by Jesse Jordan
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chad's car door open, and before saying anything else I grab Joey's shirt and pull him to me, kissing him hard. This time there's no gentleness, my tongue touches his first, but soon we're full on making out in front of my building, my anger swallowed up in the heat of our kiss. Joey's hands pull me close, our bodies pressing together, and in the background, I can hear a slammed car door and a car peeling out of the parking lot, but I don't care. When we finally step back, both of us are breathing hard, and I can see a lump in Joey's pants that certainly wasn't there before. I can understand, my body is aching right now too. If he asks...
“I... part of me wants to invite myself in,” Joey rasps, clearing his throat before continuing. “You have no idea. But Andrea... I've had more than my fair share of one night stands. Comes with the rock territory, I guess. This time though I don't want just a one-night thing. I want this to be more than one date. If it's okay with you, I'd like to see where this can go between us.”
I nod, not trusting my voice for a moment but just looking at Joey. “Me too, Joey. I should be honest, I kissed you hard because I saw my creepy ex's car. I wanted him to understand totally... I've found a new man.”
“And I've found quite the woman,” Joey replies, not upset by my revelation at all. “For now, though, buenas noches, Andrea Coates.”
“Buenas noches, Joey Rivera. Call you tomorrow?”
“I'd like that. Okay, I'm going to step back, but wait until you go inside, make sure you're safe. Good night.”
Joey's true to his word, the perfect gentleman as he waits outside his car while I go into my lobby and into the elevator, the door closing just as I see him open his driver's side door and get into his Buick. I'm still amazed at what I've found. He's handsome, kind, and a true gentleman.
I think I need to clear my schedule for tomorrow night. And if I can't clear tomorrow, I've got to clear a night as soon as I can.
Joey
“So, how'd your date go?” Rocky asks when I get to his house with Maria, who's agreed to watch Bella with Angel. Rocky and Cora are going to do some wedding planning stuff, and I can understand, I wouldn't want to put a six-year-old through that. Bella's an energetic, active girl, and the only way they'll get her to stay still through all the wedding planning is with duct tape or an injection of major drugs. Rocky slaps hands with me, still smirking. “Cora says you saw the girl from the newspaper?”
I don't roll my eyes, it's no use. Instead, Rocky and I go out to his garage, which he's already converted into his 'man cave,' complete with his own workout equipment. I wouldn't call a home gym a man cave, I know Cora's going to use it too after giving birth, but it's certainly a place that he and I can get back to having some 'bro time' like we used to do at Equinox.
“Good, man. It was a good date. What's the agenda today?” I ask, peeling off my t-shirt, maybe the coolest advantage of working out at home, no need to wear a shirt like at a public gym. I knew Rocky wanted to get a workout in, so I wore my shorts and workout shoes, checking out the equipment. He went good, not over the top, but good gear. It'll stand up to any punishment we might be able to dish out and still come back asking for more. “Nice rack.”
“Thanks. I'm going to get a landmine press pivot for the corner, but other than that, I think I'm set until something breaks. Let me ask, what's your workouts been? I mean, what's down there in T.O.?”
“So far, nothing,” I admit, stretching. “I've been so busy helping Mama and then doing some practice recording sessions, that the date was really my first time doing something just for myself in a while.”
“Let's do total body then today,” Rocky says, grinning in that evil way he's got when he knows that it's going to hurt, that we're both going to be walking piles of ache and sweat by the end... but damn it's going to be fun. Rocky goes over to the whiteboard on the wall and takes out a pen to start writing down the plan. “And you can tell me about your date in between the pain.”
He's true to his word as our very first movement is deadlifts, something neither of us is built for. This is an exercise built for guys who are about as wide as they are tall and with arms like a gorilla. “You just had to get the good crap for here, didn't you? Deadlift pad and bumper plates, just so you can punish us both. All right, homie, all right.”
“Where'd you guys go?” Rocky asks, ignoring my little gripe and loading the bar for warmups. “Don't worry, we won't go too heavy.”
“A park near her place. She lives in Santa Monica, nice place too.”
“And she's really Darren Coates' daughter?” Rocky asks, setting up for his first set and getting his groove in. We both learned the hard way a few years ago when I was messing around and strained a hip muscle. I spent two weeks playing gigs sitting on a stool, looking like an idiot. Never again.
“One hundred percent. We talked about it, and the fact that I'm Rican, and she's whiter than you are. She didn't have a problem with it at all.”
Rocky sets down the bar, giving me a look. “Oh, really?”
I laugh, rolling my eyes as I get ready. I talk in between reps, at the top when everything is tight and stable. “You won't get more details than that, man. I just gotta figure out when to ask her out again.”
“What's your schedule looking like? And hers?” Rocky asks as I keep repping out.
“We're entertainment people, Saturday night dates don't happen for us. You know that.”
Rocky shrugs, smirking. “You sure about that? I'm just asking because you know the problems we all had when Cora and I tried to keep things secret between us. I'm not trying to be in your personal biz too much, Joey but at the same time...”
“I know. Rocky, you, Cora, Ian, Bella... you guys are my family too. I told Cora that just the other day. Don't sweat it, you won't get the Penthouse Letters details, but I'll keep you guys up to date if I think it would affect you at all. Or just to entertain your wife.”
“Not quite yet, but I like the sound of that,” Rocky says as we load more plates on the bar. “Let's get to work.”
It takes us nearly ninety minutes to work our way through everything, but in the end, not only am I exhausted, but I have that endorphin rush that I love. After the last rep, I notice light applause behind me, and I turn to see Cora leaning against the door frame, smiling. “I knew I made the right call in letting Rocky turn this thing into a home gym. You guys keep this up, I'm going to order a detached garage for the home studio and you guys can keep putting on shows for me like this.”
I blush, grabbing my towel from the squat rack while Rocky gives Cora a kiss. “I figured you'd like that. It's why I went an extra twenty-five reps.”
“Is that what you did?” I gasp, turning around to see Rocky grinning, his arms around Cora's waist and obvious passion in his eyes. “Hey, little kids are in the house.”
“Yeah, well, we won't hold that against you,” Cora jokes, stroking Rocky's face and not even looking at me. I'm jealous, watching my best friend and the woman he loves. I’d love to have something like they have.
But the jealousy fades in an instant, it just doesn't hold up against the purity of what they've got. Instead, when they kiss, I smile, and when they step back from each other, I just pull my shirt on, thinking of what I know I want to do. “Rocky... thanks. I think I've got something I need to take care of.”
“What's that?” Rocky asks, letting go of Cora long enough to go over to the wall where he's hung his own t-shirt up. “About Andrea, I guess?”
I nod, tucking my shirt in. “I was thinking maybe she'd like to have drinks tomorrow. She said she's got some art house movie to review, but maybe she'd like to get together afterward. And while she said she's got only one ticket, maybe they've got another ticket available for a supposed rock star.”
Cora laughs quietly. “Good on you, Joey. There's a time to use the fame that your talent's gotten for you. Give her a call.”
“So... the movie's about what?”
Andrea chuckles,
shaking her head. “According to the press release that we got, a transgender Nazi concentration camp worker finds herself caught up in a love affair with both her camp commandant and a shopkeeper in town that she knows is hiding Jews from the camps.”
“Sounds um… interesting?” I ask, not too sure how to handle this conversation. I'm from a Roman Catholic Puerto Rican family, transgender Nazis are not in my wheelhouse.
Andrea laughs. She's driving tonight, picking me up in front of my house while Maria and Angel waved from the kitchen window. I know that they're curious, I've never had two dates in three days with the same girl before, but I don't want to freak Andrea out quite yet. My family is intense, and I know that Angel can be a handful at first. Besides, I'm still living with my mother, that can take some getting used to. “We'll probably find out when we get there. Oh, and the movie's in German with English subtitles.”
“Great,” I reply sarcastically. “I love reading movies. I take that back, I've done subtitled Japanese anime that was kinda fun. But then again, when you've got giant robots or super warriors or whatever the hell else is going on slashing and shooting at each other, you don't really need subtitles that much.”
Andrea laughs, and I am taken again at how pretty she is tonight. For our picnic, she was totally casual, with shorts that showed a nice stretch of her legs along with a t-shirt. Tonight though, she's dressed trendy chic, with black form-fitting slacks, a wide brown leather belt, a black top, a white blouse over top, and even sunglasses perched in her hair. She's gone more made-up too, with more eyeliner and deep red lipstick. It's not more or less beautiful than she was for our picnic, just different. Then again, considering that I'm as much an expert with eyeliner and lipstick as any woman with my stage makeup, I'm hardly the one to talk.
We arrive at the theater, an old place in Noho that looks like it came out of the fifties, probably on purpose. The sign out front is done in lots of old-school neon, making it look very retro. “At least the parking lot's decent sized.”
“I've done reviews here before, it's actually a lot of fun, the seats are some of the most comfortable you'll find in a movie theater. Come on, you get to carry the popcorn,” Andrea teases, taking out her keys. I'm slightly surprised and touched when she takes my arm and we go into the theater, which turns out to only be three-quarters full. Not a great turn out for the world premiere in my opinion, but I'm not a movie expert.
The only way I can describe the movie is confusing as hell, especially as I can't quite figure out who the good guy is, mainly because whoever they hired to do the subtitles from German did a pretty terrible job. Leaving the theater, I give Andrea a look, waiting until she's finished talking into her voice recorder, she needs the notes for her write up.
“How many stars?” I ask as we go back to her car. “I'm going to be honest... I have no idea what went on the whole time.”
Andrea laughs, nodding. “Yeah, me too. I wrote down some notes on my pad here, I've got some stuff on the voice recording, but I'm going to be hard pressed to try and write up something positive for this. Thankfully, I don't have to do the actual film review, I just need to turn some press release stuff the studio sent and these notes into a story on the actual opening. The nice part is it won't run until Monday, so I can type it up tomorrow instead of trying to cram it in tonight. Tonight is all about Joey Rivera and me.”
“I like the sound of that,” I admit, climbing into the passenger seat of her car. “So, where to, or are you letting me pick?”
“How about we stop closer to your house?” Andrea asks. “I'm not drinking tonight, not with the early start to my assignment tomorrow, but I'd love to share some late-night grub and there's nothing wrong with letting you do what you'd like.”
I nod, sitting back. “Okay. But I'm not that heavy a drinker. I've had my fair share sometimes, but I don't knock them back one after another. Hmm. There’s a place over in Westlake that might be good. Supposedly, the chef got a James Beard award, and it's been written up in the Beat. I've heard they've got smart staff.”
Andrea laughs, pulling out onto the road to head towards the 101. “You are a certified foodie, you know that? And a smooth flatterer.”
“I like preparing good food for my family and friends,” I reply, looking over at her. “Careful, you keep dating me, you're going to have to start doing daily workouts to keep fitting into your clothes.”
“And if I gain some weight?” Andrea asks, smiling. “I don't take you as that shallow.”
“I'm not. You can get as thick as you want,” I reassure her. “I like you for what's inside your head, not what's on the surface. Even if that's prettier than any woman I've ever known.”
Andrea smiles softly to herself as we drive, chatting and joking about the movie as we do. The restaurant is just as good as advertised, and it's fun to watch Andrea try the funky flavored Japanese gyoza that we share two plates of. I sip at my Lager while Andrea enjoys a green tea smoothie. Andrea takes a sip and smiles, looking around while I use my chopsticks to pick up another gyoza for her to share. “You've got some legit chopstick skills. So, have you guys been to Japan before?”
I shake my head, laughing to myself. “We had a chance, right before we made Four Letters, there was a music festival over there that wanted us to play. But there were a couple of issues. First off, the guys only wanted to talk to Rocky, our manager at the time was totally pushing him over everyone else, and that didn't sit cool with all three of us. No, the chopsticks are from lots of Chinese takeout. I used to do deliveries for a place and they'd let me grab a few cartons that were destined for the trash on the way home. Hey, a question from my sister, she wanted to know when the interview is coming out.”
“My editor loved it so much they're bumping it up to the Pulse's Sunday supplement, and he was asking me to do a longer one for LifeBeat. I was going to mention it to you earlier, but you looked so handsome, I kinda got distracted,” Andrea says, picking up a gyoza herself and wrapping her lips around it. If you've never thought of food as foreplay, watching this woman relish the flavors of the grilled Japanese dumpling has me thinking very naughty thoughts for a good reason. The sensual way her lips caress her chopsticks before the tip of her pink tongue comes out to lick just a bit of sauce off her bottom lip is pure seduction, and I wish there was a greater market for food seduction rock because right now I could write an epic song about sensual gyoza.
“By the way,” Andrea mentions as I settle up the bill, insisting on paying, “thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not drinking too much. Sometime I'd like to share drinks with you, but I've had a bad history with people drinking too much around me. You show restraint, you know that? Like, there's a powerful side to you, Joey, but you restrain it, and keep it all within that gentlemanly, boy next door sort of exterior.”
“You're a lady, you deserve to be treated with respect,” I reply, taking Andrea in my arms. We kiss once before we get in the car and she pulls out. “On another note, you mentioned your editor expanding the idea. What about... well, I was considering it earlier too, but what about coming over to my house, meeting my family? We can have a barbecue, you can meet my mama and Maria, all that sort of stuff. And I'll let them know it's for a story, but also, well... I'd like for you to meet my family as a date, too.”
Andrea smiles, nodding. “I think I might even be able to talk my editor into letting me put some sides on the expense account. So, does that mean I'm on track to becoming your girlfriend?”
I smile, looking over at her and nodding. “I'd like that a lot. I'm warning you though, my family can be unique. Keep an open mind and relax. I like you a lot. I think they will too.”
We get to my place, and Andrea gives me another kiss in the car, this time taking my hand and resting it on her breast, moaning when I lift the soft weight and run my thumb over the nipple inside her bra. “Mmmmm, Joey....”
“I know,” I whisper back, gasping when her hand comes to rest between my
legs on top of my cock. “Andrea... I almost asked to go up to your place last time.”
“I almost asked you up last time,” Andrea replies, giving my cock a gentle squeeze before pulling back and taking a deep, shaky breath. “But I want to go slow, still. Not because I don't want you, but because you are worth waiting for.”
I nod and give her hand a kiss on the knuckles. “So are you. Buenas noches, Andrea.”
“Good night, Joey,” Andrea says. I watch her reverse and back out of our driveway, giving me a little wave as she heads off. I wave and go inside, sighing happily, surprised when I see Mama waiting up for me even though it's nearly one in the morning.
“Mama? What's wrong?” I ask, shrugging off my jacket. Yeah, I dressed up for this one, wearing one of my trendier outfits I got for award shows and stuff like that. I'm glad I did, jeans and a t-shirt would have looked stupid next to Andrea's chic outfit tonight.
“Nothing,” Mama says, seeing my face. “You've got a little lipstick on your cheek still.”
I rub at my right cheek furiously, and Mama chuckles. “Sorry, Mama.”
“Don't be, Joey. You're a grown man now, and I trust you to be a good man at that. So how was your date?”
I hang up my jacket and smile, trying not to laugh since I can hear Maria and Angel snoring down the hall in their bedroom. “That had to be the strangest movie I've ever seen. Even weirder than that time the Tijuana station showed El Santo taking on vampires.”
Mama laughs softly, getting up. “I see. So, you had a good time?”
“I did. Mama. Andrea was asked by her editor to expand the story, to do something for LifeBeat magazine. I would like it if she could meet you guys too, it'd be a good chance to invite her here. I thought maybe next weekend, we can do a family barbecue, have her come over? I'd really like it if she got to meet all of you.”
Mama's smile spreads and she comes over, kissing my cheek. “Of course, Joey. I can tell you like this girl very, very much, and I would be proud to meet her. Maria and Angel too. For now, though, I have Mass in the morning, I'm going to get some sleep. Will you be coming to Mass?”