CHAPTER 45: YOU THINK YOU CAN CHALLENGE ME, BOY?

AVERY:

Every now and then, the ONE altruistic bone in my body makes its presence known and felt. But I can’t exactly feel bad about it in this instance, since it’s saving my idiotically desperate cousin from himself. That’s right, as I sat here listening to that fucking nuisance Gardner hired to trap Brian into following ‘orders’ outline his and his cohorts’ plans to cause trouble for Brian and Justin, I remembered that I still had the tall brunet’s number in my phone and sent him a text message.

Now understand that there is no love lost between me and Brian Kinney for several reasons, the first being that my cousin was head-over-ass in love with Justin Taylor. But I did, and in some ways still do, respect him. He didn’t make a play for Justin when he very well could have. It was the first time I really understood what love should really look like. Yes, he was a veritable bitch around the office, and I spent many days hating him, especially on Ethan’s behalf, but the fact that he still made sure Justin had everything he needed spoke volumes about the man’s character.

So my thought is that if you’re going to try to burn down the house that Kinney and Taylor are building within the former walls of Vanguard, play fucking fair! Come at the Teflon Dons head on, and reap the consequences just as anyone else would. I almost want to laugh out loud, and probably would if I wasn’t so pissed off, as Brian enters Shar Grill like he owns the place. God, please grant me presence like that! The look on Ethan’s face as he spots Brian still at the door almost leads me to believe he might have just shit his pants, which in all honesty would serve him right. I warned him of this meeting, having a feeling that Gardner’s puppy would try to fuck him over.

Now ordinarily, I would be all for that in regards to Justin Taylor. He is one arrogant asshole if I’ve ever met one, but not without good reason. I mean, not only did he manage a feat no one else had in Gay P.A. by landing Brian Kinney, but he’s also kept the man enthralled. No, I don’t like Justin, and have always thought he was all wrong for Ethan, but watching the magic that he and Brian Kinney created both inside the office and out of it, I understand why.

It was that he basically dumbed himself down to be with my cousin. Ethan is smart, but only in the area of music, whereas Justin is a near-genius. I couldn’t figure out what his game was by dating Ethan. Add to that fact that Justin is a hard worker, while Ethan is incredibly entitled and lazy, I knew right away that they were mismatched. The sheer magnificence of what he did with the comic book Rage, was nothing short of amazing considering his handicap. Unlike Justin, Ethan would have used his injury as an excuse to sit on his ass and be waited on hand and foot. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ethan, but I am far from blind to his ways and character. It made calling Brian Kinney a must for me!

I had to cover my smile as the one fell from Troy’s face as Justin walked in, immediately wrapping his arms around Brian’s waist from behind and pressing his body against the taller man. God, they look so hot together! Every eye in the place is on them, even as they only seem to have eyes for each other. Even the near-chaste kiss Brian places on Justin’s upturned lips is like a spark of fire between them. But more than that, there is no question that they love each other, and more importantly, are IN LOVE with each other. I really hope Ethan gets the message this time… but apparently not, since he’s marching his ignorant ass over there. The only plus is that the Justin-wannabe is following him. I signal the waitress and order yet another Manhattan as I sit back and watch the fireworks.

TROY:

So I finally get to see my nemesis again in the flesh. I couldn’t have set this up better myself if I’d planned it. But then again, that does have its drawbacks, since I never did get Ethan’s agreement to go with our plan to separate the Taylor-Kinneys permanently. But maybe there’s another way… Just the way they are staring at each other, speaking softly is annoying me to no end! I wonder just how much Brian has told him about us.

“Justin, I was hoping I would see you again today,” the obsequious little toad begins, before I even have a chance to speak.

“Today?” Brian asks. “You didn’t tell me that you saw Ian today.” Don’t tell me my opening is going to be so easy?

“Yeah, I did, when Blake and I were having coffee.”

“You were pawing all over each other!” Ethan interjects. “I was humiliated and I didn’t appreciate it!”

“And I should care, why?” Justin sneers, never taking his eyes off Brian. “You have to know that you deserved that little display, and so much more, Ethan.” He finally looks over at him.

“He kisses you, and you return it, but I kiss you and get slapped for it! It’s not…”

“You kissed Blake?” Brian asks, with an eyebrow raised.

Justin returns the look unwaveringly, which both sets my blood to boiling, and unfortunately skyrockets the nonexistent respect I had for him. “Well, I had to get the taste of Ethan out of my mouth some way, didn’t I?”

Instead of the response I would have expected, Brian laughs. “We’ll talk about that later, twat,” he utters, before turning back to Ethan. “So I take it you didn’t believe me when I told you what would happen if you accosted Justin with unwanted advances again. And the fact that you are here with this…”

“JRT…”

“JRT?” I ask, sneeringly. “What the fuck is that?”

“Justin Replacement Trick, which is exactly what you were, right Troy?”

“He didn’t say that when he was calling my name while I was fucking him,” I tell him, watching for the discomfort on his face. It never came.

“I would believe that if he actually knew your name. But if there is one thing that I am certain of, it’s that Brian NEVER gets the name of his temporary cum receptacles. That would imply that you mean more than what your actual function was.”

“And yet he got yours…”

“That should tell you something, shouldn’t it? I am not now, nor have I ever been a just trick to Brian. Can you say the same?” He looks at me, innocence personified except for the malicious twinkle in his eyes.

“Well what about me?” Ethan asked. “I was more than a trick to you, Justin.”

“You’re right, Ethan, you were. You were my mistake, and also my refuge when I needed a break. So you see, you did fulfill an important function for a time. Do you feel better now that you know that?”

“You’re lying! We meant something to each other!”

Justin stops to think for a moment, before shaking his head. “No, not really. My function within your world would never have worked for me, Ethan. Please do yourself a favor and stop thinking that our association was any more than what I’ve already told you repeatedly.”

“You really need to go out and find yourself a nice boy, because my man is already taken, Ian. This is the very last warning you’re getting,” Brian tells him. I almost want to laugh at the crestfallen look on his face, but I can’t since the little bastard trying to usurp my rightful place by Brian’s side is looking at me intently.

“What?” I ask with clear disdain. He answers in kind.

“I’m going to do you a favor right now, and consider it the only one you will get from me,” Justin tells me.

“Oh really? And what’s that?”

“Understand that the ONLY reason you are still working at Kinnetik is because I decided not to fire you at this time. As long as your work is up to par, I won’t. But this shit- whatever it is that you think you are doing- stops now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do. Unlike most, I know the real reason you were hired by Gardner Vance.”

“I was hired because I was qualified!”

“Be that as it may, you were also hired to entrap Brian into doing Gardner’s bidding; something he could in no way do on his own. I must admit that although you are better looking than Kip Thomas, you certainly didn’t have his cunning smarts. You still don’t.”

“I… I…”

“So once again, I will caution you to do your job, and stop trying to do Brian.”

“Or what?” I sneer, although I’m wondering just how the fuck the tables turned on me just now. I was supposed to have the upper hand in this contretemps!

“You’ll be going back to turning tricks to pay for your father’s very expensive gambling habit, and his penchant for barely-legal ass.” He narrows his eyes at my widened ones. “So go ahead and try me, Toy…”

“My name is Troy.”

“That’s true, but to Brian, you were just a toy, Boy.”

They walk away and I’m left with the downcast asshole who started this all. He turns to me and says, “I can’t… I just can’t risk everything I’ve worked so hard for to cross Kinney.”

“I already knew you would chicken out,” I tell him, still reeling from the cutting down I just received. I brighten though when I see Brian seat Justin and then head back in my direction. Mentally I’ve already dismissed the idiot still talking about his recording contract, and all his big plans when he decides to say yes to his agent’s request to play for the Harrisburg Philharmonic or some other bullshit. “Yes, Brian? What can I do for you?” I ask breathlessly, purposely deepening my voice to the octave just a hair below Justin’s when he’s addressing the man standing before me.

“Actually, you can do something for me,” he tells me, and I can barely contain my glee or anticipation that he may want to hook up later.

“Anything,” I respond, just barely suppressing the urge to lean into him.

“You can tell Gardner that I’m coming. And it won’t be in a positive, life-affirming way for him… or you. I promise you that.”

As he turns back towards the table, I shiver with all that can possibly mean, when Ethan speaks again. “I’m suddenly very glad I’m not you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Avery walks up to us just now, giggling. God, I hate it when a grown man does that! But his words freeze that thought right out of my mind as he says, “I think Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 said it best, but in your case there should be a slight change in the lyric…”

“What the fuck are you babbling about?” I’m already annoyed beyond measure, and if he’s not careful, I might just hit him!

“STOP, the LIFE you save might be your own,” he laughs at his own joke before sobering. “The thing is that you only get ONE chance to cross Brian Kinney. Gardner has already used up his… and it looks like you just used up your own, Troy. Heed the advice and back the fuck up before they kill your career, too.”

“Kill my career?” I laugh. “I think you give them too much credit, especially Taylor.”

Avery laughs with me, but I can tell it’s false. “Tell that to Kip Thomas, who has a Masters in Business, but can only manage the McDonalds down on the corner of Fourth and Houston Streets.” As I stand there with my mouth hanging open at that revelation, Avery takes Ethan’s arm to move past me. “Have a nice evening,” he says as they exit the building.

No, there is no way that I will!

BRIAN:

“Do you think that worked?” I ask Justin, as the hot wings arrive at the table. I swear it’s amazing to me how he’s always hungry, but never moreso than after fucking up somebody’s day.

“I would hope so, but with Ethan you never can tell.”

“I wasn’t talking about him specifically, but all of them.”

He wipes his mouth of grease and hot sauce before speaking. “I honestly don’t know. Stupidity is contagious, and it’s obvious that they are all affected.”

“True. You would think that the mention of Kip Thomas would serve as a cautionary tale.”

“You know, I had planned to do that at the office, especially after seeing the bullshit he and his team produced for the latest Torso ad. They finally want to branch out into clubwear across the board, not just for gay men. So I gave it to them down at Boutique, since this is the kind of ad they could handle. Boy was I wrong, especially with him as the lead on the account! But that got me to thinking… he did that shit purposely, thinking that you would come down there personally to reprimand him. Little did he realize that either way he went, he was going to get me. No way was I letting that fucker have what he was bucking for!”

“I have to say, you being jealous is a major turn-on.”

“I’m not jealous… just territorial,” he says, smiling and picking up another hotwing. He caresses it against my lips, and it’s taking everything in me not to stick my tongue out to catch the sauce. “Go on… do it. You know you want to,” he coaxes, and fuck it, but he’s right.

I grab his wrist in a firm grip, holding his hand steady as I bite into the crisp outer skin to get to the juicy, tender meat inside. My eyes never leave his as I lick my lips clean of the sauce and juice, even as I chew and swallow. I watch Justin follow the movement of my throat, and I slow blink at him. As always, his single-stared focus makes me feel like I’m sitting here naked; his eyes feeling like a heated caress crawling up my body.

“Keep looking at me like that, and we’ll never make it back to the office,” I tell him, shifting slightly to adjust the sudden tightness of my pants.

“We have to go back since we have a conference call, and Mel wants to see us the moment we return. But there is always your office… or mine.” My office has a shower whereas his has the hot tub. It’s certainly a tough choice.

I know I need to change the subject quickly before neither of us makes it from the table, let alone back to the office. “What does Mel want?”

“Something about the packets Lindsay left behind. Dale is with her.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

“Not sure, but she said something about an old account she had. I know that the D.A. told her to take us with her when she goes to see Lindsay in person.”

I shrug, realizing that it makes sense in some weird way. Whereas I speak Lindsay, Justin speaks fluent WASP. “I wonder what she’s hiding.”

Justin wipes his mouth again. “She’s not hiding, Brian; she’s revealing. The question is why.”

“What are you thinking?” I raise my eyebrow at him, watching as his nose wrinkles in that cute little way it does when he’s puzzling through something. And shoot me now for that lesbianic thought! I seem to be having more and more of them in reference to him lately.

“Just something my mother told me once when I was trying to find the chocolate cake she baked, and couldn’t find it anywhere. If you want something to stay hidden, you hide it in plain sight. It’s the least likely place anyone is bound to look.”

“Did you ever find it?”

“Sure, after she showed me that she hid it on the bookcase in the living room. I walked right past it and didn’t even know it was there. Lindsay’s trying the same trick with us,” he says as he stands up, and puts some money on the table alongside a generous tip. “Come on, Brian. I need to see those packets. Whatever game she’s playing is plainly hidden within them.”

I follow him outside, thanking goodness that this place was relatively close to Kinnetik Elite. Otherwise, I would be running to catch up with him. I almost laugh. The only thing Justin loves almost more than me, art and food, is a puzzle. Whatever Lindsay is trying now certainly won’t stay hidden for long with Justin being a bloodhound. The only sad thing is that there will probably be no fucking until he figures it out. I think to myself while watching his ass practically bouncing down the street, He’d better figure the shit out quickly or I might just end up in jail… for killing Lindsay!