by LL Dahlin
“Step closer to the wall.” Scott was still in officer mode even though he sounded like he’d run to chase down a perpetrator for a couple of miles. “Give me your left hand.”
Bailey did as he said, but as his mind cleared he could hear more noises around them. He didn’t think they were close, but he wasn’t sure he’d been that quiet. Scott removed the handcuff he’d placed on one wrist and, with the scraping of his hands on the bricks and the hand around his cock, he’d forgotten all about that piece of hardware.
“Fix yourself, Bailey, and let’s go.”
He put himself together and shook his head. “I’m really not drunk, Scott. I can drive myself home. Plus, you never found my keys.” Bailey pulled them out of his pocket and dangled them in front of Scott before the man snatched them and put them in his pocket.
“We both work here tomorrow night. I’ll drive you back and you can get your car then.” Scott seemed to inspect Bailey to make sure everything was back in order like he was going to walk through the parking lot with his cock out. If he did, he didn’t think anyone would care. Scott then looked around the alleyway like he was expecting trouble.
“What’s your deal?” Bailey asked as he followed Scott to his car.
“Just keeping my eyes on our surroundings. We’ve had some trouble with people who aren’t the friendliest to gay men and get their jollies giving us a hard time on a good day, but trying to do physical harm on bad ones.” Scott clicked his key fob that unlocked both of the doors and got in.
Bailey hadn’t even thought of anything like that. He knew there were a good number of people who didn’t appreciate anything other than heterosexuality, but until this moment he’d not considered himself a part of the homosexual community.
“I can see that this part of being interested in men hadn’t really crossed your mind.” Scott started the car.
“It really hadn’t. I didn’t mean to put us in harm’s way. If I would have thought that through I would have made you use your officer Scotty voice on me at home. I just found this place earlier and when you came to collect me from my spot in the bar I thought nothing of using it.”
“It’s fine. All’s well that ends well, right?”
Bailey watched the light from the passing street lights cross Scott’s face. He wasn’t sure if he could be this nonchalant about violence that loomed around the bar for no other reason than the jerks on the outside didn’t like the sexual preferences of the men inside. “There has to be a way to protect people from that kind of small-minded prejudice.”
“We try our best. Security inside and out…people keeping their ears and eyes open. The haters have been around for a long time and if there is a way to protect people from them completely, we’ve yet to find it.” Scott looked briefly over to Bailey. “Not having sex outside the building so they can be caught unaware is a start.”
“Um, I was just figuring that out. You could have stopped me at any time, though.” Bailey was not going to feel bad about the hot situation that occurred outside, but now that he had more knowledge he wouldn’t make the same mistake again, because he understood why that might not be a good idea.
Scott shook his head, but he had a small smile on his face. “So how was your date?”
Bailey smiled at Scott’s tone because it was one he’d heard a million times from him. Not now, but in their distant past. Each and every time he’d done something with Honey without him, Scott would try to casually ask about it. “Beautiful woman, nice face, well put together…Ollie went out of his way to find this one. She was charming and attractive.”
“Hmmm.” Scott kept his eyes on the road, but his hands tightened on the steering wheel. He remembered this response as well and knew that if he didn’t say another thing that would be the end of the conversation.
“She was pretty great and the food was delicious, but I left early and headed over to The Male Box.” Bailey couldn’t help but to study Scott as he took in all the information.
“When is your next date?”
“You ask a lot of questions for a guy who pushes me into a date with one hand, but jacks me off, and comes in his pants as he humps me in an alleyway in the other.” Bailey wasn’t sure why being with Scott was difficult for the man as he would have thought it would be something he would have been pleased with but each step was like walking through quicksand. He never knew what he’d do to make Scott disappear. It was worse than walking on egg shells and he was so sick of it.
“Yeah, I know. I’m not making my position clear.”
“Not in the least, but I’m hoping that this excursion into the night to interrupt my time with the sweet assed dancer is going to end with more clarity than I have now.” Bailey turned in time to see them turning up to Scott’s mountain and he held on to the handle above the door. The look on Scott’s face was of determination and he knew that this drive was a lot to maneuver the man had been doing this at least once a day for a few years and it shouldn’t have taken this much concentration, but he gave the man a bit of time to get his thoughts together. They’d made it up the hill and Scott turned off the car, but he still didn’t say anything. “Alright, dude. I’m going to bed.”
“Wait.” Scott put his hand on Bailey’s chest like he was trying to keep him in the seat.
Bailey looked over and was glad that the man had put in sensor lights that turned on as soon as you got close to the house because he could see Scott’s face clearly. It was clear there was a lot going on inside his head. “Yeah?”
“When did you meet Eric?”
Bailey took a deep breath because the dancer who’d befriended him in the bar wasn’t what he wanted to talk about but he didn’t want the conversation to end. “I met him tonight. He said the guys had told him I’d be working there soon and he wanted to introduce himself.”
“He just walked up to you and said that? Then what happened?” Scott was still looking forward. It was like the man was talking to him on the telephone for as much as he looked at him. On the other hand, Bailey couldn’t keep his gaze off Scott.
“Why? I’m sure he does that every day with a different person. It’s the nature of the bar.” Bailey just wanted a shower and to go to sleep. He had therapy with Honey in the morning and she kicked his ass enough when he was rested, but tomorrow would be more difficult than usual.
“You’re right. That is the nature of most of the people in that bar, but Eric is a bit different. He doesn’t mix with the staff or the customers on any level except to accept tips.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. He came over, introduced himself and then started a drinking game to figure out my name. When he guessed wrong, he’d drink and when I guessed something about him based on looks and was wrong, I drank. Good thing you showed up neither of us are good at guessing.” Bailey smiled, thinking of the attractive man who’d kept coming back after his sets.
“So you liked Eric?” Scott’s voice was quiet and so flat it almost didn’t sound like Scott. Bailey knew all about this mood because he’d seen it so often before he’d left and maybe deep down he’d always known that the boy was into him. It was possible that he liked it then as well as he did now, but he hadn’t been willing to look into it at that time.
“I did like him. Very much. He was fun, witty, attractive…and…He was into me.” Bailey opened up the car door and got out before turning to lean bacl down into the car. “But he’s no you.”
Chapter 14
“He’s no you.”
The words ran through Scott’s head just as softly as they were when they were uttered. Bailey had closed the car door and headed into the house without him. He was going to have to do something. Shit or get off the pot, as his father would say. Scott got out of the car, walked to the house and opened the door, but Bailey was nowhere to be found. He did hear the shower though. He walked toward the sound praying that the part of him that could come up with language that communicated what he really meant would come back at this time and help him with Bailey
but it was as it had been…silent.
Bailey sang in the shower like he hadn’t a care in the world and it was true the man probably didn’t. He was out of the military and working on his next stage of what to do with his life, he was in his hometown, had a bit of money saved up and people liked him. It was Scott who felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had been given his teenaged fantasy come true in the form of his ultimate crush living in his home and the man actually wanting some form of physical attention from him. If it weren’t for the promise he’d made his brother about doing anything to drive Bailey away again and fear that this experiment the man was having during his ‘what’s life all about’ phase would kill him when it was over and he actually went back to anything that didn’t include him in the co-star role he’d just roll with the punches. Scott stopped at that thought. Was he crazy? He was going to live a life regretting not just rolling with the punches with Bailey, if he didn’t. The decision was made.
Scott knocked on the bathroom door after the water had turned off and after a minute or so the door opened and revealed Bailey with only a white towel he’d wrapped around his hips.
“Yes, Scott?” Bailey dried his hair and torso with another towel as he looked at himself in the mirror and Scott was transformed into the teen who used to marvel in the masculinity that was Bailey. He was tall, dark and the moderate amount of hair he had on his chest always made Scott want to rub his face on the man’s chest and breathe in his scent. “Scott?”
Scott snapped out of the teen fantasy he’d been reliving and moved into the bathroom. “I was wrong to run from you…from this. As long as you want experience and I’m here…you’ve got it.”
Bailey’s eyes darkened and Scott wondered if that came from what he said or from what he meant. It didn’t matter because either way Scott was excited by the prospect of having his favorite fantasy at his ready and available to him.
“Maybe then I’ll be able to graduate past coming in my pants as well. Let me take a shower and then we can work more of this out,” Scott said as he backed out of the door.
Bailey nodded and Scott turned to go to his room to get the stuff he needed to take a shower. When he returned the bathroom was empty. Scott turned on the water and it rained hot and hard onto his body, he remembered that Bailey hadn’t really said anything while he was in the bathroom except to ask him what he wanted in the beginning, but Bailey was a big boy and if he had a problem with everything he’d tell him, of that he was pretty sure. Scott was soaped up and ready to rinse for the second time when he heard the bathroom door open and then he was standing face to face with a now naked Bailey. Whatever he’d imagined and what he’d actually seen had nothing on actually looking at this tall, lean, buffed out man in his bathroom with the lights on and desire in his eyes.
“I thought you might like some help.” Bailey looked at Scott for confirmation and closed the frosted door behind him after Scott nodded. The roomy shower for one became a bit snug for two men, but Scott wasn’t complaining one bit.
“A friend in need…is a friend indeed.” Scott wanted to shake his head at how corny that was, but was rewarded with a laugh from Bailey.
“You always burst out with things like that when you don’t know what to say.” Bailey had reached for Scott and joined him as much as he could under the water spray pulling him close to him. “You can’t tell me I make you nervous.”
Scott shook his head, but he wasn’t all together sure he wasn’t lying. “Maybe a little.”
Bailey leaned back a little to look into Scott’s face. “Are you really?” The man sounded a bit shocked and Scott wondered if he knew how much he’d been into him before he left so many years ago.
Scott shrugged. “I’m just happy you’re out of the military and here to have a bit of fun with me.”
“So, officer, what do we do now?” Bailey was really just rubbing his hands all over Scott’s body and it was relaxing and cool after the hot interaction they’d had in the alley.
“I have work in the morning and at night so after this shower, I say we talk for a bit and sort the rest out as we go.” Scott turned off the water then turned back to Bailey. The man was wet and naked, but they were both worn out. Hooking the larger man by the back of his neck Scott pulled him down for a kiss. He wanted it to be a thank you for not thinking Scott was an asshole and ending this situation before he could get his mind together, but the moans that came from Scott’s throat made him turn this simple kiss into a more intricate one.
Bailey groaned back at him as he got into the kiss and pinched his fingers around the ring in his right nipple. “This doesn’t bode well for getting some sleep soon.”
Scott laughed and pushed Bailey back a little. “You’re right.” He got out of the shower and started drying off with a towel when the towel was taken and Bailey finished the job for him before walking out of the bathroom and into the room where Bailey slept. Scott followed him and watched him put on a pair of black boxer briefs.
“We don’t have much time to sleep,” Scott said as he watched Bailey in the mirror.
“No, we don’t. You get up pretty early and it’s really late now.”
“Maybe I’ll just sleep in here.” Now Scott knew that this argument had no basis but he wasn’t ready to admit that now that he’d made up his mind about letting go of this situation and allowing the Bailey cards to fall where they may, he didn’t want to waste a single second of the time he could be spending with him.
Bailey stared at him like he was trying to figure him out, but in the end he pulled down the comforter and crawled into bed. “You are welcome in whatever bed I’m in at any time.”
Scott turned off the light by the door and found the bed in the darkness. The same darkness that witnessed the broad smile that was plastered across his face. He laid down next to Bailey and took a deep breath in. Now that he was this far in what to do, he was unsure. Snuggle up with him? Maybe that was too much. Lay, like he was on the other side of the mattress? That wouldn’t be bad since he still had his way of lying in bed with Bailey.
“You are thinking so loud it’s disturbing me.” Bailey pulled Scott into the warmth of his huge body and Scott relaxed into him. “That’s so much better, isn’t it?”
“If you say so,” Scott replied cheekily. He was sexually satisfied, and happy, but Bailey talking to him in the dark room had Scott growing a half chub even as his exhausted body fought sleep.
Bailey moved his hand down to cup Scott’s cock and balls casually. Like it was a ritual he’d done to himself, but now used Scott since he was in that space. He gave a soft squeeze that was more comforting than arousing but that chuckle was pure filthy. “I do say so.”
Chapter 15
Bailey woke up in his bed alone and the bright sun told him Honey would be here at any moment. He got up and noticed he had a text message.
Bailey,
You are a cover hog, but it doesn’t matter because you give off body heat like a furnace. I’ll be home around four. If you want, we can get something to eat before heading off to The Male Box. Let me know if you want me to pick something up. S.
Bailey stood smiling at his phone because he’d not been sure the carefree-ish attitude and the ability to stay with him for more than 20 minutes without looking like he was stalking the door was great. He went to the bathroom and put on his PT attire of sweatpants and a t shirt. The doorbell rang and Bailey was ready.
The workouts were getting easier and more manageable. Bailey was pleased with how Honey seemed to get what she needed from him in a way that wasn’t nagging or irritating. She just moved him from one exercise to the next, but suddenly Bailey had questions about their past.
“Honey?”
“Hmm?” She was writing down something in the little book she brought out when he was training.
“Why did you leave me in high school?” Bailey really wanted the answer to the question that plagued him so much lately.
Honey put down th
e pad of paper and looked at him. “Why do you want to go over this now? That was so far in the past.”
“I get that, but I didn’t understand it then and I really don’t understand it now. Here you are coming all the way up this mountain two to three times a week, for no payment, and we sit here acting like there wasn’t a time you broke my heart so bad I left town.” Bailey watched her as she fiddled with the pad of paper and her pen.
“That wasn’t how it was, Bailey and you know it.” Honey put the pen and paper down and stood up to walk toward the window.
“Really? That’s how it seemed to me, so if it seemed like something else from your perspective, I’d love to hear it.”
Honey wasn’t one to fidget, but she was doing it now. “Do you like Scott?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Bailey stopped his work out to concentrate on her.
“We went to his 18th birthday together,” Honey said and then stopped. “Well, we were supposed to go together, but then I offered to help put things together before people got there for the party.”
Bailey didn’t really remember the details, but vaguely remembers her not being with him when he arrived. “Okay.”
“I saw you from the time you got out of your car. I was always so proud to have a boyfriend like you. Everyone always looked at me with wonder.” Honey had a smile on her face as she took this solo trip down memory lane. She wasn’t really looking at Bailey. It was like she was telling him a story about someone else. “I was the geeky preacher’s kid that never got into any trouble and wasn’t allowed to wear the newest fashions or make-up like everyone else, but somehow I ended up with the cutest boy in school who was such a faithful boyfriend girls asked me for advice.”