The Platinum Rebound

by T V Hartwell

  “So what did you mean when you said something about the truth getting out?”

  Charlie sighed deeply. “So how did Jake break up with you? I mean, what did he say?”

  “Basically, that he wasn’t in love with me anymore. He said something about how he had been trying to convince himself that he was still in love with me, but that he really wasn’t and that he couldn’t go through with the wedding. At first it sounded like he just wanted to postpone the wedding. I thought maybe the whole situation with Adam reappearing and flirting with me might’ve upset him more than I realized, but then when he said he no longer was in love with me, I felt as if the wind had gotten knocked out of me. I couldn’t believe what he was saying to me. And he was kind of cold about it. He wasn’t himself at all. I was like thinking to myself, Who are you? Who is this person standing in front of me right now? I don’t know. I’m so confused, Charlie,” Amanda said with a sigh. “Honestly, I don’t get it. I have so many unanswered questions.”

  “That’s all he said, huh?” Charlie asked cryptically. “Have you ever suspected that he might be seeing someone else?”

  “No. Not at all—”

  “Or that he might fool around on the side?”

  “No. I trusted Jake completely. I mean, anything’s possible, but we were so in love. So close and committed to each other. And given how jealous Jake would get when other guys even tried to talk to me, I had every reason to believe that he would never cheat on me. You should’ve seen how furious and hurt he was when I told him that I’d met Adam for a drink.”

  “Well, his reaction to that whole situation was the pot calling the kettle black, honey.”

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  Charlie again sighed deeply, as he did a few moments before. “Unfortunately, I think I might have some answers to your questions,” he said before pausing and staring at her grimly.

  Amanda stared back with a sense of dread, but eager to know. “What? Tell me,” she said, growing uncomfortable and impatient with Charlie’s silence and foreboding.

  “Remember that I guy I introduced you to at The Abbey last month, Antonio?”

  “Yes.”

  “Remember when I jokingly asked him to be my date to your wedding, and he said that he should come with his closeted boyfriend and that it would be shocking?”

  “Right, I remember.”

  “Well, he told me who his secret boyfriend is. And it’s a shock.”

  “Who? Who is it?”

  “Kirbeeee.”

  “Kirby? Kirby Smith?

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Wait. Jake’s best friend, Kirby?”

  “Yep. They’ve been secretly dating, well really, they’ve been secretly fucking ever since they worked together on Hell-bent with Adam.”

  “What? I don’t think I knew Kirby worked with Adam.”

  “He sure did. That’s how he and Antonio met. They were both production assistants on the film. Anyhoo, Kirby’s in the closet, see, and hasn’t wanted anyone to know that he likes to fool around with guys. He’s Mr. Down Low. So Antonio has kept his relationship with him a secret all of this time.”

  “But, wait. Kirby’s had a girlfriend,” Amanda said with a quizzical expression on her face.

  Charlie smirked. “Honey, that doesn’t mean a damn thing. If he’s closeted, how would she know?”

  “Oh my God. Poor Laren,” Amanda said slapping her hands to her cheeks and shaking her head in disbelief.

  “But I haven’t even told you the most shocking part of this. According to Antonio, Kirby’s main squeeze is Jake.”

  Amanda just stared at Charlie in stunned silence, not certain of how to take this news, if even to believe it.

  “They’re in love apparently, and that’s the real reason why Jake called things off.”

  “What?” Amanda said, now agitated. “That’s fucking ridiculous. How would this guy know this? Where did he come up with such a story?”

  “Kirby. He said Kirby told him that he and Jake slept together and have for a while now. Aren’t they roommates?”

  Amanda didn’t reply, but Charlie already knew the answer anyway.

  “He said they slept together and that—”

  “They have their own bedrooms,” Amanda said with an irritable tone, wanting to scream at Charlie for repeating this outlandish accusation.

  “That’s doesn’t mean that they might not share a bed every now and again. Now just hear me out. I know you’re upset,” Charlie said, seeing the growing rage in Amanda’s face. “You have to understand, I would never tell you this if I didn’t think there was something to it. I mean think about it. What does Antonio have to gain by making all this up? He said Kirby liked him because he would basically bottom for him on demand. He said Kirby’s hung like a horse and Antonio gets off on that. But, anyway, he said Kirby and Jake have secretly been lovers for a long time, but that Jake wouldn’t bottom for him, so Kirby sought out other guys for that. He said that he’d even caught Kirby on Grindr before. He had a picture of his torso up on there, and Antonio recognized it. And his screen name is Black Mamba which Antonio knows is Kirby’s nickname for his cock.”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe this. None of this proves that Jake and Kirby are lovers. Maybe Antonio’s just jealous of their friendship because they’re so close and he’s just assuming things.”

  “Well, he also said that he’d once had a threesome with Jake and Kirby,” Charlie shot back, salivating at the opportunity to share this particular detail. Amanda’s face immediately turned flush. “It’s really bad,” Charlie continued in a foreboding tone, feeling sad and heartbroken for Amanda while also secretly relishing being the first to spill the tea on such an explosive story. He hadn’t even shared with Lucy what he knew because she would’ve wanted to be the one to tell Amanda, but Charlie wanted to deliver the news to her himself. “I really don’t want to tell you this, but I feel I should. I think it’s important for you to know the truth. I can’t stand the thought of you holed up and suffering when there’s this whole other aspect to the story. But if this is too much for you take right now, I completely understand, sweetie. Believe me.”

  Amanda looked at Charlie suspiciously, fighting to maintain a sense of skepticism at his words, but her veneer of confidence was starting to crack. “The guy’s claiming to have had a threesome with my fiancé and his best friend. How much worse can it get? Go on. Please tell,” she said stoically, resigned to hearing the worst.

  “Okay. So he claims to have had a threesome with Jake and Kirby at their place in the Hollywood Hills and says that while Kirby fucked him in the ass, Jake fucked him in the mouth.”

  Amanda’s heart sank to her stomach, immediately feeling faint as she dropped her head down. No longer able to maintain her stealth defiance and composure in the face of such a salacious accusation, she began to cry softy.

  “Oh, Amanda. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry,” Charlie said as he too began to tear up, all the joy of gossip gone, evaporated by the hurt and sadness he felt for his friend. “You know, this all confirms what I’ve suspected all along. My gaydar is ninety-nine percent accurate most of the time, and I always told you that I picked up a gay vibe from Jake. He’s too good-looking and too into his looks and maintaining such a flawless physique to be one hundred percent straight.”

  Hanging on to a string, Amanda managed to speak. “But that doesn’t mean he’s into other guys,” she said wistfully, not sure. “Did you really believe that Jake was gay all this time?”

  “Well . . . no, I wouldn’t say gay, but he always struck me as someone who’d been with guys before. I mean, he must be bisexual, considering how long he was with you. But he always seemed more comfortable around gay men than your typical straight guy. You know, he’s flirtatious and would always give me the eye, like he was trying to connect with me on some level or send me a signal or something. I mean, I’m not saying that he was trying to hook up with me or anything like that, but you know wha
t I mean.”

  Amanda turned her head away in annoyance so that Charlie wouldn’t see her roll her eyes at his insinuation. It’s not about you, Charlie. Jake doesn’t want to fuck you. Dream on, honey, she said in her head as feelings of belligerence, anger, pain, and betrayal all rose within her at once.

  “I can’t believe this,” Amanda said, shaking her head in denial while wiping away tears. “When did this guy . . . Antonio, tell you all of this?”

  “A couple of weekends ago. In fact, it was the night your wedding was supposed to be. Since it was cancelled, I ended up making plans to have a drink with him.”

  “But why was he telling you all of this now? Aren’t he and Kirby still together? Isn’t their relationship supposed to be a secret?”

  “Well, no. That’s my point. Kirby and Jake are together now, allegedly. Antonio said that Kirby told him a few weeks ago that he’d broken up with his girlfriend, but then when he heard from Adam that your wedding had been called off he put two and two together because then he spoke to Kirby who told him that he was about leave to go on a trip to Hawaii with Jake.”

  Amanda gasped and looked at Charlie stunned. “Kirby went to Hawaii with Jake?”

  “Apparently so. They were there together last week is my understanding.”

  “I knew that Jake went to Hawaii, but I thought he went alone.”

  “How did you know?”

  “My friend Kerry told me a couple of days ago.”

  “Who’s she?”

  “She’s Will’s fiancée. I can’t recall if you’ve met them, but he and Jake were frat brothers and are still close friends. We all know each other from Stanford.”

  “Interesting. Sounds like Jake and Kirby had their little escape to Hawaii planned all along.”

  “So I wonder if this is what Adam had been trying to tell me,” Amanda said aloud to herself as Charlie rambled on over her, making further innuendo. I need to call Adam.

  * * *

  Chapter Eight

  After Jake had told him the truth about what led to his breakup with Amanda and that he needed more space, Kirby took the news in stride. It wasn’t what he’d expected or wanted to hear, but he went the extra mile to keep his best buddy cap on for Jake’s sake, acting like he was just another one of the bros, while setting aside his own mixed feelings and emotions. He kept up a sanguine outlook and disposition, as he and Jake spent the rest of their time together mostly at the beach, bodysurfing, swimming, running, and just being extra careful not to get on the other’s nerves. Kirby even heeded Jake’s words about sleeping separately in their own beds without further protest or drama. And not wanting to push his luck, he was careful not to make any further sexual advances toward Jake either.

  On their last full day on the island they went on a hike in the mountains, off the beaten path and away from the more heavily visited and touristy hiking trails. They had packed lunch and snacks and plenty of water, intending to make it a day long excursion. As they made their way up the mountain and into the tropical forest, their animated conversation turned to silence as they quietly beheld the beauty and serenity of the lush green peaks and valleys of the mountainous terrain that encircled them.

  After walking for forty-five minutes they stopped to take a break before they continued to walk farther and farther away from any signs of human activity or passersby along the trail. “Where are you taking me?” Kirby eventually asked with a small degree of trepidation as they made their way deeper into a rain forest of lush bamboo, ferns, and other native plants.

  “You’ll see. It’s a surprise,” Jake said as they walked along a narrow path adjacent to a tranquil stream lined with boulders and smaller slabs of rock that the moving water gracefully cascaded over and around.

  “I like a little adventure, but this is kind of crazy and we’re the only ones I see out here now.”

  “What, are you scared?”

  “Hell yeah,” Kirby answered comically. “What is this? Fucking Jurassic Park? I don’t want to get eaten by dinosaurs, man. What are trying to do, get us killed? Is that why you lured me out here? Am I your plus one on a suicide mission?”

  Jake chuckled and rolled his eyes at Kirby and his melodrama as he continued leading the way.

  “But seriously, this actually looks a lot like the scenery from the movie.”

  “Yeah . . . it does,” Jake replied. “Well, you know, they shot that film over here, at least part of it.”

  “You mean right here, in this location?”

  “I’m not sure if it was here on Maui or one of the other islands. It might’ve been Oahu actually.”

  As Kirby followed behind Jake, the thought of the two of them alone in a forest with no other souls in sight engaging in unadulterated, lustful, passionate sex, crossed his mind more than once. If you were taking me all this way for a hot fuck, this would be worth it, he thought. But Jake seemed all too serious about putting the freeze on any sexual activity between them for the remainder of their trip, so the farther they went, the more pent-up frustration Kirby felt at not being able to touch his boy in such an isolated environment that seemed so ideal for a little one-on-one in the great outdoors.

  It had been a little more than an hour since they’d begun their trek up the mountain and into the forest that now engulfed them. Kirby began to grow increasingly agitated, Where the hell is the guy taking us? he wondered, as they were now no longer even on the trail path. Jake had taken a detour that wouldn’t have been apparent to most, except for locals who were in the know. Despite his best efforts to conceal his growing agitation, Kirby’s sulking and quiet sighing could still be heard and Jake felt the need to offer some reassurance.

  “Okay! We’re almost there,” he said enthusiastically. “Just a few more yards.”

  “So what is it that you’re so excited about taking me to?”

  “You’ll see. Patience, my friend. Patience.”

  “This better be good.”

  As they continued to walk toward the destination, only known to Jake at that point, they intercepted the quiet, peaceful stream they’d encountered twenty minutes earlier except now the stream seemed to have a bit of a roar and the water moved more quickly. Kirby could hear the faint sound of crashing water up ahead, but he couldn’t tell what it was just yet. Then as they turned slightly away from the stream, making their way past a dense thicket of bamboo, palms, and ferns, an opening on the horizon came into view, a gorge of some sort just off in the distance. Jake remained quiet as Kirby moved his head to look with a furrowed brow, trying to comprehend what they were approaching. “What is that?” he finally said just before it became obvious. They saw the flow of water from the stream appear once again and watched it fall over a cliff and into the most beautiful, crystal clear, turquoise pond of freshwater imaginable.

  “Oh my God!” Kirby exclaimed with a look of wide-eyed amazement on his face. “Wow. That’s unbelievable. Look at that.”

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Jake said, grinning from ear to ear at Kirby’s delighted reaction.

  “How did you know about this place?” Kirby asked in wonderment, seeing how isolated and secluded the pond was and with no one else in sight; only the two of them initially.

  “I first learned about this place when we were still in high school. When we had our other vacation house in Wailea, I came here with a guy I used to be friends with and his dad. They were locals so they knew about hideaway places like this. You can’t even find this place on a tourist map because there’s no trail path to it. You can only find it by recognizing markers.”

  “I was wondering how you knew where you were going. I’m amazed at how well you know your way around that forest.”

  “Well, I’ve come here many times since high school. At least once a year over the last ten or so years,” he said as Kirby pulled out his camera.

  They stood there in silence for a few moments as Kirby snapped a few photos, taking in the beauty of the place while Jake reminisced quietly to himself about
the past. “This is where I proposed to Amanda,” he said suddenly in somewhat awkward fashion before looking away from Kirby to stare back down at the pond as he began to feel a sense of sadness and loss at the memory.

  “Oh yeah. So this is the pond, huh? I remember now, and how annoyed Amanda was with you for dragging her through a jungle for over an hour.”

  Jake chuckled at the recollection of it. It was the week after he had graduated from Stanford Law. He and Amanda came to Maui to get away and celebrate his achievement and their reunion. They had just reunited a little more than a month earlier, after their year-long breakup, and as promised, Jake proposed to her the correct way, on bended knee with a ring in tow. “Yeah, but just like you, she was smiling and happy once we got here. I got down on one knee right here, pulled the ring out of my pocket, said a bunch of sweet nothings before popping the question, she cried and said yes, and then we went for a dip. And the rest is . . .” he started to say before catching himself, not wanting to dwell on a history that ended prematurely and far differently than planned. “Want to join me for a swim?” Jake said, quickly changing the subject and pulling off his shirt in the process, ready and eager to dive in.

  For Kirby, the rest of the scene was a like a dream come true.

  ***

  After stripping down to their briefs, they dived into the warm pool, swimming and frolicking around like school boys. They took turns standing under the waterfall, basking in its soothing, therapeutic spray as it showered down on them. At one point, while Jake stood under the waterfall, Kirby came upon him from behind to tackle him, but Jake was able to regain his footing just enough to prevent them from completely falling over. However, Kirby held on to him not wanting to let go. As Jake tried to wrestle himself out of Kirby’s embrace, he slipped around to face him while laughing and still trying to get away. “I’m not letting you go this time,” Kirby said, smiling in the midst of their playfulness, but with sincerity in his tone.