by Nicola Haken
Ryder’s horn sounded outside. I knew it was his because he was an impatient little shit. After grabbing my bag from my room I hooked it over my body and headed out towards the elevators, making my way down to meet him.
The ride to the studio was pretty quiet. It didn’t surprise me because like I said, that’s just how things had been rolling lately. Every so often I would glance over to him. The perfectly styled quiff in his dark hair was dancing from the breeze blowing through his window, his green eyes had a dark tinge to them as if he didn’t get enough sleep and his hands were gripped firmly on both sides of the wheel. I watched as the roses twisted and morphed as he flexed his fingers and I started to remember them being wrapped around my dick. My pants grew tight and I smiled at the memory. Then it quickly melted away when I remembered that night was the only explanation for the distance between us lately.
You’d never know what went on inside Back Door Studios from the exterior of the building. There were no signs, just a bare brick building of four floors with floor-to-ceiling windows in each room. Though I figured someone must know something today, because when we pulled up the building was surrounded by a mass of photographers with their cameras clicking and flashing when we got out the car.
When we walked inside we bumped into Gio who told us Ivan was waiting for us all on the second floor. Ryder and I jogged up the stairs, finding everyone in what Ivan referred to as his office, but it was really just a large room with a desk and sofa that you couldn’t sit on because of the amount of boxes and junk cluttering the space.
I was surprised to walk in and see Sawyer and Jake there - though it explained the press outside - chatting to a guy who was turned away from us. He had dark blond, shaggy hair just past his chin and was wearing ripped black jeans and a white shirt.
“Hey, guys,” Sawyer greeted when he saw us. “Mason, this is Matt.”
“Hey,” I said casually when the guy turned around, shaking his proffered hand. Of course I knew who he was – Matt Reynolds, world renowned drummer for Souls of the Knight. I played it cool of course. I didn’t want to look like an idiot like I did when I first met Sawyer.
“Matt!” Ryder practically sang, bringing him into a hug. “What are you doing here, mate?”
“I’m back, motherfuckers!” Matt replied, holding his arms out wide in the air. “Started travelling, but that shit is lonely. So I came back.”
“You’re staying in LA?”
“Yeah. For now at least. Figured I live here so I might as well. Not sure how long I’m gonna be able to put up with my mom visiting every day though. But at least I don’t have to do my own laundry.”
“So what are you doing here? In a porn studio?”
“Bored. Plus, I didn’t know you guys only did gay porn. I was hoping to bump into a few pretty pussies,” Matt said, sighing with disappointment. Jake rolled his eyes and Sawyer shook his head.
“What are any of you guys doing here?” I asked, confused why they were attending the mysterious meeting too.
“Hey, boys,” Ivan said, coming up behind us and clapping me and Ry on the shoulder. “Who are we still waiting on?”
“Gio’s downstairs I think,” I answered. I scanned the room, and the rest of us seemed to be here.
“I’m here, I’m here!” Gio announced, bursting into the room. “Just grabbing a coffee.”
“Okay, boys. Might as well cut to the chase – Sawyer and Jake here are buying out Mack’s side of the business.” There were a few gasps, a couple of ‘Holy fuck’s’ and then a huge cheer from Matt. Me however, well I just stood there with my jaw open. “Mack and I have had a few disagreements; some pretty serious ones that ultimately put the business in jeopardy. Thanks to Ryder here,” Ivan said, coming over to put his hand on Ryder’s shoulder. “We’ve got new investors and everything’s gonna be okay.”
“No way is Sawyer fucking Knight gonna be our boss!” Taylor beamed, clapping his hands together. Most of the guys had already met Sawyer. No one was star struck every time he entered the building anymore. But still sometimes, even for me, being in a room with him hit you with a holy fuck moment.
“I’m not your boss,” Sawyer said, grinning. “Silent partners only.”
“Whatever,” Taylor shrugged. “You won’t be able to keep away.”
Taylor was right. Once Sawyer and Jake first visited the studio they quickly struck up friendships with Ivan and some of the guys and they’d been back regularly since.
“Dude!” Matt exclaimed, shoulder bumping Sawyer. “Why the fuck didn’t I know about this? A fucking porn studio! It’s every man’s dream! I mean obviously this one wouldn’t be for me, but with you bein’ a butt banger this must be fuckin’ heaven for you.”
“I didn’t tell you ‘cause you can’t even take a shit without announcing it to the world,” Sawyer shot back.
“Hey! I can keep secrets, asshole.”
“Matt, you once told a reporter you checked out horse porn when you were a teenager. You can not keep secrets.”
“I was fifteen! Everything’s hot when you’re fifteen.”
“Horses? Seriously?” Ryder interjected, laughing. “Mate, you’ve got issues.”
“Anyway, boys,” Ivan began. “The important thing is nothing is going to change around here, and you’ll all have your pay checks by the end of the week.”
Thank fuck.
“Any questions?” he added.
“Yeah,” Matt piped up. “So when-”
“He didn’t mean you,” Jake cut him off.
“Jeez. I thought you gays were all supposed to be like welcoming and friendly and shit.”
“Don’t believe the hype.”
“I think I speak for everyone when I say welcome aboard, guys,” Gio said, walking forward to shake Sawyer and Jake’s hands.
“So can we go now? I didn’t get to bed till 4 AM,” Taylor added through a jaw-splitting yawn.
“Yeah I guess so,” Ivan answered. “Just wanted to let you all know in person. But if you’re all happy with the decision, then you can get the hell outta here,” he tacked on, winking. One by one the guys left, some of them stopping to pat Sawyer and Jake on the shoulder. When the room was quieter I ambled over to Ryder.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, feeling irrationally offended.
“Wasn’t my secret to tell,” he shrugged.
“So this has got nothing to do with the fact you’ve been being weird with me lately?”
“I’m not being weird,” he denied. His voice sounded certain but the fact his eyes swept the floor rather than my face told me everything I needed to know. “We’re cool.”
“It’s because we slept together isn’t it?”
“Stop it, Mase. I’m fine. We’re fine. Look I gotta go get ready for my scene.”
And just like that, he was gone.
**********
“So you’re the one who lives with Ry, huh?” Matt’s voice surprised me and I opened my eyes. I was kicking back on one of the beds at the back of the set with my hands folded behind my head.
“It’s only temporary,” I corrected. “I’m looking for my own place.” Matt sat down beside me on the bed, crossing his ankles and scanning the room. “What are you doing in here anyway?”
“Bored. Saw and Jake are still sorting through shit with the big man.”
“You know they’re filming right now?”
“Who?” he asked, looking puzzled. “Not that old guy?” he added, wrinkling his nose as he looked Mark up and down.
“That’s the photographer,” I explained, smiling in amusement. “They’re just taking a break. Ry needs to, um, regain focus.”
“What do you mea…oooooh. Captain Horn’s gone off duty, huh.”
Ryder once told me he prided himself on never having to take a fluff break, so this was yet more confirmation that he wasn’t himself.
“They’re back,” I said, nodding towards the other end of the room. “If you don’t wanna see it, now’s the ti
me to escape.”
“It’s just fucking, man,” he shrugged. “Nothin’ else to do around here.”
“Then the second Ivan says ‘we’re on’ you gotta be real quiet.”
I suspected that was going to be quite a challenge for Matt, until I saw him watching Ry and Taylor get into position with what looked like curiosity in his eyes. He soon lost interest and started looking around the room, tapping his fingers against his legs as if he were playing the drums.
I caught myself watching them too. Every time Ryder’s hand brushed against Taylor’s bare skin I couldn’t help remembering what it felt like when he did that to me, the way his soft fingers trailed along my arm, making the hairs there stand on edge in the wake of his touch…and yet now he rarely even sat next to me.
Frustrated, I tipped my head back and closed my eyes, only to have them fly back open when Matt shoved into my shoulder.
“Dude is he…” he stared across the room at the bed where Ryder and Taylor were filming, his face wrinkled up and cocked to one side. “Holy fuck he is! Four! Four fucking fingers!”
I followed Matt’s gaze and sure enough Taylor was about to stick a fourth finger into Ryder’s ass. I chuckled quietly, shaking my head at Matt’s reaction.
“I feel like I’ve just had acid thrown into my eyes,” he said, yet funnily enough didn’t take his eyes off the scene. “How is that even possible?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s an ass! They’re like tiny holes. How the fuck is he getting all those fingers up there?”
“They’re surprisingly stretchy,” I said, trying to reign in my laughter so I didn’t interrupt the scene.
“Well I tried sticking two up a chicks ass once and she screamed the fucking place down. She seemed like my usual type too.”
“And what’s that?”
“Up for anything. There’s nothing better than a hot, tight ass. But I’m sure you know that already.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, smiling.
We spent the rest of the shoot pretty quiet but I did notice Matt’s eyes wander over to the bed a few times. He looked more curious than anything and it was really quite amusing. In all honesty, I was surprised he didn’t bail the second Taylor unwrapped the condom.
Once the scene was finished Matt went off to grab a drink from the vending machine and I headed to Ivan’s office to hang out with Sawyer and Jake until Ryder was ready to take us back to his place. They were finished sorting through whatever business stuff they were going through and so I sat down with them and somehow we ended up arranging a night out tomorrow. They were so cute to watch sometimes. They were hardly full on with PDA but every so often you’d catch Jake touching Sawyer’s knee, or Sawyer grazing Jake’s hand with his knuckles. I loved what they had together and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope to find that kind of connection myself someday.
“Seriously,” Matt said when he joined us in Ivan’s office. “I need to find out more about ass holes.”
“What the hell?” Sawyer asked.
“I just walked past three guys, and the one on the couch had two dicks up there at the same time. How did I not know those little glory holes could fit so much in? I live for sex. I should know this shit.”
“Dude, there is something seriously wrong with you,” Sawyer replied, shaking his head.
“Hey, we’re going out tomorrow night. You coming?” I asked Matt.
“Let me guess, it’s a butt bandit bar right?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck it. Why the hell not? I could do with meeting some more of your species anyway.”
“Species?” I laughed.
“Yeah. You gay types. I need to know how to get a chick to let me destroy her ass like you guys do to each other.”
“I doubt you’ll find many people with a huge deal of experience with chicks.”
“An ass is an ass,” he shrugged. “Count me in.”
“You guys planning something without me?” Ryder appeared in the doorway, showered and dressed with a towel around his neck.
“Night at Kaleidoscope tomorrow,” Sawyer answered. “You in?”
“What kind of dumb question is that? Of course I’m in.”
“You ready to go?” I asked Ryder, standing from my seat.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “See you guys tomorrow!” he called over his shoulder, already out the door. I picked up my pace into a soft sprint, trying to catch up with him.
“Great scene,” I complimented, feeling the familiar awkwardness between us.
“Thanks.”
Figuring one word answers was all I was likely to get, I followed Ry out to the car in silence. The journey home went pretty much the same way, as did the rest of the day. So, by 8 PM, I went to my bedroom, ran through all my social media notifications, and then went the fuck to sleep.
**********
The next night we went to Kaleidoscope as planned. Three hours in and Matt and Ry were completely wasted, dancing with Gio and Taylor, while Sawyer, Jake and I remained quietly buzzed on one of the couches in the corner.
“Well something’s eating him,” Jake continued. They’d noticed Ryder had been ‘off’ – as Sawyer put it – lately and wondered if we’d had a disagreement.
“I dunno,” I shrugged. “So you guys are really doing this, huh? Buying into the studio,” I said, taking the focus away from Ryder because it was making me feel uncomfortable.
“Yeah,” Jake concurred. “We’re only silent partners of course, but it’s good to have something to focus on after giving up my career in security. Although, I never would’ve imagined my change in direction would be this.”
“Me either. But the guys seem to love you two, I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”
“Well I don’t know about you guys but it’s ruined watching porn for me,” Sawyer piped up before taking another chug of his beer. “Seeing how it’s made takes all the fun out of it.”
“Good job you’ve got me in your mind to wank off to then, eh?” Jake teased. Jake was a very serious soul. He wasn’t often crude or humorous, which made it all the more fun when he was.
“You know, I’ve heard a lot of the guys say they watch straight porn. Just mixes things up a little.”
“Yeah?”
“Apparently so.”
Another hour passed and Sawyer and Jake had joined the rest of the gang on the wasted wagon. By this point I was of the mindset, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, so I headed towards the bar to order something stronger than beer.
“I’ll take a double vodka and Sprite please,” I said to the barman. I watched him more intently than I should as he turned and bent down towards the shelf that housed the glasses behind him. Holy fuck he was walking, talking sex with an ass I could almost hear begging to be taken.
“See you’ve m-met my buddy Alex,” Matt slurred from his stool at the bar as the bartender, Alex I presumed, brought my drink to me. “Alex this is Mason. He’s my b-best friend in the whooooole world.”
“Oh yeah?” Alex said, laughing at the fool Matt was making of himself. “Well then it’s good to meet you, Mason.” Alex held his hand out over the bar and I took it, shaking it firmly before paying him for my drink.
“I can only apologize for my ‘best friend in the whole world’ here,” I chuckled, air quoting with my fingers.
“No problem, man. But I think you should be getting him home soon,” he smiled.
I glanced sideways at Matt, and saw Alex was right. He’d gone from drunk to verging on passing out in a matter of seconds. I pulled up the stool next to him and nudged his arm, encouraging him to lift his head off the bar.
“Hey, dude, I think it’s time we get you home.”
“Are you c-coming on t-to- me?” he asked, winking at me.
“No, Matt,” I assured him, trying not to laugh. “But if you don’t move soon you’re gonna pass out.”
“H-hey, I can hand-ha-handle my d-drink.”
“Sure you can,” I lied, sm
irking. “But this place is closing soon anyway,” I lied again. “Time to go home.”
“Hmmm. Did I ever t-tell you about the time I f-fucked this chick that had-”
“Maybe another time,” I cut him off before he made an even bigger ass of himself.
“Can you call us a cab?” I asked Alex, who nodded in response.
“Come on, buddy. Let’s go outside and wait for that cab.”
Hooking my arm around Matt’s waist, I practically carried him out of the building. When we reached the street, I pulled out my cell and texted Ryder to tell him I was taking Matt home and that I’d see him back at the apartment later.
“Whooooa,” I said, steadying Matt once again when he stumbled.
“I want a dog.”
“A dog?”
“Yeah. Those furry things that go woof.”
“I know what a dog is.”
“They’re cute. And chicks love those things.”
I hoped this was the drink talking because another living and breathing entity wouldn’t last a day living with Matt.
“Or a parrot. Yeah a parrot. It could talk to me.”
Yeah, a parrot is probably more on his intellectual level.
“Oh, oh, oh… or a snake.”
“Thank fuck,” I mumbled to myself when our taxi pulled up in front of us.
“Or maybe a rabbit.”
After bundling Matt into the car as quickly as possible, I spent almost ten minutes trying to get him to remember his address. When he did I relaxed a little, then I spent the rest of the journey on the edge of my seat, praying his stomach didn’t explode through his mouth before I got him home.
**********
A loud smash startled me awake. Jumping out of bed, I picked up one of my kettlebells from the floor and tentatively made my way out into the main living space. I breathed a sigh of relief, which quickly turned to worry, when I saw Ryder in a crumpled heap on the floor, surrounded by thick shards of glass from where he’d clearly fallen into the side table by the door.