Best Men - 14. Chapter Fourteen

Sleeping proved to be futile. Ten minutes later Rick and I were getting rough and dirty in the sheets once again. I didn’t know I had that kind of stamina until we sucked each other off and then went for a third serving not too long afterwards. I seriously viewed Rick as a drug, so addictive and eliciting so much pleasure from just kissing the man and smelling the musk from his body as we drove the other person over the edge.

After our third fuck session, though, we were completely satiated. I then fell asleep for what felt like a few hours, and I was so gladly interrupted when I felt warm touches along my bare shoulder. I fluttered my eyes open and turned my head to see Rick kissing my skin lightly.

It has been a very long time since I’ve been more than just a one-night stand with someone. I really enjoyed all the kissing and cuddling even though what we had together wasn’t serious. Just a fling, but it didn’t mean we couldn’t express our appreciation after we blew our loads.

“What? Do you want to go for round four?” I said and snuggled against Rick.

“Oh, no. Not after you fucked me twice. My ass needs some time to heal,” Rick responded with a smirk and tapping his ass.

“What about your lips? Are they still in-service?” I asked, eyeing the full pair of lips of Rick’s.

Rick hummed with delight before kissing me again. We lied on our sides as we exchanged the lust brewing inside us and the remnants of our release that we both swallowed from the second round. It wasn’t a surprise when our kisses turned more passionate, and I was very ready to go through another level. However, a knocking on the door alerted us and we faced the door.

“Freddy?” O’Leary’s face called out from the other side of the door.

Standing from the bed which felt like our bubble of lust and sex, I slid on a pair of briefs, and then realized they belonged to Rick. But the knocking continued, and I just walked across the room and cracked open the door only by a smidge, just enough to see O’Leary’s face.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said casually.

“Sorry for interrupting. I forgot to hand you the menu for tonight’s dinner,” O’Leary said, sliding a menu pamphlet through the crack of the door and into my hand. “It’ll be prepared within the next hour. I’ll knock again to let you two know when to come downstairs and eat. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. Thank you.”

“No problem. You two are my guests after all…and I want to thank you both for supporting my business with your patronage.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’ll see you later then,” O’Leary smiled before walking away.

“Never thought I would see you wearing my underwear. Looks great on you,” Rick complimented.

I just chuckled as I approached the bed and plopped my body next to him.

“Was that O’Leary?” Rick asked.

“Yup. Just gave me tonight’s menu. Should be ready in the next hour.”

“Great. I need to get some energy back after what you did to me.”

“So, you didn’t like it?” I said, making a fake pout.

Rick snickered and grabbed the back of my neck. “The complete opposite. I enjoyed it very much.”

We kissed for a moment, and Rick said, “While, we’re waiting…you want to do it again?”

Biting my bottom lip, I then eyed the bathroom that was connected to this room and suggested, “How about we do so in the shower?”

“Killing two birds with one stone. I like that.”

Rick quickly jumped from the bed and shuffled to the open bathroom. I followed him inside, and in the shower, we were sprayed with warm jets of water and surrounded by steam. We made out and jerked each other off.

With round four completed, we washed each other with the body soap and shampoo already provided in the shower. Sometimes taking showers was such a chore in my opinion; however, rubbing the suds all over Rick’s skin as he did the same for me calmed my nerves. Also, Rick massaging my shoulders for a few minutes didn’t hurt either.

Once the showering was over, we dried ourselves and slid into new clothes. We then waited for dinner by lying on the bed and watching the television mounted on the wall above the short dresser. New updates have developed on the phenomenon known as the Dream since the last time I watched the news a few days ago.

Apparently, scientists and the military have rescued some people who were still in the affected area. Well, recovered was the more appropriate word to use since footage that has leaked from unknown sources revealed the bodies of these people. Their bodies, based on the blurred footage, appeared to be covered in some kind of encasement, like a cocoon or chrysalis of a moth or butterfly. Whether they were still alive hadn’t been answered yet.

Also, other sources have stated that millions of honeybees have migrated towards the Dream, with large hives and swarms being reported to be in the affected areas. With each day that passed, the stranger this whole phenomenon was becoming. Some people have said that they saw what looked like a shooting star in the night sky, which they witnessed right before the Dream first appeared in a random small community in Ohio.

“That must be why I haven’t seen any honeybees buzzing around the flower garden back at my parents’ place,” I said.

“This is straight out of a novel from Stephen King,” Rick commented as he continued to watch the news.

“I hate to say it, but that’s very accurate… Let’s just hope that phenomenon doesn’t spread and hit Beckett.”

“I heard from your dad this morning that the mayor of Beckett is already planning an evacuation just in case the Dream becomes a threat to the town.”

“Well, at least if the worst-case scenario happens, Beckett’s mayor has already planned out how to evacuate the town.”

Rick sighed. “At least my parents are all the way in Florida where it’s safe… Hopefully, the wedding happens without any major disaster.”

I nodded, thinking back to yesterday when Liza confessed she was pregnant. The whole fiasco happening more than a hundred miles from Beckett led to her fiancé’s parents asking for the wedding to be postponed. However, that wasn’t an option if Aaron and my sister wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret until they were officially married. So, the wedding was still occurring in less than two weeks, and I was already getting anxious about any unforeseen threats happening before those two tied the knot.

Knocking on the door took me away from my thoughts, and Rick stood from the bed to answer the door. I heard O’Leary’s voice telling him that dinner was ready before walking away.

“Dinner’s ready… Freddy? You okay?” Rick asked.

Taking my eyes off the television screen, I said, “Yeah, I’m cool. You go ahead downstairs, and I’ll meet you there. I need to…make a call.”

“Oh… Okay. See you there.” Rick eyed me for a moment before smiling and leaving the room.

After hearing the door close, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, my eyes glued again to the television, and unlocked the screen. I quickly scrolled through my contact list before tapping my thumb on the screen and placing the call on speaker.

A few rings later, Will answered the phone with a yawn and muttered, “Who is this?”

“Hey, Will. Are you sleeping?” I teased.

“I was.” A couple of muttered curses were heard, and then Will said, “What’s up? Did your sister’s wedding happen yet?”

“Nah, I’ll be here for at least two more weeks.”

“Got it. Well, I hope you’re staying safe out there. The phenomenon that all the news networks are talking about twenty-four seven is freaking people out.”

“I know, right? That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about… You remember that illegal drug ring we helped bust almost a year back?” I said as I paced by the television.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Did you get any confirmation on what exactly were in those barrels inside that plane before we busted them? I mean, it has been months now.”

“Unfortunately, no. I’ve actually been told recently by the higherups to not pursue any further investigations on the matter. My best guess is that whatever drugs were in those barrels are new and the precinct doesn’t want to scare the public about it.”

“Well, I don’t think they were drugs… I mean, you saw it when I opened the lid of one of those barrels. Whatever was inside glowed, like it was radioactive.”

“Yeah, I’m amazed we didn’t grow an extra limb or something.”

“So, I’ve been thinking… Is there a connection between what we discovered with that drug ring a year ago and what’s happening now with the phenomenon?”

“Maybe. But you shouldn’t think too much about it, Freddy,” Will said before yawning again.

“And why not? We only busted one drug ring. There’s most likely many more of them transporting that glowing material across the country with planes. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them crashed where the phenomenon began to appear. Seriously, people have said they saw a falling star the night before. I’m just connecting the dots.”

“Okay, Freddy. Just relax. It’s possible what you’re saying is true. But…”

“But?”

Sighing, Will said, “Whatever is happening with that drug ring or that phenomenon is now beyond our jurisdiction. I’m sure the military has it all handled.”

If that was Will’s attempt to reassure me that nothing worse was going to happen, he failed miserably.

“I doubt it.”

“Well, what are you going to do, Freddy? You’re an amazing police officer, no doubt. But you’re just one man.”

“Yeah, and we were just two police officers who busted a drug ring that was guarded by dozens of armed men transporting possibly hazardous materials throughout the country.”

“True… Still can’t believe we did that without fucking it up… Look. If it’ll ease your mind, I’ll keep looking. And if I find anything important, I’ll let you know, all right?”

My body became less tense. “That sounds good. Thank you, Will.”

“Hey, what are partners for? Now if that’s all you want to talk about, I’m going back to sleep.”

I chuckled and said goodbye to my friend before ending the call. Will has been my partner in crime since we first met each other at the academy. Fortune must’ve been on our side since we began working at the same precinct and were quickly assigned as partner.

I remembered when I first encountered Will before the first day of training. The man looked like he was ready to become an initiate of a biker gang rather than be a police trainee. His arms were completely tattooed from the shoulders to the wrists. I wasn’t the only person who thought not-so-highly of him.

However, despite his intimidating appearance, the man was a jokester, always cracking one-liners and making everyone around him laugh including me. He was very chill, both as part of his personality and through stressful situations, which police officers had to maneuver through every time they wore their badge on-duty.

I was very glad to have him by my side when we busted that drug ring together, and it was unfortunate that I was given more praise compared to my partner. I guessed since news outlets thought I was more presentable to be interviewed than Will was. He kept saying that he didn’t mind the attention being diverted only to me, and I always admired him for his humbleness in return.

Looking at the television one more time, I then turned it off. Hopefully, Will was right about the military having the situation handled, and I could just relax through the rest of my vacation. But if there was any chance that those two events I talked about with him were somehow connected, I needed to prepare myself for whatever came next.

Smelling dinner from all the way from the third floor, my stomach rumbled. I hurryingly turned off the lights and walked out the room. I didn’t bother locking the door as I made my way to the first floor, the sound of clattering dishes, laughter, and chatter getting stronger as I approached the large dining room.

Arthur, O’Leary’s son, walked by with a large dish in his hand while wearing a floral-patterned apron that clashed with his dark clothing. He greeted me with a nod, and I followed him until I saw the dining table that was filled with more food than two guests could ever eat in one sitting. I then saw Rick standing and chatting with someone who had his back towards me, most likely the man who booked the room with the hot tub. Still resenting him a little for taking that room, since I already conjured fantasies of Rick and I enjoy the hot tub.

O’Leary waved his hand at me from the far end of the table. “Good to see you again.”

“Yeah, same here.” Eyeing the amount of food that was more appropriate for a large family gathering, I then said, “This is rather extravagant, don’t you think?”

“You’re right, it is. I just thought it would be nice to set up a large dinner since the last guests I had enter my establishment had to leave early. That was…about two weeks ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said.

“Oh, don’t worry! It’s good to have guests now. Now sit down and start eating,” O’Leary said as he placed a cloth napkin on his lap.

I smiled and sat down at the table. Arthur brought another plate that contained what looked like dessert before sitting down next to his old man.

“Rick, I’m here,” I called out. “Let’s eat.”

Rick smiled and approached me. “Ah, man. You won’t realize who the other guest is.”

I turned my attention to the man who still had his back facing me. “And who’s that?”

The person who was wearing a white dress shirt and tan slack slowly turned around, and upon seeing his icy blue eyes, I felt time itself freeze. And not only did it freeze, I was going back in time as well, memories of the person I once loved and thought I had a future with.

I experienced flashbacks of us having our first kiss right before the tick of midnight. Then the night his parents were gone, and we made love for the first time on his bed. Finally, the both of us sitting outside together during the night, while I played a loved song with my guitar as he listened, serenading him, and believing he was the only one for me.

“Freddy?” my former boyfriend uttered.

“You two know each other?” Rick asked innocently.

The man I once loved and who betrayed me looked down at the floor, saying nothing.

I frowned. “Yeah… I did.”