Let the Music Play - 9. Antici..... pation

Standing a few yards back from the railing, much to Dimitri’s relief, the three men wrapped up their planning as The Scar asked, “Once you have the equipment and supplies, how long will it take for the devices to be ready?”

The engineer stopped to consider this for a moment before answering, “That is hard to say; many components need to be fabricated and I will need to adapt my designs, depending on the specifics. For example, will I be using natural uranium, or depleted uranium? Either will work, though depleted uranium would be slightly preferable, but there are differences in the design, especially that of the tamper.”

Casting a cautious glance around to ensure that no one had moved within earshot, the Scar replied, “I deal in arms. Natural Uranium metal is ironically quite difficult to obtain due to having no applications outside of the nuclear industry. Obtaining depleted Uranium, on the other hand, is child’s play. It is somewhat toxic under certain conditions, and can be flammable, but otherwise quite harmless. It is also much denser than lead. As a result, it’s used in various applications such as a removable addition to the layered Chobham armor of the American M1 tank, and in the ammunition for the thirty-millimeter GAU-8 anti-tank gun mounted in American A-10 ground attack aircraft, as well as many other munitions. Due to it being used in munitions, and munitions being my business, obtaining it was never a concern; it’s already been done. The same is true for the two types of high-explosive you requested.”

Noticing his blank look, the engineer explained to Dimitri, “Depleted uranium is pure U238, the end product of enrichment where the fissionable U235 has been extracted, leaving mainly the isotope U238. It is useless as the fission core for a bomb as it is no more reactive than lead. However, under bombardment by high-energy neutrons produced by either fission of fusion, it fissions very well. So well in fact that in a typical hydrogen bomb, more than seventy percent of their final yield comes from fission; the fusion acts mainly as a neutron source. This is achieved by encasing the bomb in depleted uranium; in fact, that is why American ICBM warheads use uranium for the body of the re-entry vehicle. Upon detonation, it fissions and boosts the yield dramatically.” Returning his attention to The Scar, he said, “There is little more that I can do until I reach the assembly and fabrication facilities. I have given you a list of the machine tools I will need.”

The Scar nodded, “I’ll be taking care of that while I am here, it is one of the reasons for our visit; I need this to be absolutely untraceable. For some things, that is not easy. You will go directly to the assembly site and begin your work. Finalize the weapon design but remember, they need to weigh less than two tons and have a very long shelf-life; they must be capable of working after at least ten years.”

Dimitri and the engineer took their leave, The Scar remaining to enjoy the spectacular view of Iguazu for a while longer. Returning to the hotel, they spent the night before leaving. While they were changing planes in Buenos Aires, Dimitri handed the engineer another set of airline tickets, watching as the man studied them. Smiling at the look of surprise on the engineer’s face, he said, “Vladimir, I hope you like kangaroos.”

Chase stared out at the city for a few long moments before nodding, “Yeah, something happened, but I’ll be okay, I guess. Brandon just doesn’t like me like I like him, that’s all.”

Remembering his conversations with Brandon on the matter, and also his own promise, Eric phrased his question with care, “What makes you think that? Nothing I’ve seen or heard makes me think that and I’m pretty good at picking stuff up.”

After an exasperated sigh, Chase replied, “When we caught up to Brandon after he’d chased Gabe, I was relieved he was okay so I gave him a hug. He shrugged me off, like he was uncomfortable with it.”

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes and loosing, Eric patted his brother on the back. “Bro, I was there, remember? I saw the whole thing. You latched on and wouldn’t let go. I saw Brandon glance around after a few seconds. You do realize you were hugging the guy in the middle of a busy street, right? Think about it; if you’d kept that up, you’d have been outed for sure. He doesn’t seem to mind in private, now does he? I saw your arm on his shoulder back at the studio and he was all smiles. Has he ever acted like he did on the street when you weren’t in public?”

“Maybe once... He acted pretty uncomfortable for a minute when we were getting his stuff from his room at the dive motel. I was looking at his poster and he got kinda uneasy...”

“A poster,” Eric asked, narrowing his eyes, “of what, exactly?”

“The one from Drumbeat magazine.”

Resisting the sudden burning desire to slap his brother up the side of his head, Eric sighed, “The poster of you, shirtless and sweaty? Uh… bro, I’ll bet money he got antsy the second you noticed it, right? Now, think about this for a minute; what other explanations come to mind why Brandon has a poster of you and got all nervous when you spotted it?”

Chase shrugged, looking dejected until a slow smile spread on his face. “So maybe he does... like me? Could you sound him out?”

Biting his tongue for a moment, mentally kicking himself for his promise to Brandon, Eric replied, “Nope, this is your deal and I’m not getting in the middle. Just go talk to him.”

Stepping out to join his brothers while still toweling his hair, Jon asked, “Sounds like a deep conversation. What’s up?”

Shrugging, Chase replied, “Eric’s just trying to get me to talk to Brandon about stuff; I want to. I was going to tonight, until Brandon pulled away from me on the street today.”

Rolling his eyes skyward in exasperation, Jon replied, “You can’t be serious; of course he pulled away. Two shirtless guys in a long hug is sure to get somebody’s notice. I’ll even bet he was thinking of protecting you more than himself. Yeah, you two really need to talk, but keep one thing in mind; he’s nervous as hell about the interview and photo-shoot the day after tomorrow. He doesn’t need extra stress right now, so it might be better to leave the personal stuff alone until that’s over. It’s just for two more days; forty-eight hours and you can spill your guts.”

Chase nodded, giving his brothers a weary smile before heading inside. As soon as Chase was out of earshot, Jon asked Eric, “You keep pressing him to talk to Brandon and you wouldn’t do that unless you were pretty sure. I know you’re good at reading people, but are you certain?”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure. I had a pretty good hunch so I quizzed Brandon a while back. He made me promise not to tell Chase but he feels the same way about Chase as Chase does about him, no doubt about it.”

“So how come nothing’s happened? I’m worried about this; if it doesn’t work out between ‘em, Chase could get hurt. There’s also the band to think about; if there’s bad feelings between those two, we’re all screwed.”

With a laugh, Eric replied, “You think too much, bro. Okay, I think the reason nothing’s happened is Chase is totally inexperienced and nervous so he hasn’t made any advances. My guess is that Brandon’s new to all this and feeling really awkward so he hasn’t done anything either. As for the band, look at it this way; Brandon isn’t an asshole like Lump, and we’ve never been close to Lump. With him, even before the shit started, it was just business; we didn’t all hang out. He kept us at arm’s length but we still did fine until his no-shows and the other crap. So, worst case, we’ll be okay and best case: Brandon and Chase are really happy together.”

Jon leaned back against the railing, the moonlight glistening off his wet chest as a slow smile spread across his face, “Okay, I’m sold. They’ve known each other less than a week, but we’ve been living in each other’s back pockets, and I like Brandon. I don’t think he’d screw anyone over, least of all Chase. Maybe they’ll be good for each other.”

Turning to head back inside Eric said, “Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, first things first; Brandon’s pretty stressed over the photo shoot and interviews and we need to get started pretty early tomorrow, plus we need him rested. Let’s round up the lovebirds and get some food, then head down to the gym for some handball. That’ll tire Brandon out so he can sleep.”

Finding Brandon and Chase in Eric’s suite, Jon asked, “Okay, what do we want to do about dinner? You guys up for Chinese?” The other three nodded as Jon brought the laptop computer on the table out of standby. Clicking on a saved link, he pulled up a menu as he explained to Brandon, “This place lets you order online. You just check a box by what you want. They already have our credit card info on file, along with our address and suite number, so just a few mouse clicks and then the food shows up at the door an hour later. It’s good stuff, too. Here,” he slid the laptop around to face Brandon, “Look at the menu and check whatever you like.”

Glancing at the confusing options on the screen, Brandon realized that he was entirely unfamiliar with Chinese foods other than Chow Mein. Jon watched, hiding his interest as Brandon glanced back at Chase. Responding to the unspoken request, Chase stood behind Brandon, placing his hands casually on his friend’s shoulders as they both studied the screen. “The Cashew Chicken with a side order of egg rolls is my favorite,” Chase said in a low voice.

Brandon smiled at Chase before clicking a few times with the mouse, “I’ve ordered two of each,” turning his head to look towards Jon and Eric, he asked, “What do you guys want?”

Jon squeezed in beside Brandon to help him complete the order as Eric hollered out his request. Filling the remaining orders and clicking the final button, Jon was far more interested in what he’d seen than in the food; Brandon and Chase were acting like a couple. Whatever there was between them was, he thought, more than just physical, and he cast aside all but one of his lingering reservations regarding the two.

While they waited for their food to wend its way through the nightmarish traffic below, the four band members tried working together on a writing session, and found that, after a few miss-steps, they felt both comfortable and satisfied with the results of their round-robin attempt, completing one of the songs Brandon had sketched out in his dingy hotel room.

An hour later, their food arrived, heralded by a knock on the door. By the time they had finished eating, Brandon had discovered a new favorite food, resolving to try the Cashew Chicken again. Gathering up the debris and throwing it in the trash, Eric asked, “Who’s up for handball?” Answered by a round of eager smiles, Eric made a beeline for the door.

Brandon followed the three brothers to the elevator, hiding a sly grin as he anticipated springing a little surprise of his own.

Arriving in the handball courts adjoining the hotel’s well-equipped gym, Eric asked Brandon, “Ever played before?”

“Yeah, but that was in high school. I probably remember the rules, but that’s about it.”

Eric grinned, “Cool, I’ll teach ya. It’s great that there are four of us now so we can pair up.”

Brandon and Chase exchanged an awkward glance at the mention of “pair up,” so Eric, guessing that they wanted to play each other, decided to ease their minds, “We’ll switch partners after the first game.”

Shedding their shirts and pulling on protective goggles, they went to their respective courts and began warming up while Eric made sure Brandon knew the basic rules.

Feeling confident, Eric served, only to be shocked when Brandon scored with a hard-slammed corner-kill. With a shrug and a smirk Brandon said, “Did I forget to mention that when I played in high school, it was on the varsity handball team?”

After losing three straight rallies to Brandon, Eric slammed a serve which Brandon returned with ease. Leaping after the ball, Eric grunted, “Have you told Chase how you feel yet?” Eric gave Brandon a wicked grin while watching him foul on the easy return, giving Eric his first point in the game.

“No,” muttered Brandon as he prepared to serve, “and don’t think I don’t know why you picked now to ask that. You’re going down, dude.” Brandon’s serve was preceded by a smile to let Eric know he wasn’t mad, but it didn’t stop him from whipping the serve to pick up yet another point.

Eric tried a few more times to trip Brandon up with awkward questions, but found that they didn’t work as well as he’d hoped and Brandon beat him by a dozen points. They could hear the noise from Chase and Jon’s game, so they sat down in the court to wait until it was finished. Eric decided to ask for real, “When are you going to talk to Chase.”

Squirming a little, Brandon replied, “I’m waiting to see what happens... If he’s interested at all, I think he’d say so and he hasn’t.”

Biting his tongue, Eric replied, “Just talk to him, dude. Hey, those two are taking a while, so how about another game?”

In the next court, Jon beat Chase by a few points, and hearing the faint screeches of shoes and the deep thump of a ball in play from the other in-progress game, they leaned against the walls near the door, enjoying the feel of cool concrete on bare, sweaty skin. Giving his brother a measuring look, he asked, “What is it about Brandon that has you into him like you are?”

Chase smiled faintly, “I don’t know for sure. All I do know is that I like spending time with him more than I ever have with anybody. He’s really cool and down-to-earth, and he tries so hard to do a good job. He had nothing when we met him, and he still doesn’t want to freeload on us, not even for food. When we went to his hotel it was like he was looking out for me, and I guess part of it is he’s so hot. All I know is I really like him.”

“It’s not quite a week since you met him. I’ve never seen you really interested in anyone before, and I’m just worried about ya, bro; don’t rush into this just because he’s the first available guy you’ve met.”

Chase rolled his eyes, “There are plenty of gay guys on the crew, it’s not like I haven’t had chances; I just didn’t want to. I’m not like you and Eric; I don’t want one-night stands. Look, I just want to find out how he feels and go from there. Besides, do I quiz you before every potential date? Hell, that would be a full-time job...”

Giving his brother a playful punch in the arm, Jon replied, “Okay, okay, just trying to look out for you.” They both exchanged a smile as they left for the other court.

Eric was about to suggest a four-person game when he caught Jon’s look. Knowing what Jon likely had in mind, Eric announced that he’d play Chase and Jon could play Brandon. Ignoring Chase’s perturbed glance until Jon and Brandon left, Eric covered Jon’s involvement by saying in a conspiratorial tone, “Brandon just whipped my ass; he used to play varsity, and because Jon usually wins I figured it’s time Jon lost for once.”

With a snicker, Chase got ready to serve.

Jon began the game against Brandon, and Eric had guessed right; Jon wanted to quiz his little brother’s potential love interest. Shocked as Brandon quickly took a seven to zero lead, Jon broached the subject as they played, “What exactly is your interest in Chase?” A rattled Brandon fouled the return, giving Jon his first point before they paused the game to talk.

After Brandon had soundly beaten Jon, the four guys did play a game together, which resulted in Brandon and Chase handily defeating Jon and Eric.

On the way up to the hotel room, Jon hung back with Eric as the other two raced on ahead, lost in a deep conversation about handball techniques. Jon whispered to Eric, “I asked Brandon a few questions. He admitted it; he’s very interested in Chase. The good news is he’s not just after a fling or a one-nighter. That’s the one thing I was worried about; gays are notorious for being promiscuous. I like Brandon a lot but I had to be sure he wouldn’t hurt Chase like that. I still find it a little weird, but yeah, I think they’d make a good couple.” Eric had to forgo a reply as they caught up with Brandon and Chase...

The next morning they all got up early, much to Jon’s dislike, so they could get a few hours of practice in.

Helen showed up in the studio precisely at noon, leading off with the bad news, “Gabe is out on bail. He is however barred from these premises, so I hope we won’t be seeing him again. Now, its noon and y’all have a photo shoot tomorrow, so I’m afraid you four are going to have to stop working and go lay out around the pool for a few hours. Life’s tough, huh?”

Emerging from behind his drums, Chase quipped, “Yeah, real tough. I think we can deal with it though.”

Like a mother hen with her brood, Helen herded the four musicians up to the suites, intent on making certain that they did as they were told.

Upon entering the suite, Helen glanced at her four charges, “Time for you to get some sun. That means nothing larger than jogging shorts, guys. Go get changed.” Fixing her gaze on Brandon, Helen suggested, “Those lycra shorts we picked out for you would be ideal, but I want you to keep everything we bought new for the shoot; you never know quite what the photographers will want.”

“Okay, but other than the new stuff, all I’ve got are some old boardies.”

Shaking her head, Helen said, “No, those won’t do, too large. Chase has a huge collection; I’ll go see what I can scrounge up. Stay put.”

Entering Chase’s suite, she found him pawing through his closet, looking at swimsuit after swimsuit before tossing them aside. After watching him for a few moments, she proclaimed, “Those lime-green running shorts would look good. Or you could go with those black lycra briefs you picked up in Brazil last spring; those would really knock his eyes out.”

Pausing in his search, Chase grumbled as his cheeks colored, “Reading minds again Helen? Okay, so I just want to look good,” he said as he sought, and then found, the black suit that Helen had suggested.

“What you mean is you just want to dazzle Brandon... and speaking of your singer, I want him to keep the stuff we bought the other day new for the shoot, so I need to borrow a suit for him.”

With a sudden frantic intent, Chase attacked his stacked clothes, finding what he sought after disarranging a significant part of his closet. Turning, hiding a smirk, he tossed the swimsuit at Helen. Grabbing it out of the air and glancing at it, she began to speak but Chase cut her off, “You keep saying that you never know what the photographer will want; this way he won’t have shorts tan-lines.”

Conceding to herself that he did have a point, she decided to make Chase squirm a little before letting him have his way. “This is what you want me to make Brandon wear? I know what you’re really up to; you just want an afternoon enjoying the eye candy. Normally I’d play along, but not today. I don’t want him getting any more nervous about the shoot, and if he thinks he might end up in some micro-suit, that just might do it.”

“Come on Helen, please? He’s not shy and he’d look really good. Please?”

Fixing Chase with her best ‘you so owe me’ look, Helen nodded. “Very well, but you’d better remember I did this for you, pretty boy.” With great effort, she managed to hide her smirk as she left the suite via the connecting door.

Back in Eric’s suite, she tossed Brandon the suit without a word, wondering how he’d react. Brandon caught the suit, holding up the light blue Speedos with a puzzled look, before casting a concerned glance at Helen.

“Don’t worry, hon, this isn’t for the photo shoot; it’s just so you don’t have to worry about shorts tan-lines,” chuckling inwardly, she added with a shrug, “It was Chase who picked them out for you.”

She had to struggle not to laugh out loud as Brandon’s left eyebrow shot up and he grinned at the swimsuit before saying over his shoulder on the way to change, “No problem here. These balconies are pretty private...”

Helen refrained from correcting him, figuring that if he couldn’t glance out the balcony windows and notice the lack of sun, that wasn’t her concern.

Jon and Eric returned from their respective rooms wearing jogging shorts, towels in hand. Eric noticed the bemused look on Helen’s face and asked, “What’s up?”

Rolling her eyes, she replied, “You’ll see.”

They didn’t have long to wait as Brandon returned, fussing with the narrow hip of the brief swimsuit. Recognizing the suit, Eric guessed right away who was really behind Brandon’s choice in swimwear and turned to grin at Helen as she feigned an innocent shrug.

Chase returned from his suite with a towel over his shoulder and his hair neatly combed, decked out in the Brazilian suit, which was somewhat similar to Brandon’s but a few inches longer with a looser cut. Catching sight of Brandon, Chase gave him a look that lingered just a little too long, before tearing his eyes away. Brandon’s response was similar, and Helen fought to hold in a laugh as the two stared at each other whenever they thought the other wasn’t looking.

“Grab a towel, hon, they don’t have any down at the pool.”

“Pool?” asked a puzzled Brandon.

Entering the conversation with a grin, Eric said, “Yeah, you know, one of those big cement-lined holes they put water in... a cee-ment pond, dude.”

“I think he knows what a pool is, smart-ass,” Helen said before turning to Brandon, “You’re going to the hotel’s pool. The balconies are in shade this time of day.”

Glancing down at his brief swimsuit as Jon snickered; Brandon shrugged, blushing slightly as he snatched up a towel from the bathroom. Wrapping it around his waist, he snuck in a few admiring glances at Chase as Helen announced, “We’re ready. As part of my managerial duties, I feel that I must accompany you, and though it is a tremendous hardship, I’ll make myself comfortable by the pool’s bar.”

As the elevator arrived at the lobby, Jon noticed a familiar glint in Eric’s eyes. Moving just a moment too late to stop his brother, Jon bit back a groan as the door hissed open and Eric snatched Brandon’s towel away while shoving him out the door. As Brandon stumbled to regain his balance in the hotel lobby, Eric blocked the others in, smashing the ‘close door’ button, immediately followed by a string of buttons starting with the one for the second floor, leaving a shocked Brandon to stare as the elevator door slid closed in his face.

Eric’s laughter filled the car of the ascending elevator until Helen snapped, “That was mean. You could have given him a gentler introduction to your bizarre sense of humor.”

Chase and Jon exited the elevator on the second floor, dashing for the stairs, leaving Eric to an angry Helen’s tender mercies.

Turning to glance around the busy, ornate lobby, and subject to the bemused stares from some of its occupants, Brandon felt painfully underdressed in the small, tight Speedos. A few moments later, spotting a sign pointing the way to the pool, he set off at a hurried pace just as Chase and Jon came crashing out of the stairwell door.

Tossing Brandon his own towel, Chase blurted, “Dude, I’m really sorry. I should have warned you about Eric, but I didn’t think he’d try anything this soon.”

Brandon, feeling less exposed in the company of other half-dressed guys, returned Chase’s towel with a shrug as Jon added, “If it makes you feel any better, Eric only targets people he likes and feels very comfortable with.”

With a laugh, Brandon replied as they approached the doors to the pool, “That’s a good thing to know, but one good prank deserves another. You guys want to help me get even?” With eager nods, the two brothers listened to Brandon’s hurried plan while following him through the glass doors to the pool. Brandon paused for only a moment as he glanced around the pool area, taking in the sprawling pool, the waterfall cascading into it on the far side, and the swaying palm trees basking in the dazzling sun.

With a chagrined Eric in tow, Helen arrived at the pool to find Chase pacing along the edge of the pool, appearing to be very agitated. With an angry glare at Eric, Chase said, “We can’t find him. Jon took off to check the lobby...

As if on cue, which indeed he actually was, Jon stormed out through the hotel doors, “I found him, but he’s really freaked out. He’s hiding behind a sofa in the lobby and those damn paparazzi have him cornered.” Glaring at Eric, he added, “How the hell are we going to get him out of there?”

Towel in hand, Eric tore off in the direction of the lobby. Helen turned to follow but was brought to a halt by Chase’s hand on her shoulder. Turning to face her delayer, she saw both brothers cracking up, pointing at Brandon as he swam over from the waterfall at the far side of the pool.

“You guys and your dang jokes,” she growled, before beginning to laugh, “I wonder how long it will take Eric to figure out he’s on a wild goose chase? In any case, Brandon, welcome to the family. Being victimized by Eric is sort of a rite of passage, I suppose. The first time he got me, he put a stink-bomb in the engine of my Cadillac.”

Hauling himself out of the water, rivulets of water glinting in the sun as they trailed over his rippling muscles, Brandon shoved his wet hair back with a flick of his raised hands, his tight, wet Speedos clinging like a second skin. Padding over towards Helen, Brandon didn’t notice that Chase, standing by her side, lost the struggle to avoid staring, his mouth dropping slightly open. Brandon turned to eye a set of lounge chairs, walking towards them as he said, “Yeah, I heard; he only does that to people he likes. Any other surprises awaiting me?” Brandon asked with a laugh.

Casting the briefest of glances at a suddenly nervous Chase, Helen replied, “Nothing bad, so don’t worry about it.” Turning to face Chase, she brought her hand up gently under his chin, closing his mouth as she whispered with a wink, “Mustn’t drool in public dear... it’s not good for the image.”

Joining Brandon at the lounge chairs, the three guys stretched out in the sun while Helen ambled off towards the pool’s bar. A minute later Eric walked out of the hotel. Spotting the three, he trotted over to say, “That was a set-up. He was here all along, wasn’t he?’

Jon nodded as Eric sat down to complain, “The desk clerk must have thought I was nuts; racing around the lobby looking behind all the furniture.”

“Paybacks are a bitch,” Brandon replied with a chuckle, stretching in the sun.

A grinning Eric stretched out on the lounger beside Brandon’s. “Okay, you got me. Good one. I hope you aren’t mad; I was just kidding around.”

“It’s cool dude, and getting you back was fun.”

After a couple of hours in the sun, interrupted only by frequent dives into the pool, Eric and Jon stifled many a laugh at Brandon ogling Chase, and Chase returning the favor, whenever they thought the other wasn’t looking. Brandon wished he’d brought his sunglasses along, because he couldn’t remember ever seeing anything finer than Chase, stretched out beside him in the brief Brazilian swimsuit.

The four guys greeted Helen upon her return, “See anything you liked?” asked Eric.

“A mighty fine example of the female form in a bikini. I’m taken, but I can still look,” replied Helen.

Sneaking another glance at Chase who lay by his side, Brandon asked, “Any news on Lump, or Jerry?”

Helen shrugged, “Jerry is so sad; it’s as if I can feel how bad he’s hurting. Barbra and I are having him over for dinner Friday; I think he’s all alone, wallowing in his guilt. For his sake and nothing more, I hope we can get Lump back on track.”

Brandon was about to reply when he noticed a movement on a balcony high above. Squinting against the glare, he confirmed what he suspected and said in a hushed voice, “I think those paparazzi are back.”

Arching an eyebrow, Eric replied, “I’m not falling for another gag...”

Helen, however, had spotted them, “Up on the tenth floor, I can see the camera. He’s shooting through the railings, trying to stay out of sight.”

“Oh, yeah, I see him,” Eric said with a touch of anger in his voice, “Those shit-heads are always skulking around.”

Feeling suddenly underdressed again, Brandon reached for a towel, standing up to tuck it around his waist as he said to Helen, “I think I should go throw some shorts on.”

“No hon, we’re pretty well done here anyway. Let’s all go in.”

The four guys made their way back to the hotel door as Helen took her leave, reminding them, “Get to bed early, and do some sit-ups in the morning. I’ll be here around nine.”

With his towel wrapped around his waist, Brandon watched with interest as Chase, in the lead, strode confidently through the hotel lobby to the elevator, his towel on his shoulder. Brandon was far from shy, but Chase’s confidence outshone his own in a way he found alluring.

After a few hours’ rehearsals and another writing session, the four played handball for an hour before heading for bed.

After rousting Jon from his deep slumber the next morning, none of them bothered to get dressed in more than shorts. They ordered a light breakfast, which arrived with the usual dazzling speed. Sitting down to eat, Jon stifled a groan as he noticed Brandon and Chase playing eye-tag; one would look at the other, and then glance away as their roles reversed. Seeing that Eric had also taken note of the game of visual ping-pong across the table, Jon marveled that Brandon and Chase still seemed oblivious to one another’s attraction. He’d thought it was sweet at first, but now, Jon mused, it was getting a little annoying.

Upon finishing his meal, Chase grumbled, “Time to do sit-ups, I guess.”

Hoping that he didn’t appear too eager, Brandon offered, “Want me to hold your feet?”

As the two disappeared into Chase’s suite, Jon sighed, “Only a few more hours until the magazine stuff is done and Chase can talk to him. Thank god! Those two are getting annoying.”

Nodding in agreement, Eric said, “I’ll bet you five bucks that Chase chickens out tonight.”

Biting his lip, Brandon fought the urge to drool over the view of Chase’s straining muscles as Chase finished his hundred crunches. Releasing Chases’ ankles, Brandon switched places with him and began a fast set, while Chase marveled at the sight of hard muscles flexing under bare skin. Brandon reached a hundred, his halfway mark, starting to sweat as he passed a hundred and fifty.

Reaching two hundred, Brandon stretched out on the floor, breathing hard, as Chase observed, “Damn you’re ripped. I wish I could get that much definition,”

Eyeing Chase’s six-pack, Brandon replied, “You look great to me, but if you really want to get cut, you need to change your technique. You’re using your back and shoulders too much; you need to use just your abdominals.” Seeing his puzzled look, Brandon tugged on Chase’s wrist, guiding his hand closer, “Here, put your hand on my stomach, I’ll show you the difference.”

Chase complied, hesitating for a moment with his hand inches away from the sweaty set of abs before him. Brandon noticed Chase’s trepidation and inner battle, overcoming his own unease just long enough to say, “Go ahead, it’s okay. I like to be touched.”

Their eyes met as Chase lowered his hand to Brandon’s stomach, feeling the heat from his bare, damp skin. Brandon tore his eyes away, doing a single sit-up with his back straight, then a second one, crunching hard, using his abdominals. Laying back, struggling to think of anything but the feeling of arousal Chase’s touch was having and suddenly glad he was wearing briefs under his shorts, Brandon drew his knees up slightly as he said, “Feel the difference? The second one works the abs harder.”

Their eyes met again, as Chase made no effort to move his hand. A long moment passed between them, the corners of Brandon’s mouth twitching up in the beginning of a smile, as at last he allowed himself his dreams.

Staring into Brandon’s eyes, Chase’s walls of inhibitions began to crumble, one small pebble at a time, as Brandon’s words played over and over in his mind; “I like to be touched.” Flexing his fingers a bare fraction of an inch, Chase felt the hard ridges of muscle as he watched the smile grow on Brandon’s handsome face. Looking back into those green eyes, Chase began to trace his fingers along Brandon’s abs.

Brandon shuddered, biting back a laugh as he curled his body up off the floor, his cheeks coloring slightly as he angled his head, before looking again into Chase’s mesmerizing eyes, a grin growing on his face. Chase traced his fingers another inch, causing Brandon to tremble again. Bracing himself on an elbow to face Chase, his hand came to rest atop Chase’s, cradling it in place.

Leaning forward a few more inches, Chase asked softly, “You’re ticklish, aren’t you?”

Their eyes still locked, Brandon nodded, chewing on his lip as he lost himself in the moment. His voice barely a whisper, he answered, “Yeah, it just depends how I’m touched, and where. Just a light touch and it tickles, but if you do this,” he fit his fingers atop Chase’s, applying a little more pressure as he guided Chase’s fingers across his stomach, “it feels... hot. Just press a little harder...”

Taking the advice, Chase drew his fingers between the ridges of muscle, as he felt Brandon tremble again, though in a different way from before. Hearing Brandon give a slight sigh of pleasure, Chase leaned in closer, as Brandon rose further up on his arm, leaning ever closer, angling his head as he moved towards the kiss for which he’d so long craved, as the space between them faded to nothing...