There Goes My Bailey

by LL Dahlin

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  Standing behind the bar of The Male Box Bailey was ready for his first day of work. Not that he’d ever been a bartender, but he had an app on his phone and the other bartender had given him some tricks to getting a good head of foam on a beer so that its picture perfect and there was still a good amount of beer in the glass. He thought he was busy in the military, but today was one for the record books. He was tired. Not physically exhausting, but emotionally he was all over the place. He’d spent most of the day with Honey but he’d texted Scott several times with no response. Found the sweetest ride in the form of an all-wheel drive, four-door flatbed truck and got a call from Mark that they needed him to work tonight.

  Bailey had gone back to the house and hoped Scott was there, but he wasn’t and he wasn’t answering his phone either. He wasn’t sure if his new roommate was pissed about anything or if he just didn’t feel like being bothered. Showing up at his buddy's job didn’t seem like the appropriate thing to do, but he was thankful that he’d been called in to work that day. Bailey wasn’t sure what time Scott worked tonight, but he’d make sure they talked about what had happened the next time they were together. Just casually bring up what had gone on between them and the abrupt halt with the arrival of Honey. That’s what he’d thought until Scott had shown up at work. There was a smile on Scott’s face as he talked to Mark before he glanced over and saw Bailey. Scott returned his gaze to Mark like he didn’t feel the same flash of scorching heat Bailey did when Scott looked at him. Mark had his hand on the back of Scott’s neck as they turned and walked toward the bar and damn if that didn’t piss him off. It shouldn’t for a couple of reasons. One, Scott wasn’t his and two, the man didn’t seem particularly happy to see him. This was going to be harder than he thought.

  “You gave him a job?” Scott said to Mark when they got to the bar. The look on his face was incredulous.

  “Yeah. He’s a military vet and one of your very best friends. Why wouldn’t I want to help him out.” Mark smiled at Bailey. “Hey, get me a black label scotch on the rocks.”

  “Sure thing.” Bailey tried not to focus on the amount of anger that was rolling off Scott, but it was difficult.

  “Scott, can I talk to you for a minute?” Bailey put the drink Mark had asked for on the bar and stood waiting for an answer.

  Scott’s eyebrows shot up immediately and Bailey thought he was going to say no but he didn’t. He waved him to a place away from the bar.

  Bailey didn’t even know what to say when he got to the place Scott stopped. “I tried to call you all day today to tell you I’d be here and that I got a car. You’re pissed at me is the vibe I’m picking up and I’m not sure why.”

  “Look, I don’t know why either. I’m acting like an ass. I’m glad you’ve got a job and your own wheels. Now you can find whatever it is you’re looking for.”

  “What? I thought you were mad at yourself because we’d fooled around a little and I was drunk. You don’t…”

  “No.” Scott took a breath like he was going to try to describe what was going on. “Well, yes, I was upset that all that happened when you weren’t fully functioning, but I’m not the experiment gay boy for you.”

  “Who said you were that?”

  “This isn’t my first time around this track and after the last one, I’m done. I can spot men like you a mile away. You want to know more about being with a guy, you want to know if you really like guys or if it’s just the thought that turns you on. I’m comfortable, available and you know I’ve had a crush on you since puberty hit and I knew what dicks were for.”

  “I’m sorry that’s how it was for you. That was never my plan.” Bailey put his hand on Scott’s arm and squeezed.

  “So…what? Now you’re a gay man?”

  Scott was getting angry and Bailey didn’t know what to do to stop what looked to be an angry barrage of words coming his way. He went with his first thought and brought his lips down on Scott’s. He hoped to convey all the things he wanted to say. He wanted this kiss to prove to Scott that he wasn’t playing around, that he wanted to see what was going on between them and he enjoyed kissing him and touching his body. When he could feel Scott’s body relax, Bailey took the kiss from reassurance to a deep promise of something dirty. He used his tongue to lick Scott’s lips before he sucked one, then the other into his mouth. He wanted to taste the full plate of Scott that was being offered up to him and he didn’t want to stop. The man had relaxed a bit more and he wished they’d had more time before they both had to work.

  Bailey pulled away from Scott and loved the dreamy look that covered Scott’s face. He gave the swollen lips one more quick kiss.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on with me, but I do know I want to find out and I’d like to find out with you. Nothing in life is promised so I’m not saying I know what will happen, but I’ve spent a good deal of time wondering about that first kiss I got from you. It was even better than any other I had before or since that night. I also wonder why it’s you I think of while I stroke my cock, and why just thinking of you makes me come harder than any pussy I’ve ever been inside.”

  Scott didn’t do anything but listen to and Bailey was encouraged that was a positive sign.

  “I’d like to talk about this later, but if it’s something you don’t want, let me know and I promise I’ll try not to look at you the way I really want. I’ll try to keep my feelings to myself. We were friends for a long time before that night in the back of the truck. We talked about so many things. Some of them were important and others… not so much, but I want to stop walking on egg shells around you and I want you to do the same. No matter what you decide to allow between us.”

  Bailey wondered if Scott was going to say anything, because he appeared frozen but then he nodded.

  “So we’ll talk later?” Bailey said.

  Scott looked as if he was just waking up from sleep. “Sure.”

  Bailey walked away feeling like he was on cloud nine…at least for right now. A glance behind him showed him that Scott hadn’t moved. He just stood there right where Bailey had left him. To his left, he saw Mark and the expression on his face. It wasn’t happy or mad, but mildly neutral. His balled up fist told another story. It made Bailey wonder again what kind of feelings his boss had for Scott. He’d never once been jealous of anyone or any thing so these feelings that came and went were novel and not particularly pleasant.

  He took one last look at Scott, who was now in a stare down with Mark. Bailey’s mood went from content to annoyed.

  This jealousy shit is for the birds.

  Chapter 8

  Scott wanted to both fuck someone up and fuck someone hard. Two very different things with two very different people, but person number one was in his sights. He walked past Mark and into his office. “Follow me.”

  The door slammed a few minutes later when Mark followed him into the office. “Yes, your highness?”

  “This isn’t the time to be cute. What the fuck are you doing?” Scott wanted to be his calm self and just take a seat on the couch and work this out, but he was so fucking pissed off, confused, excited and too many other things to think about. The many emotions swirling inside of him weren’t mixing well and that concoction just added up to rage. He stood in the middle of the room because he was too hyped up to sit down.

  Mark moved to sit behind his desk. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “You’re not sure what I mean? Sitting with Bailey and filling his head with who knows what, offering him a job? I live with the man so now my jobs are the only break I get from him and you’re screwing that up too.”

  “You don’t want to be with Bailey? The lost love of your life? Why? What’s the matter?” Mark was typically a smart ass, but there was something different about this sarcasm and snarkiness. Scott took a few seconds to put what he was feeling on the back burner and try to take a walk in Mark’s shoes.

  “Are you jealous of Bailey?” Scott was surprised and confused by the expression o
n his friend’s face, but Mark remained silent even after a few moments of waiting. “You dumped me a long time ago and you’ve never made a move to get that part of our relationship back. Now that you think there is a competition I’m interesting again? I’m not a prize to be won. You’re making all these moves and for what?”

  “I didn’t dump you. I just told you what I thought about why you wanted me and you got mad. You showed me the picture of the man of your dreams, and no you didn’t call him that, but you sounded like a teenaged girl every time you talked about him. He looked a lot like me. That night you moaned his name in your sleep and then I knew that you were just with me as a substitute for him.”

  “What? Fuck you, Mark.” Scott couldn’t believe the words coming out of his friend’s mouth. “How did you hold on to this for so long?”

  “I hoped one day you’d stop talking about him like he was the only man for you. Time passed and you never did and then one day he showed up.” Mark leaned back in his chair and seemed to take Scott in. It was like he’d been holding all this information in until right now, but there was only so much Scott could take. It was like he was on overload.

  “And that meant you were going to force feed him to me everywhere I go because in your mind, I’d chosen him over you?”

  Mark sat up in his chair and with the look he had on his face Scott didn’t think he’d say another word, but he surprised him. “In your mind, I didn’t have a chance. You liked that I reminded you of someone else, but I didn’t. I’ll admit I thought about you seeing Bailey as an adult and getting a chance to view him without the teenaged adulation, but from what I just witnessed that obsessed teen still resides inside you and still has a thing for Bailey.”

  Scott’s head throbbed thinking about all the things going on in his life and all the fucking weirdness. It was like he had fallen down a rabbit hole and was in his own especially fucked up wonderland. Mark, who was regularly a low maintenance ‘go with the flow’ type guy was now a jealous manipulator who was trying to make him see Bailey in a negative light, and Bailey the straight man who’d been his protector and brother’s best friend was coming on to him, kissing him and being the man he’d always dreamed about. It was enough to give him a migraine. The noise and lights of the club were killing him. Scott knew he’d been running full throttle on fumes for the last few weeks, but the past few days he’d added more stress to his life. He should have known this would happen now with his stress levels on full tilt. Scott stood up and was a bit dizzy.

  “I don’t feel so well. I’m going to go outside to see if I feel better. If not, I’m going home.” Scott didn’t even look at Mark as he spoke. He felt betrayed for some reason. Maybe Mark had a reason to be an asshole, but he just didn’t have any fucks to spare at this particular moment. He got to the parking lot and stood by his car for a few moments.

  The door opened again and he heard the loud noise of the bar get louder and then simmer down as the door closed. He didn’t have enough energy to talk to Mark again, but he’d find enough to throw a punch at that fucker if he had anything but an apology coming out of his mouth.

  “Hey. Mark said you weren’t feeling well and I could take off and get you home.” The deep voice reminded him of his teenaged years and almost every jack off session since. Bailey.

  “Will you have to come back?” Scott asked. The anger and desire to fuck someone up instantly changed to pure desire to fuck. That wasn’t good either.

  “Not until tomorrow.”

  “I don’t want to stop your first day of work. I’ll be okay. Maybe if I sit in the car for a while I’ll be better.”

  “I’m taking you home now so there is no need to try to talk me out of it.” Bailey ushered Scott into the passenger seat and buckled his seat belt. That shouldn’t be sexy at all but his head wasn’t throbbing as it was before and the scent of Bailey was as comforting as a soft well used blanket.

  Bailey climbed into the driver seat and adjusted it to his liking. He was such a big guy it was a wonder he fit in the car, but he made it work. He drove and hummed a tune Scott thought he knew, the road was a bit rocky, but that was probably because the migraines always fucked with his sensory perception. Trying to relax, he took a deep breath of fresh air but ended up with Bailey’s scent filling him up.

  With all the medications he’d tried and all the remedies he’d researched it was funny that being with this man and breathing him in would be the thing that would bring about some relief. The deep tone of Bailey’s voice shouldn’t be this pleasant. Should it? It was something Scott wanted to put some thought into but before he couldn’t figure it out.

  “We’re home.”

  Scott sat up. He must have fallen asleep and if he slept through them getting up the mountain he must have been knocked out.

  “I was probably just tired.” Scott stretched long and hard. He’d not gotten a lot of sleep the night before. Sitting up in an odd position all night had made his body achy. “Sorry you couldn’t stay your shift. New bartenders usually kill in tips.”

  “Really? I’ll have to have my piggy bank with me next time I go to work.”

  Scott opened the door and liked the thought that they were home. He wouldn’t trick himself into thinking this was a long term thing, but it was wonderful for now.

  He walked through the kitchen and flipped on the light. “I’m just going to get something to drink and then—” Scott picked out a water bottle and then stopped. Bailey was standing right next to him. He plucked the bottle out of his hands, opened it, took a sip and then handed it back.

  “Are you my official taster?”

  “I’d like to be.” Bailey backed up to the door like he was giving Scott some space. “I’ve lived most of my life watching it go by and not saying much about how I’m feeling but I’m at a place in my life where I’m going to make some changes.”

  “Okay?” Scott tipped the water bottle to his mouth and drank like he was a heartbeat away from dehydration.

  “Did you hook up with Mark because you think he looks like me?”

  Scott choked on the water he’d just been drinking. It took a few seconds before the coughing fits stopped and he could get his thoughts together to form a response. “I knew he was saying something to you about that the other day. That fucker.”

  “Is that a yes?” Bailey’s big blue eyes looked even bigger as he was holding them so wide open.

  “That’s what he said. Look, I was much younger when I met him. You’d just left and I was at the mall. I swore I saw you and I followed until the man went into the bathroom. I turned the corner and he had me up against the wall asking why I was following him and who was I. Honestly, I didn’t care that he was so upset. I was more disturbed that it wasn’t you.” Scott sipped his water again. He hated thinking back to that time in his life because he was so depressed and sad that Bailey had left.

  “Hey. I’m sorry I left without talking to you.” Bailey sat down at the table and stole his water bottle again he took another sip.

  “Why do you keep doing that? There’s more in the fridge.” Scott stole the bottle back.

  “I just want to taste you. I told you I’d let you have your space and I’d let you think about it, but when I’m around you I want to get as close as I can and stay there. I’m going to grab a water and watch a bit of television so I can keep up my side of the bargain. I can wait for you to work out what you need to.” Bailey did what he said he would and walked out of the kitchen.

  Scott was torn. Should he just keep things the way they were, tell Bailey to look for another place to stay and keep looking for housemates…ones that didn’t make him want to crawl all over them and lick them like ice cream cones. Or should he take a chance, one he’s always wanted to take?

  Getting up from the table, he finished his water and threw the bottle away. The quandary didn’t seem to be getting any easier to figure out. Maybe he’d think better with a shower. If he didn’t come up with an answer under the water, then maybe it w
ould come to him tomorrow. He had to work in the morning and a day being one of Langleyville’s finest was enough to make him think he should just get some shut eye and put the lid on today.

  He didn’t want to rush his answer, but it was clear that this inner conversation had lots of different opinions. His head, his cock and his heart all had different agendas that needed to be addressed, but he just didn’t have it in him to do it tonight. Tomorrow is another day.

  Chapter 9

  Bailey heard Scott leave the kitchen and walk up to his room. As much as it bothered him, maybe he’d have to give up his pursuit of what he wanted with Scott for now. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand why Scott may not want to take a chance on what Bailey wanted. He knew he wasn’t straight, and he understood why this seemed out of the blue to Scott. The man just didn’t know it wasn’t the first time he’d thought about his sexuality and wondered about his straightness or lack thereof. He’d gone out of his way to look at other men before, but he didn’t really feel anything for any other man. He was actually beginning to believe it a fluke? It wasn’t until he’d seen Scott again and the zing, that he’d remembered from before he left, ran through his veins like warm brandy. Maybe he should just focus on himself and get his life together. This issue had taken up too much space in his life. He sat up and thought about calling it a night.

  “What are you watching?” Scott walked in the room, fresh from a shower and Bailey had his answer. He wanted Scott. All the other questions weren’t really important because this dark haired, amber eyed, scruffy faced guy was the damn answer.

  “Some kind of crime show. My thoughts were too loud to hear any of what’s going on. Did you want to see something else?” Bailey held out the television remote.

  He took it out of Bailey’s hands and changed the channel to a sci-fi one, then moved to sit next to him on the couch. Bailey wasn’t sure what to think about the whole thing so he just watched the television. His heart rate sped up and he could feel the throb of his heart beat in his cock. If he thought the ideas that were in his mind before were loud they were practically screaming now.