Streak - 20. Chapter 20

October 4, 2002

Chicago

Brad

The plane landed smoothly at Meigs Field, but even though the landing was easy, the roar of the engines and the braking action that thrust my body forward woke me up. I blinked and wiped my eyes, then looked over at Will and Darius, who were doing the same thing. “Nice nap,” Darius said.

“Some of us used our time more productively,” Stef said, as he put away his papers.

“I was productive,” Will said. “I’m rested, so I can party into the night.”

“I am not sure that is productive,” Stef said dubiously, making JP laugh. “What?” Stef demanded.

“I wish the 25-year-old you could see you now,” JP said, cracking us up, and seriously annoying Stef.

“I think 25-year-old Stef would try to sleep with you,” Will said to Stef, making him smile.

“I suspect that he would,” Stef agreed.

“What am I supposed to wear?” I asked. I’d been so absorbed in the drama of my abduction, I’d completely forgotten about clothing.

“If you really want to be popular, don't wear anything,” Will joked. “But in case you don’t want to do that, I packed some stuff for you.”

“You’re very organized,” I noted, thinking about what good influences JP and Wade had been on him. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Will said casually. It was really sweet the way he’d planned this all out. I knew he had to be the driving force behind this whole weekend. And then he’d sensed my insecurities, my basic fears and frustrations about turning 40, and had done his best to prop me up. Sometimes it was really annoying that he knew me so well, but sometimes, like now, it was really wonderful.

The plane came to a stop and a big limo came rolling up to the plane. Will handed me some breath spray, which I used, even as I looked at him strangely. But I’d made it my policy years ago that if someone offered me breath spray, or a breath mint, I generally took it, in case they were trying to tell me I had halitosis.

The door opened, and we all instinctively waited for Stef to go first, since he liked to make an entrance, but he didn’t move. “I think that since it is your birthday, it is appropriate that you lead the way,” he said.

I got up and started walking down the steps, expecting it to be cold, but the weather was really nice, with temperatures in the mid-60s and a strong breeze blowing. I was halfway down the stairs when the door to the limo opened up and Cam got out. He was dressed in the clothes he’d wear to Spartacus, and looked amazing. I smiled and picked up my pace, and went straight up to him and gave him a big hug, then a nice kiss. “Happy Birthday,” he said, but in an affectionate way as he gazed into my eyes.

“It is now,” I said, smiling at him. We’d had an amazing time when I’d been here last week, but it had been too short. We broke away so Cam could greet everyone else. My family seemed to really like Cam, but I think he got along best with Will, which made sense since he’d known Will the longest.

After our bags were loaded in the trunk, the limo drove off. Sensing that I needed to know what was in front of us, Will jumped in to explain our itinerary. “We’re going to the apartment above the club, where we’re going to have pizza for dinner. I’ll order it when we get there, so that will give us all time to change clothes, or whatever.” He said that last word as he leered at Cam and me.

“Will that coincide with Devon’s break?” I asked, to remind him he wasn’t immune to some ribbing.

“If I’m lucky,” Will said, unfazed. “Then we go down to Spartacus for your birthday party. Around midnight, the limo will take those who were too productive back to the condo.” Will had emphasized the word ‘productive’ with air quotes, even as he smirked at Stef. Stef gave him a dirty look, while JP smiled at Stef in a patronizing way.

“What about me?” Darius asked.

“You’ve got a couple of choices. You can crash on the couch in the apartment, you can take a cab back to the condo, or you can find somewhere else to sleep,” Will said, raising his eyebrows.

“Dude, it’s a gay bar,” Darius objected.

“Didn’t stop you in New York,” Will noted.

Darius grinned. “Point.”

“I got arrested today,” I told Cam.

“Are you alright?” he asked nervously, which was really sweet. I told him all about my kidnapping, and I was so happy to see Cam, I didn’t even bitch about it that much.

“You forgot to tell him that the strippers thought you were so hot, they blew you on the ride there,” Will said. I gave him a foul look, because I wasn’t planning to tell Cam about that, but he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at Cam. And when my eyes shifted to Cam, I could see the jealousy all but oozing from him. I glanced back to Will who gave me a smug look. He’d said that just to see how into me Cam was.

“I hope they didn’t wear you out,” Cam said, putting his façade back up.

“I’m never worn out when I’m around you,” I said to him in a loving way, and got annoyed with Darius for snickering at me.

The limo pulled up to the back entrance of Spartacus and Will’s apartment. Will immediately took charge, with Darius helping him, and segregated out our luggage, leaving JP’s and Stef’s bags in there, and loading the others into the elevator. We got up to the apartment, and Will once again took over.

“I’m going to get Dad settled in and tell him what to wear,” Will told Darius.

Darius nodded. “I’ll order pizzas.”

“We will be up on the deck,” Stef said, as if he was trying to get out of the way of Will’s organizational juggernaut.

I headed to the bedroom I’d used last time, but Will stopped me. “It’s your birthday. You get to use this one.” He gestured to the room he usually used, and then he looked at Cam and raised his eyebrows. “It’s the one with the sling in it.”

“Cool,” Cam said, winking at me, even though I was blushing about three shades of red.

We walked into the room, with Will trailing after us. Will took my suitcase and opened it up, then pulled out some ‘club clothes’ for me to wear. I looked at them dubiously, but didn’t argue. He’d planned my wardrobe out for the weekend, and I was pretty much at his mercy if I didn’t want to go shopping. He took some other clothes out and hung them up in the closet. “That’s what you should wear tomorrow.”

“What are our plans for tomorrow?” I needed to have some idea of what was ahead of me.

“JJ skates at 2:00 in the afternoon,” he said. “So we need to leave by 8:00am.”

“Sounds early,” I grumbled, even though I was usually up and ready by then anyway. “Now get the fuck out of here.” I’d said that last line playfully, making him laugh, even though he obliged me. He walked out and made a point to lock the door. “Alone at last,” I said to Cam.

“At last,” he said, and kissed me. “Only not for long. Food will be here soon.”

“Not that soon,” I said. “I need to freshen up. Take a shower with me?”

“Sure,” he said. We took a nice shower, blowing each other, and I pondered how much better it was with Cam than it had been with Morrow, the fake cop. “Was that good?” Cam asked me playfully as we got dressed.

“Best head I’ve had all day,” I said.

“But not ever?”

I paused, pretending to consider it. “I think it may have been.”

“I think you’ll have fun tonight,” he said, clearly remembering how awful my last foray into Spartacus had been.

“Will has explained to me that you are my date tonight,” I told him.

“I am, eh,” he said. “What’s that mean?”

“It means that I’m not allowed to pick up other guys,” I said. “And you aren’t either.”

“Fuck,” he said, pretending to be disappointed.

“You don’t have to be my date,” I offered, just to see what he’d say.

“Not a chance,” he told me with a big smile.

We went out to the dining room and had pizza. Will glanced at his watch and got up abruptly, whispered something to Stef, then got on the elevator, presumably to go down to Spartacus. I noticed that exactly five minutes had lapsed when Stef stood up. “It is time to go.”

I was going to give him shit, and claim that I had to go to the bathroom or something like that, but they had obviously worked this out carefully, and I didn’t want to derail their plans. We got into the elevator for the quick descent to Spartacus, and I was surprised that I didn’t hear any music. The doors opened and there were two security guards there, forming a shield to separate us from the bar.

“Tonight is a special occasion here at Spartacus,” I heard Josh say. He was the guy who ran the bar: a hunky dude who was a bum lay, according to Matt. “We are proud to host the fortieth birthday party for Brad Schluter. In case you’ve been living in a cave and don’t know who he is, let me give you a brief run-down. In addition to being Stefan Schluter’s nephew, he’s the Chairman of Triton, one of the biggest electronics firms in the world; he’s the vice-chairman of Carruthers & Schluter, one of the top venture capital firms in the country; and he’s ranked at number 230 on the Forbes 400 list! ” The security guards started walking forward, leading us up to the stage. I was stopped by four of the go-go boys, even though ‘boys’ was an inaccurate term. These guys had amazingly muscular bodies, and were wearing only loincloths. They moved up and, linking their hands, they pulled me into what was, in effect, a human sedan chair. I went with it, if for no other reason so I wouldn’t look like an asshole. I playfully tweaked the nipples of the two guys closest to me, making them smile.

We got up on the stage and they put me down. “Thanks,” I said to them in a flirtatious way.

“How many of you guys want to look this good when you turn forty?” Josh asked, and got loud cheers, which was really flattering. “This is what a billionaire looks like!” That was a little crass, but it got cheers that were just as loud as the first question. Then Josh got them all to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, which was pretty nice. I realized after this whole introduction, and all the attention they’d given me, that a grand gesture was in order.

I held out my hand to Josh, asking for the mike, which he gave me. “Thanks for the applause, and for singing to me. And thanks for the hottest mode of transportation out there,” I said, leering at the four guys who carried me up on stage. “Devon!” I said, almost shouting into the microphone.

“Sir?” Devon shouted back.

“Drinks are on me, until this place closes down tonight!” That got really loud cheers, as I expected it would.

“Thanks Brad!” Josh said enthusiastically. It would make this a really fun party, and make sure that no one stiffed him on their bar tab.

“I can afford it,” I joked. “I’m as rich as Oprah.” After the laughter from my comment died down, the DJ spun some music while the band got ready to play again. I walked off the stage and straight up to Cam.

“That was nice of you,” he said. “You know how to make yourself popular.”

“I really only want to be popular with one guy tonight,” I said, and leaned in to kiss him. It was a long, amazing kiss, but the real motivation was a little less genuine. I knew that if I was seen with Cam, making out with him, and making it obvious that I was with him, it would dull the attitude of the guys who would otherwise be all over me. They would be mercenaries, and they’d be interested in me for my money.

I wasn’t optimistic that I’d have fun, but I ended up being wrong about that. I did shots with a bunch of people, and got drunk enough that I had no real shame. Cam dragged me out onto the dance floor, and I probably made an ass out of myself, but it was fun. I thought the guys at the bar would be annoying, but they were actually a blast to talk to. But when JP and Stef decided to leave, I used that as an excuse to bail as well.

“You weren’t having fun?” Cam asked, as we got into the elevator.

“I was having fun, but I think I’d have more fun with you, up here in the apartment,” I said.

“You may be right,” he agreed. We went into the bedroom and locked the door, then stripped off all our clothes.

“Let’s check out this room,” I said, winking at him as I went into the room with the sling. The only other things in the room were a bottle of lube and condoms.

“This looks like fun,” Cam said, hopping in the sling.

“You’re in my seat,” I told him. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I’d fucked him, but he hadn’t fucked me.

He got up and wrapped himself around me, kissing me passionately. “You must like me,” he said. I’d told him that I couldn’t bottom for someone I didn’t like.

“I must,” I said. And then he took me on one wild ride, and after I recovered, I returned the favor.

October 5, 2002

Chicago

I lay in bed, panting as I recovered from the incredible orgasm I’d just blasted into Cam’s ass. I pulled the condom off my dick, and tossed it into the garbage can that was conveniently next to the bed. That made me grimace a bit, since it was a pretty obvious signal of how slutty my son was. “That was amazing,” Cam cooed into my ear.

I rolled over and lay on him, my head on his chest. “I thought so,” I said with a grin. “You working tonight?”

“Nope,” he said.

“Wanna come to Boston with us?” I didn’t think there was any chance he’d go with me this time.

“Sure,” he said casually.

“You will?”

“As long as you can get me back here by Monday morning,” he said.

“That’s awesome,” I said, and couldn’t stop grinning. “You need to go get clothes.”

“No I don’t,” he said. “I packed a bag.”

“You were convinced I’d invite you, eh?” I teased.

“I was already invited,” he said. “Will asked me to go to Boston. I told him I would, as long as you didn’t piss me off.”

I chuckled. “Good thing I didn’t piss you off.”

“Good thing,” he agreed. We took a shower and got ready, then went out to snag some breakfast.

“There’s food on the plane,” Will said, to truncate our attempt to prepare a lot of food. Those words seemed to be painful for him. Both he and Darius were quiet, both obviously nursing massive hangovers, so we had a quick bite to eat, collected Stef and JP, and then headed to Boston to see JJ skate.

October 5, 2002

Boston

Will

We’d come into Wade’s house like a strong wind, greeting all of them pretty enthusiastically. Things seemed to be mellow here now, and even Alex seemed relaxed. I walked up to him and bowed low. “It is an honor to see Your Lordship again,” I said in a playful way.

I didn’t know how he’d react to my sense of humor, but he just smiled and bowed as low as I did; only he did it much more gracefully. “The pleasure is all mine, Master William.”

“Dude, you should curtsey instead,” Darius said, giving me shit.

“I suspect it would be as easy to teach you to curtsey as it has been to teach Tiffany,” Alex said, really cracking us up.

I left them in the main room and wandered into the kitchen, where I found Rosa. “It’s good to see you!”

“You are too skinny,” she grumbled, even as she gave me a big hug.

“I’m hot,” I said, making her chuckle. Darius came in and gave her a big hug too, and we stood there and chatted with her about Boston until it was time to head to the ice rink. She seemed to like it. We’d see if she still felt that way in February.

“It is time to go,” Grand pronounced, interjecting himself into our big reunion. “They are bringing the car around front.”

“Let’s go,” Matt said enthusiastically.

Alex seemed to hang back as we all headed to the door. “I am sure you know this, but you are welcome to ride over with us,” Grand said to him.

“I will leave it to you to enjoy the ride over,” Alex said smoothly. “It is a beautiful day, so I think I will walk.”

“Would you like some company?” I asked him impulsively.

“That would be delightful,” Alex replied.

“That’s one way to put it,” Darius said, giving me shit. I ignored him, and followed Alex out the back door, which led more directly to the ice rink.

The weather was really nice, if a bit brisk, but I had a coat on, so I was fine. “This was a good idea,” I told Alex.

“It is even better when I have good company,” he said smoothly.

“Sucks for you that you got stuck with me,” I joked, making him laugh.

“I understand that I am considerably in your debt,” he said.

“I’m not aware that you owe me anything,” I said. It bothered me that I spoke more like Grand when I was around him.

“JJ explained that you were the one who intervened with your father, to dissuade him from trying to break us up,” he said.

“Let’s see if you think I did you any favors after you spend a few months with JJ,” I joked, only he didn’t laugh.

“I am thoroughly enjoying his company,” he said stiffly. I was pretty stunned at how defensive he was of JJ.

“Alex, JJ is my brother. I love him. I was just joking.”

He seemed to ignore my comment, while continuing on with our walk. “I have not felt so connected to someone before,” he said to me sincerely, just blowing me away.

“Really?” I asked, before I could stop myself.

“I suspect the general conclusion of your family members is that I am a predator, all but stalking JJ, as if he is some vulnerable goddess who would shatter if blown with a strong wind,” he said, being stuffy and not a little bitchy. Maybe JJ was rubbing off on him. I could have gotten annoyed that he was throwing that attitude not just at me, but at my whole family, but he was pretty much right.

“Are you trying to tell me that you blew him with a strong wind?” I asked him, raising my eyebrows as I did. He chuckled at me and shook his head. “I think that you were pretty much right about that at first.” That really shocked him, because he didn’t expect me to admit it.

“And that has changed?”

“It has,” I told him. “I got into some pretty hellacious fights with my father when he tried to control my life, and he tried to interfere in my relationships. So no matter what I think of you, it’s JJ’s choice as to who he’s with. But for the record, I think you’re good for him.”

“You do?”

“I haven’t seen him this happy since he was a little kid. When he was young, he was always so happy and full of life. After he started skating, he changed, got all bitchy, and turned into a total diva. Losing our mother seemed to intensify that. When he’s with you, it seems like that happy kid is back, at least a little bit.”

“The bitchy diva is just a shield he uses to keep people at a distance,” he said authoritatively. Like I didn’t know that.

“So what is it about him that you find so attractive?” I asked.

“We instinctively seem to know what the other person needs. I cannot recall a time when I felt the need to be by myself, and found that he was there, preventing that. And the more common times, when I really want him to be around, I find that he usually arrives shortly before or after I have that feeling.” I smiled, even though I was stunned at how open he was being.

“I understand that,” I said, thinking of Zach.

“We have many common interests, like classical music and the theater, and we have many of the same pressures. We are both of us in a relationship that we cannot acknowledge, yet somehow the secrecy of that just makes our private bond that much stronger.”

“It’s a lot harder when one person can be out, and the other person has to be in the closet,” I said sadly, bringing my own issue out onto the table.

“I suspect it is,” Alex said sympathetically. Fortunately we arrived at the ice rink, and that derailed my unpleasant train of thought.

October 5, 2002

Boston

JJ

I’d changed things up this year. Now when I went to skating events, I had an entourage with me. In addition to Tiffany, my choreographer, and my costumer, who handled my clothes, I had a bodyguard there as well. It was total diva, to have that many people with me, but it let me keep myself aloof from the other skaters. Most of them were too intimidated by my bodyguard to give me shit. Or maybe it was Tiffany, I thought with a chuckle. Now that she was showing and was obviously pregnant, it made her seem even more fearsome. But there was always one dipshit who took it as a challenge, and here in Boston, that douchebag was Chase Treville. He was older than me by a year, taller than me by two inches, and unfortunately, he was cute as fuck.

“You did real well on your short program,” he said to me in a snarky way. “I’m looking into the future, and I’m seeing you landing flat on your ass tonight.”

“Your predictive abilities are as good as your third place performance on the short program,” I said with disdain, even as I pondered how I sounded so much like Alex. I was starting to talk just like him. I wondered if I’d end up with an accent. How cool would that be!

“Boston talent is going to blow you out of this rink,” he said. I shook my head at him in a contemptuous way.

“When I look down from the top of the podium, I won’t see you standing there,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Isn’t this about the time of year when you turn into a head case and totally implode?” he asked, being a complete asshole.

“Dude, you’re so full of shit. I’m in first place, and you’re in third, and you’re trying to bust my balls? Seriously?” I looked at him with disdain, and walked off, with my people tailing after me.

“He’s just trying to rattle you,” Tiffany said. Like I didn’t know that.

“It’s going to take more than an idiot like that to fuck me up,” I said confidently. I wasn’t worried about my performance tonight; I was completely relaxed. As long as Alex was here, I’d be just fine.

I sat calmly and watched the other skaters perform. There were a few guys here who would be good someday, but they weren’t good now. I’d made a bunch of comments about how there was no real talent here in Boston, and while that wasn’t entirely true, there wasn’t anyone who was a threat to me. So far everything was going perfectly, and it just got better when Chase did his long program, and fell on his ass doing a relatively easy triple axel. I pretended to look sad for him until he looked over and saw me, then I winked at him in a totally snarky way, really lighting his fuse.

The guy in second place did alright, but unless I totally fucked this up, I’d sail right through this competition and be on my way to the sectionals in Philly. I skated out onto the ice, circling the rink as I waved to the crowd, and there was indeed a crowd today. I scanned the audience as I did, my fake smile plastered across my face, until I found my family. My father was there with that dude from Chicago he was all hot and bothered over. I guess he could do worse, but they were just so disgustingly lovey-dovey, the way they looked at each other, it made me want to puke. Darius was cheering enthusiastically, but in a cool way that was so typical of him, while Will and Matt were so exuberant they were making asses out of themselves. Wade sat with Grand, both of them looking almost like statues, while Stef applauded in his classy way, even as he clutched his latest fur coat close to him. He was damned to have a family who liked ice sports, while he detested the cold. And while all of that was nice, and it was great that they were here, my eyes locked onto the one person who mattered the most: Alex. He was standing up, clapping and cheering for me in such a refined manner, that it made my smile just that much brighter. Our eyes met and he winked at me, telling me that I was going to do great with just that simple gesture.

Since I was in first place after the short program, I was the last person to perform my long program. This competition wasn’t too much of a challenge, but then again, the regionals rarely were. For me, this was less about winning a spot at the sectionals, and more about burnishing my reputation. My performance at Nebelhorn had put me back on the radar screen, and it made people wonder if I wasn’t really washed up after all. I could almost hear the skating community as a whole, collectively wondering if I was down and out, or if I’d just been derailed by the disaster that was 9-11.

I went to the center of the rink and assumed my starting position, waiting for the music to begin. As soon as I heard the first chords, my body automatically moved into action, and just like Nebelhorn, my mind was a step ahead of my body, planning the next move even while I executed the current one. I felt as if I were flying across the rink, almost as if I had wings. I kept my focus for the entire program with the exception of one brief moment. After I’d landed my quad, I’d glanced up in the stands to see Alex proudly watching and cheering me on. That fueled me on, pushing me through to the very end of my program. When I finished with a spin and a bow, the applause was louder than it had been for any other skater, and even though I’d been pretty sure I’d advance to the sectionals, now it was a done deal. And the whole skating community could fucking bite me: I was back!

I skated over to the side, then went to the kiss and cry with Tiffany. “JJ, that was fantastic. If you do that well for the rest of this season, I think you’ll win the Nationals.”

I stared at her, a little stunned. That would be really tough to do, because I’d be going up against the winners from all the sectionals. I knew those guys, and they were good. “You really think so?”

“I do,” she said firmly. Tiffany could be moody and bitchy, but one thing she didn’t do was blow smoke up my ass. I appreciated that most of the time, especially now, when she was honestly telling me what my chances were, and the odds were good.

We waited calmly for the scores to appear, and this time, the calmness wasn’t faked. I knew I’d won this thing, and as soon as the scores came up, they confirmed it. I went to change clothes, and then went to talk to the media, such as it was. On my way I walked past Chase Treville and gave him a really snarky smile. “Maybe you’ll make it to the sectionals next year.” I paused for effect. “But probably not.” I walked on, leaving him standing there, seething. If you can’t handle losing, you shouldn’t throw darts at other people.

I was finally finished with my obligations, and was able to go out and see my family. They were all effusive in their congratulations, and that made me feel guilty, because I kind of blew past them, anxious to get to Alex. When I got to him, he gave me a warm hug, and murmured in my ear: “You were spectacular!” That hug, that public display of affection was so foreign to both of us, it just blew me away.

“Thanks,” I said shyly, pretending to be a delicate flower. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw Will watching me pretty intently, and when our eyes met, he raised an eyebrow to let me know he’d figured out my game with Alex. I glared back at him, telling him that if he said anything, I’d cut off his balls. It was pretty annoying that he was so smart that he usually figured shit like this out.