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-six
JC, who felt so warm he knew that his face was red, tried to appear suave, unaffected, totally fine with what they’d just watched.
“I knew that it would work, but I’m still impressed,” Howie said. “You went so far.”
“He let me,” JC said. “By the end, it was like he’d just accepted it. He didn’t even bother to say no.”
“We have to push this,” Howie said. “He’s ready for it. He was completely overwhelmed by you, but even after he was sane again, he still wanted more.”
“It’s your turn,” JC said. “It’s all up to you.”
“I’d like him to ask me for it,” Howie said. “I’ll slip him a few fingers in Vegas, so he’ll get used to me really penetrating him, but if he wants more, he’ll have to ask.”
He fed Kevin while they talked, taking great pleasure in being able to tend to Kevin’s needs. When asked, he was very quick to tell Kevin how much he loved AJ and how much AJ had done for him and how grateful he was. Then he explained how very much he loved Kevin, and how grateful he’d been for his recent opportunities to extend that love to Kevin’s friends, because he loved Kevin so very, very much that his affection for Kevin’s friends was a natural extension of the great, great love that he had for Kevin.
Kevin kissed him, and he clung to Kevin and whispered, “Please, please, Kevin, please,” and Kevin stroked his body until he couldn’t take it anymore, and he unzipped Kevin’s fly, and Kevin made love to him again, face-to-face this time, gazing into his eyes, caressing his hungry flesh, telling him how beautiful he was, how good he was, how sexy he was.
When he came, Kevin licked it off of him, kissing his trembling body.
They were kissing, slowly, talking softly about their good memories, smiling and caressing each other and reminiscing about the time they’d spent a weekend in that small town outside Seattle, when it began to rain.
Kevin got up, stowing away the picnic gear, while Justin got dressed and hunted down all of AJ’s bracelets, sure that showing up one short wouldn’t end well. He carried the blanket to the truck while Kevin took the basket, and after they tucked everything away, Kevin closed the hatch, looking at him, smiling, running a hand over Justin’s shorn hair. “You’re wet.”
“So are you,” Justin said, grinning back at him, stroking his chest.
Kevin kissed him. “I saw Dan yesterday.”
Lightning struck, literally, and even though it didn’t actually hit Justin, his heart was beating, suddenly, much too fast. “Who?”
“Dan Miller. He came to my house.” Kevin’s hand was warm on the side of Justin’s neck. “He’s very worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” Justin said. “I’m better than fine, AJ takes great care of me.” He hugged Kevin, holding on, closing his eyes, not wanting to let go, ever. Kevin embraced him, firm and solid against and around him, the strongest force in the universe. “Please,” Justin whispered. “I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything.”
Thunder rumbled.
Stepping out of the next dressing room, Ashley approached the other mirror, turning casually, adjusting his jeans.
Erik gave Ashley a dark look. Ashley managed to be slender without being too skinny, managed to have pecs without even working out that much, and managed to look attractive in pretty much any outfit ever.
“I don’t even know what I’m looking for,” Ashley said, turning to him with a helpless smile. “I’ve never had to buy clothes to look good for a guy.”
“Say that a little louder,” Erik said. “I don’t think that everyone in the store heard you.” While Ashley blushed and looked around, Erik said, “You don’t have anything to worry about. You have a better body than anyone else in that bed.”
“Are you kidding?” Ashley asked. “I look like I’m still in high school. They’ve filled out, they’re men.”
Erik gazed without hope at his reflection. “I don’t know what I’m looking for, either,” he admitted. He wasn’t used to worrying that much about what his body looked like. Now, though, after examining Howie and JC close-up and in detail, he suspected that he could do better. “Maybe I should try some sit-ups or something.”
“At least you have an ass,” Ashley said, walking over to stand beside him.
“At least America’s interested in watching you in the shower,” Erik said. “They had the opportunity to look at me and didn’t take it.”
“Oh, come on,” Ashley said. “You know they couldn’t stand the hotness. They weren’t going to splash the Latin love all over the TV screen.”
Erik grinned. “I am too hot for TV.”
“Absolutely,” Ashley agreed. “But not in that shirt, man,” he said, backing up, surveying Erik with a grin. “That doesn’t work on TV or off of it.”
“I’m rockin’ this shirt,” Erik argued, checking his reflection again.
“Look, seriously, though,” Ashley said, in his “it’s time for some heartfelt communication” voice, which made Erik roll his eyes. “I know that everybody acts like the only body really worth crawling into bed with looks like… I don’t know, Brad Pitt or somebody. Something like that. But Joey isn’t built like that, and neither is Nick. Neither is Chris, and Trevor is all over that guy. I don’t think that whether or not you do sit-ups really matters.”
Wow. “Are we really having this conversation?” Erik asked. Only Ashley would do this to him. He’d never met a man so likely to develop a vagina. “Do you want to try on bras later?”
“Okay, what kinky games are you into?” Ashley asked, laughing.
During the drive back, Kevin asked him if he wanted to bring up anything at the meeting. He said no, but he asked if Kevin had hurt Trevor yet. Kevin said no.
“What are you going to do to him?”
Kevin laughed. “If I told you now, that would ruin the surprise.” Parking in AJ’s driveway, Kevin turned in the driver’s seat, beckoning him with a gesture. Leaning forward, Justin kissed him, sliding eager fingers into his damp hair, moaning at the, oh, god, “Kevin…”
“Thy eternal summer shall not fade,” Kevin murmured, stroking his cheek. Another kiss, slow, lingering.
Gradually, as Kevin drew back, Justin opened his eyes.
“Good-bye, Justin,” Kevin whispered, gazing into his soul.
“Good-bye,” Justin whispered. Only because he’d officially been dismissed did he turn away. Getting out of the trunk, he walked up to AJ’s house and tried the knob, then rang the bell.
Kevin was still there, behind him, a presence he could feel.
The door opened. “Get in here and dry off,” AJ said, pushing him into the house. “Don’t lock me out,” AJ warned, walking outside.
Justin watched AJ walk right up to the truck and get in. Kevin and AJ conversed for a few minutes. About him? Then AJ got out and came back into the house as Kevin drove away.
AJ closed the door, cutting off his line of sight. “Stop dripping on my floor.”
“He was good to me,” Justin said. “He treated me better than you ever could. He made love to me. We made love.”
“Good for you,” AJ said.
“He said that I shouldn’t wear eyeliner. My eyes are captivating enough without it.”
“Are you competing with me?” AJ asked. “You’re impossible when you get like this. Go take that off. And hang it up.”
“We made love,” Justin repeated, drifting off towards the bedroom. “We were on the blanket, and he kissed me…”
“All right, children,” Chris said, putting his arms around them and guiding them towards the exit. “I’ve been summoned to a very important, high-level meeting, so I’ll have to part with you now. Would you like me to take you home, or drop you off at a strip bar?”
“Strip bar,” Trevor said.
“You can take us home,” Dan said.
“You don’t like naked women?” Chris asked, ushering them outside.
“I don’t think that it’s right to pay them to undress for strangers,” Dan said.
“Wow,” Chris said. “Are you one of those guys who can get women to undress for free? Because I’ve tried that, but,” he gestured to Trevor, “as you can see, it didn’t really work out.”
“You can get women whenever you want them,” Trevor said.
“Really?” Chris asked, looking around the parking lot. “Let’s try it and find out. Excuse me,” he called, veering off to one side, “miss? Ma’am? Hello?”
“Justin,” AJ said, sitting beside him on the bed, jerking him back to the moment. “Time to pay attention.”
“I love Kevin,” Justin said, pulling away as AJ’s hand settled on his arm. “Don’t touch me.”
“Why do you always pretend to be a virgin after you’ve been with him?” AJ asked. “You’re not suddenly too good to be touched, just because you came in contact with Kevin’s dick.”
“I’d like to respect what he gave me,” Justin said. “At least for a few hours.”
“Can you pay attention?” AJ asked.
“What, yes, whatever,” Justin said, irritated. “What do you want?”
“Every time we have one of these meetings, you end up huddled up in a corner, muttering to yourself,” AJ said.
Justin bristled. “Not every time.”
“It makes me look bad,” AJ said. “Tonight, you’re going to act like a normal human being. You’re going to act calm and confident and on top of your shit.”
Kevin had made love to him. He could do anything. Still, “Brian’s going to be there,” he said, faltering, confidence already wavering. “And Nick, and-”
“That’s why we’re pulling out our secret weapon,” AJ said.
They had a secret weapon? “What is it?”
AJ flashed a cocky grin. “Me.”
“You’ve always had it,” Trevor said. “I just can’t believe you did that.”
“You told me that it would work,” Chris pointed out reasonably. “I wanted to test your theory.”
“It worked,” Dan said from the backseat.
“Girls that age are pretty bouncy,” Chris said. “Must be something in their shoes.”
“Must be something about you being Chris Kirkpatrick from *NSYNC,” Trevor said.
“I hope you’re not late to your meeting,” Dan said.
“I always have time for my fans,” Chris said airily. “But you’re right,” he added, “I have to hurry. Get out.”
“Thanks for letting me tag along today,” Dan said, opening his door. “See you later.”
“Any time,” Chris said, as Dan got out.
“See you tomorrow?” Trevor asked.
“See you tomorrow,” Chris agreed, kissing him.
“I love you,” Trevor said, kissing him again. “Bye.”
“Bye.” Trevor got out; he watched them go into the house. Trevor loved him. Trevor loved him, and knew that he wouldn’t say it back, and announced it anyway. When he’d been talking to the girls, signing things for them, making them laugh, he’d seen Trevor watching, had noticed the pride in Trevor’s eyes. Trevor was proud of him. Trevor was in love with him.
It made him want to skip the meeting, and stay.
“You’re never going to look like me,” AJ said. “But getting into costume helps you get into character.”
Justin watched with some trepidation as AJ painted his first fingernail. “You’re just getting back at me for saying I don’t want to wear your make-up.”
“That’s called a side benefit,” AJ said. “Stop moving.”
“Sorry,” Justin said, his tone completely unapologetic. “Unlike most men, I’m not used to wearing nail polish.”
“Probably because it looks like shit on you,” AJ said, surveying his hand with a critical expression. “Maybe I need another color.”
“Where are you?” Kevin asked.
“I’m on my way, I’m on the road, I just turned onto Harding,” Chris said, speeding up.
“Good. How are you? Are you coping?”
“I’ll make it.”
“Good. Can you stay after the meeting?”
It was a question, now? “Yes, that would be fine, thank you for asking.” Strange, not to be ordered.
“I know that you aren’t jealous of my time or attention, but I wanted to let you know that I’m going to be nice to Justin tonight.”
At the sound of that word, that name, Chris felt something inside threaten to crack. Nice to Justin, nice to Justin; well, of course, everyone was nice to Justin. Justin was so loving and physically attractive that Brian gave him head. Brian, Brian-
“Chris,” Kevin said, “breathe slowly. You’re almost at my house. Stay under the speed limit, pay attention to the road. Keep breathing.” Obeying the calm, low, firm sound of Kevin’s voice, Chris reached Kevin’s house. As he parked, Kevin met him in the driveway, walking him inside. He didn’t realize that he was shaking until Kevin wrapped him in a close, secure embrace, stilling his tremors. “What do you need?” Kevin asked, one hand cupping the back of his head protectively. “What do you need?”
He needed Brian. He always needed Brian. He needed Brian more than he needed air, or food, or water, or clothing, or shelter. Homeless, starving, thirsty, and naked, struggling for each breath, he’d be happy if he had Brian.
“I’ll talk to him,” Kevin said. “I’ll see if I can get you a few minutes tonight.”
Brian. Tonight. Tonight, Brian. Chris latched onto the idea immediately. Brian.
“I have to get dressed, and I need you to help me set up,” Kevin said, lifting his chin, kissing his cheek. “You can do that for me. You’ll sit near me tonight, and you can pull your chair around to be closer, if you want, if that will help. Okay?”
Nodding, Chris kissed him respectfully, murmuring, “I love you.”
“Good.” Kevin kissed him in return. “Everything’s in the kitchen. We’re meeting in the dining room.”
“Dan, it’s Kevin. I’m right in the middle of things, so I don’t have long to talk, but I managed to get over to see AJ and Justin today. I talked to both of them, separately.”
“How did it go?” Dan asked, suspecting that he already knew the answer.
“Well, AJ said that he’s promised not to hit Justin, so there has been trouble in the past. But he said that they’ve moved on from there, and Justin says the same thing. They both told me how well things are going, how close they feel, how comfortable things are now. It sounds like they had a rough patch, but they got over it.”
“They admitted that there’s a problem,” Dan said.
“They admitted that there was a problem,” Kevin said. “But it sounds like they’re really trying to work past it.”
Dan had more questions, but he was frustrated, too frustrated to be able to converse like a rational human being. “Thanks for your help.”
“I’ll get back to you once I’ve spoken to Brian,” Kevin said.
“Thanks,” he said, but he didn’t have any hope on that subject, either. He hung up.
“What’s going on?” Trevor asked.
“I don’t know,” Dan said. And he didn’t know how to find out.
“Yeah?” Howie asked, fixing his hair before the mirror. “Did they have any plans?”
“They, uh, they said that, Nick…” There was no way to introduce the idea tactfully. “Nick wants to spend some time alone with me while we’re there.”
Slowly, Howie turned to face him.
JC couldn’t read Howie’s expression.
“He wants to fuck you,” Howie said, and his tone was calm, neutral, but the word ‘fuck’ suddenly sounded crude and vulgar. “In Vegas.”
“We’d be discreet,” JC said, as if that were the problem. “Ashley and Erik would never suspect anything.”
“Ashley’s naïve and Erik’s oblivious,” Howie said, dismissing them, not allowing JC to distract him from the point. “You agreed to do it?”
“Yes.” Nick wanted him; he’d never say no. For years now, he’d spent every day in his own agony of love, tortured by the lack of opportunity to express it. Now he was being offered a chance to be with Nick again, a chance to share with Nick again, a chance to give himself to Nick for as long as Nick would have him. He knew that he was already putting his fresh reunion with Howie into jeopardy, and he hated the timing, but he couldn’t deny Nick.
Howie nodded, looking down at his hands. “May I ask,” he said quietly, “that you do it on Monday, so that it can happen on our last day there? Then we can have our weekend together, and you can enjoy your afterglow on the plane with Joey, and I can pretend that it never happened.” When he raised his gaze and met JC’s eyes again, his expression was as calm and neutral and controlled as his voice.
JC wanted to apologize, but he didn’t think that Howie would let him. “Yeah,” he said, instead. “We can… I’ll ask him about Monday.”
Howie nodded, turning away. “Thank you.”
Damn it, JC didn’t want to hurt Howie; it wasn’t supposed to be like this. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ve always been clear about your priorities,” Howie said evenly, taking off one necklace and putting on another, not asking JC for help like he usually did, depriving JC of that intimacy. “I should be grateful that you’re not pretending to care more than you do.”
“I do care,” JC argued, pained by the accusation. “It’s not that I don’t care. I care about you, I care about our partnership, I-”
“I’ll distract Erik to keep him out of your way on Monday,” Howie said. “I know that you won’t have a lot of time, not as much as you’d like, but I’ll do what I can.”
JC rubbed his hands together. “This would be easier if you’d yell at me.”
“I’m not mad,” Howie said. “I’m not angry at you, JC.”
That was true. He’d seen Howie angry, before; he remembered being shocked by it. “I’m sorry,” he said again, because he felt bad, but he couldn’t change things. He couldn’t refuse Nick. He didn’t want to refuse Nick; he was looking forward to their time together with obsessive intensity. He’d rather do it at night, but he’d ask Nick about Monday.
“Don’t be,” Howie said, slipping on his watch. “I’m sure that Nick’s not.” He pocketed his wallet and phone. “Let’s go.”
Emerging from the bedroom, looking ridiculously handsome and smelling very good, very masculine, Kevin surveyed the dining room, giving an approving nod. “Thank you.”
Really? “You’re welcome,” Chris said.
Perfect timing: the doorbell rang. “I’ll get that,” Kevin said, kissing him on the mouth and giving his ass a quick, friendly squeeze. “Go wait in my room and I’ll see if Brian will talk to you.”
Brian! “Thank you,” Chris said, gratefully scurrying off. He closed the door, then pressed himself against it, listening, crossing his fingers.
“It’s no problem,” Kevin said. “Lance.”
“Kevin,” Lance said, following Brian into the house.
“Before we get started,” Kevin said to Brian, “while we’re waiting for everyone else to get here, could you do me a favor? Chris is in my room, and he wants to talk to you, alone. I told him that I’d ask you about it.”
“What does he want to talk about?” Brian asked, concern briefly wrinkling his forehead.
“I don’t pretend to understand him,” Kevin said.
“Do you mind?” Brian asked Lance.
“Go ahead,” Lance said. “If he wants to talk to you, you should talk to him.”
“Okay,” Brian said. “Well, then, I guess I’ll be back.” He went down the hallway, knocking on Kevin’s bedroom door. “Chris?”
The door opened before Brian could finish saying Chris’s name. “Brian,” Chris said, quickly backing up.
Immediately shushing Chris with a quick motion, Brian slipped into the room, closing the door and locking it. “We have to be fast,” he whispered, reaching for Chris’s fly. “Don’t make a sound, I don’t want them to hear us.”
“Hi, thanks,” JC said. “It’s nice of you to host this.”
“Brave of you, too,” Howie said.
“As long as no one starts a fistfight, everything should be fine,” Kevin said. “Lance is here, and Brian and Chris are talking.”
“Is it a good idea to encourage him?” Howie asked.
“If Brian’s willing to do it, I don’t have a problem with it,” Kevin said. “How do you feel, being back together?”
“JC’s a great ally,” Howie said calmly.
“I’m excited about working together again,” JC said. “Howie’s a great partner.”
“Yeah,” Lance said dryly, “he is.”
Howie smiled at Lance. “Thank you.”
“Don’t do that,” JC said to Howie. “Don’t be nice to him because you’re pissed at me. That’s not fair to Lance.”
“You think that he can only be nice to me because he’s mad at you?” Lance asked. “What about all of the times he’s nice to me when you aren’t around?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” JC snapped.
“Nothing,” Lance said darkly. “It doesn’t mean anything, JC, it doesn’t mean a goddamned thing.” He glared at Howie. “Does it?”
“No,” Howie said calmly, “it doesn’t.” The doorbell rang, and he opened the door.
“Hey,” Nick said. “I’m not late. Can I get a cookie?”
“JC wants to talk to you,” Howie said.
Nick grinned. “Even better. Hey, baby.” He kissed JC’s cheek. “Sweetness, can you get me something to drink?”
“There’s nothing I’d rather do more,” Joey muttered, coming in behind him. Lance plucked a can from the bowl on the table and, casually shaking it, passed it to Joey.
“What’d you want to talk to me about?” Nick asked, standing very, very close to JC and smiling into his eyes.
“We can talk about it later,” JC said, aware of their attentive audience.
“We might not get a chance later,” Nick said. “Tell me now.”
JC didn’t want to cause a scene, and refusing Nick didn’t always go over well. “We never set a time for our appointment, and I thought that Monday would be a good time, so we can spend the weekend focused on the game.”
“We’re flying back on Monday,” Nick said. “Baby, unless you’ve changed, half an hour’s not going to do it. You know how you like it, you know me, you know it takes hours to treat you right.”
“You must not be very good,” Lance said.
Nick glanced over his shoulder at Lance. “If you can satisfy your man in twenty minutes, he’s not satisfied.”
“Nick,” JC said, wanting to touch him but holding back in front of Howie, wanting to find a date that made everyone happy, wanting to avert a fight before the meeting even started. “We aren’t leaving until that afternoon. We’ll have time.”
“I thought you’d want to do it at night,” Nick said. “Wine, candles, romance.”
“I do,” JC said honestly, “but we should spend our evenings working on the game. And we can set whatever mood we want.”
Resistant, but willing to be cajoled, Nick sulked.
“Please?” JC asked. The sullen set of Nick’s mouth, the displeased glint in his eyes, made JC love him and want to soothe him. “I’d love to put you first, I want to spend every second of the weekend with you, but we have to think about what’s best for the game. I talked to Howie, and we agreed that Monday works best, so we can focus on the game all weekend and you and I can still have our time.”
Behind Nick, Joey shook the can.
Briefly frowning, Nick shrugged and relented. “Monday’s okay. Besides,” he grinned, eyebrows lifting, sexy and suggestive, “after this is over, you and I can hook up wherever we want, whenever we want.”
“Terrific,” Joey said. “Good for you.” He shoved the can into Nick’s hand. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Yeah,” Nick said, turning and grinning, pushing the can back at him. “You can open this.”
“It’s your drink,” Joey said, thrusting it at him.
“Yeah?” Nick asked, grinning devilishly, and opened it on him, soda erupting into Joey’s face and cascading down his chest. “Looks like it’s yours, now!”
“You shit!” Joey protested, wiping up froth and smearing it across Nick’s face. Laughing, Nick darted away; shouting, Joey chased after him.
“He’s five years old,” Lance said.
“He’s going to clean this up,” Kevin said. “Nick!” he shouted.
Whooping and laughing from another room, Nick didn’t reply.
Quietly, to JC, Howie said, “I shouldn’t have made you do that here. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” JC said, meeting his eyes. “I am looking forward to this weekend. I want to spend time with you. I wish that we could have the weekend to ourselves, without Erik. But I’m willing to waste time on him to get time with you.”
“We all have to take some bad with the good,” Howie said. “It’s a lot easier when the good’s worth it,” he added with a smile, and winked.
Smiling, JC blushed.
A dark look crossed Lance’s face, but he didn’t say a word.
As the shouting and laughing died down in the background, the doorbell rang. Kevin opened the door and, after a moment of silence, asked, “Is today Halloween?”
“Hey,” AJ said sharply, entering the house, “I do good work.” He was dressed casually, in sneakers and ripped jeans with a vintage T-shirt and silver jewelry, black nail polish, a large black watch, and a trucker cap. Right behind him, Justin wore jeans and a similar T-shirt, with sneakers and silver jewelry, the look completed by dark blue nail polish, black sunglasses, and various bracelets and wrist bands.
“This,” Lance said, “is disturbing.”
“I think,” Howie said, “that you’ve over-accessorized.”
“Maybe,” Justin said, taking off the sunglasses and passing them to AJ, who slipped them on. Intrigued, JC took a step closer to verify that, yes, Justin was wearing a hint of eyeliner, just a light stroke at the outer corner of each eye. “I’m sorry if we’re late,” he told Kevin.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kevin said. “Nick!” he shouted.
“We’re right here!” Nick yelled back, walking into the foyer with Joey’s shirt in hand. “Hey, cute,” he said, glancing at Justin.
Joey, who’d been right behind him, stopped walking.
AJ lowered his sunglasses, scanning Joey’s naked chest. “It’s gonna be good to be under that tonight.”
“You have issues,” Justin said. Surprised, but pleased, JC couldn’t suppress a grin.
“You,” Kevin put a hand on the back of Nick’s neck, “clean the floor. Justin, do me a favor and go to my room and ask Brian and Chris to join the rest of us in the dining room while you find Joey something to wear. There are a few of Nick’s shirts in the corner of my closet, you can give him one of those.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your floor,” Nick said, as Justin immediately sprang into action.
“Come on,” Justin said to Joey, hustling him down the hallway.
“You’re wearing his clothes,” Joey said.
“It’s an experiment.” Politely knocking on the door, Justin asked, “Brian?”
“One minute,” Brian’s voice replied.
Pulling Justin around to face him, Joey stared at him, stared into his eyes. Took his wrist, stared at his bracelets, his rings, his fingernails.
“It’s hard for me to be me, sometimes,” Justin said. “All of the time. It’s easier if I can be AJ.”
“Shit gets hard for me, sometimes, too,” Joey said, shoving him back. “You know what would make it easier on me? If you wouldn’t show up in my face after climbing off of his dick, climbing out of his bed, and climbing into his clothes!”
“AJ told me to wear this,” Justin argued. “You think that I painted my own nails?”
The door opened. “Hi,” Brian said brightly. “You two aren’t out here fighting, are you?”
“No,” Justin said.
“That’s good.” With a sparkling smile, Brian passed them and walked on down the hallway.
“Are you wearing his underwear, too?” Joey asked.
“No, I’m not wearing AJ’s underwear,” Justin said, peering into the room. “Chris?”
“Oh,” Chris said, staggering towards them. He walked right into the door and stayed there, blinking a lot, looking dazed.
“Chris,” Justin said.
He blinked a few more times, then said, “Oh.” A beatific smile broke across his face. He looked in serious danger of sinking to the floor in an ecstatic puddle.
“We can’t keep Kevin waiting,” Justin told Joey. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into Kevin’s bedroom. “What happened to you, anyway?” he asked, running his hands over the furniture.
“Soda,” Joey said shortly, ducking into the bathroom to wash up.
When his fingers ran across a watch, Justin picked it up, glanced around, and quickly pocketed it. Then he went into the closet. “Chris, you okay?” he called over his shoulder.
“What the hell is taking you so long?” AJ demanded, striding into the room. “Chris, get your ass into the dining room and sit down,” he ordered, giving Chris a firm push down the hallway. “Justin, stop fondling Kevin’s shirts,” he said, dragging Justin out of the closet and shoving him out of the room. “Joey,” he tossed Joey a shirt, “cover up the glory and let’s go. The sooner we get this started, the sooner I can take you home and get to the best part of my day.”
Since AJ was the problem, none of the Boys could be trusted.
Something was wrong with Joey.
Something was wrong with Lance. Jacob was biased, but there was something about the way Jacob reacted to him that made Dan believe that there really was something off about Lance.
Chris was not necessarily a reliable source. A great guy, yes, but a little strange.
JC was a reputable source. JC said that there was no problem. Everything was fine. AJ and Justin were happy together.
Ashley said that AJ and Justin were happy, too.
Jacob said that AJ wasn’t abusive.
Either Justin was lying, or everyone else was.
Either Justin was lying to him, or Justin was lying to everyone but him.
Either he was the victim of a vast conspiracy, or he was vastly stupid.
Could Justin be lying to him? Even JC said that the bruises were real, and Kevin seemed to have corroborated that. But had that been a normal exchange, or an aberration? Was Justin an innocent victim, or someone who taunted and fought back?
Justin could have lied about the abuse. Lied about AJ’s behavior. Cried for effect.
But AJ had threatened Justin, had bragged about hurting him.
Or had that been abnormal behavior for AJ? Was AJ typically a nice enough guy who’d only spun out of control because Justin had pushed him into it?
Was it possible?
If AJ was really that bad, that violent, that dangerous, that abusive, wouldn’t he have done more to Dan? Especially since he thought that Dan had been having sex with Justin, thought that Dan was to blame for the break-up? Wouldn’t have Dan been the first one on his hit list?
Dan’s bruises had come from sex. Which suggested that AJ was fucked up, absolutely, but didn’t suggest that AJ was abusive.
Or maybe AJ only abused Justin.
But if he abused Justin that thoroughly, wouldn’t someone have noticed? Or wouldn’t he have abused his last girlfriend, or boyfriend? Of course, the people most likely to know about any of that were Backstreet, and they weren’t going to admit anything.
Although Kevin had admitted that AJ had punched Justin.
Dan rolled onto his stomach.
Had Justin manipulated him? Had Justin lied to him? Had Justin completely played him? Was Justin as fucked up as AJ was? Maybe so; maybe AJ and Justin made a perfect little happy fucked-up couple.
Justin had stayed with AJ, had refused to leave with him, that last day.
But all of the tears, the shaking, the terror, the accusations, the threats, Justin’s inability to meet his own eyes in the mirror, AJ stalking Dan all over town just to get a description of what Justin had on - - something was wrong, something was horribly wrong. Healthy people didn’t act like that. Healthy people didn’t psychologically cripple each other.
But if Justin was so traumatized, how did he hide it? Jacob and Ashley would have seen it. Someone in the press would have picked up on it. Justin and AJ’s friends wouldn’t be able to deny it so neatly. Everyone who’d noticed anything blamed it on Dan, blamed it on Justin’s lack of AJ. It was as if before and after Dan, during any and all time with AJ, Justin was fine, but during that time that AJ and Justin had been apart and Dan had been around, Justin had broken down. Which made it Dan’s fault, for breaking them up; Dan’s fault, for keeping them away from each other.
Was it his fault?
Why didn’t any of this make any goddamned sense?!
Kevin looked very, very handsome and very, very sexy at the head of the table. He was confident and relaxed. When he caught Justin’s eye, he smiled. Justin wanted to melt right out of his chair. Normally this kind of meeting stressed him to the breaking point, but after his wonderful day with Kevin, under the influence of Kevin’s continued goodwill, not much got to him.
Joey seemed distracted for pretty much the entire meeting. He couldn’t take his eyes off of AJ. When AJ took off his sunglasses and ran his hand over his hair, Joey looked almost painfully aroused.
Nick kept picking bits of ice from the bowl and sucking on them. JC spent most of the evening staring at him in rapt fascination. Once, Justin met Nick’s eyes, and Nick did something very lewd with his tongue. Justin didn’t look at him after that; he was AJ, and AJ didn’t deal with people AJ didn’t want to deal with.
Chris was still and quiet. At seemingly random moments, he blushed fiercely. He didn’t fidget once, but he smiled a whole lot.
Everyone was getting along without much fighting, and the evening seemed to be going pretty well, after all, until Nick asked, “Are we finished?”
“We have a couple of concerns with Lance,” Kevin said.
Lance folded his arms and sat back, steeling himself.
“What did he do now?” Nick asked.
“He told Kevin to stay away from Justin, and then he showed up on Justin’s doorstep wanting to play friends,” AJ said. “Justin threw a fucking fit and I had to kick Lance out and pin Justin down to get him halfway normal again.”
“Normal?” Nick asked.
AJ gestured. “You know what I mean.”
Justin tried to imitate AJ’s casual pose and act like he didn’t care whether they talked about him or not, like what they said about him didn’t even bother him. He was too cool for that.
“When? Justin, are you okay?” JC looked worried; when Justin only shrugged, JC looked even more worried, but there was no way that Justin was going to talk about that here.
“Why did you go to Kevin before you went to Justin?” Joey asked.
“Justin isn’t exactly reasonable about Kevin,” Lance said.
Justin didn’t like the way that Lance was looking at Kevin like it was all Kevin’s fault, so he gave Lance an AJ look and said, “And you’ve been reasonable as hell about Howie.”
At first Lance just stared at him, shocked and indignant, but then AJ snorted approving laughter, and Lance snapped, “What the fuck is with Mini-Me?”
“As long as we’re asking questions, what the fuck is with your hair?” Nick asked.
“Let’s try to stay on-topic,” Kevin said. “It sounds like you’ve been busy,” he said to Lance. “How much did you have to do with Chris’s breakdown?”
“When I showed up, all of his doors were open and he was sitting in his closet,” Lance said. “He pulled himself together enough to talk to Dan. If you and Brian hadn’t fucked them up in the first place, they wouldn’t have any of these problems, so don’t accuse me of making their lives worse.”
Brian was trying not to look hurt.
“Chris,” Joey said. “Chris,” he repeated, and Chris looked across the table with a smile that was far too bubbly for the situation. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Chris said merrily, “and thank you for asking.”
“And we’re supposed to believe that?” Lance asked.
“Let’s talk about what else you’ve done lately,” Kevin said, not through with Lance.
“Like fuck up more shit?” Nick asked.
“What did I fuck up?” Lance asked, exasperated.
“You tell me,” Kevin said. The dark shadow to his tone made Justin sit up straighter. “Tell us about what’s in your guest room, Lance.”
“Which one?” Lance asked, unmoved.
“We set up two cameras in Jacob’s room,” Brian said. “Really small video cameras. They send a signal to two TV’s in Lance’s house.”
“You did what?” Joey asked.
“You’re spying on Jacob?” Howie asked.
“That’s awesome,” Joey said.
“You put cameras in his room?” Nick asked. “How, you just snuck in?”
“I kept everyone else busy and out of his room,” Brian said. “While he was watching TV, I let Lance in.”
“Watching TV?” JC asked. “You could’ve gotten caught.”
“Whose idea was this?” Joey asked.
“Mine,” Lance said.
Justin looked at him, surprised.
“Smart,” Joey said.
“Stupid,” Kevin said. “Brian, you know better than to implement something like this before we’ve all had a chance to weigh in. What were you thinking?”
“Lance brought it up, and we talked about it,” Brian said. “I’m sorry, I knew that we should all go over it together first, but he wanted to get it done right away.” He shook his head, sighing. “I have trouble saying no to Lance.”
Nick snorted.
“I’m not surprised that you wanted to spy on Jacob,” AJ told Lance. “You like to be in everyone else’s business.”
“You bugged Jacob’s room for what?” Nick asked. “So you could spy on him and point and laugh? So you could watch him behind his back and feel all superior? So you could sit in your room and jack off while he changes clothes?”
“I’m never around when he’s with Brian,” Lance said. “Now I’ll get to see things firsthand.”
“I think that’s a great move,” Joey said.
“It makes sense,” JC said.
“It’s selfish and it only gives you an advantage, not any of the rest of us,” Nick said.
“You only think about yourself,” AJ told Lance. “You don’t put it in the larger perspective of the whole game. You think about you and what you want and what you’re not getting. You don’t think about anyone else at this table but yourself.”
“You could’ve bugged the rest of the house,” JC said suddenly.
“Bingo,” AJ said, sitting back. “Josh, one, James, zero.”
“Most of us don’t have regular access to the Townhouse,” Kevin said. “It would be invaluable for all of us to know what’s going on in the house so that we can plan more effectively. Did it not occur to you that something this beneficial to you could benefit all of us?”
“Fine, I get it,” Lance said glaring at Kevin. “You want to bug the rest of the house, let’s bug the rest of the house.”
“Hell, let’s do it,” Joey said. “We could stay ten steps ahead of them if we had the whole house under surveillance.”
“Can we do that?” JC asked, looking at the Boys. “We could do all five bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room, the practice room.”
“I’d skip the bathrooms,” Howie said.
“Where’d you get your stuff?” AJ asked.
“The Smarte Shoppe, downtown,” Brian said.
Were they really going to do this? Would he get to watch Dan on tape? Justin wanted to ask, wanted to beg for a tape of Dan, but they would probably just tell him no. He’d have to wait for everything to be set in motion, and then try to get a tape later. Maybe he could get AJ to give him one.
“How would we get in?” Kevin asked, speaking directly to JC, like he was coaching JC, testing him.
“This weekend, Erik and Ashley will be out of the house,” JC said. “I’m sure that Brian can get Jacob out of the house, and Chris can take Trevor to his place.”
“That leaves Dan,” Kevin said.
Kevin had just said Dan’s name. A cold shiver ran down Justin’s spine - - no, no, it was AJ’s spine, Justin was AJ, and AJ didn’t worry.
“Dan can come with me and Jacob,” Brian said. “Or Chris and Trevor. We could all go out together.”
“That would leave you,” JC told Kevin, “AJ, Justin, and Lance. The four of you could go in, set everything up, and leave before they get back. If you know what you’re doing, it should work.” He glanced at AJ. “What do you think?”
Justin might end up in a room full of Dan’s belongings with Kevin. The very thought twisted his brain.
“I think that it sounds like a good idea,” AJ said. “It sure was nice to sit here and work out a plan that benefits everyone.”
Kevin gave JC his fourth approving look of the night. Justin had counted. He tried not to be jealous. Tried not to think about some of the things he’d done desperately trying to get just one of those looks.
“Where would the feed go?” JC asked.
“Diverting it to one place would be easiest,” AJ said. “What about here?”
“We could set everything up in one room,” JC said. “We could have it all record to tape. That would be a lot of hours of unnecessary footage, but then we’d catch everything we need.”
“A lot happens in that house,” Brian said. “A lot of fights, a lot of conversations. They share a lot, they talk about us and each other a lot. We’d get to see what’s on their minds.”
“I have a lot of room in my attic,” Kevin said. “It won’t be hard to keep Trevor out of it.”
“I know the layout,” AJ said. “I’ll pick up some equipment. How’s tomorrow night?”
“Mmm.” Brian looked hesitant. “I can work that out.”
“Great,” Lance said. “If we’re finished crowding around JC’s dick, can I go?”
JC gave Lance a sharp, fed-up, bitchy look. Lance was too busy glaring at everyone else to notice.
“Wait, did you bug Jacob’s room before Brian felt up Ashley?” Joey asked. “I would love to see that tape.”
“Brian traumatized Ashley, everyone in the house had a huge fight about it, you caught the groping and probably at least some of the aftermath on tape, and then you didn’t bring the only inside information on the latest O-Town meltdown to the meeting where you knew that all of us would be?” Nick looked past Lance. “Brian, can you help this guy out? Damn.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. I thought about bringing the tape, but this morning I got, um, distracted.” Brian blushed.
“It’s okay,” Chris said quickly. “We can watch the tape later. You don’t have to apologize.”
“I’ll get you the tape,” Lance said impatiently. “Do you want me to edit it and add subtitles? Would everyone like a separate copy or should I just release it on DVD?”
“A tape full of hours of Jacob in his hideous bedroom? God, no. I’m okay with just the highlights we’ve already covered.” AJ picked up his shades. “Are we good now?”
“I think that we’re done here,” Kevin said.
“Great,” Lance said, standing. “Come on,” he said, pulling Brian up.
“Bye, sweetness,” Nick said, kissing Joey’s cheek. “Come see me in the morning before I go.”
Chris sat forward. “Good-bye, Brian,” he said happily.
“Good-bye,” Brian said with a smile, giving him a wave before turning and leaving with Lance and Nick.
“Have a good time in Vegas,” AJ told Howie and JC.
“We will,” Howie said, winking.
“Bye. Chris, Justin, I’ll call you before I go,” JC said on his way out the door.
“Later,” Justin said, totally cool.
“Come on,” AJ said, easing his chair back and rising with feline grace. “I have to get you home and settled before I can get my groove on. Say good-bye to Kevin and let’s go.”
“Good-bye,” Justin said, trying to copy AJ’s move.
“Come here,” Kevin said with a smile, beckoning with a gesture.
Immediately obedient, inwardly humming with joy at Kevin’s smile, Justin walked around the table to him. Joey was talking quietly to Chris, trying to get information, but he was given only sunny, polite, non-answers.
“Give me what’s in your pockets,” Kevin said, holding out his hands.
Oh. Justin emptied his pockets, giving Kevin a watch, a sock, and a pair of drawers.
“Thank you,” Kevin said. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“I don’t know what I’ll be doing,” Justin said.
Kevin smiled. “You’re going to like it.”
“Come on,” AJ said, tugging Justin back, a hand on his arm. “Time to leave. Kevin, good night. Chris, good to see you. Joey, you drove yourself, right? Let’s go.”
Leaving the room, Justin turned back. Behind Joey and AJ’s backs, Kevin gave him a private smile. Smiling back, flooded with warmth, Justin let AJ drag him out of the house.
Rising, Kevin cleaned up, then stood beside Chris, resting his ass against the table, casually crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you want to stay here, go to Trevor, or go home?”
“Oh, if I go to Trevor, I’ll fuck him,” Chris said.
“I’ve asked you not to penetrate him.”
“And I respect you for that, and I haven’t, since that one time.”
“If you went to him tonight, you’d be thinking of Brian,” Kevin said. “You’d make love with him as if he were Brian, and even if you didn’t penetrate him, even if you let him fuck you, it would still be better than anything he’s ever had.”
“Yes,” Chris agreed, smiling brightly. His hands crept over his own thighs.
Kevin studied him. “I’m going to have to keep you here. I can’t let you give him that.”
Chris could still feel Brian’s touch. “I could give it to you,” he offered.
Lifting Chris’s face, Kevin looked into his eyes. Chris looked up at him with a sunny smile. “No,” Kevin said, gently lowering his chin again. “You’d only be giving yourself to Brian, not to me. I don’t like to share.”