Chapter 2 - 50 First Dates.

“So, yeah, ever since we got back from our crazy cross-country trip, Kinnetik has had more business than we know what to do with,” Brian bragged as he nursed his Beam. “It’s been fucking great. Who knew RV folks were such great marketing leads?” He laughed and shook his head. “Definitely not me. But if I ever need to drum up business again, I’m not gonna bother going to a convention or trade show, I’ll just load Justin into the fucking RV and hit the road for a couple weeks. I’m pretty sure we’ll have a whole new portfolio of clients by the time we get home.”

“That’s great, Bri,” Michael replied as he sipped at his own beer. “Seriously, though, I’m just glad you’re back. You have no idea how freaked out we all were when you disappeared like that. And then, when the cops started asking around about you, saying you’d helped a dangerous psychopath escape from a mental hospital and all, I almost lost it.”

That got Brian to laughing because he just couldn’t see Justin as a ‘dangerous’ anything. “Yeah, well, don’t believe everything you hear, Mikey.”

“Well, now that you’re home, I hope your workload finally lets up enough so you can get back to your life,” Michael insisted, adding a raised beer to toast his friend’s return. “So, what’s it going to be? Getting your cock sucked in the backroom? Orgy at the baths? Or maybe another threesome at the loft?” 

“Mikey . . .” 

Brian growled quietly into his highball glass. He had realized he was going to have to set his friend straight on this point eventually - Michael had been making similar comments about Justin from the first day he and the blond had met - but he’d hoped to put it off for at least a little longer. Michael just wouldn’t let it go, though. He was like a dog worrying at a particularly juicy bone. And, even though a crowded and noisy club really wasn’t the best place to have this discussion, Brian knew he had to clear this up before Michael’s comments hurt Justin. 

Brian upended his drink, set the glass aside, and turned to confront his friend. “Listen, Mikey; are you listening?” he started, immediately gaining his friend’s attention.

“Yeah, I’m listening,” Michael responded.

“You need to back off with all this crap about Justin, okay?” Brian began with a determined frown. “Justin’s NOT going away any time soon.” Michael looked like he was about to interrupt, so Brian held his hand up in a ‘stop’ gesture. “I’m serious, Mikey. Justin’s different. I . . . I want him with me. I care about him. I don’t know why, or even how it happened, but . . .” In his mind he saw a flash of the youth’s bright, happy, sunshiny smile, and couldn’t stop the echoing smile that erupted on his own face. “He just makes me so fucking happy, Mikey.” Brian looked up again, noting Michael’s very confused face. “He’s the most genuine thing I’ve ever had in my life, so I’m going to do my best not to screw this up, and you’re going to help me by not ragging on the kid all the time. Got it?”

“So, what? You’re going to change your whole life for this kid?” Michael just had to argue, because . . . Michael.

“No. I’m not changing my whole life, Mikey,” Brian was quick to correct him. “But I’m not going to fuck a string of random losers just to prove a point or shove my old reputation in the kid’s face either. Quit trying to pimp me out just so you can get your vicarious jollies.”

“Shit, Brian, that sure as fuck sounds like you’re changing your whole life,” Michael groused, looking at his best friend as if he didn’t recognize him. “But, whatever. I’m not sure a piece of blond boy ass is worth all this crap - no matter how much money the kid has - but I guess . . .”

Brian was about to go off on Michael when, thankfully, the conversation was interrupted at that point by a big leather-wearing bear. “Hey, Kinney. That twink you came in with tonight is about to get himself in trouble in the backroom.”

“What the fuck?” Brian pushed past Michael so he could question the Bad News Bear. “He was supposed to be dancing with Emmett.”

Bad News was chuckling to himself and shaking his head. “Not anymore . . . Last I saw, the kid was being pulled off to the side by his belt buckle by some bear looking for a new cub. Not sure why he kept babbling about how nobody was allowed to eat him, though. He’s a real gas, that one.”

“Shit. I’ll be right back, Mikey,” Brian commented as he raced off to save his Sunshine. 

Tristan had been about to make a try for the tall, auburn-haired stud at the bar when some stupid fucking bear came up and said something that had the guy running off like his hair was on fire. 

Tristan cursed under his breath. He’d been counting on that mark for the night’s take. Hugo was going to skin him alive if he came back to the hotel without some serious cash in hand. And word on the street said that this Kinney guy was a relatively easy pick up, provided you got him drunk or high enough first. Unfortunately, so far that evening, Kinney had been staying away from drugs altogether and only nursing along the one drink. Tristan was going to have to rethink his plans if things didn’t change soon.

Tristan pulled the last ten bucks he had out of his jeans’ pocket and waved down the bartender to order a beer. With bottle in hand, he turned back to survey the action going on around him in the club, trying to scope out a new mark. He spotted one slightly older guy, not bad looking, and wearing what looked like a fancy gold watch on his wrist. The man had an air of just barely muted desperation to him. Yeah, he should be easy, thought the young hustler. 

“Justin? I thought Brian was looking for you in the back room,” said the short brunet who had been speaking with Kinney earlier as he put an arm around Tristan’s shoulders.

“Hey, buddy. Hands off the merchandise,” Tristan shrugged away from the overly familiar touch. “Unless you’re paying, that is . . .”

“What the fuck?” The brunet pulled back so he could get a better look at Tristan, which wasn’t easy in the darkness of the club with only the flashing strobe lights to illuminate the scene. “Justin? Is that you?”

“For the right price, I’d be happy  to be your Justin, Mister,” Tristan offered with his best simpering smile. “I’ll be anyone you want.”

“Oh, shit!” The brunet backed off, hands held up in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry. I guess I mistook you for somebody else.”

“No problem. But if you change your mind, I’ll be around,” Tristan replied with a suggestive wink. 

Just then they were interrupted by the arrival of a tall swish of dirty blond with a huge gap-toothed smile. “Michael! Oh my word, Michael, you’ll never believe what Brian’s little boy toy did!” 

“He’s in the back room; I heard,” the one named Michael responded with a shake of his head. “Wayne Jenkins came and got Brian a couple minutes ago to go rescue him.” 

“That boy is hilarious,” the taller man was still laughing as he related the story. “Apparently, he followed me into the backroom - I got pulled away from dancing by this huge hunk of hairiness that was just all kinds of Dom yummy, you know - but, anyways, the next thing I know, I look up from where I’m getting pummeled into the wall by my new acquaintance, and there’s Baby, sitting on one of the couches, critiquing the technique of a three-way. Seems he didn’t think the one on his knees had very good blow job skills, and was offering advice. Todd Peters, who was the one on the receiving end, started laughing so hard at everything Justin was saying he completely lost his hard on. The guy on his knees got so embarrassed that he turned beet red and ran off. And then some big old bear came up, saying that if Justin was so knowledgeable, it was time to prove his expertise with a live demonstration.”

“You stopped him, right?” interjected the desperate-looking mark Tristan had been eyeing earlier. “That poor kid doesn't know what he’s getting himself into. I’m pretty sure Brian would blow a gasket if anyone laid a hand on Justin. I’ve never seen him act so protective.”

“I know, right? Who knew the secret to winning The Stud’s heart was a cute, naive, little blond?” tall and swishy commented.

Tristan’s brunet friend huffed an unamused laugh and shook his head. “Personally, I just don’t get it. I mean, the kid isn’t even Brian’s type. Brian never goes for chicken. Or blonds for that matter.”

“I don’t know. I always thought Brian was the equal-opportunity-fuck kind of guy,” Mr. Desperation said with a snicker. 

“Maybe, but he usually likes them to at least be legal,” Michael insisted. 

“Oh, come on, Michael. Don’t get all catty on us. Baby’s not that young. Plus, he’s a total sweetie,” Swishy argued.

“And it doesn’t hurt that the ‘kid’ - as you call him - is loaded,” Mr. Desperation replied, causing Tristan to pay even more attention to the conversation. “If it hadn’t been for Justin’s inheritance, Brian’s business might have tanked. And now look at him. From what Brian was saying earlier, Kinnetik has never been more profitable.”

“We should all be so lucky as to find an adorable twinkie lover that dotes on us and comes with millions of dollars in disposable income,” Swishy added with a dismissive laugh. 

“That’s the only reason I can think of that Brian’s still with him,” Michael posited with a scowl. “I don’t care what he says; I still think, if it weren’t for the twink’s money, Brian probably would have already kicked the kid to the curb and moved on to the next available fuck. I mean, it’s not like blond twinks are hard to find or anything. Hell, right before you came over here, Em, I saw another kid who could have been Justin’s lost twin. For about half a second, I even thought it was Justin.”

“Ooo! Baby has a secret twin? That’s so romantic!” Swishy gushed.

“It’s true. Except for the blue hair and the attitude, this guy could have been Brian’s twink’s double,” Michael maintained.

“Does he come with a million dollar bank account too?” Mr. Desperation asked. “If so, sign me up. I’m one hundred percent in favor of rich, hot, twinkie boyfriends.”

Tristan’s ears were burning by that point, but to his disappointment, the discussion of his supposed ‘twin’ was cut short by the arrival of the twink in question. 

“Don’t be angry, Just Brian,” the little blond Kinney was dragging along by the hand was saying. “I tried to tell Mr. Leather Man that I wasn’t a ‘bear cub’ - I’m a person, not an animal - but he just kept laughing at me. And when I refused to let him do any boyfriend things to me, he got a little angry. Why was that? He’s not my boyfriend; he should have known better. But he didn’t listen to me at all. Not even when I told him you promised nobody would eat me except for you, Brian.”

“Justin . . .” Kinney chuckled, setting Justin’s abandoned boots on the nearby bar and towing the little blond around to stand in front of him in the protection of his encircling arms. “You have to be more careful, Sunshine. You can’t go off with just anyone.”

“I didn’t go off with Mr. Leather Man, Brian. He went off with me. I was just following your Tall Friend because I didn’t know how to find you and then, all of a sudden, I found myself in that dark room where all the men are naked and doing all those . . . things . . . to each other’s willies.” The blond kid sounded a bit scandalized, which caused Tristan to laugh - who was this rube? “I didn’t really understand that room when I was there the one time before our trip, Just Brian, but now I know more about what they’re doing because of all our Boyfriend Lessons. Only, I think some of them were doing it wrong. I tried to explain to the one guy about how you showed me to cover my teeth. He didn’t seem happy about the advice though. He kinda yelled at me. And then that Mr. Leather Man came up and tried to take me away, and I got a little scared, but, thankfully, you came and saved me again, so I’m better now.”

“We’ve talked about this, Sunshine,” Kinney replied, giving the kid he was holding a squeeze. “You can’t just talk to everybody you meet. Remember what I told you? Not everyone is nice.”

“I remember. Some people don’t like us to be happy. Like that nasty Cletus and his brother Buster.” The kid turned to address the rest of his comments to Kinney’s friends. “When we were in Wyoming these mean guys caught me and Brian being happy and got really upset about it. They were going to hurt Brian, but luckily my friend, Mama Skunk, sprayed them with stink and they both fell over and knocked themselves out so Brian and I could get away. But I don’t have a skunk friend here, so I guess Brian is right and I probably should be a little more careful.” Then he turned back to Kinney and asked. “Just Brian, why did that Mr. Leather Man think I was a bear cub? There aren’t any baby bears here in the club, are there?” He looked around himself as if he wouldn’t be surprised to find a real bear nearby and Tristan had to laugh into his beer so as to not draw attention to himself. “If there was a baby bear somewhere here, though, he probably shouldn’t be playing with it, because I saw on television once how Mama Bears get really angry when you come near their cubs. Doesn’t he know about Mama Bears, Just Brian?”

‘This guy can’t be for real, can he?’ Tristan thought to himself. ‘Nobody’s THAT clueless.’

“Oooo! Can I explain it to him, Brian? Please. Please, please, please . . .” Swishy was so excited he was jumping up and down and spilling his cosmo on Mr. Desperation.

“No, Emmy Lou,” Kinney immediately shut that suggestion down. “Justin doesn’t need to hear one of your Southern fairy tale explanations.”

“A fairy tale?” The blond kid perked up at that. “I love fairy tales. Ooooo! Is that what Mr. Leather Man meant about the bear cub? Was he talking about a fairy tale like Goldilocks And The Three Bears? Like Baby Bear, whose bed is just right? But what does that have to do with the naked men in the dark room over there . . .”

All three of Kinney’s friends got a good laugh out of that nonsense, especially Mr. Desperation, who elaborated on the theme by adding, “well, you see, in this version, you would be Goldilocks and the three bears would tie you up in their man cave and eat you alive . . .”

“Enough, Theodore!” Kinney ordered before turning to reassure his shocked-looking blond boy. “Don’t listen to these idiots, Sunshine. Ted’s just teasing. Nobody’s going to tie you up. I promise. And I’ll explain it all later.” 

That, and a sappy kiss to the younger man’s cheek, seemed to comfort the blond kid. Kinney, meanwhile, was busy glowering at all his friends, like it was their fault the kid was so slow. Tristan didn’t know what to think about all of it. What was with that kid? Nobody was THAT extra, were they? Was he mentally challenged? Or was it just an act? 

While the whole three bears story was unfolding, Tristan had managed to work his way down the bar so he was standing just behind the little knot of friends. Looking over the shoulder of the one named Michael, Tristan was able to finally get a better look at the young blond at the center of the group. He was surprised to see that it was true; he and the clueless kid really did look a lot alike. That was kinda weird, huh? Except for the fact that this kid’s hair was shorter - without the sparkly blue gel in it that Tristan had used that evening - and his clothing was much nicer, he and Tristan could be brothers. What the fuck was going on here?

“Oooo! Look, Just Brian, it’s one of the Underwear Dancers,” the kid, Justin, squealed with glee a minute later, pointing to the go-go dancer who was slowly making his way down the bar, stepping daintily around the various drinks sitting on the bar top. “Can I have some money to give him? I had so much fun the last time I was here when I got to dance with the other Underwear Dancers up there. I still don’t know why the people want to stuff money down their pants though. If they like the boys’ dancing, couldn’t they just hand them the money? If they put the money in their briefs it’ll get all yucky and they’ll have to wash it and . . .”

To cut him off, Kinney pulled out his wallet and handed the kid a whole wad of money. “Here, Sunshine. Have fun.”

“Oh, thank you, Brian,” Tristan’s doppelgänger beamed up at the older man, exchanging the money for a kiss, before he trotted off down the bar to talk to the go-go dancer. 

“What’s he doing now?” the one known as Michael asked a minute later as the little tryo climbed up on the bar, talking earnestly to the dancer there.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kinney replied with a doting look aimed at his little boy toy. “He’s explaining to the go-go dancer how unhygienic it is to put money in your thong.”

“You do know that kid is nuts,” Mr Desperate pointed out.

“Nah. He’s perfectly sane; if anything, he’s saner than me. And probably smarter too.” Kinney was grinning at the little blond’s antics like a total sap. “I mean, at first even I thought that maybe there was something kinda off about him, but it turns out that’s just because of how sheltered Justin was growing up. That, and the fact that his mother did a number on his head. But, then again, who’s mother didn’t fuck them up, right?” Kinney waved the bartender over and ordered another drink for himself before picking up the still unopened soda waiting on the bar next to Michael. “No, Sunshine just looks at the world a different way than the rest of us jaded souls, is all,” Kinney continued. “Frankly, I find it refreshing.” Tristan was amazed to see the guy everyone called ‘The Stud of Liberty Avenue’ acting like a love-struck fool - it went against everything he’d ever heard about Kinney’s heartlessness. “And, if nothing else, he keeps me on my toes.”

“Well, well, well,” Swishy declared with a wink to his friends. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say our fearless leader has finally been bitten by a big old love bug.”

Kinney laughed as he started to walk towards the end of the bar where his boy was now dancing up a storm. Tristan didn’t think he was the only one who noticed that Kinney hadn’t even tried to deny Swishy’s accusation. That was something to think about. Kinney in love? Hmmm. 

Unfortunately, that meant Tristan wouldn’t be able to make his nightly take by luring The Stud into paying for a night of professional pleasure. Too bad. Word on the street had it that Kinney was not only a good tipper, but also a pretty good lay. Now Tristan would have to find another John for the night. 

Oh, well. Work called. Another night, another fuck. Or at least there better be a fuck soon, or Hugo would have his balls.

Tristan decided it was time to move on, but he couldn’t help but look back over his shoulder at the laughing blond dancing on the bar and smiling artlessly down at a grinning and obviously dick-whipped Kinney.