Gap Year - 42. Chapter 42

February 26, 2004

Malibu, CA

Will

We walked into a really nice place, one that was not too dissimilar to our house. The décor was chic and modern. “This is where the magic happens,” Cam said playfully as he led me up the stairs to his bedroom. It was very simple, very masculine, and very tasteful.

“Let’s see this magic,” I said in an alluring way. He kissed me again, firing me up, then backed away and started to take his clothes off. He didn’t hurry, and while he didn’t strip in a seductive way, because he was going so slowly it made the process erotic. I smiled and mimicked his moves until we stood there in front of each other, stark naked. He was a vision of male beauty. He had dark brown hair on his chest and abs but not all that much, which made me guess that he trimmed it back, especially when I noticed that he had left just a small patch of pubes. His dick was big and getting bigger, making me guess it was about eight inches and the perfect width. His two big balls, completely shaved, dangled in a sexy way, with the right one a little lower than the left.

“Very nice,” he said, as he ran his hand across my chest, down my abdomen, then grabbed my dick and stroked it gently. “Good thing I’m not a bottom.”

“I’ve had no complaints,” I said. He kissed me again, only this time with a purpose. Sex with him was a blast, just like I thought it would be. In some ways, he reminded me of Patrick, with that mature confidence and control younger guys seemed to lack. He was also unique in that his movements were sinuous, like the waves that I heard crashing outside on the beach. He didn’t pound me, he undulated. He finally brought us both off while spooning up behind me, then when we’d both blown he wrapped his arms around me. I snuggled into him contentedly.

“That was good,” he said, making me chuckle. I turned around so I was facing him.

“See, I would have leaned more toward awesome,” I said, and kissed him.

“That’s another word for it,” he said. “You think you’d be up to do that again?”

“Maybe,” I said, flirting with him. He rolled away from me, grabbed his phone, and rolled back.

“Give me your number,” he said, more of an order. I did, and I heard my ringtone go off. “Now you can call me.”

“It’s more likely that you’ll call me,” I said, being cocky.

“That may happen,” he said, then kissed me. He seemed kind of antsy after he said that. “Um, you can stay here as long as you want, but I have to get up and do some work.”

“Now?” I asked, stunned. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 1am. He was all but kicking me out now?

“Yeah, but like I said, you can stay, or if you want to go, I can get you a ride.” That was intensely annoying.

“Dude, I can tell you’re trying to get rid of me,” I told him. I got up and started putting my clothes back on.

“I told you you could stay,” he insisted.

“You mean I could lay here by myself and doze off while you work?” I shook my head at him.

“I don’t see why that’s a big deal,” he said, getting annoyed with me.

“Because I just had some of the best sex of my life, and when I want to spend time in bed with you just enjoying the afterglow, you toss me out on my ass,” I said to him forcefully. He looked guilty. “I mean, part of the magic is not being a dick as soon as you blow. That took a great fuck down to the mediocre level.”

He glared at me. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t stay and cuddle with you, but I’ve got a bunch of killer meetings tomorrow, and it would drive me nuts if I just laid here.”

I finished putting on my shoes, then stood in front of him ready to leave. I almost laughed at how my being dressed while he was only wearing boxers made him look a little pathetic. “It’s all about you.” Before he could say anything, I walked down the stairs.

“Will!” I heard him shout right before I closed his front door behind me. I started walking back up the street to our house, pausing to stare at the waves. My phone rang and I knew it would be him, so I didn’t even look at it. I got home and went straight to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich, then went up to my room to crash.

My alarm went off at 7am, and I forced my tired ass to get up long enough to walk to the window and check out the water. The vision in front of me erased my bad mood, because there were some good waves forming up. I wrapped a towel around my naked body then went back down to the kitchen to scarf down an energy bar and a banana. Now with my hunger somewhat sated, I went down to our surf room to put on my wet suit. In no time at all, I had my board and I was striding across the beach and into the surf. I cringed as my body adapted to the cold water temperature, but I was so focused on the surf that didn’t take long.

There were a decent number of people out here already, but that didn’t surprise me. Surfers got up early when the surf report predicted a good day. I was lucky, in that I didn’t have to worry about that. I just had to look out my window. I managed to catch a couple of good waves, and the last one had damn near tossed me on the shore. For some reason I looked to the south, and was surprised to see Cam Squires in a wetsuit, carrying his board. I was using my normal short board, while he was toting a long one. Even as I paddled out to catch the next wave, I watched him mimic my moves as he did the same thing. He didn’t seem to recognize me, or maybe he didn’t see me at all. I rolled my eyes, thinking that he was so self-absorbed he probably didn’t pay attention to anyone else out here.

He was about 100 yards away from me, and there were four or five other surfers in between us. I watched him catch a decent wave and he did an adequate job with it, but he clearly wasn’t all that good. After that, I mostly focused on the water, but I glanced enough at him to see that he was off by himself. I bullshitted with the other surfers, but he didn’t. I thought back to when I’d first met Kai surfing and he’d stayed aloof, so much that I’d internally named him the ‘Lone Wolf’, but Kai was an amazing surfer, while Cam was just good enough to enjoy the waves.

We’d gotten good, consistent waves, but not the ‘big one’ that we were all hoping for, at least not until Cam had been in the water for about 45 minutes. I could feel it forming even before it was visible, and I was already maneuvering into position. “Catch this one,” I said to the two surfers I’d been hanging around with. They looked at me dubiously for about five seconds, then almost panicked to match my moves as a monster wave started to form. I took a second to glance down and see Cam finally get the picture too, and that sparked a truly evil idea.

I was in front of the wave and caught it just as it started to crest, then carved up the face of it, staying near the peak. I saw Cam ahead of me, just getting up on his board. I bided my time, and when I got close to him, I tore down the face of the wave, crouching low on my board to pick up speed. He was toward the top of the wave, so I blasted underneath him, causing him to stumble a bit and almost fall. “Dickhead!” he shouted, making me laugh. It was funny and pathetic that he didn’t seem to realize I was the dude he’d fucked about six hours ago.

I used my speed to fly up the face of the wave, burst beyond it into the air, did a perfect 360, and slid right back onto the face of the wave, letting it carry me down the cove. It was one of my best maneuvers ever. I smiled to myself as I hit the beach, totally stoked at nailing that wave, and started walking back north to where I’d started. My stroll seemed to coincide with Cam coming in, evidently done for the day. He stopped to wait for me, his body posture told me that he was ready to really bitch me out, when he finally seemed to recognize that the asshole on that surfboard was me. His mouth dropped open; he was so stunned. “Morning,” I said as I breezed past him. I could feel his eyes on my back as I kept trudging north.

I spent another two hours in the water, having a blast until the equation started to change: The waves were getting smaller, and I was getting hungrier. I rinsed off my board, my wetsuit, and myself, dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist. I walked up the stairs and before I could turn the corner into the main room, I heard voices, so I peeked around the corner. Cody was evidently having a meeting, so I peeked a little further and saw Cam sitting there.

“You missed the party last night,” Cam told Cody.

“Yeah, ended up with some shit to take care of,” Cody said casually.

“Met this really hot dude and brought him back to my house,” he said. “Gave him the ride of his life.” I rolled my eyes at his arrogance. It was good, but not that good.

“Seriously?” Cody asked. He was all interested, but really nervous. I had no idea what that was about. “Who was he?”

“Probably some college student. He lives here in the Colony because I saw him surfing this morning,” he said. “Said his name was Will.”

I could see Cody’s expression, and I was having a hard time not laughing my ass off. “Will?”

“Yeah,” Cam said. “Dude, you need to fuck this guy.”

“Did he have dark brown hair and really green eyes?” Cody asked.

“And a really big dick,” Cam confirmed. “You know him?”

“I think so,” Cody said, confused. I picked that moment to walk into the room.

“Hey there!” I said to Cody enthusiastically. He stood up and gave me a big hug and a nice kiss, but the contact with him inadvertently caused my towel to fall off, so I was flashing my ass at Cam while we hugged. “Awesome waves today!”

“I didn’t know you’d be home,” Cody said.

“Went home with some dude who was a decent fuck, but then pretty much tossed me out of bed as soon as he shot his load,” I said to Cody, even as I picked up my towel and wrapped it back around my waist. “Made the whole experience pretty shitty.”

“Bummer,” Cody said, a little confused.

“Good thing is that he lives in the Colony, so this way I caught some amazing waves, and as soon as I get cleaned up, I can grab a car so I have wheels,” I told him.

“All’s well that ends well,” he said, but I could tell he was desperately trying not to laugh his ass off. I went over to the stairs and started climbing them, and it wasn’t until that point that I glanced at Cam to see him looking completely freaked out. I just smirked at him. I paused at the top of the stairs to eavesdrop. “That him?” Cody asked Cam.

“Yeah,” he said, and sounded embarrassed and annoyed. “Who is he?”

“Will Schluter,” Cody said. “Stefan Schluter’s grandson.”

“Fuck,” Cam said. I started laughing my ass off, so I hurried to my room so they wouldn’t hear me. I went through my morning getting ready routine and dressed in jeans, a button-down shirt, and a sweater, looking like a preppy dork. I popped on some Vans to finish the outfit. I was dressed up enough to not look like a surfer dude, but not so nice that I looked like a business dork. I was just about to head downstairs when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I said over my shoulder as I finished tweaking my hair. I walked out to find Cody there, smiling. “S’up?”

“That was fucking hilarious,” he said, referring to me completely facing Cam Squires. He started chuckling, then ended up laughing. “That dude is such a player. It’s awesome to see him get taken down a peg or two.”

“He’s so self-absorbed it’s annoying,” I said, shaking my head. “Too bad, too, because he’s a pretty good piece of ass.”

“So I hear,” he said. “He wants to talk to you. He’s downstairs.”

“Look, I’m hungry and I’ve got a ton of things to do,” I said. I didn’t really have much to do, but it made me seem cooler. “I have nothing to say to him.”

“Can you do it for me, as a favor?” he asked.

I frowned at him, because I was so happy with how I’d left things with Cam, and now he was foiling my big exit. “Why?”

He sighed. “I wasn’t as candid with you and Stef as I should have been yesterday.” I just stared at him, waiting for him to go on. “I’m not real popular in Hollywood right now. Even my good clients are thinking of bailing.”

“You’re a dumb fuck for not telling us about this earlier,” I said, and not in a nice way. “But now that we figured it out, we’ll try to make things better.”

“How are you going to do that?” he demanded. I ignored his question.

“How does that have anything to do with me talking to Cam Squires?” I demanded.

“Because he’s got a plan to form a super-agency, like I told you yesterday, and now that I met with him, I’m all in on it. I really think it’s a good idea, and a great opportunity for me,” he said.

“Are you saying that if I’m not nice to him, he’ll freeze you out?” I asked, outraged. I knew enough about the power structure here to know that it would be pretty easy for my family to squash him like a bug, at least from a business perspective.

He got annoyed with me. “Smart people know when to pick their battles,” he said, which just about set me free. We stood there, angry with each other, while he said nothing, probably waiting for me to calm down. It was a smart strategy. “I think that everything will still work out, both for me and for John’s band, but it would be a lot better, and a lot easier, if we were all on good terms.”

“What does he want to talk to me about?” I asked, exasperated.

“I’m not sure,” he said.

“Fine,” I said, and was really annoyed at being backed into this corner. I made to walk past him but he grabbed my arm to stop me. He was going to warn me to be nice to him, but I looked at his hand on my arm, then at him directly, and tried to vaporize him with my eyes. He flinched, and that just made me more annoyed, because now I was acting like a bully. “Where’s Jeff?”

He blinked at me, surprised that I’d changed the subject, but I needed to refocus my mind on something else to calm my ass down. “He’s been seeing someone, so he’s not around all that much.”

“Really? Are they exclusive?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“I can’t tell you,” he said. “I trust you completely, but it’s not my place to say who he’s with.” He expected a tirade from me on that, but I could see his point. Jeff was probably dating a celebrity who was in the closet, and that’s why this was under wraps.

“I understand,” I said, and got some pleasure from shocking him with my composure. “I’m glad you told me, that way I won’t worry about tracking him down.”

“You don’t seem to be having problems getting laid without him around anyway,” he said, smiling at me.

“I don’t,” I said, being cocky. I left my room and this time he didn’t stop me. I walked down the stairs, feeling like a fucking debutante. Cam was sitting on the couch and got up when he saw me. “You wanted to see me?”

“You got time for lunch?” he asked.

“I thought you were busy, and your schedule was full?” I asked, and not all that nicely.

“I cancelled two appointments, so now I’m free,” he said.

“Then you can buy me lunch,” I said. I followed him out to his Bentley, got in, and didn’t say anything as we drove to downtown Malibu. We went to a bistro and got a nice table with views of the ocean.

“I’m sorry I was such a dick,” he said, after we ordered drinks. This was one of those times when I could read the dude’s mind, and he was about to go through some rehearsed spiel to get me to not be pissed at him. He wasn’t sorry at all.

“You’re a classic, self-absorbed asshole,” I pronounced.

“Fuck you,” he said, which was funny, because I’d poked him enough to get him to shed his total suck up pose.

“You never asked me anything about me. Nothing,” I said.

“I asked you if you wanted anything from me,” he responded.

“You’re just being nice to me because you know who I am, and I’m not some disposable twink you can fuck and toss aside,” I said acidly.

“Christ,” he said in frustration. “I said I was sorry.”

“You don’t seem very sincere,” I said. He looked trapped, which was pretty funny. “Why don’t you tell me why you did what you did?” Not gonna lie, it was kind of fun to have this player totally stymied.

Our drinks came and we ordered lunch. He was using that interruption to change the mood. He looked at me and was trying to decide whether to bullshit me or not, but I stared straight into his eyes, daring him to do just that. He sighed. “I was really stressed.”

“Why?”

“You want a list?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, and just stared at him. He sighed again.

“I’ve got a shitload of things on my plate. I’m running one of the most successful musical artists agencies, I’m trying to morph that into a production company, and I’m trying to build a consortium that can serve talent in multiple industries,” he said.

“That’s part of it,” I said, which was a wild-ass guess on my part. He sighed again, which damn near made me laugh out loud.

“And I’m with someone, I’m supposed to be faithful, and I cheated with you,” he said.

“You don’t seem like the kind of dude who can be monogamous,” I said.

“Fine, I’m an asshole,” he said.

“I think we already established that,” I said, smiling at him. He grinned back, probably happy that I was relenting a bit.

“It’s not easy to be with one person in this town,” he said.

“That’s bullshit,” I said. “My father and his partner were together for almost 15 years and never cheated on each other.”

“That’s not what I heard,” he said.

“And what exactly did you hear?” I asked.

“There were a lot of rumors about the problems they had, and how they both pulled down some solid numbers fucking around,” he said.

“They did,” I said. “After being together for 14 years. How long have you been with this dude?”

He frowned. “Not long.”

“You going to tell him we fucked?” I asked.

“Not unless I have to,” he said. I stared at him, silently calling him a total douche. “You were different, kind of exotic and very hot, and I was stressed. I really had fun. You gotta know you’re one of the best fucks I’ve ever had. But after we were done the stress from all this business shit just poured in on me, and that was topped by the guilt of cheating. That’s why I was a complete asshole.”

“How was I different?”

“I knew you’d let me top you,” he said grinning. “The guy I’m with doesn’t like to bottom.”

“Dude, you are really good at topping,” I said.

“I’m just as good at bottoming,” he said, trying to be sexy. It worked, but I hid my reaction so he couldn’t tell.

“That’s a recipe for disaster,” I said, thinking of Chris Mendoza and how he was a total top. Cam didn’t seem that versatile, but maybe he was.

“You’re right,” he finally admitted. “This is probably not going to work. It just ends up being one more distraction at a time when I need to be totally focused.”

“When I’ve been in good relationships, the dude isn’t a source of stress and frustration, he’s a source of support,” I said.

“You’re such a fucking sage,” he grumbled, which made me chuckle.

“You just know I’m right,” I said, smiling at him.

“You done busting my balls enough to forgive me?” he asked, really making me laugh.

“I’m done busting your balls,” I said. “You’re forgiven.”

He smiled broadly at that. “Thanks.” Our food came and that occupied me because I was fucking starving. I tried to eat with decent table manners, but I wasn’t sure if I pulled it off. “You’re an awesome surfer,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said. “That was an amazing wave I caught this morning.”

“It was,” he agreed.

“I’m sorry that I fucked up your ride,” I said. I truly did feel bad about that; surfing was important to me, and following the rules and not being a dick with a wave was a core concept I tried to adhere to.

“It’s all good,” he said. “Can I call you?” he asked.

“You can,” I said. He’d already gotten my number this morning, so we didn’t have to worry about that. He paid for lunch, I thanked him, then he took me back to the house. “I hope everything works out for you.”

“Thanks,” he said. I leaned in and gave him a nice kiss, then went back into the house.

“Did lunch go well?” Cody asked.

“I busted his balls, he apologized, and I forgave him,” I said, summing it up. Cody chuckled at my shorthand description.

“He tell you who he was going out with?” he asked me.

“He didn’t, and I didn’t feel like I should pry,” I said. “You think I should have?”

“You probably did the right thing,” he said mysteriously. “Jeff got home while you were gone. He’s upstairs.”

“Awesome,” I said with a grin, and all but tore up the stairs. He was one awesome lover. I let my libido get fired up more with each step. By the time I got to his room and knocked, I was ready to beg him to fuck me.

“Come in,” I heard him say. I opened the door and walked in to find him sitting at his desk working on his computer. “Hey!” he said, and jumped up to give me a monster hug, then a kiss that was kind of subdued. That was a little weird, because he’d never held back like that before.

“I’m so glad I ran into you!” I said. “I heard you’ve been busy lately.” God, he was handsome: blond hair and blue eyes that framed a really handsome face, with a muscular but beefy frame that reminded me of Robbie.

“I am,” he said. “School’s pretty tough and keeps me on my toes, but I also got a boyfriend.” He was grinning when he said that.

“That means you’re exclusive?” I asked seductively.

“Sorry,” he said, and seemed to mean it. My sad expression was real, but he thought I was teasing him.

“So who is this dude?” I asked.

He hesitated before he told me, then he saw my eyebrows narrow. He knew he could trust me. “You probably don’t know him. He’s in the music business. Cam Squires.” It took all of my energy reserves not to look at him with a completely stunned expression.

“I’ve met him before,” I said, even as I tried to get my mind under control. I was reeling at this, feeling like I had totally betrayed Jeff, even though when Cam fucked me I didn’t know anything about their relationship. That, and I was really pissed at Cody for not giving me a head’s up. I resolved to rip him a new asshole later on. “Didn’t really see him as boyfriend material.”

He frowned at me, then grinned. “He just needed to find the right man.”

“See, when I met him he was totally into himself. I didn’t see him having room in his brain to care about another person,” I said. “But if you tamed him, that’s awesome.”

“He’s hot and he’s successful, so he’s got an ego to go with it, but we click really well,” he said.

“Dude, how does that work? I got the impression that he was a total top, and you are too,” I said, just trying to figure out how this worked.

“He’s versatile but likes to bottom more,” he said with a shrug. “I like to bottom for the right guy. So it works.”

“Cool,” I said. “I’m really happy for you.” I realized that no matter what I said, it wasn’t going to open Jeff’s eyes.

“Thanks,” he said, grinning like an idiot. “I hang out at his place most of the time now. It’s only seven doors down.”

“That’s convenient,” I said, forcing myself to chuckle. “I have to run. I’ve got to meet up with Darius on campus.”

He hugged me again and gave me a nice kiss. “Let me know next time you’re in town.”

“I’ll do that,” I said. I smiled as I left his room, then as soon as I shut the door my expression changed. I went downstairs and found Cody in the kitchen, looking for something to nibble on. “You’re an asshole,” I spat at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Dude, you could have prepared me for that,” I said. “Fuck.”

“I could have, but I didn’t,” he said. “Want to know why?”

“I can’t wait to hear this,” I snarled.

“Because you would have shredded Cam at lunch,” he said.

“You wanted me to let him off the hook that bad that you’d send me into a trap?” I demanded, getting even more pissed off.

“No, I wanted you to find out about it and have a chance to think about it first,” he said. “You’re a little upset right now.”

“Fuck you,” I said with venom, then grabbed the keys to the Ferrari and slammed the garage door behind me. I opened the overhead garage door and tried to start the Ferrari, but the fucking battery was dead. That made my mood even worse. I went back into the house, glared at Cody again, and got the keys to the Toyota truck. Fortunately, it started up right away.

I started driving south on PCH but I was too freaked out to deal with that. I needed to stop and get myself under control before I hit something or someone with the truck. I managed to snag a parking space near the Malibu Pier. I just sat there in the Toyota, running this over in my mind. I felt so bad for Jeff. He put up really strong shields and didn’t really let guys get close to him, but every once in a while he’d give in and take a chance at love. The last time he’d done that had been with Wade, about three years ago, and he was just now at the point to try again. If he found out that Cam had cheated on him, it could throw him back into relationship hibernation.

I didn’t get how he didn’t see Cam for the wolf that he was. I guess I could have asked Cam if he had a boyfriend, but I didn’t because he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who could be faithful, and in any event I relied on him to let me know. Jeff must be like Cody, where his common sense evaporates when he’s into someone. My mind was going in circles, and I really needed some guidance. First I called Stef, but he was in a meeting, which didn’t surprise me. Jake didn’t answer his phone either. I started driving south on PCH, heading back to the hotel. With those two out of the picture, I really wasn’t sure who to ask about this. I didn’t want to talk to my father, because he’d get all cringy when he found out Cam fucked me. Matt and Wade were like Stepford fags, so they’d probably forgotten what to do in a situation like this. Grand had meetings today as well. As I whittled down the list, there was really only one guy left who could help me out, so I called him.