The Freshmen - 6. Chapter 6

August 8, 2004

Tribeca

New York, NY

JJ

I woke up confused. On the one hand, I was seriously annoyed that someone was bothering me this early in the morning. On the other hand, the dude bothering me was doing an amazing job of sucking my dick. I opened my eyes and smiled down at Kris, who stopped blowing me and leaned up to kiss me. His breath was kind of rank, but for some reason it didn’t really bother me. “Rise and shine,” he quipped.

“I’m trying,” I grumbled, then smiled at him. He winked at me, kissed me again, then fucked me. I lay there afterwards, sprawled across the bed totally satisfied, while he got up and took a shower. I drifted in and out of sleep, happier and more content than I’d been in a long time, or maybe even ever. He walked out of the bathroom, with his grooming done, his hair perfectly coiffed, but only wearing a towel. He looked ridiculous, which made me burst out laughing. “What?” he asked me.

“I think you forgot your clothes,” I said.

“I’m going to grab the ones I wore when I came over here yesterday,” he said. “It’s casual on the weekends.”

“Good idea,” I said. I got up and put on a robe, while he got ready. “You need to eat something.”

“I’ll grab a bagel on the way in,” he said.

“Is another twenty minutes going to make that big of a difference?” I asked him.

“No,” he said with a grimace. As I walked toward the kitchen I began to panic, because Sunday was Jacinta’s day off, then I remembered that she’d opted to rearrange her schedule this week. I led him into the kitchen and asked Jacinta to make him some breakfast, telling her he was in a hurry, then I walked out, called the driver and asked him to bring the car around. Jacinta started putting food in front of him as soon as it was ready, which made it look like feeding him required some kind of assembly line.

“What time do you think you’ll be done?” I asked. He shot me a dirty look but modified that pretty quickly. “What?” I demanded.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I got with a dude when I first moved back to the city and started at Goldman. The guy I was with bitched about my hours to the point where it killed our relationship.”

“Dude, I just asked you when you got off work,” I said firmly.

“I know, and I was just trying to explain to you why I gave you a dirty look by mistake,” he said offhandedly.

“Alright, but you still haven’t answered my question,” I pointed out, then smirked at him.

“I’ll be done by seven, but don’t get mad at me if it’s a little later,” he said.

“Just give me a call around five and tell me how it’s going,” I said, acting like I was totally calm and that that level of time uncertainty did not grate on my nerves.

“Will do,” he said. He got up, leaned over and gave me a very nice kiss, then turned to Jacinta. “Thank you for a wonderful breakfast.” He kissed her on the cheek and then got ready to leave.

“The car is out front,” I said. “It will make getting to work easier.”

He smiled, a really huge grin. “Thanks for taking care of me.” I watched him leave, then sat down to finish my breakfast.

“I like him, Mr. Jeremy,” Jacinta said.

“I like him, too,” I said, grinning like an idiot. “It makes me nervous, falling for him so fast.”

“He is just as into you,” she said. I started to get happy, thinking that her opinion mattered, then remembered she was the maid.

I went back to my room to get ready, then came back out to the kitchen to nibble on some more fruit. I would have done better to have stayed in my room, because no sooner had I sat down then Susannah walked in. “I’m going to go to Louis Vuitton,” she said to me. “I was going to have David take me.” David was my driver. It was annoying that she thought my car was at her disposal, and it was rather rude not to even invite me to tag along.

“I have some errands to run, so I will need my car,” I said, emphasizing the word ‘my’.

“Then I’ll get myself there,” she said in her bitchiest tone, and flounced out of the condo. I was trying to figure out how she was going to pay for the stuff she bought at Louis Vuitton when I remembered that I’d given her a credit card. Evidently I was supposed to foot the bill, which was maddening considering how incredibly bitchy she’d been. I went into my office, pulled out my banking file, called the credit card company, and canceled her card. This day was just getting better and better.

I went back to Dior Homme and bought another suit for Kris, then scored his measurements and went on a mini shopping spree. I took a break and had a nice meal all by myself, then focused on getting shoes to match the clothes I’d gotten him. I had a blast picking things out to make him look awesome, and was so absorbed in my efforts that I didn’t get home until four o’clock. David dutifully carried my various packages up and I instructed him to put them in Carullo’s old room. I thought briefly about hanging them up in my room but changed my mind. I had a huge closet, but it was still pretty full. I chuckled, thinking I’d do a lot for someone I liked, but sharing space in my armoire was not happening. I tracked down Jacinta to help me unpack everything and put it away.

Kris called me at 5:00 exactly, which was cute. I appreciated his punctuality. “Hey,” I said pleasantly.

“Hello,” he responded. “How was your day?”

“It was good,” I said. “I went shopping.”

“What did you buy?” he asked.

“Lots of stuff,” I said. “I’ll show you when you get here.”

He paused and I started to panic, wondering if he was calling to cancel on me. Thoughts of him blowing me off and then going to the bars later sent me reeling downwards, heading straight to hell. “I have worked my ass off, and I think I can actually get out of here now,” he said. My emotional plane that was in a nosedive suddenly righted itself and began to climb again.

“That is fantastic!” I said just a little too jubilantly, getting a chuckle from him.

“I think so, too,” he said. “What do you want to do for dinner?”

“I’m pretty flexible,” I said.

“I’m kind of tired,” he sighed.

“Then you should come straight over here and we’ll eat dinner in,” I said.

“You are the most awesome person,” he said lovingly. “See you as soon as I can get there!”

I tracked down Jacinta and told her the plan, which got a frustrated look from her. “I will have to see if I have the supplies to make a good dinner.”

“Why don’t we have any food?” I asked.

“We were supposed to get a delivery of food on Friday but there was a problem,” she said. “Miss Susannah made changes to the order that delayed things.”

“In the future, would you make sure that she does not interfere with the order?” I demanded, furious at Susannah. Because she thought she was in charge of fucking everything, including my household, my dinner with Kris may not be awesome.

“I am sorry, Mr. Jeremy,” she said.

“It’s not your fault,” I insisted.

“I will see what I can put together,” she said. I followed her into the kitchen and determined we were woefully understocked when it came to food for an evening meal.

“I’ll order in,” I announced. I called Kris back and we decided to get food from Keens Steakhouse, so I called in the order and sent Dave to pick it up. I was in such a good mood I ordered stuff for him and Jacinta too. About fifteen minutes later, the concierge called announcing Kris. I was annoyed at myself for not going down and adding Kris to the list of allowed visitors. I stood in the hallway, waiting for him. When the elevator opened and he came out, I found myself grinning like an idiot. He walked straight up and gave me a massive kiss, then a hug.

“It is good to see you,” he said.

“I’m sorry you had to stop at the concierge desk,” I said. “I’ll let them know you’re allowed in.”

“Thanks,” he said. I led him into the condo, expecting him to head into the great room, but he headed straight into my bedroom. “I’ve been thinking about seeing you all day long.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” I said, then he shut me up by kissing me, then his mouth went lower, and then he fucked me into another incredible orgasm.

“Amazing,” he said, grinning at me.

“You say that, but, I mean, you’ve been with so many guys,” I said. “I mean, they had to have been better.”

He shook his head. “Not for me.”

“How’s that work?” I asked.

“So I can have good sex with a dude I just met, but it’s only so good, like there’s a cap on it. It’s not because of him; it’s just because I don’t really know him or care about him, so sex is pretty much it, and it’s mechanical,” he said. I started laughing and got a really annoyed look from him. “What’s so fucking funny?” I felt bad that I’d upset him, so I put my hand on his chest to calm him down.

“Will said you were an awesome lay, but a little mechanical,” I said, getting a smile from him. I was almost bursting with joy at having been a better lover than Will.

“I’d say the same thing about him,” he said. It bothered me in the extreme to think about him and Will having sex, and resolved never to bring that up again. “So the more I like someone, the better the sex gets.”

“You said I was the best,” I said coyly, flirting with him, wondering how the hell I was managing to do that.

“I did,” he confirmed.

“Then you must really like me,” I said, being totally coquettish.

“I do,” he confirmed again.

“I mean, you just met me, and I’ve been bitchy at least half the time we’ve been hanging out,” I said, making him laugh.

“I just met you, but I feel like I’ve been waiting for you for years,” he said earnestly. Just then Jacinta knocked on my door to tell me dinner was ready. He saw my frustrated look and gave me a gentle kiss.

“Time to eat,” he said, then laughed at my expression. “I can talk and eat at the same time.”

“Impressive,” I said sarcastically, then grinned at him.

We walked into the dining room and Kris paused at the entry to admire how good everything looked. “Your table is gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” I said proudly. We walked over to within two feet of it when I stopped him, and we stood there staring at the place settings. “Can you tell where I got all this stuff?”

“I don’t know this shit like you do,” he protested. I started to tell him, but he winked at me. “The plates are stunning. They’re Hermes.”

“You nailed that one,” I said. I was pretty impressed that he knew his designer porcelain so well.

“Silverware is definitely Tiffany,” he said.

“Right again,” I said, shocked that he’d get that one.

“And I could have told you the brand of the glasses before I even got here,” he taunted. I stared at him. “Baccarat.”

We sat down and started eating. “How would you have known that I had Baccarat glassware?”

“Please,” he said, then started laughing. “I didn’t know any of this stuff by sight.”

“Then how did you guess so well?” I asked, confused.

“Because you are a total class act, and that means that you’re only going to get the best. The best are Baccarat crystal and Tiffany silver.”

“You are so full of shit,” I said to him, laughing. “What about the plates?”

“I would have initially guessed Wedgewood, but when I saw them it looked like they had a Hermes pattern,” he said.

I stared at him, totally surprised. I mean, Wedgewood wasn’t the best porcelain, but he was pretty tuned in to what was tasteful. “How do you know about all these brands?”

“I had a roommate at Wharton who was a total dork, and kept dreaming about all the shit he was gonna get when he was a master of the universe,” he said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I think it was in that book Bonfire of the Vanities,” he said. “They were talking about rich finance guys.”

“That seems so strange to me,” I said, thinking of his roommate who dreamed of Baccarat crystal. He looked at me strangely then broke out laughing. “Why is that funny?”

“You’re such a rich boy that you can’t even contemplate how people would have to imagine buying something, because if you do, you just go get it,” he said.

I chuckled at that. “Whatever,” I finally said. “So this dude knew all about luxury brands?”

“Yeah,” Kris said, shaking his head at the dude. “I’d walk in the room and he’d be like ‘Kris! Kris! Guess what the best watch is!’ and I’d roll my eyes and say ‘I don’t know’ and then he’d smile this arrogant smile and say ‘Audemars Piguet’.” I was laughing pretty hard at his impression.

“Those are good watches,” I agreed. “What’s your favorite watch?”

“I like my Rolex,” he said. I felt even more comfortable with him, because if he really was a gold digger, he would have shot a really expensive brand name at me.

“You haven’t seen any other watches that you like?” I asked. “I’m just curious.”

“Until we went out, I would have told you that my favorite was Patek Phillippe,” he said. “But then I saw your Breguet and it was beautiful.”

“That one was a graduation present from my grandfathers. I remember opening it and thinking that no one does watch faces better than Breguet,” I said. “Tell me why you thought you’d been waiting for me for your whole life.”

Before he could answer, Susannah came in and looked really pissed. This conversation was probably not going to go well, because she was mad and I was infuriated that she’d interrupted me just when Kris was going to answer my question. “Thank you so very much for cutting off my credit card and not telling me,” she said. “It was humiliating for that to happen at Louis Vuitton.”

“You’re mad at him for not letting you buy whatever you want at Louis Vuitton?” Kris asked her, and not all that nicely.

“I just think that it would have been nice to have some warning,” she snapped, directing her comment at me.

“Or you could have asked me if you could charge shit on there,” I said to her in my snarkiest tone.

She turned on Kris. “And I don’t need to hear anything from you.” Her tone was rude and condescending.

“If you talk to my boyfriend like that again, I am going to have to ask you to find someplace else to live,” I said firmly. Kris stared at me, stunned.

“I did not realize that your relationship had advanced to that stage in two days,” she said sarcastically.

“I will be right back,” I said to her. “Don’t go anywhere.”

I went into my room, opened my safe, and counted out $10,000, then went back out into the dining room. “You have until tomorrow at 7PM to move your things out of here.” I handed her the cash. “This will give you enough money to find a place to stay.”

“You’re throwing me out?” she demanded, all outraged. “I came here and did so much for you.”

“You have that totally wrong,” I said. “You came here begging me for help, and I did everything for you.”

“Then with no explanation, you completely turned on me. One minute we’re sharing a bed, the next you’re being astoundingly rude to me,” she said self-righteously.

“Because you became a domineering bitch, and I put up with it until I overheard people talking about what a laughingstock I was for letting you whip me,” I said loudly.

“I most certainly did not do that,” she decreed.

“I’m betting you did,” Kris said. “Did you ever listen to the Steve Miller Band?”

“That’s a bit old, but I have,” she said.

“You should follow their advice,” he said, then sang, “Go on, take the money and run.” He actually had a pretty good voice. She stared at him but he just made a shooing motion at her which was hilarious.

“I wish you both well,” she said, the irritation in her tone quite clear. “You certainly do deserve each other.”

“Thank you,” I said, being just as catty. Kris didn’t seem to speak that language. “I would expect your visa must be up by now. I’ll be happy to buy you a ticket back to London.”

She glared at me, then mellowed. “Thank you. I’ll leave on August 11.” She turned on her heel and somehow managed to stomp gracefully out of the room.

“Boyfriend?” he asked.

“It seemed appropriate at the time,” I said, blushing with embarrassment.

“When we’re done eating, you want to hot tub?” he asked, thankfully changing the subject.

I got up and walked over to the control room, because we had a duplicate panel for the fountain in there. I managed to push the sequence of buttons correctly on the second try, then strolled back in to eat. “Sounds like a plan.”

We spent about fifteen minutes finishing our dinner, then we stripped off our clothes and went up to the deck, shrouded in our robes and towels. He took off his robe and I stood there, lusting at his magnificent body. He was a complete Adonis. I liked how he was pretty muscular, but not in the same way a body builder would be. His skin almost seemed loose on him, as opposed to some guys where it looked like their outer layer was about to explode from the force of their abs or pecs. He looked at me and busted me staring at him, so he laughed, embarrassing the shit out of me. I quickly shed my own robe and jumped into the pool, splashing him playfully when I did. “Warmer this time,” he said.

“That’s because I started heating it while we were still eating,” I said.

“So I’m your boyfriend,” he said, smirking at me.

“You want the job?” I asked casually, stunning myself. I was risking total rejection yet I was acting like it was no big deal. What the fuck was wrong with me?

“Tell me what the job description looks like,” he said, his voice much huskier. I didn’t say anything as I thought about it, while he came up behind me and started rubbing my shoulders.

I pivoted around and looked him in the eye. “It requires that you fuck me as often as you can, and that you don’t fuck anyone else,” I said, then swallowed after I said it. I assumed that would be a deal killer for him, but anything else would be unbearable. “You have to put up with my crazy-ass moods, do everything you can to keep me from being an insecure nut case, and be arm candy for me at events.” I paused, debating whether to continue, then threw caution to the winds. “And you have to move in here.”

“Hmmm,” he said, and seemed to be deep in thought. He didn’t answer for a while, and I was starting to freak out.

“You’re not helping the insecure nut case issue here,” I said acidly. Of course, he just laughed at me.

“Your terms are not entirely adequate,” he said, sounding like Grand. “I need to add something to the agreement.”

“I will consider any additions you request,” I said arrogantly, making him laugh.

“You have to be willing to tolerate my moodiness and my anxieties, and you have to understand that my job takes a lot of time, and not be mad at me for working so much,” he said.

“I am concerned that I will have difficulty performing two of those requirements,” I said in the same tone I’d used before. “I am not a very tolerant person.”

“Then we will say that you will attempt to tolerate my moods and anxieties,” he said.

“I think that works,” I said, acting grumpy but smiling at him.

“Then I accept your terms,” he said, and gave me a kiss.

“Why?” I asked, totally confused. “Why did you agree to be my boyfriend?”

“You don’t want me to?” he asked, just as confused as I was.

“Isn’t that a lot to give up? I mean, you’re like a king of the gay bar scene in New York City,” I said. “Now I’ve slapped a chastity belt on you.”

“I will get all the sex I want,” he said. “From you.”

“Yes, you will,” I said, smiling at him.

“It’s so weird,” he said, acting like he was stoned. “From the first moment I met you at that gallery, I felt like we just fit together so incredibly well.”

“See, I didn’t figure that out until you fucked me,” I joked. He gave me an amused look, and I got that he didn’t want comedy at this point. “I felt the same way about you. I keep feeling like I have to throw shields up to keep myself from falling for you, but they’re not working.”

“Good,” he said. He fucked me in the hot tub, then we went downstairs and showered. “I need to crash. I’m fucking exhausted. Plus I need to go back to my apartment and get some things.”

“Or maybe you don’t,” I said. “Put on boxers and nothing else.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, and saluted me lamely. I led him into Carullo’s old room.

“You’re not allowed to sleep in here,” I joked. “But this is your room.”

“This is awesome,” he said, and walked over to the window where he gazed out at the city.

“I went shopping for you today,” I said, as I walked over to the closet.

“You don’t have to spend a shitload of money on me,” he said earnestly. “I don’t want you to think I come with a price tag.”

“I spent money on you because I wanted to, and because you’re so hot it’s fun to make you look even better,” I said, and gave him a kiss. He had been exhausted before, but he willingly spent an hour modeling the clothes I’d bought him. There was one shirt I’d gotten him from Gucci that did not work, but the rest was perfect.

“I don’t know how you did this,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, it’s like you went out and found things that look better on me than anything else, and if I would have tried to do the same thing, I’d have just bought a bunch of dark blue suits.”

I laughed at that. “I think you would have done better than that,” I said.

“I don’t know how to thank you for this,” he said, and seemed really choked up. “And I’m not talking about just the money. You put some serious time and effort into it.”

“You are like a god,” I said, acting all sappy. “I knew I could do this, make you look even better, and because I like you, I really wanted to do it.”

“Let’s go to bed,” he said, and led me back to my room. We had sex again, then drifted off to sleep, totally wrapped up in each other, both physically and emotionally.

August 10, 2004

Escorial

Palo Alto, CA

Will

We were enjoying a very nice dinner since this was the last night before we left for the Olympics. Stef and Grand were both going over for the first week, and Grand was considering staying longer. Jake and my father had been adamant that they weren’t going, but ultimately decided to join us and adhere to Stef’s schedule. The biggest surprise was that Marie had decided to join us and stay there with me until the 29th.

“I am so glad you’re going,” I said to her earnestly.

“I’m excited to see the games,” she said.

“Yeah, but you’re usually not that spontaneous,” John said, and flicked a pea at her.

“You and Ryan will be all into your band,” she said, and gave Ryan a loving smile as if to explain why she was leaving California. “It’s kind of boring here. I need some excitement.”

“Then you should stay here,” Ryan said, using his huskiest voice. He’d evidently forgotten that he was at a family dinner and blushed three shades of red when we all started laughing at him.

“How did you manage to get a working gig at this thing?” Marie asked me, sweetly spinning the attention away from Ryan. “I mean, it’s not like everything went well the last time you helped out at an international competition.” We all knew she was referring to the disastrous trip to watch JJ at Hamar, Norway.

“I was kind of wondering about that myself,” Dad said. It said a lot about how far we’d come that I found his comment funny instead of letting it remind me of what a total asshole he’d been there. Their comments prompted subtle laughter from our group.

“I have no idea,” I agreed.

“A toast,” Grandmaman said, raising her glass. “Here’s hoping that you have an enjoyable but uneventful trip to Athens.” We all drank with her while laughing.

“I need to go pack,” I announced. Stef had planned some of my wardrobe, the dressier pieces, but I had to handle the normal shit. I was pretty much done with that, but I wanted to leave this dinner and spend time with Travis.

“I’m already done,” Marie said smugly.

“No one likes you,” I said, getting a chuckle from the rest of them.

“I’ll help,” Travis said, and we both got up and headed back to our room.

“I’m so glad you’re going to help me pack,” I said, as soon as we got there.

“I’m not doing shit,” he said. “That was just an excuse to escape back here.” I laughed at that, but he was acting a little strangely. He’d spent a couple of hours alone today, and I’d been so wrapped up in getting ready to leave, I had no idea what he’d been doing.

“Well, the big secret is that I’m pretty much done packing, and I used that as an excuse to escape back here with you,” I said. He collapsed back on the bed laughing, while I took that opportunity to jump on him.

“Ouch!” he said playfully, even though I hadn’t hurt him. We started wrestling, and that seemed to cause our clothes to fly off, and since we were naked, fucking seemed like a smart idea. It was.