Chapter 16 - Gus, Jus and a Big Fuss.
Brian read through the investigator’s report again, trying to pick up anything he might have missed the first time: Brandon Muller, age 26. Originally from South Carolina, lived in Philadelphia for the past 6 years, moved to Pittsburgh about 6 months ago. Employed by a local non-profit organization as a fundraiser. Nothing major on the criminal front - a couple of arrests for ‘drunk and disorderly’, one actual conviction for causing a disturbance at a club in Philly - time served and anger counselling was all he got - and two charges of assault - both dropped.
Looks like our boy Brandon has a bit of a temper, Brian thought. But, not really anything that Brian could use against the man either. Brian’s PI was gonna look into it further and see if he could get more info on the two dropped assault charges, but that might take a while. In the meantime, Brian wasn’t happy about Brandon seemingly showing up everywhere he and Justin had been lately. But, since there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it, yet, he determined to just keep his eyes open and be ready in case anything might trigger Mr. Muller’s temper.
Putting the file away in his desk, Brian tried to get back to concentrating on a new ad layout for a chain of resort hotels whose business Kinnetik was angling for. He didn’t get very far though when he was interrupted by Cynthia on the intercom.
“Brian, Lindsey on line 2 for you.”
“Thanks, Cyn.” Brian picked up the line. “Hey, Lindz. What can I do you for?”
“Hey, Bri. And, you can’t DO me at all. But, you could do me a big favor, if you were feeling super nice today?” Lindsey pleaded.
“How much is this going to cost me, Lindz?”
“Nothing, except maybe a little of your time. See, Sidney is sending me to New York this weekend to check out a few new galleries there and meet with a new auction house he wants to set up a relationship with. And Mel’s case that was supposed to go to trial this week settled. Sooooo, we are both free for an extended weekend and I thought it would be nice for her to join me in NYC where we could do a little reconnecting? That is, if you wouldn’t mind watching Gus for a few days?" Lindsey wheedled.
“I don’t know, Lindz. I’m too busy to take a bunch of time off work.” Brian started to object.
“I know, but the other night at Deb’s, Justin offered to watch Gus for us if we ever needed it and he’s not super busy, other than with his art, right?” Lindsey and Justin had hit it off right from the start and she’d really liked the young man who seemed very responsible and mature for his age and was, undoubtedly, a very promising artist. “I’m sure Justin would help you out with Gus when you were at work.”
“You’d have to ask Justin about that, Lindz. I’m not his keeper, you know.”
“No. Just his ‘sugar daddy’,” Lindsey teased.
“I’m not his sugar daddy, either, Lindsey. He’s just a friend, okay,” Brian tried to explain. “I’m letting him borrow my pool house until he goes off to school in the fall, mainly because his parents are pricks. That’s all it is.”
“Right. Of course. Whatever you say, Bri. Still, do you think the two of you could take Gus for us for just a few days?”
“I’ll talk to Justin and call you back, Lindz.” Brian finally conceded, mostly to just get Lindsey to leave him be, but also because he liked the idea of spending a bit more time with his son.
Justin, not surprisingly, was thrilled with the idea of having Gus stay at the house with them. Within two minutes of Brian telling him about Lindsey’s request, Justin was already making plans about where he would take Gus during the days when Brian was busy - the Zoo, the Children’s Museum, etc. In the end, Brian was forced to agree to letting Gus stay with him for five days starting on Thursday afternoon.
Thursday morning, Justin rode into town with Brian and spent the morning running errands and sketching in the park. He met Brian for lunch at the Diner at 1:00 pm and then the two of them went over to Mel & Lindz’ to pick up Gus. As they were leaving the Diner Justin thought he saw Brandon again out of the corner of his eye, but since they were already in the car and Brian was starting to pull away from the curb, he didn’t think anything more about it, glad only that he didn’t have to talk to the man again.
It seemed to take forever to gather together all of Gus’s things. Brian was amazed at how much stuff it took to care for one rather small human. They were borrowing the girls’ minivan for the duration of Gus’ visit - the Corvette wasn’t very kid friendly plus there was no way that they would have fit all this stuff in the trunk - and it was a good thing because by the time they loaded it with the portable crib, the stroller, the diaper bag, all the kid’s toys and clothes and even the bouncy chair/swing thing, there was barely room for the toddler. Brian vowed never to be seen in the minivan, not even as a mere passenger, so Justin was appointed as the official child chauffeur for the weekend. As the caravan of corvette and minivan finally pulled away from the house, the girls waving and throwing kisses at little Gus, everyone was too busy to notice the dark blue Jeep Cherokee tailing along several cars behind them.
Since it took even longer to get all the baby paraphernalia set up back at the house than it did to get it into the car in the first place, Brian ended up just staying home the rest of the day. Justin was great with Gus - he told Brian it was from taking care of his little sister, Molly, for all those years - and the young man took the lead in all things toddler related, while Brian sat back and indulgently watched the two boys playing. The word ‘cute’ actually even came into Brian’s mind briefly before he chased it out relentlessly.
On Friday, Justin took Gus to the zoo for the day while Brian was at work - he was completely thrilled to be able to run away from the overwhelming domesticity that had taken over his house and his little pool boy. The zoo was amazing fun. Justin had almost as much fun there (okay, maybe even more) than Gus. They both especially enjoyed the african pygmy goats which you were allowed to pet and groom - Gus, who was just newly walking on his own, kept toddling after the biggest goat, pulling on its hair and following it around, while the placid animal simply ignored the little man. Justin laughed himself silly watching and took hundreds of photos, planning to draw the scene later when he got home.
They ate lunch in the cafe adjacent to the lorikeet exhibit, where Gus had a hard time concentrating on the food with all the colorful birds darting about. After lunch Justin got several more adorable photos of the boy feeding the lories. By then Gus was ready for a nap, and so was Justin, so he rolled the stroller over to a shady garden area and let the boy nap while he quietly sketched and drowsed for a good hour. The only thing keeping Justin from relaxing enough to nap himself was the weird feeling that he was being watched - he looked around occasionally to try to figure out where the feeling was coming from, but the zoo was packed with people so it was probably just his imagination.
After Gus woke from his nap, they rode the zoo train and then visited the new baby elephant briefly, but Gus had obviously had too much fun already and was fussy so Justin decided they were done for the day and the two headed out to the van and then home. Gus was asleep again before they even pulled out of the parking lot. Justin still had the odd feeling that someone was watching him, causing him to look over his shoulder when walking and even looking in his rearview mirror as he drove, but he never saw anything out of the ordinary so he just tried to shake off the creepy feeling.
When Brian got home around 6:00 pm, he discovered both boys curled up in his bed sound asleep, a pillow propped behind Gus’s back to make sure he didn’t roll off the bed, and Justin guarding him on the other side. Brian pulled the duvet up around the two, gently brushing a long strand of gold hair out of Justin’s face, and carefully kissed both sleepy heads before leaving them to sleep a bit more. Justin shuffled out of the bedroom not long afterwards, seeking out Brian to cuddle with the original rather than the little copy for a while, until Gus finally woke as well.
The rest of the weekend followed pretty much the same pattern, with Justin and Gus off on one adventure after another during the day and then coming home for quiet time with Brian in the evenings. On Sunday afternoon, Justin finally convinced Brian into coming along with them to the Children’s Museum - which resulted in Justin almost pissing himself with laughter watching the always dapper Brian playing with his son in the water works area and trying in vain to avoid getting wet.
The trio had so much fun, even with Brian’s sopping wet shoes, that they were still laughing like maniacs when they got to Deb’s for the family dinner, and Brian didn’t even get angry as Justin regaled the entire crew with funny stories about their day. The entire family was bowled over by the changes they were seeing in Brian lately - how much more at ease he seemed, not to mention how much more easily the man laughed - but no one dared to comment on it yet for fear of raising the wrath of Kinney. Overall, it was one of the more enjoyable dinners the group had seen recently, and especially so for Justin since Michael was at at comic book convention and therefore had missed dinner.
On Tuesday morning when it was time to take Gus home to his moms, Brian was genuinely sad to see the boy go - even though he wasn’t sad to get rid of all the baby stuff all over his house or the eyesore of a minivan parked out front. However, since the weekend had gone so well, Lindz was quick to assure him that it needn’t be a one time only event. Justin was quiet on the way back to Brian’s office after they left the girls, already missing his little playmate.
Brian hadn’t yet had his requisite volume of coffee this morning, so the two men stopped at the Starbucks’ near his office on their way. While Brian was in line to get his latte and Justin’s mocha, the younger man grabbed them a table by the window. Justin was sitting and sketching one of the zoo scenes with Gus when he heard the other chair being pulled out and he looked up smiling, expecting to see Brian with his coffee. Unfortunately the man sitting across from him wasn’t Brian, but Brandon, the shaggy blond leering at Justin as he dexterously reached over to claim the younger man’s hand before Justin could pull away.
“Hello there, beautiful. Missed me?” crooned Brandon, refusing to let go of Justin’s hand.
“Leave me the fuck alone, Brandon,” Justin demanded, yanking uselessly to try to free himself from the other man’s grasp.
“I can’t do that, my sweet,” Brandon cooed. “I’m afraid I’m just too excited thinking about our coming time together. Any chance I could get you to cut your contract with Kinney short by a few weeks? The temptation of waiting for you is really too much, my dear.”
“I’m not sure where you ever got the idea that I was at all interested in you, Brandon,” Justin said, trying to keep his voice down to avoid drawing attention in the crowded coffee shop. “Let me make it painfully clear to you, though. I don’t want to be within one hundred feet of you. I can’t stand you. I would be happy if I never had to see you ever again in my life. And, I’d cut my own dick off before I ever slept with you. Is that clear enough for you?”
“It’s definitely clear enough for me,” Brian’s voice boomed, the man was standing behind Brandon’s chair and his angry countenance gave clear evidence that Brandon was only moments away from having two scalding hot coffees dumped on his head. “Time for you to be leaving Mr. Muller. NOW!”
“Sorry, beautiful. Looks like I have to be going now,” Brandon continued, pretending not to have heard Brian, and giving Justin’s hand one last squeeze before releasing it. “I can’t wait to see you again, though. Soon. Ciao Bello.”
“That creep is really starting to get on my nerves!” Justin was furious. “What part of ‘fuck off’ does he not understand.”
Brian didn’t say anything. He was more than just annoyed at Brandon’s continued interest in Justin - he was starting to get worried. Brian determined to call his PI first thing after he got to the office this morning and see what additional info he’d managed to dig up on the persistent lothario. In the meantime, he decided to send Justin home with the car instead of trusting him to take a taxi, knowing that Brandon was likely still out there somewhere.
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The only good thing about Gus going back to his mothers’ was that now the boys’ sex life could get back to it’s good old kinky usual. When Brian was finally dropped at home by the car service later that night, he found a note taped to the door between the garage and the house that read: ‘Howdy Pardner! I had to vamoose down yonder to the stables. Better come on down if you wanna find your favorite cowpoke! Jus.’
Brian couldn’t help laughing out loud at the silliness of the idea, but he didn’t waste any time getting out of his suit, into a pair of jeans and heading out to the usually empty stables. Halfway down the walkway to the old barn, he started finding abandoned pieces of clothing. First, there was a plaid, western-cut shirt, draped over a tree branch. Then, there were a pair of holey, well-worn blue jeans laying in a pile in the middle of the path. Next came socks - left one after the other on random flowering bushes lining the walkway. Finally, about 100 feet from the door to the stables, were a pair of black calvin klein briefs, displayed artistically in the center of the walkway.
When he got to the stable doors, which were slightly ajar, he pushed them wide to discover his own little cowpoke lying on a blanket draped over two hay bales wearing nothing but cowboy boots and a stetson hat and chewing on a long stem of grass.
“Howdy,” Justin rasped in his best cowboy voice, casually twirling the end of a rope in one hand.
“I think you’ve watched ‘Brokeback Mountain’ one too many times, Sunshine,” Brian laughed as he stalked into the barn.
“Ain’t you the one who told me there’s no such thing as too many times,” Justin said with a Kinney-like smirk. “For a silver dollar, I’d be willing to give you a poke and even let you hogtie me, Sheriff.”
“You little freak,” Brian laughed as he quickly got out of his overly restricting clothing. “How about if I give YOU a poke instead.”
“Fine. But I insist on the hog tying.” Justin laughed as he rolled over and waggled his rear in the air as Brian crawled onto the blanket and then onto the hot blond.
This time, Justin was the one who came prepared - once Brian was in place behind the luscious nubile body, Justin removed his hat and pulled a condom out from the inside hat band, handing it to Brian with a raised brow and a grin. Brian ripped the packaging open and quickly prepped himself, then ran his hands repeatedly over the taut, smooth skin of Justin’s back and buttocks reveling in the feeling of that warm firm skin. The random rays of light filtering in through the windows, broken up by floating dust motes, made the lighting hazy and atmosphere seem heavy. The faint scent of grain and horses still imbued the stables and added to the masquerade.
Brian was busy tasting and kissing the beautiful creamy skin, his hands moving rapidly over that willing body pinching and caressing every inch he could reach. Justin wasn’t interested in the preliminaries, however, and using the end of the rope he was still holding in his right hand, he expertly flicked the tip, whipping Brian’s rear with it and eliciting a definite yelp.
“Ride ‘em, Cowboy!” Justin demanded.
“You little shit, I’m going to take that out of your hide,” Brian threatened.
“Yee Haw!” Justin howled as Brian plunged into him, no preparation and no lube except what was on the condom already.
Playing along in character, Justin commenced a reasonably good bucking bronco imitation, trying with all his might to throw off his cowboy, who was holding on nonetheless with consummate skill. Brian pummelled into his bucking boy over and over again, riding the little bronc and slapping at his loins and thighs every so often for effect. The ride itself didn’t last much more than the required eight seconds for a standard rodeo performance - Brian’s lust was ignited to full flame by the scenario and he loved the violent and fierce ride. He spurred his mount on relentlessly, driving again and again into that lovely warm hole, causing Justin to whoop out in joy.
When his ride was almost up, Brian felt that rush of heat breaking over him, knowing from the escalating moans and panting that his mount was nearing his own climax. And then, the thrill of the ride took them both over, explosions of pleasure erupting from both men at the self-same instant, Justin rearing back in ecstasy as he came, almost throwing Brian in the process, before both men collapsed onto the blanket.
“What a good mount,” Brian commented as he petted his little cowboy. “So, Sunshine, do you think I’d win that big old silver belt buckle for that ride?”
“Oh yeah - You’d definitely win the purse for that ride, Cowboy.” Justin sighed, already getting himself worked up for another ride.
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Justin stopped by the gallery where Lindsey worked the next morning to drop off a few things of Gus’ that got inadvertently left behind. While he was there, he was surprised when Lindsey handed him a check for a sizable amount of money - the proceeds from the sales of his art from the exhibit that opened a couple weeks ago. All but three of his pieces had already sold and Lindsey was thrilled for the boy. She was already talking about working with him to get an agent or to at least introduce him to some of the other local artists who might be good contacts for him. Justin was a little too overwhelmed by the entire experience so far and gently put her off, saying he was waiting to hear back from PIFA first before he decided anything. Lindsey made him promise to tell her about the school the second he heard back, already sure from what she’d heard Mitchell saying that Justin was a shoo-in with the admissions board.
Justin took his first professional artist’s check and left the gallery in a daze of excitement. He didn’t even know if he would cash it - he was just so in love with the idea that anyone would actually pay him money for his art that he wanted to simply stare at the check for awhile. He thought he would stop by Kinnetik and see if Brian wanted to celebrate a little before he headed home.
Not more than ten minutes after Justin left, Lindsey was roused by the sound of the bell over the door ringing once again and looked up to see a tall, shaggy blond man entering the gallery. He looked familiar but she couldn’t immediately place him. Lindsey went up to the man and greeted him warmly, always the salesperson and eager to meet any new potential art buyer.
“Hello Ms. Peterson,” the man said, immediately reaching to shake Lindsey’s hand as he entered.
“I’m sorry, but do I already know you,” Lindsey asked.
“Not exactly. I’m Brandon Muller. We met very briefly at the Carnegie Museum benefit a few weeks ago,” Brandon schmoozed. “I work for the Starzz Foundation. I was told your gallery was one of the best in the city. I wanted to talk with you about possibly jointly hosting an exhibit to benefit some of the local charities my foundation supports.”
The two spoke for several moments about the supposed benefit that Brandon had proposed. Lindsey was keen to get involved in something that could potentially garner the gallery a significant amount of free publicity. After coming to a tentative agreement to meet again in a few weeks to further discuss the event, Brandon then came around to his true reason for the visit to the gallery.
“So, Lindsey, aren’t you a friend of Brian Kinney’s?’ Brandon asked with mock innocence. “I thought I saw the two of you speaking at the Carnegie event.”
“Why, yes. We’re old college friends, in fact,” Lindsey admitted, the mention of Brian again triggering that feeling that she almost remembered this man from somewhere. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason really. It’s just that I. . . . Well, it’s really none of my business, so never mind,” Brandon pretended not to care, secretly savoring Lindsey’s look of concern at his tone.
“Please, Brandon. What is it? Anything that concerns Brian is important to me as well.”
“It’s probably nothing, but, well. . . I’d heard that Brian was hanging around with someone who . . . well, it’s just that there are these rumors, you understand and I wouldn’t want anything negative coming back to hurt him, or you by extension.”
“What are you intimating, Brandon?” Lindsey pushed.
“I heard that Brian has been seeing Justin Taylor.”
“Well, yes, that’s true. Justin seems like a wonderful young man though. Why would that be a problem for Brian?”
“Oh I’m sure he’s very nice. In fact he’s well known as one of the nicest escorts on the Avenue. It’s just that I saw them together at the Carnegie benefit and I didn’t think Brian would want it going around that he was there with . . . well, a common rent boy, you know.”
“What? Justin? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Justin seems so sweet and so young.” Lindsey was alarmed, thinking that she’d just let her son spend the weekend with this man.
“Well, I wouldn’t know myself, actually. It’s just what I’ve heard around town, you know. I just thought, maybe, you might pass along a warning to your friend, Brian. But, of course, it really isn’t any of my business. I’m sorry I even brought it up. Please, Lindsey, just forget I said anything. I really didn’t mean to upset you.” Brandon hurriedly made his goodbyes and left, snickering under his breath, completely satisfied with the damage he knew he’d done.