Previously: Brian sighed and added, "Also... because of you."

Justin raised his eyebrows. "Me? What do I have to do with you getting high last night?"

"Justin..." Brian paused, chuckling nervously. "You remember my "One Time Only" policy?"

Justin rolled his eyes. "Yes, I seem to remember some bullshit about how you never fuck a guy twice, then you ended up fucking me for the second time later that night, and then again the next day."

"Right; when I came over here to get my bracelet and told you that I didn't do encores, I really meant it. I've never hooked up with a guy more than once, no matter how good the sex was. Then, I see you dancing with that tanned gym bunny, and I don't know..."

"You were jealous," Justin matter-of-factly said.

"Yeah," Brian answered. "For the life of me, I have no idea why, because that's not an emotion I commonly experience. But on the other hand, it's very rare that I ever see someone that I've fucked again, because I would usually either hook up when I went out of town for business or I would sometimes hire a hustler and meet him at a motel here in Miami. If I ever did run into a former fuck, like in a bar, and see him dancing with or fucking someone else, I wouldn't give a shit. But with you..."

Justin shrugged. "Maybe it was because you took my virginity, and you were bothered by the idea of someone else fucking me?"

"Maybe, but you aren't the first virgin that I've been with, and it's never bothered me knowing that I wouldn't be the guy's last; it was a given that I wouldn't be. Shit, I even go out of my way to make sure the guy enjoys his first time and that he'll be good for his future partners. But, it could also do with the fact that I have an ego the size of Texas, and it bruised me that the guy was taller, more muscular, and more tan than I am... and I feared that he might have a bigger dick than me, too."

Justin laughed. "Well, I don't know about his dick size, but I'm actually not very attracted to him. His name is Ben, and while he's an English teacher at U of M, he's also an aspiring model. I took some pictures for his portfolio a couple months ago, and although I think he's really nice, I'm not into guys that look like they live in the gym."

"He's not my type, either. I have always gone for guys shorter and, as I've gotten older, younger than me, although I normally prefer tan, slightly muscular brunettes. So, although you're shorter and younger than me, you are otherwise not my normal type. But, that doesn't explain why I invited you out on my boat on Sunday, which I have never done with a trick before."

"I'm special," Justin proudly announced, smiling brightly.

"Yes, you're special, Sunshine," Brian confirmed.

Justin cocked his head to the side. "Sunshine?"

Brian chuckled. "Yeah, that's what Debbie called you when I called her on Sunday wanting to know where you and Emmett worked. After she told me the name of the store, she said, ‘Don't you dare break Sunshine's heart.' It's a fitting nickname."

Justin smiled again, proving what Brian had just said. "She called me ‘Sunshine' the first time I ever came into the diner. I'll never forget: when I told her I wasn't sure what I wanted to order, she said that she was going to bring me a burger, because I needed to keep my strength up to cruise, and when Emmett only ordered a Cherry Coke she said he was getting a burger, too, because he should eat some of his protein off a plate." He and Brian laughed, both knowing that it was classic Debbie. "Hell, at the time, I didn't even know what ‘cruising' meant."

Brian grinned. "I guarantee she wasn't talking about boats."

After they both took a moment to reflect on the remarkable woman, Justin sighed. "Brian... how do you feel about me?"

Brian looked down at his lap for a moment, taken aback by the frank question. He looked back into Justin's piercing blue eyes and chose his words carefully. "Justin... I've never been in love before in my life. The closest I've ever come is with Michael, whom I love like a brother, and of course my son. I love Lindsay, because she gave me Gus, but I was never in love with her. I've never attempted to get to know anyone I've fucked, not even Lindsay. When we first started dating, she would chatter on about herself and her interests for hours on end, but I rarely talked about myself. When she would ask me questions, I'd give her a minimal answer. Although I've lived with her for eleven years now and I could tell you the titles of all her favorite books and movies, she usually feels like a stranger to me. We have nothing in common and she bores the shit out of me. But with you, I..."

Brian paused and covered his face with his hands, as if he was scared of what was about to happen. "We've only known each other for four days," Brian stated, putting his hands in his lap, "but I have already told you things about myself that I've only ever told Michael. Despite that, I have always felt like I have to be a certain way with Mikey, because he expects me to be the hell-raising, promiscuous kid that he made friends with at age fourteen. My business associates and employees expect me to be a hard-ass, Lindsay expects me to be an uncaring workaholic, my mother expects me to be a selfish asshole like my old man, and Gus expects me to be the laid-back dad that cheers him on at soccer games and doesn't yell at him when he gets in trouble at school. But when I'm with you, I feel like I can just be myself. I don't have to put on a persona for you to like me or want to be around me. While I love that about you, it scares me a bit, because it's so new for me."

Justin stood up and joined Brian on the couch. Taking his hand, he looked in his eyes. "Brian, all I want from you is honesty. Although you've been honest with me about yourself, which I can tell isn't easy for you, I'm not comfortable with being the only person that you feel that you can be honest with."

Brian squeezed Justin's hand. "Yeah, but-"

"Let me finish, please." Justin squeezed Brian's hand back, but then pulled his hand away. "Although you may know about the falling-out that I had with my family after they all found out that I was gay, you have no idea how hard it was for me to choose what I wanted for my life over what they wanted. I may not have had millions of dollars to inherit like you did, but I still had to say good-bye to everything I had: my mom, my sister, the roof over my head, money for school, my car, my best friend... literally, everything. Even when I ended up in the homeless shelter, it was better than having to put up with my homophobic father for another minute. But, it was worth it, because I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not." Justin paused for a moment to clear his throat, as he had begun to cry. "And I can't be with someone who lives a lie every day of his life, denying who he is to make other people happy... no matter how much I may already love you."

"Justin-"

Justin stood up and started to back away. "Brian, I can't see you anymore. I'm sorry." He then turned around and walked to his room, leaving Brian sitting alone.

********************

A half hour later, Brian strode into his office, his hazel eyes covered in dark Armani sunglasses, despite the cloud cover outside. "Cynthia, coffee," he barked at his assistant as he stomped past her desk.

"I'll make a fresh pot," Cynthia managed to say before Brian slammed the door to his inner office.

Brian sat at his desk and powered up his computer as it began to rain outside. A few minutes later, Cynthia knocked and came in with his coffee.

"Reschedule my lunch meeting," Brian grumbled as pulled off his sunglasses.

Cynthia looked at her boss and noticed that his eyes were red. "For what day?"

"I don't fucking care," Brian growled. "Just not today."

Knowing not to question him, Cynthia answered, "Yes, sir," as she quickly retreated, closing the door behind her.

Brian spent the next hour replying to important emails and checking his stocks. A bit later, Cynthia came over the intercom and said, "Brian, Michael is on line two. He said that it's an emergency."

Brian quickly snatched up the phone and hit the button for line two. "Mikey, what's wrong?"

"Why does your cell keep going to voicemail?" Michael hysterically asked.

"I turned it off," Brian answered, his heart rate picking up over the sound of his friend's distraught voice. "What happened? Are you okay? Deb? Vic?"

"Yes, we're all okay," Michael answered, his voice shaky. "But... oh, God. Are you sitting down?"

"Yes!" Brian yelled, getting more worried by the second. "What the fuck happened?"

Michael took a deep breath. "It's Captain Astro... they killed him, Brian! I just finished reading the new issue and they killed him with some ‘intergalactic virus.' I called the publisher and they said that it was the final issue. They're not bringing him back!"

Brian exhaled harshly and slapped his hand on his forehead. "That's all?"

"That's all?" Michael repeated. "It's a fucking catastrophe!"

Without saying another word, Brian slammed the phone down. After powering down his computer, Brian put his sunglasses back on and walked out of his office.

"I'm leaving," Brian announced as he passed by Cynthia's desk.

Cynthia looked at the clock on the wall. "It's only ten o'clock!"

Brian slammed the door behind him without another word.

********************

Brian answered the knock at the motel room door.

"Hi," the blonde haired, blue-eyed young man said in a deep bass voice. "My name is-"

"Doesn't matter," Brian said, extending his arm to indicate for the man to walk in.

After Brian shut the door, the twenty-something year old man, wearing a white t-shirt and tight olive green cargo pants, which were wet from the rain, asked, "Am I what you hoped for?"

Brian looked at the man from head to toe, walking around him to see every angle. Short, gelled blonde hair, obviously dyed. A bit too tall and muscular. A little too tan. No ass to speak of, unfortunately. Two earrings in his left ear. Brian stopped behind him and took a whiff; a bit too much cologne, no trace of cigarette smoke. Brian looked down and noticed a colorful tattoo of a dragon inside the man's right forearm.

He stepped back in front of the trick. "You'll do," he said with a shrug. I'm never calling that escort service again, he thought to himself.

"That'll be three hundred up front, then."

Brian reached in the pocket of his slacks and pulled out a wad of bills. After the trick counted it and looked at him surprised, Brian said, "There's two hundred extra for you to not make a fucking sound."

Nodding, the trick folded the bills and put them into the back pocket of his pants as he watched Brian begin to remove his clothes. He followed suit and joined Brian on the bed.

"Roll over," Brian instructed, so he did not have to look at the trick's face. Once he was on his belly, Brian ran his hand down the trick's freckled back, stopping before he got to the flat ass. Thankful that he could always get an erection at the thought of sex, Brian then reached over and took a condom from the nightstand. He tore it open, rolled it on, and quickly plunged into the trick without preparing him.