Play Along (12 page)

The elevator arrived and the doors slid open with a soft
ding.
Chance climbed in and hit the button for his floor. He leaned back against the wall and studied himself in the mirror that covered the wall opposite him. He looked completely debauched, and he grinned at the picture he made. His hair was disheveled, his shirt was missing buttons
,
and it hung open over his torso, exposing countless colorful love bites.

The elevator stopped at his floor and Chance sighed and climbed out, rubbing at the ache in his chest left by the perfect memories. He'd gone out last night looking for a revenge lay, but instead he'd found the man of his dreams and they'd spent the night making love. Leaving Mark's room and knowing they would never meet again hurt him far worse than witnessing Alex's betrayal last night, and that scared him. How could one brief encounter with a total stranger come to mean so much?

If he was honest with himself, he hadn't really been surprised to learn that Alex was cheating on him. Alex had a reputation for moving through relationships quickly, and theirs had already exceeded his average, but Chance had hoped that things would be different with him. After all, Alex had agreed to talk about making what they had exclusive once Chance had come out to his family.

But the closer Chance got to keeping his end of the bargain, the more restless Alex got, ratcheting up his prima donna act and finding fault with Chance at every turn. And when Alex had refused to have sex with him again after he'd come out to his parents… well, he'd expected a break-up. But he hadn't expected to find his boyfriend on the floor in his own suite, sucking off his own father! That was what really hurt.

Chance reached the door to his suite and shoved his hand into his pants pocket, fishing out his wallet and pulling out the key card. He ran the plastic through the reader and the light turned green, but his hand paused on the door knob. He wasn't sure what he would find. Had Alex left, or would he still be in there? Chance didn't want to face Alex yet. He didn't love the man, and he realized now that he never had, but they'd been in a relationship and Alex had betrayed his trust and that still hurt, badly.

Chance laughed self-deprecatingly and reached out to swipe the card again. It had always been his nature to go with the flow and to stay out of fights, but in this case doing so would be ridiculous. He wasn't in the wrong here, and allowing Alex to chase him away from his own suite would be childish. Chance was a man now, and what Mark had told him earlier was right. He needed to stand up for himself and start proving it, or else he was choosing to allow everyone to walk all over him.

The light flashed green again and Chance pushed through the door, banging it against the wall before slamming it shut behind him. He was prepared to find Alex blubbering, apologizing and begging for his understanding… or maybe to find him still sleeping peacefully, unconcerned by Chance's absence. Most likely, he'd expected to find the room void of all evidence that Alex had ever been there.

The room was dark, and Chance reached out to flip on the light switch. He heard movement coming from the bedroom and figured his second guess had been correct. Alex was still here, and still in bed. Chance returned his key card to his wallet and shoved it back into his pockets, steeling himself for an uncomfortable conversation with Alex. The door to the bedroom opened, but the body that hurled itself at him wasn't his ex.

"Oh, my god, Chance! Where the hell have you been? Are you all right? I've been worried sick!" Beverly wrapped her long arms around Chance's neck and held on tight. Chance wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged back. She was trembling in his arms.

"I'm fine, Bev, geez! What the hell are you doing here, anyway? And how did you get in?" He waited for Beverly to stop shaking before pulling her arms from around his neck. She stepped back, wiping her eyes with the sides of her hands.

"
Alex checked out right before my shift ended last night, and I didn
'
t deactivate his key. He seemed pretty upset when he left.
Your
father was with him, to make sure he got off alright, and he kept
touching
him, and… well, I figured you probably needed a friend. You didn
'
t answer when I knocked, so I let myself in. I
'
ve been here all night!
"

Chance couldn't help but grin. It felt really good, knowing he had a friend watching his back. "Relax, Beverly. Alex, he… we weren't right for each other, okay? We both knew it, and I didn't want to be here standing over him while he packed, so I went out. But I'm fine, okay? Really." Chance grinned and threw his head back, holding his arms out to his sides like he'd just won a race before turning in a circle, showing Beverly that he was still intact.

"Holy Crap, Chance! Where the hell did you go? You look like you've been mauled by… a, uh… damn."

Her cold fingers landed on his chest under his open shirt and Chance snapped his head back up, his eyes opening wide with horror. His entire body flushed red with embarrassment as he remembered the various marks that had been left on him from the night before. Beverly was like a sister to him, and the idea of sharing the details of his sex life with her was appalling.

"I just went out, okay?" Chance pulled his shirt closed and moved away from her, walking into the sitting room and sinking down onto the couch. Beverly followed him, and plopped down onto the cushion next to him, reaching for his shirt and tugging it back open.

"
You didn
'
t
just
anything, budd
y
. Your boyfriend took off and then you show up covered in hickies. You got laid! Please tell me you at least had sense enough to use protection?
"

"Damn it, Bev, knock it off!" Chance pushed her hand away and pulled his legs up onto the couch, folding them in front of his chest and wrapping his arms around them, protecting his torso, and his heart, from her critical gaze. "I'm not stupid."

Beverly smiled and slumped back against the arm of the couch, eyeing him thoughtfully. "No, you aren't stupid. But you were upset last night, right? Admit it. And sometimes when people are upset they make mistakes. It's okay. You can tell me about it."

Chance closed his eyes and dropped his chin onto one knee, trying to decide what to tell his friend. Mark's handsome, smiling face immediately came to mind, and Chance felt at peace. He didn't regret their night together, not at all, and he wasn't ashamed to own up to where he'd been or what he'd done. What they'd shared felt real, it felt right, and Chance wasn't about to cheapen it with lies or evasions.

"Last night wasn't a mistake, Bev. In fact, I think, maybe it was the best decision I've ever made in my entire life." Chance smiled, remembering the sound of Mark's voice and the smell of his skin. He licked his lips, convinced he could still taste Mark's kisses.

Beverly pulled him out of his reverie by running her fingers through his hair, caressing his scalp. "What happened? I don't understand."

Chance shrugged his shoulders and forced a single laugh. "Alex cheated on me. I caught him at it, and I went out determined to one-up him, you know? It was stupid and I know it could have ended very badly… it almost did, too. But…"

Chance took a deep breath and held it, considering how lucky he was that Mark had shown up when he did. A few more minutes and those bikers would have broken his spirit. It wasn't likely they could have actually forced him outside, but their bullying had him scared enough he would have fled back home once he'd gotten away. It would have been months before he felt confident enough to try again.

"But what?" Beverly continued to stroke his hair, soothing him.

"But I'm glad I did it. Last night wasn't what I expected at all. It was incredible! Mark, he wasn't a sleazy hook-up, Bev. He was perfect! He was funny and sweet and gentle and kind and considerate… and he took good care of me. It wasn't just sex, you know? It was… special."

Beverly's hand stilled in his hair, and then her fingers curled around the strands, tugging gently and forcing him to look at her. Her smile was strained, almost sad and there were tears standing in her eyes. Chance offered a weak smile of his own and raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Listening to you just now… it sounds like you're in love." Chance's smile broadened and he slowly nodded his head. The notion was crazy, but he had to admit, it was also true. He had fallen in love with Mark. After what they'd shared, how could he not?

"Chance, listen to me! You're going through a rough break-up, yeah? You're vulnerable. I'm glad you had a good time last night, but don't get carried away, okay? Promise me you'll slow down now, don't go and get in over your head!"

Chance shook his head more forcefully, dislodging Beverly's hand, which slid out of his hair and settled on knee. Chance covered her hand with his own and met her worried gaze with a shrug and a wistful smile.

"I was careful. I don't know what he does or where he lives, we didn't even exchange last names. We had a really good time and we got along great, but… well, he's on vacation and was just having a little fun. Neither of us was looking for more."

Beverly snatched her hand out from under his and suddenly smacked him on the back of his head. Her expression changed from concerned to furious and she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring down at him with disgust.

"You fell in love last night and didn't even think to exchange phone numbers, e-mail addresses, nothing! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Chance sat back and rubbed his head, staring up at her in confusion. "What are you on about? You just finished telling me not to get carried away, to take it slow!"

Beverly shook her head, her freckles disappearing into the red flush that always covered her face when she got angry.
"
Take it slow, yeah, but don
'
t blow it completely! Only an idiot would walk away from an experience like you just described with
nothing!
You don
'
t throw away a chance at love! Believe me, they don
'
t come around often!
"

"He's a stranger, Bev. Twice my age, on vacation from who knows where with who knows what waiting for him at home! It was stupid and cowardly, I know, but I didn't want to ruin last night with a bunch of maybes. What if he's married or something? What if he didn't feel a connection like I did? And what about distance? What are the chances he would want to have a long distance relationship with an unemployed college student with no future plans?"

Beverly's eyes had gone wide and the anger was beginning to drain from her face. She reached out and cupped his cheek, letting the tips of her fingers caress his temple.

"So, he was twice your age, huh? I'll bet he had a lot of… experience. Was he hot?"

Chance laughed. He couldn
'
t help himself. The playful smirk on Beverly
'
s face was infectious.
"
Hell yes, he was hot! And I sure enjoyed what
I experienced.
But I
'
m going to leave it at that, nosy. Enough about me and last night.
"

Beverly's smirk widened and Chance wondered what he'd said wrong.

"Okay, fine. In that case, get dressed and meet me in the lobby in an hour. I have to go shopping and I need your help." Beverly stood up and headed for the door, leaving Chance even more confused, and worried.

"Shopping? What for?"

Beverly opened the door and stepped out, leaving only her head and shoulder inside Chance's suite. "A dress, of course. Last night your father graciously invited me to attend the ceremony tomorrow night as your date."

Chance squeezed his eyes shut. "My date?"

"Well, yeah. Not the best offer I've ever gotten, but, it gets me out of work, right? And I don't want my dress to clash with your tux or anything, so get moving. The lobby, one hour!" The door slammed shut behind her and Chance sat there, staring at it for several minutes before climbing to his feet and heading into the bedroom.

He shrugged his ruined shirt off his shoulders and laid it out on the bed. It could be fixed easily enough, of course, but why bother? He had plenty of others, and this one? Well, this one could easily fuel his fantasies for months to come. He smoothed his hand over the shirt, fondly remembering the way Mark had torn it off last night. He had never felt so wanted before in his life.

Chance turned away from the bed and headed for his dresser. He rummaged through the drawers and decided to go for casual. Surely jeans and a tee shirt were appropriate attire for shopping? He pulled them out and then opened his sock drawer, selecting a clean pair of briefs and a pair of socks. As he was closing the drawer, he glanced down at the top of his dresser and noticed a folded sheet of hotel stationary with his name scrawled across it.

Chance took the paper over to the bed and sat down, sighing with frustration. It was written in Alex's flowery handwriting, and for a moment Chance considered throwing it away unopened. Why did it matter what he had to say now?

In the end, though, his curiosity won out, and Chance unfolded the letter, scanning it briefly before tossing it onto the bed beside him. The note simply stated:

Dear Chance,

I know things are over between us and it's all my fault. I don't want to hurt you further by trying to explain something that I don't understand myself. I only want to say that I am truly, deeply sorry for hurting you. You deserve so much better, and I hope with all my heart that you find the love you deserve.

Alex

It seemed that Alex wanted to move on without looking back, and Chance decided he would do the same. He was relieved to be free of Alex without any fuss or drama.