Streak - 16. Chapter 16

September 30, 2002

Connecticut

JJ

The limo pulled up to the guard station at the entrance to Triton, and I wondered if my father would be pissed off enough at me to keep me out, but I hadn’t really been that awful to him on the phone the other night. Well, at least not compared to Will.

“Mr. Schluter, the guards will need to talk to you,” the driver said.

“That’s fine,” I said. The driver rolled the window down, and revealed the face of a uniformed Triton guard, wearing a pleasant expression.

“Welcome to Triton, Mr. Schluter,” he chirped. “I just need to see your ID.”

“Certainly,” I said, and pulled out my passport. I had a lame state ID card, but I generally used my passport to prove my identity. I thought it was classier, and more global, especially with all the stamps I’d gotten from various countries. The guard looked at it, and at me, then handed it back to me and told the driver which building to take me to.

We pulled up to a building and the driver got out and held the door open for me. I always made them do that; what was the use of having a driver and a limo if you didn’t take advantage of all the perks? A cute but short guy was waiting for me. “Welcome to Triton, Mr. Schluter,” he said. “I’m Alec, your father’s assistant.”

“Nice to meet you Alec,” I said pleasantly, although with that slightly arrogant tone I used when talking to people who worked for our family. Except for Rosa.

“The pleasure is mine,” he said, shooting me a big smile. He was cute, and nice enough to make me shed my elitist mannerisms, at least where he was concerned. “Right this way.”

“Is there a restroom I can use?” I asked, wanting to freshen up my appearance before I faced off with my father.

“Of course,” he said, and guided me to the closest men’s room.

I went in and got my hands a little damp and used them to make sure my hair wasn’t spiking the wrong way, and took a second to straighten my tie. I washed my hands, and then went back out. “Thank you,” I said to Alec.

“That was an easy enough challenge,” he said. He was being so nice to me, it actually relaxed me, but then I got irritated, wondering if he was just trying to do that so I’d lower my guard when I met with my father. Before I could let myself go off on that tangent, he led me up to what looked like a cafeteria, only we didn’t go into that, we went into a room near it, a room that was set up almost like the formal dining room one would see in a home in Boston. There were two places set. Before I could digest that, I heard footsteps behind me as someone else walked into the room. I turned to find myself facing my father, more or less, since I had to look up at him. Sometimes it really sucked to be short.

“It’s good to see you! Welcome to Connecticut!” he said enthusiastically, and gave me a big hug, one which took me a second to return since I was so surprised.

“Thanks,” I said apprehensively, wondering what his big strategy was.

“I figured that since you left Boston this morning, and wouldn’t have had a chance to eat yet, I thought we could have lunch together,” he said, gesturing at the table.

“Sounds good,” I said. He sat at the head of the table, of course, and I took the other seat immediately to his right. A waiter came in and brought us a mixed green salad and gave me a choice of several dressings. The ambiance, service, and the food were much like a nice restaurant.

“You’re always welcome to come visit, either here or in New York, but I wonder what brought you down here today?” He was treating this like it was a social call.

My eyes narrowed slightly at him. I knew that Will had talked to him about Alex, because I’d talked to Will on the phone on my way down here. According to Will, both Darius and Grand had also jumped in to tell Dad to stay the fuck out of my business. So he knew damn well what this was about, but I played along with him. “I’ve had some changes to my life, and I wanted to tell you what I planned to do.” I didn’t frame it as a request, I’d framed as a decision I’d made, and it was something he’d have to deal with.

I expected a loud reaction from that, but that’s not what I got. “Tell me what’s changed.”

“I’ve been going out with Alex,” I said, watching him carefully.

“I heard that you’d gone out with him, but you make this sound more serious.”

“It is more serious,” I asserted, even though I didn’t know how true that was. “We’ve been dating, and I like him.”

“And he likes you?” he asked, teasing me.

“He seems to,” I answered, completely freaked out by his attitude. Shouldn’t this be where he jumps in and rants at me about how I shouldn’t be with Alex? “Are you OK with that?”

Now it was his turn to act surprised, because I’d slipped up and implied that his approval was something that mattered. “I wasn’t at first, but I am now.”

“You are?” That was stunning. Did he actually listen to Will and Grand?

“I was, and I am, worried that he will hurt you,” he said. “That’s mostly based on how he treated Matt and Wade so differently when he was involved with them this summer, and the fact that your future with him is pretty limited.”

“I think that my deal with Alex is different than things were with him and Wade or Matt,” I said. “Everyone told me about this problem they think he has, so my eyes are open.”

“You don’t think he has this Madonna-whore complex?”

“I told Matt that it was possible Alex treated Wade like a princess because he acts like one, and he treated Matt like a slut because that’s what he was,” I told him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell that he was thinking about it, which was rare for him. Usually he didn’t really seem to care much about what I said. “But I don’t really care about his issues with Matt and Wade. He treats me really well. We went to the symphony a couple of times, and we’ve gone to some other stuff together. I enjoy his company and he seems to enjoy mine.”

He must have seen how into Alex I was by my expression more than my words, because he gave me a knowing smile. “He makes you happy.”

And for some reason that simple statement just blew down all of my shields and for probably the first time in my life, I opened up to him. “Dad, he is awesome. He’s kind to me, he’s supportive, and I have fun with him no matter what we’re doing. He brings out the best in me. When he showed up at Nebelhorn, I kicked ass, just because he was there.”

“I know that feeling,” he said, then got a little somber, because I knew this had reminded him of Robbie. “I said I was worried about you dating Alex, not that I didn’t like him, or that I didn’t want you to see him. I just want you to go into this with your eyes wide open. If you do that, I know you’ll make the right decisions.”

“My eyes are open,” I said. “Why is our future limited?”

“Because Alex ultimately has to marry a woman and have an heir,” he said.

I shrugged; pretending like that didn’t bother me. “Right now, we’re good. He has to do that eventually, and I can’t be with him in the open even if I wanted to,” I said, acknowledging that I wasn’t going to be able to identify as anything other than straight as long as I planned to skate. “So you’re probably right about the future, but for the present, we’re good together.”

“I was planning to come up the week after next to see your competition,” he said. “I had planned to stay with you. Will it bother you if I use the guest room on your floor?”

“That’s fine,” I said.

“I was just worried that would make you or Alex uncomfortable.” He gave me a slight grin. “I figured it was safer for me to stay up there, than it would be to allow Stef on your floor.” As if Stef would try to seduce Alex. I chuckled, because that was funny.

“No, it’s all good,” I said. “Things have gotten a little tense around the house. If that keeps up, I can’t stay there.” I was pretty certain that would bring an explosion, but I was surprised yet again.

“I understand, but I’d like to ask you a favor.”

“What?” I asked nervously.

“You going out with Alex was surprising to all of us,” he said. “I told you that I was worried, and it’s reasonable to think that Matt and Wade would have been worried too. And it must have been a little strange for them to have a guy they’d just been with starting a relationship with you.”

“I can see that,” I said. That would be a little weird. “So what’s the favor you want?”

“I’d like you to give your current situation two weeks to see if it’s better,” he said. Before I could argue, he continued. “That will give everyone a chance to let Alex know he’s welcome, and to get you through this next competition without worrying about another move.”

“I can do that,” I agreed. That wasn’t really asking for too much, and besides, he was right. I could see where Matt and Wade would be a little freaked out, and I didn’t want any additional stress before this competition.

The waiter came in and took my plate, and put down our entre. “Thank you,” Dad said to him, and then he left.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, and not all that nicely.

“Doing what?”

“Being so good about this deal with Alex?” I didn’t get how he had changed gears from where he’d been just a short time ago.

“I’m doing this because you were right. It is your life, and you should make these decisions. I figured that out after having it explained not too nicely by your brothers, and from some personal rumination about the topic.”

I chuckled. “So you talked to Will about this?”

“Most definitely,” he said with a grimace, which made me actually laugh. Sometimes it was good that he was such a hothead. “And Darius and Matt.”

“I thought Matt was the one who didn’t like Alex,” I said. The tension had to be coming from Matt. Wade was too damned polite to make Alex uncomfortable.

“He came around, and a little faster than I did,” he said, even as he cringed a bit.

“Maybe Will talked to him too,” I joked, even though that’s probably exactly what had happened.

“I would guess Matt got his insight more from Wade than from anyone,” he said, and that really surprised me.

“So Wade is OK with me and Alex being together?”

He didn’t bat an eye, which I would have expected if he were just bullshitting me. “I think you should ask Wade that, but I am under the impression that he is,” he said stiffly.

“It almost bothers me that everyone is being so cool about this now. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Maybe you should just be happy about it, and take it as a sign that we have faith in your judgment,” he said.

“Maybe I should,” I said, and gave him a slight smile. We finished dinner, and then I gave him a very long, meaningful hug, and headed back to Boston.

There was a shitload of traffic, but that was fine. I sat back in the limo and pretended it was like my own personal space in the middle of snarled New England freeways. I pulled out my phone and called Darius, just to thank him for having my back. I’d called him first because I knew it would be a short phone call, and it was. As soon as I ended that call, I dialed Will.

“Hey,” he answered cheerfully. “How was Connecticut?” He was being all happy, planning to cajole me out of my bitchy mood.

“Pretty awesome,” I said.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” I confirmed. I relayed my entire conversation with Dad, and I could tell by his occasional prodding question that he was just as surprised as I was. “He told me that you and Darius really smacked him around. Thanks.”

He laughed. “Sometimes it just takes him awhile.”

“Whatever,” I said, because I didn’t believe that for a second.

“Remember my emancipation hearing?”

“Who could forget,” I said in a bitchy way, to acknowledge that his drama wore us all out at times. He ignored my attitude.

“After it was all over, Dad and I talked, and he told me that he had finally thought about things, and had figured it out. He got a bunch of shit from everyone else, but he had to work through it all on his own.” He was still talking in his pontificating way, with his mood still good. It bothered me that my bitchiness didn’t work on Will at all.

“How does that relate to this in any way?” I asked. He paused to let me know I was bugging him, which was a warning shot, but also kind of funny, because I’d been trying to see if I could chip him off his cheerful cloud.

“I’ll bet Dad got all defensive when we were slicing and dicing him over this, but when he got on the plane and flew out to New York, he probably took some time to think about it,” Will said, which was probably exactly what happened. He was about the best person to read my father.

“So he decided he likes Alex?”

“I don’t know if he does or he doesn’t,” Will said, in a way that let me know that as far as he was concerned, the jury was still out on my handsome earl. “That’s not what this was about.”

“Oh? What was it about?”

“It was about him getting that he couldn’t mess around with your personal life. And him understanding that it probably didn’t matter if he did anyway, because you wouldn’t listen to him even if he tried.”

“Dude, it cannot be that easy,” I said, remembering the hell Will went through with him.

“Some of us blazed a trail and that makes it easier,” he said, and that made us both chuckle. “It means he’s backed off unless something bad happens.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If Alex finally figures out what a pain in the ass you are, and dumps you, and you turn into a fucking drama queen, then he’ll worry and get involved,” he said in a partly joking way.

“Drama queen?” I asked acidly, because it was annoying that he thought that was a more appropriate description of me and not him.

“Drama queen,” he affirmed.

“Dude, I’m just bitchy. You’re the drama queen,” I said, cracking both of us up. “So you’re saying he’s pulled his nose away from my business, but not completely out of it. It’s like he’s sitting there, spying and waiting.”

“That’s better than having him camped out at the end of your bed,” he said, making us both laugh at that visual. But I got what he was saying. It was probably not possible to have a perfect solution to this problem, so I’d have to settle for acceptable, which was just fine with me.

“He’d probably try to give me pointers,” I joked.

“Dude, that’s my job,” he said, and used that to change the subject and talk about sex. How typical of him. “What did you do with him?”

“I am not talking about that,” I told him firmly.

“Then who are you going to talk to about it?” he asked, making me think. “Besides, it’s easier to talk to me because you have to do it over the phone. I mean, I’ll know you’re blushing, but I won’t be able to see it.”

“True,” I said, laughing with him. “We just blew each other.”

“Just? I love that,” he said. I shook my head in disgust, even though he was kind of funny.

“How did you tell Zach about what happened to you in Paris?” I asked, totally changing the subject. That transformed our phone call into something much more intense, and serious.

“We were lying in bed, just having fucked, and he told me something really intimate about himself, and I just suddenly told him.” We both paused and thought about that. “I think I needed to feel close enough to him to tell him that. And until he gave up enough of himself to get there, I wouldn’t tell him.”

“Dude, you sound like Casey,” I said, referring to my psychologist.

“He’s hot,” Will said, making me laugh, even though Casey was very attractive.

“I gotta run,” I said, because I wanted time to think about what he said.

“Talk to you later,” he said simply. We’d both given up the need for long, annoying, phone goodbyes.

I thought about our conversation, and tried to break it down into a simple conclusion. He told me that Dad was stepping back and letting me make my own decisions and be with Alex, but was still all but stalking me in the shadows. I had to settle for what was possible, not what was ideal, and with him, having him stalk me from afar was probably the best I was going to get. That actually made me chuckle. The other major thing was what Will had told me about how he handled his molestation in Paris. He’d said that his strategy had been to hold back a bit until Zach put himself out there too. And with that, Will had told me that before I started telling Alex a bunch of deep personal shit about myself, Alex was going to have to open up to me a lot, too.

With the traffic, it was 8:00pm before I made it to our house. I walked through the front door, expecting to run into everyone, but it was empty, so I took the elevator up to my level. I didn’t really want to talk to Matt, Wade or Tiffany, so I didn’t stick around to see if they’d show up. I went into my room and took a minute to hang up my jacket and take off my tie, and then I went across the hall and knocked on Alex’s door. “Enter!” I thought it was cute that he said that, instead of ‘come in’ like the rest of us, except for Grand, because he liked to say ‘enter’ as well.

I walked in and found him wearing boxers and a T-shirt, sitting at his desk studying. He looked like a typical college student, such a switch from the handsome earl who had taken me out last night. “Hey,” I said.

He looked at me and smiled. “Welcome back! How did your meeting go?”

I went over and gave him a nice kiss, then sat in this lap but in a coquettish kind of way, the same way a girl might do it, a girl that wasn’t too forward. “It was really good.”

“Indeed?” he asked.

“He knew we were going out, and he wanted to talk to me about it,” I said. That made him nervous, and I knew why. “Remember, no one will out us. I have just as much on the line as you do.” He probably didn’t agree with that entirely, but he wasn’t stupid enough to start an argument about which one of us would be hurt more if we were pulled out of the closet.

“And how did he react to that news?”

“He gave me his blessing,” I told him, and giggled as his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He said he could tell that I was happy.”

“I’m very glad he did,” he said, and kissed me again.

“I think that things will be a lot better around here now. He asked us to give it a couple of weeks, and if it isn’t, we can move out and he’ll be fine with it,” I said.

“That seems reasonable,” Alex agreed. He didn’t really need my father’s approval to move out, but it was nice that he didn’t make an issue out of that. And I’d talked about ‘us’ moving out, and he hadn’t batted an eye about that. I kissed him again, and when I pulled away, I noticed that his expression had completely changed. Now he had that unmistakable look of lust in his eyes. “I missed you.”

“Show me how much,” I said. He got up and took off my clothes in an incredibly sexy way, flipped off his boxers and his T-shirt, and led me to the bed. He did much the same thing he’d done last time, which was just fine with me, because I loved it. We made out, blew each other, and then fell asleep. Together.

September 30, 2002

Connecticut

Brad

I walked JJ down to his car, and then went back up to my office. “Your son is cute,” Alec said.

“All of my sons are handsome,” I acknowledged with a gentle smile. “But JJ could more appropriately be called cute than the other three.”

“I’ll have to meet them and be the judge of that,” he said, then got nervous, worrying that he’d overstepped his bounds. He did that every once in a while, probably because the culture was more rigid here in Connecticut than it was in California, and he wasn’t quite used to my easier style. He was an excellent assistant, much better than my current assistant at Caruthers & Schluter, so I’d taken to using him for all kinds of projects.

“Next time they’re in town, I’ll have to introduce you,” I said. I didn’t know if that was feasible, but at least he knew he hadn’t offended me.

“Something to look forward to,” he said, then got back to business. “Are you planning to be here in the office tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so,” I told him. “I got my meetings out of the way. I think I’ll just relax here tonight, and then fly out in the morning.” I’d thought about flying out tonight, but the pilots had gone to the Jersey shore with my blessing. I got the feeling they had plans this evening, and I didn’t want to ruin them.

“There’s a car out front waiting for you, and I put all of your files in your briefcase,” Alec said, handing me the case.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “I have come to rely on your efficiency.”

“Good job security,” he chirped. I shook my head in a comical way, and then headed down to the waiting car. As soon as I got settled in the back and told the driver where to take me, I pulled out my phone, and dialed Cam. I’d been wanting to do this for a week now, but I’d decided to heed Darius’ advice and wait till I was back from Hawaii. I heard it ringing, and wondered if he’d answer or if I’d get voicemail.

“Hello!” he said somewhat breathlessly.

“Hey,” I said as smoothly as I could. “I hope I didn’t interrupt you.”

“No, I just got off work and I was chasing the train,” he said. I could hear the noise in the background.

“I’m going to be in Chicago tomorrow,” I said. “I thought I’d see if you had any free time in the afternoon or evening.”

“I can do both,” he said, then paused. “I understand if you have other things to do, though.” I smiled, because his nervousness made mine go away.

“I’d rather do both those things with you,” I said. “You want to meet me at the condo or the bar?”

“Why don’t I meet you at the apartment over Spartacus,” he said. “I can get there by 1:00.”

“Then we’ll have a late lunch,” I said. I hung up and felt myself grinning, then got a little nervous. He wanted to meet to the apartment above Spartacus: did that mean he was planning a replay of the last time we were there? That was the time he’d blown me off for the younger guy, more or less. I forced my mind to logically analyze that possibility, and it simply made no sense. If he didn’t want me around, he wouldn’t have called me back in the first place, and he wouldn’t have agreed to meet me in Chicago tomorrow.

I was about to flip my phone shut when another number caught my eye. I’d always preferred being a top, and while I could be versatile, I couldn’t be that way all the time. And after that long week with Chris, where all I did was grab my ankles, I was in the mood to fuck someone. I saw the name ‘DustinNYC’ and hit it, dialing his number.

“Hey,” he said casually as he answered.

“Hey Dustin, this is Brad. You and I hooked up a couple of…”

“I remember you,” he said, interrupting me. “So you finally decided to call me.”

“I told you I’d call you the next time I was in town. This is it,” I said.

“Good boy,” he teased, in his sexy nasal tone.

“So I don’t hear any music in the background. You not going out tonight?”

“Tonight I’m staying in,” he said.

“That’s too bad.”

“Why? What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“I’ll give you two choices. You can come over to my place, or I can meet you somewhere,” I said.

“Where do you live?”

“Tribeca,” I said, and then figured he may need some more encouragement. “I can send a car to get you.”

“From Long Island?” he asked, surprised.

“From Long Island,” I confirmed. We pulled up to the condo in Tribeca, but I ignored that while waiting for Dustin to answer my original question.

“I can do that,” he said.

“Great,” I replied. I got his address, and then asked the driver of my car to go get him and bring him back. He told me it would probably take a while, and promised to call me after he’d picked up Dustin. I gave him Dustin’s phone number, along with a sizeable tip, then called Dustin back to let him know that the limo was on its way, and when it was expected to arrive.

I pulled out my briefcase and went through some of the projects I was supposed to look at, using my time productively while waiting for Dustin. With traffic, it was 5:30 before the concierge rang the condo to tell me Dustin was on his way up. I went to the door and opened it just as he got to the fourth floor. “Come on in,” I said, holding the door open for him.

He wasn’t wearing club clothes; instead, he was dressed like a typical college student, even though I didn’t know if that was what he did. He still seemed about 5’9” tall even though he was wearing tennis shoes this time. His slim body looked attractive in an entirely different way with his loose jeans and hoodie. I moved my eyes up and they locked onto his pale blue orbs that twinkled with what was probably lust. I saw the rope from his necklace and gently grabbed it, letting the outside of my fingers run sensuously against his skin. “You wore your lucky charm.”

“It worked so well last time,” he said.

“You hungry?” I asked, realizing that it was probably approaching dinner time.

“I could eat,” he said with a smirk.

“Pizza?” He nodded, but then we had to have an argument over where to get the pizza. I went with his recommendation. “It will be here in about thirty minutes.”

He pulled off his hoodie, then his T-shirt, exposing his sexy body to me. He was really thin and wiry, much scrawnier than he’d seemed at the club, but it made him seem more normal, more human. Next he kicked his shoes off, and then pulled off his pants, and finally his boxers, so he was standing there wearing only socks, which he removed as well. “Is this OK?”

“This is very OK,” I said. I was still wearing my suit, but when I went to take it off, he stopped me.

“Leave it on,” he said. “It’s hot to be completely naked, while you’re dressed.”

I kissed him, and he responded, being pretty aggressive, and I got that he was pretty crazed and was looking for a quick release. I pushed him back toward the couch, and then when we got to it, I turned him around and bent him over the back of it, exposing his amazing hole. I probed his hole as I lubed him, but just like last time, he wasn’t into foreplay. I slipped on a condom, applied some more lube, and then slid my cock into his sweet ass. “Fuck yeah!” he said loudly. “Fuck yeah!”

It was such a turn on to hear him really letting himself go, that it just fired me up. I started pounding him, and I noticed that he’d edged back enough from the couch that he could jerk himself off. “You feel just as good as I remembered,” I said as I slammed into him.

“Dude, I’m gonna fucking blow!” he said, more of a shout. “I’m gonna blow!” And then his whole body spasmed as he shot all over the back of the couch. I was glad that it was leather, so it would be easier to wipe off.

I pulled out gently, turned him around and pushed him to his knees, then ripped the condom off and started stroking my dick, with it aimed right at his face. “So close,” I said.

“All over me,” he said. “I want it all over me.” And that set off my trigger. I watched as my first shot hit him in the face, and then the second, then the third, but I was distracted as he used his hand to wipe it up and eat it. I finally finished, but I didn’t have any time to enjoy the afterglow, because I heard the door bell.

I frantically looked for a rag to wipe off my hands, and then handed it to him to wipe off his face and the couch. I zipped up my pants and went to answer the door. There was a really handsome pizza guy standing there, holding a couple of boxes. “You order a pizza?” he asked, in his heavily accented deep voice. I’d have pegged him as being from Queens. I was getting better at identifying New York accents. His name tag said his name was Ray.

“Yeah. Come on in,” I said. Ray walked into the great room, only to find Dustin lying on the couch, naked, on his stomach. He had bent one leg up, spreading them apart and opening up his cheeks so we could see his cute little pucker, winking at us.

Ray looked at Dustin, totally focused on him. I was pulling money out of my wallet even as his pants tented. Dustin looked back and saw him, and smiled. He jumped up and came over to us, his dick already a little plump even after that orgasm. “Let me help,” he said, and took the pizzas from Ray, making sure to rub against him when he left.

Dustin set them on the table and walked back over to Ray. “Nice,” Ray said, but looked at me nervously.

“Think you can stick around for a few minutes?” I asked him, to let him know it was OK.

“Not for long,” he said, but Dustin was already in front of Ray, on his knees, pulling his cock out. It was short, but thick. I stood there, watching in amazement, as Dustin slipped a condom on Ray, and then let the young stud fuck him hard and fast for the five minutes it took. Ray looked really uncomfortable after he came, which didn’t surprise me. I paid him for the pizzas, gave him a massive tip, and then sat there eating dinner with Dustin, who didn’t bother to put his clothes back on until the morning.