this?”
“Brian groped Ashley?” Joey stared at Nick.
“Next time he calls, answer and let him come
over. Just don’t expect me to rein it in, because I’ll be damned if Angel can
get away with accusing Brian like that.”
“You just said that Brian did it,” Joey said, confused.
“He did,” Nick said. “But Angel can’t prove it. Which shirt?”
Joey snatched both shirts from his hands, tossing them aside. “Tell me what’s happening, and start from the beginning.”
Continue
on to part eighty-four
matthew@matthewtime.com
“Sucker”
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