Sucker
Copyright November 24, 2002-June 11, 2007 by Matthew Haldeman-Time
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.
“JC, hey,” Howie said, sounding glad to hear from him. “You’re here?”
“Yeah, we just got in. Do you want me to come to your room, or-”
“No, I’ll come there,” Howie said. “We can kill time until Erik shows up.”
A few minutes passed; when the knock came, JC let Howie in. They relaxed on the couch together, by the windows, and rubbed each other’s feet.
“It would be nice to do this again sometime without bringing Erik,” Howie said.
“L.A. was great,” JC said. “Maybe we can ditch Erik for a few hours and enjoy ourselves.”
“We’ll have some time later tonight, when he’s…busy,” Howie said. “I’m not sure how long, though.”
JC laughed. From personal experience, he felt safe in saying, “It’ll only be about five minutes.”
“We might as well fuck in here,” Nick said, handing him a key. “It’ll be nice to have room in bed for once.”
“I probably shouldn’t fuck you in front of Ashley,” Joey said. “We wouldn’t want him to realize he’s a better lay than you are.”
Nick just snorted. “Sit down, I’m trying to find something decent on TV. You want something to eat?”
“Yeah, that’d be good.” Picking up the remote, Joey found a seat and then located, oh, yeah…
“Save that for Angel,” Nick said, smacking him on the back of the head with the room service menu. “You can’t go near a TV without finding porn?”
“I’m been in Vegas for half an hour and I haven’t fucked yet,” Joey said. “My body doesn’t understand.”
“Try to keep it under control,” Nick said. “I don’t want you sticking it anywhere extra tonight. I don’t want Ashley smelling some chick on you.”
“So I’ll take a shower.”
“Okay,” Nick said. “Do whatever you want. I’m your boyfriend, not your father. But when you fuck up the game, you’re taking the fall for it, not me.”
Joey snorted; he wasn’t going to let Nick psych him out. “If you were my boyfriend, you’d give me head once in a while.”
“Once in a while?” Nick repeated. “What the hell? I’ve been coughing up your pubic hair for weeks.”
Joey grinned. “Then you shouldn’t mind giving me a little job now.”
“If you’d give a few more yourself, you might get more. I’m your boyfriend, not your whore,” Nick said. “Get it from Angel.”
His thoughts had turned, inevitably, to Kevin, but that had, after a while, made his mind begin to slip, so he’d breathed evenly and thought about Dan. About AJ. About being calm, and centered, and relaxed.
He heard noise downstairs. Before he could spiral, AJ called, “Relax, it’s just me.” Feet climbed the stairs. “How are you doing up here?”
He opened his eyes and saw AJ kneeling down before him. Exhaling, he felt a scary kind of intense relief. AJ hadn’t abandoned him, hadn’t sent someone in to find him, hadn’t arrived with a whip and video camera.
“It was all pretty quick,” AJ said, unbuckling straps. “It should be an easy set-up tonight. I could do it by myself, if we didn’t have to play nice and invite Bass along.” AJ eased the plug from between his lips; Justin coughed. “You look like you had a quiet afternoon,” AJ said, unfolding a bandanna from one pocket and wiping Justin’s mouth.
Clearing his throat, licking his lips, Justin said, “Thanks for coming back.”
“No problem.” Sorting through keys, AJ reached behind him, unlocking and unfastening. “You barely moved.”
Now that AJ was back and the restraints were falling away, reality was rushing back in, his situation was crashing in around him, and Justin’s brain allowed him to realize what had just happened, that he’d been shackled in his own home, bound and gagged and chained to furniture on his hallway floor, that he’d put himself into AJ’s hands, at AJ’s mercy. Frantically trying to block reality, not wanting to face that, not wanting to think about it, not wanting to let it in, he said urgently, sucking in air and almost choking on it, “Take me dancing.”
“Okay, hold on,” AJ said, removing the final set of cuffs. “You get the lube, I’ll get the music.”
His legs didn’t want to hold him, so he half-staggered, half-crawled to his bathroom. On his way back, hearing a pumping and pounding bass-heavy beat, hearing the volume soar past too loud, he stopped right where he was, shimmying out of his clothes right there on the floor beside the bed. AJ walked in, walked towards him, stripping.
They fucked to the beat, rough and grinding, AJ’s thrusts harsh, AJ’s hands forcing him into position. Justin moved wherever AJ put him, took whatever AJ gave him, panting and groaning and making desperate, hurt, needy sounds. The harder AJ pounded into him, the farther away from himself Justin got; when AJ pulled on his dick with a cruel twist, pleasure and pain blurred together and Justin escaped, everything going white and taking him with it.
It was Erik. Rolling his eyes, JC said, “Hi, honey, are you all right? We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Yeah, we finally made it,” Erik said. “The shuttle wouldn’t come for us and the hotel lost our freaking reservations, but we’re finally here.”
“Oh, that’s rough,” JC said, sending Howie a speculative glance. Howie winked; JC grinned. “Well, why don’t you get all settled and then come to my room? We can go down together and play some cards.”
“I might have to eat first,” Erik said. “I’m starving.”
“We have some food up here,” JC said.
“Great,” Erik said. “Be there in a few minutes.”
“Okay, honey. Bye.” JC hung up, laughing. “The shuttle never showed up and the hotel lost the reservations?” he asked.
“Nick and I got here early and needed something to do,” Howie said. “I thought that it might be a nice surprise for you.”
JC could just picture the scene at the airport: Ashley flustered, Erik frustrated, Ashley confused, Erik calling the hotel over and over again. “Those poor guys,” he said, smiling broadly.
“Ashley doesn’t handle stress or conflict well,” Howie said. “This isn’t a very good start to his weekend.”
JC took a sip of wine. “I think that it’s a great start.”
Beside him, Nick belched. “Where the hell is Angel?”
Joey didn’t know and couldn’t really bring himself to care with any kind of sincerity. “Give me that plate.”
Nick passed it to him, draping an arm along the back of the sofa behind his shoulders. “I’ve never met anyone who watches porn just for the hell of it. You’re not even trying to get off, you’re just… It’s not a TV show.”
“It’s entertainment,” Joey said, licking his fingers.
“You’re a freak.” Nick stroked his neck. “You should do that with Ashley. He’d look good bent over like that.”
Not a bad idea. “He might not be flexible enough.”
“Tell him that girls do it for you all of the time,” Nick said. “That’ll make him try harder.”
Joey grinned. “He’s a desperate whore, but he’s my desperate whore.”
“It’s sweet,” Nick agreed as Joey’s phone rang.
Sucking his fingers clean, Joey checked the ID. “It’s Ashley.”
“Invite him up,” Nick said.
“I know what to do,” Joey said. They’d gone over it three times already. “You got Joey.”
“You wouldn’t believe how much trouble we had getting here,” Ashley said. “We got stranded at the airport, we called for the shuttle but it never got there, we finally got a cab and came over but then the hotel lost our reservations, I haven’t eaten anything and I’m starving, it’s been such a mess. But I’m here, I made it, I can’t wait to see you.”
They’d just seen each other that morning. “I can’t wait to see you, either,” Joey said. “Come up and let me say hello. I’m in Nick’s room. I’ll get you something to eat and we can get our weekend started.”
“Okay,” Ashley said.
Joey hung up on him and looked at Nick. “How hard is it to get from Orlando to Vegas?”
Nick snorted, reaching for another piece of chicken. “It’s only hard to get from Orlando to Vegas if it’s also hard to get from your bed to your toilet.”
“We were stranded in the airport in Berlin,” Joey said.
“We were stranded in the airport in Tokyo,” Nick said, still eating.
“The hotel lost our reservations in San Diego,” Joey said.
Nick laughed. “They lost your reservations? What, it’s hard to remember that *NSYNC’s tour booked rooms?”
“They never lost your reservations?”
“No,” Nick said, laughing. “I guess we’re just more organized than you are. Or more memorable. Or-”
“You’re as disorganized as shit,” Joey said.
“What, everybody, or just me?” Nick asked, curious, amused.
“Probably both,” Joey said.
“Kevin used to tell me that I was as orderly as a roomful of headless chickens,” Nick said.
“Used to?” Joey repeated. “More than once? I wouldn’t even say that in the first place, and I sure as hell wouldn’t say it again.”
“You don’t think it’s true?” Nick asked.
“Oh, it’s true like a motherfucker,” Joey said. “I just wouldn’t be caught dead saying it.”
Laughing, Nick got up and began to dig through his suitcase on the floor. “Be nice to him, be friendly, treat him like you care, but no fucking.”
“I know,” Joey said, watching him. “What are you doing?”
“Put this on,” Nick said, tossing him a shirt. “You got crumbs and shit all over that one.” A quick, hot kiss. “Love you.”
“I love you, too,” Joey said, “but we don’t have to say it this often.”
“You should be more romantic,” Nick said. “I said it to JC about a hundred times a day, and he couldn’t get enough of it.”
“I hope that was an exaggeration,” Joey said.
“Ask him about it.” Crossing the room, Nick pulled open the door and left.
Only a minute after Joey had changed shirts, Ashley knocked. “Hey, pretty,” Joey said with a smile, “come on in.”
After a quick glance over Joey’s shoulder, probably looking for Nick, Ashley entered the suite. “Hi.”
Joey’s dick had learned quickly to associate Ashley with orgasms, so just having Ashley in sight turned him on. “You look good enough to eat.”
“So do you,” Ashley said with a smile, “and I’m hungry, so watch out.” When he offered an embrace, Ashley moved immediately into his arms, but Ashley’s gaze wandered past his shoulder again. “This place is crazy. Did you get a suite like this? Mine’s not even a tenth of this size.”
“Nick gets special treatment because he’s performing,” Joey said.
“I’ve never performed in Vegas,” Ashley said.
Joey decided not to point out that Ashley had barely performed anywhere, and even then, “performed” wasn’t really the word for it. Tired of talking about Nick, he kissed Ashley, bringing things around to his favorite subject. Responding quickly, Ashley stroked his chest, moaning around his tongue. Joey squeezed his ass and considered fucking him, but Nick had plans, and Joey was tired of being accused of not playing the game well.
When Ashley cupped his dick and started rubbing him down, Joey stepped back, pushing Ashley off of him. “Sorry, pretty,” he said, kissing Ashley’s red, hungry mouth a few times. “We haven’t talked yet and you still need to eat. Sit down and let’s see if Nick left any actual food.”
Visibly confused, Ashley followed his lead, sitting beside him on the couch. Ashley ate and talked; Joey nodded and made appropriate “yes, I’m listening” noises and pictured Ashley in various sexual positions, naked and pretty and begging for more.
“Bitch,” AJ muttered beside him, sounding irritated. “You broke the skin.”
Really? “When I scratched you?”
“When you bit me,” AJ said, getting up.
Oh. “On your shoulder?” he asked, opening his eyes.
“My finger.”
Oh! Oh, shit, “Really?” he asked, pushing himself up and following AJ to the bathroom.
“Yeah, really,” AJ said, rinsing his finger under the tap. AJ cast him a critical look. “You don’t have rabies, do you?”
“Of the two of us, which one do you think is more likely to have rabies?” Justin asked. “At least I have the sense not to stick my fingers in your mouth.” He didn’t remember biting down that hard, but he’d also kind of been out of it. “Sorry?” he offered.
“No, you’re not,” AJ said dismissively. “Let’s see what’s in your fridge before we go meet up for our little round of espionage.”
As he knocked on JC’s door, his stomach rumbled. He was never traveling anywhere with Ashley again.
The door swung open. “Erik-Michael,” Howie said. “I’m glad you made it.”
Howie’s hug felt really good. Wow, “This room’s a whole lot nicer than mine.”
“JC’s a very important person,” Howie told him with a wink, one hand rubbing over his back. “Go on and sit down.”
It was hard to move away from Howie’s familiar caress, but the sight and scent of food lured him. Sitting down with JC at the small table, he accepted the dishes that JC set before him. “Sorry I’m late. It was a bitch getting here, and the guy at the reservation desk acted like he’d never heard of us before, like we didn’t get the rooms just yesterday.”
“Reservations get lost all of the time,” JC told him.
“At least they had rooms left.” Watching Howie come to the table, he blinked. “You’re wearing your watch and ring again.” That had to be a good sign.
“You noticed that?” JC asked, sounding surprised.
Was that weird? Should he not have? Hell, he couldn’t remember what shirt Ashley had on, and they’d just spent hours together. To be honest, he did pay a lot of attention to Howie and JC, even details, more than he did with anyone else. Still, “It’s pretty big and shiny.”
“JC told me that you were in favor of bling,” Howie said, sitting down with them.
“I am,” Erik admitted. His gaze drifted from Howie to JC, torn as always between the desire to watch them both, and he was fascinated, for a minute, with watching JC. He’d never seen anyone eat as fast as JC did, or with such concentration. A few strands of hair had fallen forward, and he wanted to smooth them back from JC’s eyes. Eyes, god, no one had eyes like JC, almost gold in the center with a blue like a stormy sea, like a cloudy-
“You brought JC a present?”
As Erik realized that he’d been so distracted by Howie and hunger and the sight of JC eating, he’d set his gift on the table for the world to see, JC smiled at him. “After all of these past days, it’s strange to see you and not be handed a dozen flowers.”
“It’s not flowers,” Erik said, so nervous he was stating the incredibly obvious. “It’s not, uh, it’s nothing that special. You already have everything,” he told Howie, “and you have everything plus a bunch of terrific presents, so I didn’t know what to get. But I wanted to give you guys something to congratulate you on getting your act together and hooking back up.”
“Oh, honey, you didn’t have to get us anything,” JC protested, looking astonished.
“After everything you’ve done for us,” Howie said, “we should have gotten you something.”
“We should have,” JC agreed, eyes widening. “We should have - - why didn’t we get him anything?” he asked Howie, honestly seeming troubled.
“I was so happy to have you back, I didn’t think about it,” Howie admitted. “You’re right, we should-”
“You don’t have to get me anything,” Erik said, cutting them off before they could jump up and go shopping. “I just wanted to see you together again. Besides,” he added, “you’ve already done enough for me.”
“We’ll get him something when we get home,” Howie told JC.
“We’ll get you anything you want,” JC said.
“We have to replace all of those clothes you lost, anyway,” Howie added.
“I like what you have on now, though,” JC said, reaching over and touching Erik’s sleeve, stroking the fabric. “This looks good on you, honey.”
“Here,” Erik said, pushing the small box at JC so that JC would stop touching him. He loved it when JC touched him when that touching led somewhere, but if they weren’t going to screw, it was more crazy-making than anything.
“Oh, thank you,” JC said, giving him a sweet, touched smile.
“That’s so generous of you,” Howie said.
“It’s not that big a deal,” Erik said, nervous now. He hoped that they would like it. Shopping for JC with Howie had given him a better idea of what to look for and how to consider what to choose.
Opening the box, JC said, “Erik-Michael, thank you,” his eyes lighting up.
“The bracelet’s for you and the necklace is for Howie,” he said, feeling clumsy, awkward. “I should’ve wrapped them separately.”
“Together is good,” Howie assured him with a smile. “Together is nice.”
“They’re a set, so I thought that if you wear one and you have the other one, you can match and not everybody has to know.” He really should’ve planned out what to say beforehand.
“Thank you, honey,” JC said, reaching over and hugging him. “This is so nice of you. You didn’t have to get us anything. You’ve already done so much, and we haven’t even done enough to thank you,” JC continued, letting go but leaving a hand on his arm, squeezing with a fond smile. “And these are so nice, they’re so, I want to see how they look,” JC said, turning to Howie, getting up.
“They are nice,” Howie agreed, examining the bracelet as JC stepped behind him. “You have good taste,” he told Erik.
“Well, I learned from you,” Erik said, watching the familiar way JC fastened the necklace around Howie’s neck, the way JC stepped around to adjust the pendant on Howie’s chest and admire the look.
“It’s perfect,” JC said. “You keep on surprising me,” he said to Erik.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Howie said, slipping the bracelet onto JC’s wrist. “Erik-Michael was a lot of help shopping for you.”
“He does have great taste in underwear,” JC said with a smile.
Howie smiled back, running a hand over JC’s thigh. “You wouldn’t happen to be wearing any of that now, would you?”
“Underwear?” JC asked with a laugh, backing up.
“Skimpy, sexy, fuck-me underwear,” Howie said, drawing him closer.
Laughing, JC twisted out of range. “You’ll find out later. I’m not going to show you now, you’ll just get distracted and we’ll never get downstairs.”
“We don’t have to go downstairs,” Howie pointed out. Erik loved seeing them like this, loved watching them be a couple, loved how happy and comfortable they were together.
“We have all night to make love,” JC said. “Let’s go lose some money first. Come on, Erik-Michael, what do you want to play?”
He wanted to play “pin the tail on JC” with Howie, but he decided not to give that answer. “We can try blackjack.” Out of curiosity, he asked, “Do you guys win a lot?”
“At blackjack?” JC asked.
“Anything,” Erik said.
“Not as much as AJ,” Howie said.
“Not as much as Lance,” JC said. “Lance cleans up.”
“When he’s sober,” Howie said. “It’s harder for him to count cards when he’s drunk.”
JC laughed. “He always gets drunk before he’s willing to admit it’s affecting him, so there’s about half an hour where he’s losing like crazy but won’t admit it. Unlike Joey, who always loses and doesn’t care.”
“What about you?” Howie asked.
“Me?” Erik asked, still hearing JC’s laughter faintly in the back of his mind, the sound of it happy with recognition and a little surprised. “I’m okay. I lose more than I win, but not a lot more, so it’s okay.”
“What about Ashley?” JC asked.
Erik snorted. “He has a terrible poker face. He always gives himself away. He tries to cover up and look calm and not react, but it never works. Anyone who looks at him can practically see his cards right there on his face.”
JC grinned. “Maybe we can play with him.”
“We can’t take advantage of that,” Howie said, laughing. “That’s not nice.”
“Hell, I don’t mind,” Erik said. “He’s probably busy, though.” Joey had to be balls-deep by now.
“It means so much to me,” Ashley said. “It’s-”
“You said, before that what matters most to you isn’t what happened, but that you weren’t believed. But I believe you, you know that, and Dan believes you. We’re on your side. You know that I’m always on your side.”
“Right, I know that,” Ashley said, but his expression wasn’t quite sure.
“This whole thing has caused a lot of trouble for me. With everyone, but especially with Nick. You know what he’s like, you know how Backstreet is - - he’d swear up and down that Brian was innocent even if he’d been standing right in the room watching it happen. But I can’t deal with him when he gets like this. I believe you, but he doesn’t see it as you versus Brian, he sees it as you versus him, and he’s furious with me because he thinks that I’m choosing you over him.”
“I’m sorry, Joey,” Ashley said, snuggling closer, on the couch, oozing empathy, guilty and concerned. “I’m so sorry about this, I never wanted you to be caught in the middle.”
“I know how much you love me, pretty,” Joey said, kissing him a few times since he was close and willing. “I hate to do it, but I have to ask you to do something for me.”
“Whatever you want,” Ashley promised, stroking his beard.
“I need you to stop talking about it. Not with me, you and I can talk about it as much as you want, if you need to. But with everyone else. People believe what they want to believe, and if they acted like assholes the first time you brought it up, they’re not suddenly going to accept it now.”
“You want me to…shut up about it?” Ashley asked, frowning, hand dropping.
“I need you to apologize to Nick for me.”
Ashley sat back, visibly stunned. “What? Jo-”
“He’s pissed,” Joey said. “He’s not going to let this go, and when Nick can’t let something go, it makes my life hell. If you apologize, he’ll get over it, but if you don’t, he’ll keep pushing and pushing. It’s hell on me, and it’s going to be hell on you, too. He’s going to want me to stop seeing you, he’s going to try to keep us apart.”
“Then don’t let him,” Ashley said. “Don’t let him do that to you. You know that Brian’s lying, and Nick probably does, too.”
“Pretty, if you don’t apologize, he’s going to force me to choose.”
Anxiety lined Ashley’s face. “Choose between us?”
“I love you, pretty, you know that I do, but…” Joey stopped, letting that last word hang between them.
Worry lingered before anger kicked in, and resentment. But Ashley was too insecure to maintain that anger for long. “I can’t… Joey, I can’t apologize. Brian groped me, he-”
“I know that, pretty, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what happened to you. But no one, no one but me and Dan, no one else, is going to believe you. And Nick’s never going to get over it, he’ll never let us be together, unless you tell him that you were lying. You know the truth, pretty. You know that I believe you. You know that I love you. Don’t make me give you up.”
Taking a deep breath, Ashley looked away. “He doesn’t love you,” he told the wall. “He never will, not the way that I do.”
“He does,” Joey said, “and I love him.” They said it to each other all of the damned time, anyway. “Nick gets pissed about stupid shit sometimes, but I can deal with that. The way he gets mad over you, I can’t handle that, pretty. You have to back off a little. When Nick’s happy, I’m happy, and when I’m happy, all I want to do is make you happy. If you and Nick could just get along, my whole world would be perfect. But when the two of you fight…”
Looking wounded, Ashley surprised Joey by not shedding a tear.
“I have to go,” Joey said, deciding that there wasn’t much more to say. He wanted to get out while Ashley was still surprised enough to be quiet, before a real argument started. “I need to meet up with JC for a little while. But I’ll be back, and when I get back, we can spend our time together.” Leaning across the distance Ashley had placed between them, he kissed Ashley’s anxious mouth. “It’ll be all right, I promise.” Another kiss; Ashley barely responded, blue eyes unhappy. “Just do this one thing for me, pretty, and we can be together.”
“But you believe me,” Ashley said, as if he needed to be sure.
“Pretty, of course. I know that you would never lie to me,” he said. “Wait for me here, all right? I’ll get back as soon as I can.” One more kiss, and this time Ashley kissed him back. Satisfied with that response, he left.
Time to play some cards.
They said hey to each other. Kevin had no intention of conversing with him; Lance checked his watch and asked about the equipment. “AJ has it,” Kevin said, and Lance shut up.
Right on time, AJ strolled around the corner. At the sight of him, Kevin flipped the lock to the rear door; AJ set two bags inside and came around, climbing into the passenger seat like it was his truck.
“Where’s Justin?” Lance asked, as if AJ had him hostage somewhere.
“On his way,” AJ said, as Justin came around the opposite corner. Justin deposited two more bags in the rear, then got into the backseat with a nervous glance at Kevin as if asking for permission to be there. Kevin glanced at AJ, and AJ said, “We’re good to go,” and Kevin backed out of his parking space.
Unsure about how to handle the fact that JC and Howie’s reunion might have cut him out of their sex life for good, Erik pondered what to do as they lead him to the card tables.
He’d expected to go to the regular tables to gamble like everyone else in the casino, but Howie and JC veered around a corner and then another corner and then another, and then they went through a door, and it was like the main floor but smaller, and more attractive. There were a lot of tables with all of the same games, and scantily-clad women offering drinks, and noise and buzz and laughter, but something was different.
His first hint of what was different came when they got their chips, and he had to decide whether or not to pretend to keep up. He forked over more money than he’d intended, but less than Howie and JC.
His second real hint of what was different came when they sat down at the table and the dealer told him what the limit was.
“This is the high rollers’ room,” Erik said, realizing.
“It’s a private room,” Howie said.
“Are you in?” the dealer asked.
Oh, hell, what was he supposed to say, no? “Yeah,” he said, setting down the chips. “Yeah, I’m in.” He turned to one of the waitresses. “Can I get a drink?”
He parked right in the driveway, boldly and without concern, then waited. “Be right back with you,” AJ said, getting out of the car and going to the front door. After picking the locks, AJ slipped into the house.
“Nice,” Lance said sarcastically.
“Shut up,” Justin whispered.
“You don’t approve?” Kevin asked, already knowing the answer and not really giving a damn. He watched the front door, waiting for the signal.
“Let’s just say that it’s typical and not a real surprise, every time I notice more criminal behavior from the five of you,” Lance said.
The briefest of glances over his shoulder at Justin, and Kevin’s gaze was back on the door.
“How would we get in the house to do this if AJ couldn’t get us in?” Justin asked Lance. “Wasn’t planting video equipment your idea in the first place? Aren’t you the one who just stole credit cards?”
Kevin ignored the rest of Lance and Justin’s conversation, focusing instead on the front door. This was taking too long; AJ was fucking around in there. But, ah. A quick gesture by one of the front windows, and Kevin was out of the truck, walking around to get the bags from the back. Justin hurried around to help him, while Lance went inside.
Once all four of them were in the house, AJ drew them into a huddle, one thigh pressed to Justin’s, one hand on Kevin’s back. “Danny Boy’s in his room,” he gestured toward it, “asleep. He’s out, but be smart, be as quiet as possible. You,” a light smack to Justin’s jaw to get his attention, a warning look, “don’t go in Daniel’s room or Trevor’s without supervision. And stay the fuck out of the garage.”
Warring reactions arose in Justin’s expression, but he nodded, conflicted but obedient.
“All right,” AJ said. “Lance, down here. Kevin, upstairs. I’ll set up the main feed.”
“How often do you hit him?” Lance asked.
“AJ doesn’t hit me,” Justin said immediately. Kevin smiled; Justin smiled back shyly.
“He just slapped you,” Lance said.
“He didn’t - - I’m fine with it, it’s just AJ, get over it so we can do this,” Justin said impatiently. “Kevin has more important things to do than hang around here with us all night.”
“So true,” Kevin said. “Come on,” and he walked away without looking, Justin immediately only a step behind.
What he was worried about was holding onto his money. So far, he was clinging to the edge of breaking even. Maybe he’d come out all right.
Howie played carefully, smiling and chatting but visibly calculating. He was a more conservative gambler than JC, who was a little back and forth; sometimes cautious, sometimes taking risks. JC ended up missing out on some good money, and also ended up losing some good money. He was a pretty bad judge of when to go for it and when to hold back, like his instincts were off.
Joey seemed like someone with a lot of experience; he was pretty good, and losing honestly didn’t seem to bother him. He tossed down chips casually, paying more attention to flirting with the waitresses than to how the cards went.
After a few more off-hand comments about women from JC and Howie, Erik decided to go for it. Part of him wanted to show them that there were other people interested in him, too. If they were so eager to push him back to women, then fine, he’d start flirting right in their faces.
He looked around, noticing that this room was less crowded than the main floor of the casino, and therefore he had fewer women to choose from. But one woman in particular was really damned hot. She was there to play, not to work, and she was, unlike most of the other female gamblers in the room, fairly close to his age. Maybe older, probably older, but JC and Howie had taught him to appreciate that. She had on a black dress with a lot of complicated crisscrossing straps, she had some fantastic cleavage, and she tossed around her long, thick, dark hair when she laughed. She moved around the room a lot, from one table to the next, but their paths kept crossing, and whenever he talked to her, she smiled and touched his arm.
Her name was Lisa, she was from Phoenix, and she was single.
She let him buy her a couple of drinks.
If he were honest with himself, he’d admit that he’d rather go upstairs with Howie and JC than with her, but he saw no reason to be honest with himself. He’d given them jewelry and they hadn’t even kissed his cheek, which was a pretty clear sign that he wouldn’t be getting any action, maybe ever again. Lisa was really hot, and she was into him, and he did want to be with a woman again.
If Howie and JC wanted him, of course he’d go running; there was really no question of that. But they were here to reconnect, they were here as a couple, and they didn’t seem to have any sexual use for him anymore. He had to find a diversion, to get himself off of them, to get hooked back onto something that he could have. Women, he had access to; Howie and JC’s bed was off-limits. He couldn’t change that; he just had to deal with it.
He tried to figure out how to get that dress off of her. Those straps had to unhook somehow.
When he played craps, she blew on the dice for good luck. He put his arm around her waist and she just moved closer. When his hand slid down to her ass, she let it stay there for at least thirty seconds before shifting away.
He was moving between tables when Howie said, “I think she likes you.”
“I think she wants me,” Erik said.
“Do you remember,” Howie’s voice was discreet but Howie’s gaze was direct, “what we talked about, before?”
He thought about it, and came up empty-handed. Then again, he was distracted by the sound of JC laughing at a table behind him. “No.” He wanted to glance around to make sure that no one else was moving in on Lisa, but he found it difficult to look away from Howie. He was kind of drunk, and Howie was strangely compelling even when he was sober.
“There’s a video camera,” Howie said quietly, “in JC’s bag. If you give me your key, I can set it up in your room.”
Set up what, set up, oh, shit. Wait, “Are you talking about what I think you’re talking about?”
“If you’re not comfortable asking her, she doesn’t have to know,” Howie said. “You don’t need to embarrass her.”
Which would mean taping her behind her back, which was shady as hell. Although, “You want to see it?”
“I would love to see you in your element,” Howie said softly, gazing into his eyes. “No matter how much I imagine it, nothing would be the same as seeing it.”
Imagine it? “You think about it?” About him? With a woman?
“JC and I have talked about it,” Howie said. “We want to see you expressing your sexuality and doing what comes naturally to you. We know you so well but we’ve never seen that side of you.”
Erik licked his lips, trying to decide what to do. He couldn’t just tape himself fucking someone without her even knowing about it. But Howie and JC seemed pretty interested in viewing his sex life, which was a huge ego boost, and if he went through with it, good things might happen. Howie wasn’t even hinting at that, but he could still hope for it.
Lisa would never even have to know. She’d never find out. Besides, he was never going to get a chick this hot again; if he was going to tape himself screwing someone, it might as well be her.
“I’ll put the camera somewhere she won’t see it,” Howie said, his voice hushed. “All you have to do is press record.”
“You’re sure she won’t see it?” He knew that he should say no to the whole idea, but Howie actually wanted to watch him have sex. No one had ever wanted to watch him screw before, especially no one as experienced and skilled as Howie.
“No one has to know but us,” Howie said.
He’d probably never get to have sex with Howie again, never make JC cry out, “Erik oh god oh god oh god Michael” again, but at least this was something. At least they were still interested in his sex life, even if they weren’t active participants. He was in Vegas with two incredibly hot guys, he was about to proposition a very sexy woman, why not record a few memories? Why not relax the rules?
She was out of his league, but Howie and JC were even farther out of his league, so he had some experience there. And he’d recently acquired some new sexual skills, which might help.
“I should probably make sure that she’s interested,” he said. Maybe she just wanted to flirt. He kind of hoped, now, that she’d turn him down. Then he wouldn’t actually have to do it.
“She seems very interested,” Howie said. “Why don’t you let me take care of the details while you take care of her?”
Praying that no one would ever find out about this, Erik handed Howie his key. Howie winked and left the room.
Great.
He wasn’t drunk enough to think that this was a good idea. Maybe that was the problem. Erik got another drink and sat at an empty table.
About five seconds later, JC slid onto the stool beside him, facing the room. “You’d better move fast, man,” JC murmured. “Joey’s trying to steal your girl.”
That would solve his problem in a heartbeat. Erik glanced over his shoulder to the blackjack table; Lisa looked away from Joey and gave him a sexy, inviting smile. He smiled back, turned around again, and groaned, rubbing his forehead.
“Erik-Michael.” JC’s voice was quiet. “When you’re with women, which position do you like?”
Slowly, Erik looked at JC.
JC’s expression was fairly normal, but there was something very, very interested in JC’s eyes.
Um… Erik licked his lips. “Usually just regular. On top. Missionary.”
JC smiled. “You must be very good at that.”
The way JC was looking at him made his body temperature rise. He kept flashing back to being on top of JC, watching his dick disappear into JC’s ass, watching JC’s lean, muscular body arch beneath him, watching JC writhe while he, god, he knew how to make JC beg, he could rock Lisa’s entire world.
“Women must love you,” JC murmured, like he was thinking the same thing.
“They do,” he agreed. He knew what he was doing with women. It might be nice, showing some skill, letting Howie and JC see that he was good at sex. They’d taught him new techniques because he’d been in new territory, but before they’d come along, he’d done pretty damned well for himself. Being re-trained had messed with his confidence, but he had to remember that he’d been fucking for years before they’d shown up.
“Erik-Michael.” Lisa stepped in on his other side, leaning against the table, her cleavage right at eye level. Her manicured nails slid down his arm. “Joey just challenged me to another round, and I don’t want to play without my good luck charm.”
Erik grinned. “I’m your good luck charm?” he asked, standing. “I thought that you were my good luck charm.”
“Oh,” she smiled, “I think that we can make each other very, very lucky.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Justin looked around as if he wanted to bring down all four walls with his bare hands.
In the hallway, Kevin kissed him because he wasn’t expecting it. Pretty little mouth.
A minute later, JC drifted over to their table. Mostly he watched Joey play, but Erik kept looking at him, because it was hard not to look at JC, and JC kept looking back, and JC kept giving him this smile, proud and encouraging.
He didn’t want to disappoint JC or prove to Howie what an immature coward he was. They thought that he was cool enough to hang with them, and if they realized that he wasn’t, he’d be out the door. They’d already put up with his bumbling and stalling and cold feet; if he refused to do this, they might write him off entirely. They didn’t seem to think that there was anything wrong with it. Maybe he was too naďve.
While Lisa collected her chips and Joey talked to JC, Erik stepped closer, his hand on her back. Her skin was soft between the straps. “I must be good luck for you after all.”
“You certainly are,” she said, rising with a smile. “I owe you a few thousand dollars.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, leaving his hand on her back, guiding her closer as he moved away from the table. “But it is getting kind of crowded in here. Why don’t we go up to my room and have a few drinks?”
“Well,” she said, her hand on his arm, “I think that I’ve already had enough to drink. But,” she added, giving him a conspiratorial smile, “I would like to go up to your room.”