Flux - 31. Chapter 31

July 19, 2002

Bel Air, CA

Brad

These parties were a lot different than they used to be. In the past, they’d been all but a prelude to an orgy, but now they were much classier. I might have attributed the change to the hostess, but Jackie certainly hadn’t made a revolutionary transformation into a genteel woman. I tended to attribute it to the changing attitudes toward sex and sexuality; being gay wasn’t something that had to be as hidden as it used to be, or at least that was my perception.

“Darling, you made it!” Jackie said, as she hurried over to greet Stef.

“As long as I am in town, I would not miss one of your parties,” he said, giving her faux kisses on her cheek, a gesture she and I repeated.

She focused her attention to me. “I’m glad you came along as well. How are you doing?”

“Much better,” I said, smiling. I felt strong and energized. It was invigorating.

“Look who else is here,” she said in a catty way, gesturing at the door just as Kevin walked in.

“That’s my date,” I said, smiling as she freaked out over potentially being rude.

“As long as he’s not here to sink his claws back into Cody, I’m happy,” she said.

“Cody has other interests,” Stef said vaguely.

“You mean Alex?” She paused to affirm that’s who we were talking about by reading our expressions. “Alex hasn’t slowed him down at all.”

“They are not exclusive?” Stef asked, the question I was dying to pose.

“Hell no,” she said, laughing. “Even if Cody could handle that, I’m pretty sure Alex couldn’t.” My mind was reeling from this piece of news. Cody had refused to sleep with me because he was with Alex. If they weren’t monogamous, and Cody was allowed to fuck around with other guys, why did he reject me? Was he just getting back at me for blowing him off? Or did he not find me attractive anymore? That last thought had the potential to completely derail my self-confidence, or it would have if Kevin hadn’t chosen that moment to slide up next to me and put his arm through mine.

“I hope you don’t mind me crashing your party,” he said to Jackie.

“Brad said you’re his date, so you’re not crashing,” she said, but it was clear that she didn’t like Kevin. He was immune from her wrath if he was with Stef or me.

“It pays to have well-connected friends,” he said. She gave him a smarmy smile, and walked off to chat with her other guests. Stef gave me a nervous look, worried about what this latest revelation about Cody would mean, but I gave him the slightest shake of my head to tell him not to worry about it. I wasn’t going to freak out about one guy. I didn’t want a relationship anyway.

“I’ve been here for almost ten minutes and I haven’t gotten a drink yet,” I declared.

“Then let us fix that problem,” Stef said, guiding us over to the bar. We got there, and lost Stef, as he was mobbed by his Hollywood friends. He’d done such a good job of maintaining his contact with them, and his influence. I should have watched him and followed his lead; I’d been out of circulation for nine months, and felt pretty irrelevant. Then again, this never really had been my crowd; it had been Robbie’s group. Maybe I had just gladly detached myself from them after he was gone. Stef, on the other hand, had been a big player when he was with Greg. They’d approached the Hollywood scene as a power couple, while I’d acted more like Robbie’s dutiful wife. More or less.

“I’m really glad you came down here with Stef,” Kevin said.

“Actually, Stef came down here with me, but I’m glad I did too.” His eyes met mine, and just pulled me in, mentally and physically. Our lips met in a truly amazing kiss, the kind that Kevin, with his tight sensuous lips, was so incredibly good at.

He broke it off and backed away from me enough to look down at my tenting pants, then slowly moved his head back up and his eyes met mine. “I’ve missed you.”

I laughed. “I missed you too.” We ordered drinks, and then found a quiet part of the garden where we could chat privately.

“I’m sorry I just vanished,” he said.

“You have to live your own life,” I told him, giving him absolution. “I didn’t know why you left, but I figured that when you were ready to reappear in my life, you would. Besides, I was too fucked up to worry about you.”

He pouted. “You mean you didn’t think about me at all?”

“I didn’t say that,” I corrected. “I said I didn’t worry about you. You’re a smart guy. You land on your feet.”

“Thanks,” he said. “This time was tough.”

“How’s it going to be when you see Cody? He’s around here somewhere.”

“It’s going to be weird and uncomfortable,” he said. “But I think that once we move beyond that, it will be good.”

“Jackie told us he’s not exclusive with Alex, so maybe you can reconnect in other ways,” I teased.

“I thought he and Alex were together,” he said, but it almost sounded like a question.

“So did I, but I’m getting conflicting reports,” I explained.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” he said. I looked at him, trying to read his eyes and his mind to see if he meant that, but I couldn’t. “I already have a date for tonight.”

“Yes you do,” I said. “I’ve been out of practice with this whole dating scene for a while.”

“You’re doing pretty good so far,” he flirted.

“What’s the best way for a guy like me to get a guy like you to go home with him?” I asked brazenly.

He pretended to think about it. “You tell me we’re leaving.” I laughed with him, and then he got serious. “Even if you didn’t think about me, I thought about you.”

“I think we already covered that, and I didn’t say that I didn’t think about you,” I said in not the nicest way, probably because I hadn’t really thought about him all that much. Or at all.

“Let’s go get another drink and socialize,” he said. “Then let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“You want to leave already?” I said as I stood up.

“I do,” he said, as he molded his body to mine.

“Alright, let’s go put in an appearance,” I said, then his plan became clear. “So is this why you brought your car? So we could escape without cramping Stef’s style?”

“That’s why.” God, he was sexy. We walked toward the bar and I saw Cody there, getting a drink. He picked up his drink, turned around, and almost ran into us. It was funny to see how freaked out he was at seeing both of us there, all but clinging to each other.

“Hey!” he said in a friendly way, getting his act together. He put his drink down and gave me a big hug, which I returned while trying to hide that I was annoyed with him. “Did you just get here?”

“We’ve been here for a bit,” I said.

He turned to Kevin, and tried to give him a big hug, but Kevin short-circuited that by keeping his hand in between them to force the distance. “It’s good to see you too,” Cody told him.

“How are you doing?” Kevin asked somewhat coolly.

Cody swallowed hard, grappling with what was pretty blatant rejection, at least for a party. “I’m doing fine. You?”

“Doing well,” Kevin said curtly.

“Are you visiting?”

“I live here now,” Kevin said.

“I told Kevin he could stay with us in Malibu, so maybe you’ll see him around,” I told him, even though I hadn’t done that at all. But if Cody could play games with me, I could throw a wrench in his plans once in a while too. Besides, even if Kevin did come stay with us, it was no big deal. I had tons of room in our Malibu houses, more so when Tiffany and JJ would move to Boston.

“I’ll have to stop by and see what you’re up to,” Cody said to Kevin. Kevin didn’t say anything, which just made the whole vignette with us pretty tense.

“Hello Brad,” I heard a voice say, and turned to see Alex Danvers walk up next to me. Fortunately, that got us out of our conversational dead end.

“Alex,” I said in a friendly way. “How are the new owners treating you?” I asked, referring to Anders-Hayes.

“So far, so good,” he said.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I said sincerely, because I meant it. “We’ll have to do lunch sometime and you can tell me all about it.”

“That sounds like fun,” he said, shooting me a fake smile. It was very unlikely he would call me, and even more unlikely that I’d call him.

“This is Kevin Carmichael,” Cody said, introducing them. Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly, and then relaxed.

“Nice to meet you,” he lied as he shook Kevin’s hand.

“Most men say that,” Kevin joked, mildly flirting.

“I’ll bet,” Alex said. He tried to give Kevin a lustful look but couldn’t quite pull it off. This was not a fun, comfortable conversation.

“We’ve got another event to go to,” I said, setting the stage for our exit. I turned to Cody. “Keep an eye on Stef for me.”

“I’ll do that,” he said. I gave him another hug, shook Alex’s hand, and then we headed over to get Stef’s attention. He was surrounded by people, as if he were holding court.

“We’re leaving,” I told him. “I’ll see you at home later.”

“Have fun,” he said, smiling at me, then returned to his conversation.

We walked out of the house. “That had to be the shortest party I’ve been to in a long time,” I joked.

“We didn’t have to leave,” Kevin said.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to leave,” I told him, my voice sensuous. He swallowed, and that gave me a massive ego boost, to think that I could get this guy who was over fifteen years younger than me all hot and bothered. He led me out to his car, the same Porsche Boxster I’d bought him in 1999. “You still have this car.”

“You’re still smart,” he said sarcastically. He handed me the keys. “Drive, so you can be in charge.”

I laughed, because I was at the point in my life where I could acknowledge that I had control issues, and a big one was driving. Unless it was a limo, if I was in a car, I preferred to be the driver. “I like to be in charge,” I said, in the sexiest voice I could conjure.

“Sometimes I like that too,” he said. I fired up the Porsche and headed toward Malibu, enjoying the beautiful evening, the awesome car I was driving, and the handsome man next to me.

“Seems like you’re pissed off at Cody,” I said. That got a frown, because he didn’t want to talk about it, but it would bug me if I didn’t know the whole story. I’d rather hear it from Kevin than from Cody, since Cody wasn’t being straightforward with me right now anyway.

“He and I have different ideas about what love is,” he said, as if that would explain things.

“How are they different?”

“Why do you want to talk about this?” he demanded.

“Because it bothers you, and I want to know why,” I said. He glared at me. “You don’t have to tell me, but you asked me why I wanted to talk about it, so I told you.”

His expression relaxed, and he just nodded briefly to show that he’d heard me, and then he looked straight ahead. I was wondering if I’d blown our whole night, and the whole mood, but if I had, there wasn’t much I could do about it. “When Cody falls in love, it’s not really love, it’s an infatuation.”

“And you don’t work that way?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry you got hurt,” I said, meaningless words designed only to show him that I cared. “So where are you living?”

“I’m staying with a friend of mine in Westwood,” he said.

“The same guy that offered to back you up for half your company?”

“The same guy,” he said, smiling at me. “He wasn’t trying to screw me over; he just doesn’t have a lot of extra money to invest, so it was a big deal to him.”

“Are you with this guy?” I asked him.

“We’re friends that fuck,” he said. “Kind of like you and me.”

“That’s good news for me,” I said, smiling at him.

“It wasn’t my first choice, but it was a place to stay when I got back into town without blowing a lot of money on hotels, or signing a lease.”

“Why didn’t you just come stay here?” I asked, referring to my house in Malibu.

“Because I wasn’t ready to deal with Cody,” he said honestly.

“And now you are?”

“Now I am,” he confirmed.

“He’s not around much anyway,” I explained. He didn’t say anything in response to that, and I didn’t say anything else either. We were quiet for a few minutes until we got to the house in Malibu. I had to get out and punch in the key code for the garage, since Kevin didn’t have an opener. I led him into the house, a place he was familiar with. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to take him up to my room and fuck his brains out, but I wasn’t sure if that would be rude or not, or if he wanted some conversational foreplay.

He must have sensed my hesitation. “Come on,” he said, holding his hand out. I took it, which made it feel like he was dragging me along with him as he led me up to my room. He guided me into the room, then shut and locked the door. “Get naked.”

I chuckled as he went into my bathroom, and then I did what he told me to do, stripping off the clothes I’d taken such pains with earlier. I lay on the bed, flat on my back, and got condoms and lube out of my nightstand drawer and set them on top. He came out a few seconds after I’d accomplished that, looking as amazing as he had the first time I’d fucked him. He climbed into the bed and straddled me, then lay down on top of me, letting my hard cock slide in between his ass cheeks. “You are so sexy,” I said, as I put my hand on the back of his head and guided his mouth to mine.

Kevin was giving off some pretty strong signs that he wanted to be in charge, and that surprised me, since in the past, he’d seemed to want me to call the shots, but I was fine with that. I let him set the pace, let him put the condom on me, let him lower himself down onto my dick, and then managed to remain relatively passive while he began to fuck me. “So good,” he said. “God, this is good.”

He had the most amazing ass, one that seemed to throb; I’d learned that I had to be careful, because if I didn’t watch it, he’d bring me off way too soon. But he was good at reading signs, and at slowing down when I urged him to. He kept our pace at a maddeningly slow tempo, keeping me so close to the edge, but just holding back enough stimulation to prevent me from climaxing. I lay there, responding but not initiating anything, letting him nurse us along, and it was an incredibly erotic experience.

He got worked up faster than I did; I could feel it in his body, and in his thrusts, as he picked up his speed. I felt my orgasm rising, wondering if he’d back me down again, but he didn’t. He smiled at me, because he knew I was going to cum, and then I did. It was like I’d been dormant, and now he woke me up. I grabbed his ass and drove into him, moaning in what was probably more of a roar, letting my body completely drain itself into the condom. When I was done, I relaxed back and smiled up at him, but he had that crazed look I remembered so well. He sat back on my cock, stroked his dick a few times, and blasted his load all over my chest and abdomen.

The thing with Kevin is that everything he does is sexy, even after an orgasm. He left my dick in his ass, letting it get soft, as he took a towel and sensuously wiped his cum off of me, then he leaned down to kiss me as he raised his ass up and let my dick plop out of him. “Wow,” I said, as I pulled him to me and held him tightly.

“Amazing,” he said, almost purring, as he lay there with me contentedly. “Thanks for letting me be in charge.”

“It was truly my pleasure,” I said, making him chuckle.

“Most guys I’m with seem to want to just pin me down and fuck the shit out of me,” he said, unable to hide the bitterness. “It’s not that I don’t like that, but it’s nice to do something different. I knew you’d be up for it.”

“You were so right,” I said.

July 19, 2002

London

Matt

The car pulled up in front of a townhouse in what JP had explained was one of the most fashionable and expensive neighborhoods in London. It reminded me of some of the pictures of houses Wade had shown me of Back Bay and Beacon Hill in Boston: very tasteful and very ‘old world’. I smiled, thinking at how comfortable JP must feel in this kind of milieu. It was like a neighborhood built around his study at Escorial.

We strode up the steps and rang the bell. A man in tails, the quintessential butler, answered the door promptly. “I am Professor Crampton,” JP said formally. “We are here to see His Grace.”

“Of course,” he said, and beckoned us to enter. “His Grace is expecting you.” We were first ushered into a foyer with beautiful blue wallpaper. I allowed my eyes to wander up and down its height, taking in the ornate woodwork. “Please follow me.” The butler led us into a sitting room not unlike the one in JP’s suite at the Savoy, although somehow it managed to be more tasteful.

There was an older gentleman standing to receive us. He was shorter than me, but had a ramrod straight back, rather large cheeks that almost looked like jowls, and sparse gray hair on his head. He was dressed formally, in a suit similar to the ones we’d just ordered from Saville Row. “Welcome Professor Crampton!”

“It is a pleasure to finally meet Your Grace,” JP said gallantly, as he strode forward and shook his hand. “These are my grandsons, Will Schluter and Matt Carrswold.”

“Your Grace,” Will said, acting and looking like a clone of JP as he shook this man’s hand. I mimicked him as best I could, but I think Will did a better job of it. JP introduced Zach, who looked the most nervous of all of us.

“And this is my protégé, Wade Danfield,” JP said, introducing Wade.

“It is a pleasure to meet Your Grace,” Wade said smoothly.

“I had the pleasure of meeting your father once,” the Duke said. “My condolences on your loss.”

“Thank you,” Wade said simply.

“Won’t you gentlemen please have a seat,” the Duke said as he gestured to the chairs and sofas. JP took the seat next to him. “I have so enjoyed our e-mail exchanges,” he said to JP.

“As have I, Your Grace,” JP said.

“It is a wonderful way to communicate, and so fast is it that I feel as if we are already friends,” he said. The Duke was quite charming.

“Your Grace is too kind,” JP said. I’d have to tease Will, reminding him that he’d have to learn manners like this for the ball he had to take Marie to.

“My friends call me Suffolk,” the Duke said. “It would please me if you would.”

“That is quite an honor,” JP said sincerely. “You must call me JP.”

The two of them began to chatter, and they connected so well it was indeed as if they had been lifelong friends. I was impressed with their easy rapport. The rest of us just sat there listening, enduring this somewhat uncomfortable situation. I occupied my mind by letting my eyes absorb the details of this room. The ceiling was remarkable, with ornate woodwork that made the whole room seem elegant. We were interrupted when a young man entered the room, and while the room was elegant, he was spectacular. He was probably 5’11”, so a little shorter than me, with golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a long narrow face with very pointed features. He looked almost surreal, as if he came from another world. I guessed him to be about twenty-two, so about the same age as I was, but with a very smooth bearing. He actually comported himself a lot like Wade.

We all stood up when we saw him. “What convenient timing, Alex,” the Duke said. “These are the gentlemen from America that I was telling you about.” He turned to us. “This is my grandson, the Earl of Bridgemont.” He introduced his grandson to JP first.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord,” JP said, shaking his hand.

“It is a delight to meet you as well, Professor,” he said. God, that accent was sexy. So English, yet so refined. We all shook his hand and greeted him, even though it was strange to call this dude who was my age ‘my lord’.

“We were just discussing the letters Professor Crampton is planning to review,” the Duke said to Bridgemont.

“Have they finished with them yet?” he asked.

“They have,” he said. “I was of a mind to take him over to retrieve them.”

“I was on my way to the British Museum,” Bridgemont said, then turned to us. “I have a project I have to finish up for my last term here. Would you like to join me?”

We’d already been to the British Museum, but it was pretty cool. Wade glanced at me and I gave him a barely perceptible nod. “We’d love to,” Wade said, speaking for the two of us. That seemed to break up our little gathering. JP and the Duke went off to see about this ancient correspondence that had so entranced JP, while Wade and I followed the Earl out of the house. Will and Zach went with JP, albeit a bit reluctantly, since Zach was supposed to be working with JP anyway. We walked out to the garage but before we entered, the young Earl stopped and smiled at us.

“I’m Alex,” he said, shaking our hands as if we were meeting for the first time, and thus shedding the stuffy formality of titles and protocol.

“You certainly are,” I said, making a private joke to Wade. He’d said if this dude was hot, he’d call him Alex, and this dude was definitely hot. “I’m Matt.”

“I’m Wade,” Wade said. Alex walked into an old garage that was clean and well maintained, and hit his key fob to open the door to his Jaguar. The two of them sat in front, while I sat in back.

“Have you been enjoying your visit?” he said conversationally.

“Definitely,” I said.

“I understand you’re planning to go to Harvard in the fall,” Wade said.

“I am. I was able to squeak in,” he joked.

“I’m sure it was difficult,” Wade said sarcastically, smiling at him. “Have you been to Boston?”

“I’ve visited before, but that was quite a while ago,” he said, as he navigated the London traffic, an impressive feat in and of itself. I couldn’t imagine doing that, especially while having to drive on the wrong side of the road.

“I’m starting at Harvard this fall as well,” Wade told him.

“That’s fantastic! It will be nice to know someone there,” Alex said enthusiastically.

“Have you decided where you’re going to live?” Wade asked.

“I plan to visit in August and work that out,” he replied.

“I just bought a house there, next to campus,” Wade said. “There’s plenty of room. You’re welcome to stay with us.” I wondered if Wade was inviting him to stay while he found a place to live, or indefinitely. Alex was probably wondering the same thing.

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” he said, sounding like his grandfather.

“It wouldn’t be an imposition at all,” Wade replied, just as formally.

“Who is ‘us’?” Alex asked.

“My son, his mother, and Matt’s step-brother, who’s a figure skater,” Wade explained. Alex looked at him, and his expression showed his confusion to such a degree that I had to laugh.

“It will be like living in a commune,” I teased, getting a dirty look from Wade.

“Right,” Wade said. “A commune in Harvard Square.”

“I’m a bit hungry,” Alex said. “Would you fancy some food before we go to the museum?”

“Absolutely,” Wade said, making me laugh again.

“Food is very important to Wade,” I explained.

“And not to you?” Wade asked, cracking me up.

“Not as important,” I said, which was true. My appetite had abated a bit. Alex showed us the pub we were going to, but we had to drive around for a bit to find a parking place. I was learning that was one of London’s bigger challenges. It was an odd time of day to stop for food and drinks, so we were able to snag a big wooden booth in the corner.

“I hope you don’t think me rude for saying this, but your living situation seems a bit, uh, different,” Alex said.

“Matt and I were a couple for quite a while, so our families are very intertwined,” Wade said.

“So you two are gay?” he asked. It didn’t seem to bother him at all.

“We are,” I affirmed. “Does that bother you?” I asked that more to get his opinion on gay people.

“Not at all,” he said candidly, and then grinned. “We have gay people in England.”

“Cool,” I said, raising my eyebrow suggestively.

“I’ve even had a few ancestors who walked down that side of the street,” he said. He had a really interesting way about him. One minute he sounded like us, like a 22-year-old dude, and the next he sounded like his grandfather.

“Boy would I have liked to have known them,” I said, flirting with him. He laughed, while Wade gave me an annoyed look.

“I fathered a son with a friend of the family. Her name is Tiffany,” Wade said stiffly.

“We had a ménage a trois with her,” I interjected. “It was hot.”

“I suspect it was,” Alex said, even though he had a hard time speaking because he was laughing. It was funny to crack him up and annoy Wade at the same time.

“So I have a son, Riley, who’s almost two,” Wade explained. “Tiffany is a skating coach, and she coaches Matt’s step-brother, JJ.”

“I have a friend who was involved in figure skating, so I’ve tracked that a bit,” Alex said. “What is his name?”

“Jeremy Schluter,” I said.

Alex smiled. “I’ve seen him skate. He’s quite good.”

“You should tell him that when you meet him,” Wade said. “You can get on his good side. He’s a diva.”

“My experience suggests that is a common trait amongst skaters,” Alex said, switching back to his formal speaking pattern again.

“So those are the three people who are living with me,” Wade concluded.

“You’re not living in Boston?” he asked me.

“No,” I said. “I’m moving to Chicago. I’m working on my MBA at the University of Chicago.”

“That is a good school,” he said seriously. “I’ve had mates who applied there and didn’t make it.”

“I had a famous alum that knocked down some doors for me,” I said.

“That would help,” he agreed. “Forgive me for this observation, but you two seem to be very much together.” It wasn’t an observation, it was a question, and I remained silent, forcing Wade to answer it.

I figured Wade would give some smart-ass response and diss me, but he didn’t. He looked at me lovingly. “I think that Matt and I will always be together at some level, but right now, we have to walk on our own paths.”

Alex smiled warmly. “I understand.”

“So you’re going to Harvard to study art?” I asked, changing the subject. “There’s all kinds of art here. Why are you going to the US?”

“Not to stomp on your national pride, but I’m not going there for American art,” he said, giving us shit, and making us chuckle. “If I’m to work credibly with art, I need a well-rounded background, so I’m focusing on art history. There are experts at Harvard from whom I hope to learn a great deal.”

“I didn’t think they had a master’s program in art history at Harvard,” Wade said. “Are you working on your doctorate?”

“Technically, I am, but I doubt I will make it that far. What I’ll do is go through the coursework, and then see if they’ll grant me what you would term a master’s degree. They do that for students who opt not to complete their doctorate, in certain situations.”

“Do you know much about modern art?” Wade asked.

“Most of our family portfolio is in things a bit older than that, so that’s where I’m focused, but I do appreciate it,” he said. “How long are you in town for?”

“We leave in a few days,” I said.

“I was going to go out to the country tomorrow, but I’ll delay that and spend some time here with you and show you London.”

“That’s nice of you, but you really don’t have to,” Wade said. “What do you do in the country?”

“I like to ride,” he said with a smile. “Our estate is named after my title, Bridgemont, and it’s in Derbyshire. We have excellent stables.” He must have seen Wade’s face light up. “Do you ride?”

“It is one of my favorite activities,” Wade said. He’d clearly found a kindred spirit.