by Susan Laine
Sage Advice
“YOU want to play—what?”
Piper was pissed. His best friend was acting like a total loon.
Sage grinned in that cute lopsided way of his. “Relax, and take a drink.” He pushed a brightly colored cocktail into Piper’s hand. “You’ve been in a funk all month.”
Piper growled. “So, a binge night is gonna set me straight?”
“Straight? God, I hope not.” Sage laughed at his own joke, and Piper had to admit his own lips curled in what threatened to become a smile, even though he didn’t want that.
“You’re being a total ass,” Piper complained, pouting.
“I’m sensing a theme here.” Sage rubbed his temples and took on that daft fake-psychic look he had perfected over the years, pretending to read Piper’s deepest, darkest secrets. “You want to… get laid.”
Damn, but did he have to be right two-thirds of the time? Piper rolled his eyes and huffed. “Knock it off, will you?”
Sage chuckled, wrapped his arms around Piper’s slender shoulders, and squeezed gently. “Aw, you’re so adorable when you get all miffed.”
As always, the physical closeness with Sage gave Piper goose bumps.
They had been best friends since high school. They had been each other’s first kiss, but for the sake of their friendship, they had never gone beyond that tentative step. Sometimes Piper thought this was a blessing in disguise, but other times he felt it was a crying shame. He would never find anyone as kind, good, and wise as Sage.
Even though, at the moment, the guy had gone off his rocker for sure.
“But isn’t that a… a child’s game?” Piper whined, but he could feel himself starting to give in to his best friend, like he always did. Succumbing to Sage was second nature to him by now.
“Nope.” Sage shook his head, and his blond mane flew about. He epitomized an urban hippie, with his long tresses, casual clothing, and ability to knock back drinks while everyone else was already under the table. And those sky blue eyes… oh God, yes. Piper sighed. His dream man with those kinds of eyes sure was keeping him waiting. “That game would be a snap for a kid ’cause they don’t know any better, and they have no guile or secrets like adults do. They wouldn’t know what to ask, so they’d demand something silly, like jumping on one foot backward over a sleepy grownup. But for us grownups….”
“You count yourself in that category, do you?” Piper mocked playfully.
“Come on, chicklet. Time to play.” Sage could be so persuasive when he wanted to be, overriding all of Piper’s good sense.
“Fine,” Piper grudgingly accepted. “But I want loads of drinks handy.”
Sage looked at him, offended, spreading his arms about. “You’re kidding, right? With my bartending skills? You’ll be drowning in liquor.”
“When were you ever a bartender?” Piper muttered as he settled on the floor, his back against the cushions of the couch. But it was a rhetorical question.
Sage had moved the coffee table aside and left an open space between the two couches in the living room. On the floor, he had spread a woolly blanket, a couple of bottles of white wine, a few fruity cocktails, and some easy nibbles for fast consumption, as if they were having a leisurely picnic. The overhead was turned off, light and heat came from the lively flames of a fire on the hearth, and soft jazz played in the background.
To Piper’s overactive imagination, it felt an awful lot like a set for a seduction scene. Shrugging the ridiculous notion aside, he watched Sage dash about the room, doing who-knew-what. “Are you coming, or what? This was your brilliant idea.”
With a chuckle, Sage plopped down on the blanket opposite Piper. His ratty jeans had so many tears in them Piper had an unobstructed view of numerous slivers of tanned skin. It was borderline indecent—and arousing as hell. Sage’s worn-thin tank top only escalated Piper’s discomfort.
“You’re so impatient, honey. You’ve gotta learn to relax.”
Piper growled again. “If I were as relaxed as you, darling, my DNA would unravel.”
Sage laughed. “So, you wanna start?”
Steeling himself with a large gulp from his hearty drink, Piper asked in a resigned voice, “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” Sage waggled his eyebrows without a care in the world.
That really irritated Piper tonight. “What is your guiltiest pleasure?” Was he seeking to embarrass his best friend just because his own life was slipping away? Piper felt ashamed at having asked, even though there was usually nothing they couldn’t talk about.
But Sage didn’t appear aggrieved. “The game is on, I see. But that’s easy. My guiltiest pleasure is… edible underwear.”
Piper stared at him and blinked a few times, at a loss. Was Sage yanking his chain, or what? “You’re not serious.”
“It’s the God’s honest truth, chicklet. I give you my word of honor.” Sage adopted a solemn expression and placed his hand over his heart, as if swearing an oath.
Piper sighed. “Oh, God….” He took another swig of his cocktail, the taste of apples mixing with alcohol.
“My turn,” Sage said enthusiastically, inching closer to Piper in a cross-legged position. “Truth or dare?”
Piper’s nerves were frayed. “Truth.”
“What would be your biggest deathbed confession?”
“Shouldn’t I have the luxury of actually being dying to answer that one?”
“So you refuse to answer?”
“What’s the penalty?”
“A kiss.”
Piper took a deep breath to collect himself. “Okay.”
“On any part of your body I wish.”
“What? That’s not fair! You never warned—”
“You should’ve asked.”
By then Piper was steaming mad. “No. I won’t let you.”
Sage’s lips curled in a soft, rueful smile. “Would it be so bad if I kissed you?”
That question took all the wind out Piper’s sails of righteous indignation. “No, don’t be silly. Of course not. It’s just…. Well, we’re best friends, and it would be weird. Not to mention an invasion of my privacy. No, I mean my intimacy.”
Sage’s gaze was covered by his golden lashes as he lowered his eyelids. “Okay. You name the penalty then. Unless you’ve changed your mind about answering.”
All of a sudden, Piper had an unpleasant feeling he had actually hurt Sage with his reaction. It would have been no hardship at all to let the man kiss him anywhere he wanted, so why had he behaved as though it were the worst possible thing that could happen?
“Sage, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so… mean.”
At that Sage smiled brightly again. “You could never be mean, Piper. You’re the best.”
If Piper had felt ashamed before, now he was mortified. “Sage….”
“You better not be calling me a liar,” Sage warned, but he had that twinkle in his eyes still. He was so beautiful.
“I’d never,” Piper promised, melting inwardly. “My deathbed confession, huh?” Sage nodded eagerly, waiting, his blue eyes wide and excited, like a kid at Christmas. “I… I wish I had been able to dance the lead or the solo part in The Nutcracker or maybe Swan Lake at the Metropolitan Opera House. But now I never will.”
Sage was quiet for a moment. “That’s a regret, not a confession.”
Anger swelled inside Piper. “Oh, you want a deep, dark secret, is that it? Fine. Since that deathbed scene might take place soon, I suppose I can give you a preview now.”
“What?” Sage looked and sounded confused, tilting his head the way he did when he tried to solve a riddle. Before Piper got the chance to really start ranting, Sage’s hand touched his so tenderly that Piper faltered. “I’m sorry, Piper. I wanted tonight to be fu
n and light. I didn’t mean for you to feel hurt or—”
“Stop.” Piper heard his own voice crack. “No, I’m sorry. I brought down the mood. You were just trying to get me out of my melancholy, and here I am, bitching away like a total drama queen.”
Then Sage smiled, a little sadly. “Well, I guess I can forgive you since you are a ballet dancer, after all, and therefore a queen in your own right.”
Piper glared at him. “I’d kick your ass—if I could.” Sage looked at him funny, so Piper quickly moved on. “So, the penalty’s really a… a kiss?”
“You gave me an answer, honey.”
“An incomplete one. So, what is the penalty? A kiss?”
“I told you to come up with something better.”
“No. It’s fine.” Just then Piper realized how much that small sign of closeness would mean to him. He’d kept people at bay for a month, since the seriousness of the accident no one but he and his doctor knew about had sunk in. But right now, in this safe place, cocooned from harsh realities, Piper sought a human touch, an intimacy of friendship, and perhaps a tiny rush, if and when the man he loved penetrated the fortress surrounding his heart.
Sage leaned forward, and Piper closed his eyes, waiting. What he got, however, was a brush of lips over his cheek, barely anything more than a feather-light touch. Surprised, he opened his eyes and stared, frowning, at a smiling Sage.
“What?” Sage asked, with a half-smug, half-bashful expression. “I’m not a complete pervert, you know.”
Piper couldn’t say out loud that he might not have minded said perversion tonight. All the things he wanted with Sage, he could never have. The guy was his best friend, not his best friend-with-benefits. So shoving those thoughts aside, he said, “My turn then. Well, which is it?”
Pursing his lips in mock disapproval, Sage crossed his arms over his chest and then made a childish pout. “You didn’t say it right.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Piper huffed. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
Now Piper had to give this opportunity some serious thought. “Hmm….” Sage got that nervous look he had sometimes when he wasn’t sure what was going on. Usually, it was linked with concern, as it had been a moment ago, but this time it was mixed with patience instead. The lights and shadows from the fire flickered across his face, illuminating different parts of him, ever-shifting. The sight made something tighten in Piper’s chest, like an epiphany ready to come out to play.
“Well?” Sage cut in anxiously.
“Don’t rush me,” Piper teased, and then he knew how to lighten the mood and bring it to a simmer at the same time. He plucked a green grape from a plate and showed it to Sage. “I dare you to eat this.”
Baffled, Sage tried to take the grape, but Piper opened his mouth and placed the grape on his extended tongue.
Sage’s blue eyes grew wide, and then they darkened. Piper’s pulse raced, and he could no longer hear anything but the drumming of his heart in his ears.
After closing the gap between them, Sage parted his lips, and gave Piper a deep openmouthed kiss. His tongue was hot and slick over Piper’s, and the touch was as sweet as the suction. Sage still remembered to swipe the grape into his own mouth. The kiss didn’t last long for obvious reasons, such as the risk of choking to death, but Piper’s head was swimming afterward.
Sage munched on the grape, first producing yum-yum noises and then making a big deal about swallowing. “Mmm, delicious.”
“I aim to please.” Piper felt breathless and feverish.
“That wasn’t a performance,” Sage remarked, giving Piper a pointed look, daring him to respond with a denial. When Piper replied with silence, Sage nodded his approval. “My turn. Truth or dare?”
Piper poured himself a glass of Chardonnay. “Truth.”
Sage harrumphed. “Coward. Okay. Describe your most sexually perverted dream.”
“Like a dream at night or a fantasy?”
“Either one. Both.”
“All right….” Piper reined in his nerves but felt the blush creeping over his face, heating it up fast. Yet an audacious part of him wanted to share this with someone who wouldn’t really make fun of him. “Well, you do know the scene in The Nutcracker when Clara and the Nutcracker defeat the Mouse King, right? After their victory they fall into bed together, and it turns into a magic sleigh that flies them to the Land of Sweets. Well, in my dream—”
“A fantasy or a sleeping dream?”
Piper lifted his chin in defiance. “Not telling.” Sage chuckled, but with a shrug, let the matter drop. “In my dream the Nutcracker turns into a handsome prince, and we make passionate love on the bed, flying high in the summer sky.”
“That sounds romantic, not kinky.” Despite the challenging words, Piper thought Sage didn’t sound provocative so much as curious and… wistful?
Now Piper felt as though his cheeks had caught on fire. “He… he sort of… lives up to his name, you understand…. And there are, um, toys….”
By then Sage’s wide grin had turned downright lewd. “I had no idea you even had a lascivious side, Piper. I’m absolutely astonished.”
“Fuck you.” Piper took a drink of his white wine and wondered whether or not he should make himself scarce right then and there. But despite his constant needling humor, Sage was his best friend, and he had gone out of his way to arrange a happy, fun-filled night for them. “My turn. Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
“Again?” Piper narrowed his eyes, wondering what Sage’s game was. It was funny how easy and hard the man was to read. Piper loved that, even after ten years, Sage could surprise him. “Take off an article of clothing.”
Sage wolf-whistled. “You could ask me to get naked.” Piper rolled his eyes and made a dismissive motion with his hand, with only one interpretation: Do it. “Ah, your loss.” Sage pulled his T-shirt over his head to reveal a wide expanse of tanned, smooth skin and a ripped chest bulging in all the right places. Piper was salivating. Sage chuckled seductively. “Love it when you look at me like that.”
“I wasn’t—” Piper tried, outraged.
“No?” When Piper said nothing, Sage lost his smile, shrugged, looked away, and finished his margarita in one gulp. “Guess it’s my turn once more. Truth or dare?”
Piper hesitated, but then allowed himself to get a little reckless. “Dare.”
“Uh-huh.” Sage’s pensive expression only increased Piper’s nervousness, and as a result, he felt a twinge in his leg. He shouldn’t stress, he knew. This was his friend, after all. “Well, let’s find out just how audacious you are, sweetheart. I dare you to… give me a lap dance.”
Piper froze, and then he paled all over, starting to shiver. “I… I can’t.”
Sage studied him for a moment. Then he bowed his head. Piper couldn’t read the emotion behind his friend’s reaction. “Guess I get another kiss, then.” Yet he didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic about it.
Piper felt his jaw start to tremble just as his eyes began to blur with unshed tears, so he looked down at his hands as they fidgeted in his lap, toying with the hem of his shirt. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
“Why?” Sage sounded grave yet composed. Piper felt like crawling into a deep dark hole and crying his eyes out for the injustice that had befallen him. As the silence dragged on, Sage sighed sadly. “Change your reply to truth then.”
“I said I don’t want to—”
“I heard you. And I’m ignoring you.” Sage’s level tone never wavered. He had always felt like a solid rock for Piper to lean on as the precarious winds of fate swept over him, but now Sage seemed like a weight on Piper’s shoulders. “Truth it is.”
“I won’t answer.” Piper’s defiance arose even amid the sorrow and pain of his loss.
“Yes, you will.” Sage sounded awfully confident about that. Piper shivered. “What was the last lie you told me?”
Piper looked up in shock. “I’ve never lied to
you. Not once.”
Sage sat still, waiting, his blue eyes seeming to hone in on every dark secret within Piper. “For the past month, you have lied to me every day.”
“That’s not true!”
“I ask you ten times a day how you’re feeling, and every time you say ‘fine’ or ‘all right’. And considering the major attitude you give me, I know that’s a load of bull.”
Stung by Sage’s words—as true as they were—Piper swallowed convulsively. He took a sip from his drink, and then another, stalling for time. Finally he released a sound that was half exhale, half sob. “Okay, yes. I have lied to you. I’m not fine. Not by a long shot.” Sage waited patiently. “Four weeks ago, after rehearsal, my right leg hurt a bit. It was nothing new, so I thought nothing of it. The next day it hurt more, so much so that I could barely walk. I immediately went to the doctor. He said I had a sprain or an injured ligament. I got an MRI, and he gave me crutches. Apparently, my knee is busted.” Sage gasped, but Piper went on, now that he was on a roll. “It’s been a month, and the pain’s gone. But I still feel like my balance is off, and I feel wobbly, unstable. When I go through rehearsal motions, I feel like my leg’s gonna give out at any moment.” Then his throat clotted up with tears, but he spoke past them, speaking the ugly truth aloud for the first time. “I can’t dance the ballet professionally anymore. It’s over. My career, my dream. I’m done for. Yesterday’s news.”
Sage shifted closer, and from the corner of his eye, Piper saw those blue eyes were glazed over, as if the man inside was miles away. Sage took Piper’s hand and squeezed gently, then caressed the back softly, so softly.
“So that’s why you barricaded yourself in your apartment for two weeks. You didn’t want anyone to see the crutches.” Sage sounded sad, but that just pissed Piper off. What right did he have to feel miserable? Piper was the one who had lost everything. “I wish I were a better friend. The kind you deserve.”
Piper was gobsmacked, and that’s when he saw that the glaze over Sage’s eyes was actually a wet veil of held-back tears. “What? You’re the best—”
“No. How could I be? If I were, surely you would have felt comfortable enough to tell me your troubles, to confide in me and let me help. Guess you must’ve known I wasn’t good for that.” If Sage’s voice hadn’t lowered down to a whisper, Piper would have thought this was another ruse to get Piper out of his shell.