Guys on Top 02 - Guys on the Side (9 page)

But there was nothing he could really say. He had asked Zach to stay away tonight. So he replied to the text, ‘
Okay. Have fun and be careful
.
Love you
.’

Zach immediately texted back. ‘
I’ll have fun. Bye
.”

Hmmm. He’ll have fun. But not be careful? And no ‘I love you, too’. That wasn’t like Zach at all.

Again that uneasiness bubbled up in Corey’s gut. But he pushed it down, and went back into the living room to join his friends.

If Zach was planning to do something stupid, well, there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot Corey could do about it.

Chapter Five

After cashing out and cleaning up, Zach, per Brooks’ instruction, went to meet him and his friends outside. Brooks had asked if he wanted to ride with them to the party, but Zach chose to take his own car and follow them instead. He didn’t want to get trapped somewhere with a bunch of strangers if it turned out to be weird.

He stepped out of the club and spotted Brooks and his friends, huddled in conversation a few yards up on the sidewalk. Brooks had pulled a black knit hat over his sandy dreads, and Zach thought it looked cute on him, adding a scrappiness to his otherwise delicate presentation.

Zach had met the other two with Brooks when he brought them over to the bar at the end of the night. Terrance was a short, fit, black guy in glasses, and contrary to Brooks, was dressed sort of fancy in slacks with a shirt buttoned up to his neck and a pinstriped vest thrown over it. His dark hair was short and neat, an arrow-shaped bald strip shaved above each ear.

The other friend’s style was more like Brooks. His name was Ryder, and he was so white he was nearly translucent, thin with carrot-red hair to his shoulders. His attire was much like Brooks’, baggy jeans and an Aztec print hooded pullover, brown leather moccasins on his feet.

Zach approached them, and Brooks’ face lit up with a smile when he spotted him. “Hey, Zach. You parked in the lot?”

Zach nodded.

“Good, us too. Let’s go.”

As Zach followed them down the sidewalk, Terrance asked Brooks, “Are we supposed to bring something to this party?”

Brooks glanced at him and huffed. “Like what? A party platter? It’s a fucking kegger, Terry.”

“Well, I don’t know, I just think it’s nice to bring something when you’re invited to a party.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Brooks said. “Wendy’s always got plenty of refreshments. She’s got class, so don’t embarrass me.”

“I’ve met Wendy,” Terrence said. “You only like her cuz she sells you weed.”

“She’s got more class than you, Terry, so shut your face.”

“We could stop by my place,” Ryder said. “I’ve got a bottle of Jack Daniels we could bring.”

“No,” Brooks said. “If someone’s gonna throw a party, they should provide the booze. We’re not walking in there with some white trash offering.”

“Fuck you!” Ryder said. “Asshole.”

“Quit your bitching, both of you, or you can’t come to the party,” Brooks said.

Ryder and Terrance went quiet, seeming to accept this, which baffled Zach. Definitely a strange dynamic with these three. Brooks was clearly the leader of this odd troop.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
.

Brooks grinned at Zach. “Really glad you decided to come with us.”

“Oh, fucking
gross!
” Ryder shouted.

“Oh man.” Terrance spun around, covering his eyes.

Zach and Brooks turned to see what had caused the reaction, and they both winced. A narrow alleyway separated the nightclub from the parking lot, and there stood a middle-aged man with his pants unzipped, boner in hand, which he stroked as he smiled gleefully at them.

They all took a step back when the man jumped closer to them, pointing his cock at them as he worked himself silently, still wearing that bizarre grin.

“Fucking pervert!” Brooks shouted.

Ryder and Terrance ran ahead, cursing and laughing. Zach turned away from the display and moved on as well. “Come on,” Zach said to Brooks, who seemed to be looking around on the ground for something to throw at the guy.

“Fuck off, perv!” he shouted, then caught up with Zach. “That was gross. Nice establishment you work at, Zach. Real classy.”

Zach laughed as they moved through the rows of cars in the lot, following Terrance and Ryder. “I’ve never seen something like that outside the club before.”

“Where’s your car?”

“Down there.”

They’d reached Terrance and Ryder, who leaned against an old brown sedan. “You see that guy?” Ryder asked Zach, snickering.

“Hard to miss,” Zach said. “I think I need to bleach my eyeballs.”

Terrance pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. “You gonna follow us?”

Zach nodded.

“What the hell prompts a guy to do something like that, expose himself to young guys?” Terrance asked, casting his gaze back to the now empty alleyway. “If I ever get like that when I’m older, I want one of you to shoot me.”

Brooks shook his head. “Not the first time that’s happened to me. I mean, what the fuck? I make him want to come so bad he can’t control himself?”

Ryder turned to Brooks. “Fuck you! What makes you think he was focused on you?”

“I’m just saying.” Brooks shrugged. “Happens to me a lot.”

“Oh bullshit,” Terrance said. “You always do this.”

“Do what?”

“You know! Like if we’re in the club and some guys are checking us out, you’re always like ‘Oh, those guys are looking at
me
.’ You have such a fucking ego.”

“What do you want me to say?” Brooks threw his hands up. “The guy was pointing his cock right at me, jerking off.”

“He was jerking off to
all
of us,” Ryder said. “Not just you.”

“Oh don’t start, Ryder,” Brooks said. “You’re so insecure.”

“Come on, guys,” Zach said. “Are you seriously standing here arguing about exactly
who
the pervert was jerking off for?”

“You don’t know Brooks,” Ryder said. “He pulls this shit all the time. Thinks he’s better than everyone else, thinks he’s a god and everyone wants him.”

“Screw you guys,” Brooks said. “Zach, mind if I ride with you? I know the way.”

“Uh...sure.”

“See you there,” Terrance called out as Brooks and Zach moved on to find his car. “Hope no one loses control and comes on you before you get to the party, Brooks!”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Terrance,” Brooks called over his shoulder.

Zach unlocked his car and they climbed in. Brooks told him to take a right out of the parking lot, and they were on their way.

“Those guys piss me off,” Brooks said. “They use me for my weed and my money, then do nothing but complain. I don’t know why I hang out with them.”

Zach glanced at him. Brooks’ face was bathed in shadows, but Zach was beginning to like his looks, he decided. He wasn’t perfectly gorgeous like Corey, but he had a definite appeal, a sparkling life force that in a way
did
remind him of Corey. “What do you mean they use you for your money?”

Brooks shrugged. “I have a lot of cash. I buy them drinks. Keep right at the fork up here.”

Zach followed his instructions, then glanced at him again. “What do you do for work?”

“I don’t work.”

“Okay.” Zach laughed. “Then how do you have so much cash? Drug dealing or something?”

“Pssht. Drug dealers are scumbags. I don’t sell it, I just smoke it.”

“But your friend said this Wendy girl, the one throwing the party, sells you weed.”

“Yeah,” Brooks said. “She’s a fucking scumbag. But she knows how to put on a good bash.”

Zach frowned. “You told your friends she was classy.”

“I talk a lot of shit.” Brooks turned in his seat and studied Zach. “So, do you agree with my friends that I have an over-inflated ago?”

“Maybe,” Zach said. “But I date Corey, remember. I kind of have a soft spot for guys with big egos.”

“And big dicks too, I guess,” Brooks said.

Zach shot him an unfriendly look.

“Sorry,” Brooks said. “But if you’re going to talk about your boyfriend all night, I’m going to keep reminding you I slept with him. I don’t think either scenario will make for a good time. So how ’bout we just don’t mention him?”

Zach concentrated on driving, and took a deep breath to calm himself. “Okay. Agreed.”

“Take a left up here. Then it’s the fifth house on the right.”

****

An hour after they’d arrived at the party, Zach found himself alone in a bedroom with Brooks. They hadn’t started out alone in there, had gone upstairs with several other people to smoke a joint. Zach wasn’t a pot smoker, but had gone along merely because he didn’t want to be left downstairs alone, where several strange characters, both male and female, had been aggressively hitting on him. He felt safer being with Brooks. Or he had.

But now, after one by one all the others had trickled out of the bedroom and gone back downstairs, he found himself sitting on a twin bed, cross legged, facing Brooks, who stared at Zach so hard it made him flush.

“We should go back downstairs,” Zach said. “Terrance and Ryder are probably wondering where you are.”

Brooks relit the joint he’d been smoking earlier, and inhaled deeply, his pretty eyes narrowing. “In a minute,” he said, voice choked with smoke as he blew out a funnel. “I needed a break from those brain dead dirt bags anyway.”

Zach wasn’t sure if it was the sultry atmosphere of the bedroom—provided by lava lamps and a strand of red fairy lights strung across the ceiling or if it was the beer and Jell-O shots he’d sucked down when they arrived, but he was feeling pleasantly relaxed in Brooks’ presence. And the longer he looked at him, the more attractive Brooks seemed to become.

That’s what we call beer goggles, Zach
.

Whether it was alcohol-induced or not, he knew he shouldn’t be thinking such things. He still had a boyfriend, after all. But Corey had hurt his feelings tonight. There was no harm in Zach simply enjoying the company of an attractive man, hanging out. Shit, Corey did it often enough. Corey was doing it right now, in fact, back at his apartment with Jairo, Doug, and by now,
Stewart
was probably there as well.

“What are you thinking about?” Brooks asked him.

“Not much,” Zach said.

Brooks snickered. “I’m glad. I couldn’t take anymore stoner philosophy tonight. I prefer your company anyway. You don’t talk a lot of shit about nothing.”

Zach grinned. It was nice to be with someone his own age for a change. Corey always managed to make Zach feel stupid somehow, less sophisticated. Brooks, despite his frequent references to ‘white trash’ and ‘scumbags’, didn’t seem to see Zach as inferior in anyway. If anything, Brooks behaved as if he felt lucky to be with him.

“So why aren’t you with him tonight?” Brooks asked, his eyes reflecting the aqua hue of the lava lamp as they focused on Zach.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about Corey,” Zach said.

Brooks stubbed the joint out in an ashtray. “Just curious. If things are as serious as you say, figured he’d want you home after work.”

“We don’t live together,” Zach said.

“Why not?”

“We just don’t.”

Brooks cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged, looking down. “Well, I hope he appreciates what he’s got. If you were mine, I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”

The compliment warmed Zach, sending a rush of excitement through his belly. It had been a while since he’d gotten this kind of attention, and while he knew it was probably wrong to be enjoying it so much, it felt good.
Really
good.

To tamper down the warm, fuzzy feeling, he scoffed out a laugh.

“What?” Brooks asked. “You don’t believe me? I’m serious. If you were my boyfriend, I’d have you under lock and key. And I wouldn’t let you work in some seedy dance club, that’s for sure.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my job,” Zach said, defensive suddenly.

“I know. But you deserve better. A lot better.”

“You don’t even know me.”

Before he knew what was happening, Brooks had leaned in, one hand wrapped around the back of Zach’s neck. “But I want to know you,” he whispered.

Zach should have stopped the kiss. He knew this. He wasn’t
that
drunk. He wasn’t confused about what was happening. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he should have stopped it.

But he didn’t.

The unique taste of the other man’s mouth, a lick of tongue, intoxicating with a hint of smoke, the soft brush of deadlocks against his cheek. A whiff of coconut shampoo, an alluring tinge of sweat beneath it. Brooks’ fingers, lovingly kneading the back of Zach’s neck, running through his hair as the kiss deepened.

Zach was breathless, pulse racing, cock stirring, and while his body told him in no uncertain terms it wanted to keep going, his mind screamed
stop!

He forced himself to disengage, breaking the kiss.

Brooks stayed close, fingers still threaded in Zach’s hair. “Don’t stop,” Brooks whispered.

“I can’t do this,” Zach said.

Undeterred, Brooks kissed Zach again. And again Zach melted into it, stymied by his lack of control. When Brooks eased Zach down onto his back, he went with it. Brooks kissed him harder, his arousal palpable as he ate at Zach’s mouth. When his hand slid down Zach’s pants and found his cock, it was dizzying.

Brooks began to stroke him, working his cock in time with the lick of tongue in Zach’s mouth. Zach felt himself begin to cross over to the point of no return, and only then did he push Brooks off of him and roll away, sitting up on the edge of the bed.

“I
can’t.
” He stood. “I told you I can’t.” He darted for the door.

“Goddammit, Zach, wait!” Brooks called out as Zach left the room.

Adjusting his erection in his pants, Zach ran down the stairs, then moved swiftly through the crowd of partiers in the kitchen, drifting past Ryder.

“Hey, where’s Brooks?” Ryder asked him, but Zach kept moving until he found the door.