by Lynn VanDorn
“What is it with you and marble? You're fixated. Besides, like threesomes, sex in the shower is overrated.”
“Not the way I do it,” Josh said.
Chapter 20
Tyler and Ryan Have a Difference of Opinion
Tuesday, September 20th, 5:25 p.m.
Driving way too fast on the interstate
Chicago, IL
Over the past few days, Tyler had reached a few conclusions regarding Josh. He did not snore, but he was a relentless cuddler, which was less annoying than snoring, but only by a tiny margin. He was a neat freak who disliked disorder and tidied compulsively, but all cleaning did not make him go mental. Rather it seemed that being upset made him clean more. He had a thing about making sure Tyler ate on a regular basis. He was a good kisser, far above average. He was clearly good people because Oliver liked him and had deigned to sit on his lap twice. And he’d been right about shower sex.
Tyler had gotten up close and personal with that white marble last night. He’d braced his hands against it as the hot water of the shower fell on his back, and Josh, on his knees behind him, ate him out. Then, when he thought he might go insane from the sensation of Josh’s mouth, Josh had made use of the water-resistant lube he'd picked up at the store and fucked Tyler with one hand and jerked him off with the other. Tyler wasn't sure he'd look at white marble the same way ever again. He'd become an unresisting pile of goo that Josh had had to dry off and practically carry to his bed, where Tyler got fucked again, this time by Josh’s dick. The upshot had been an exhaustion so bone-deep that even the dream had not intruded on his sleep, so that was a win, and Tyler had changed his opinion on shower sex.
On the way back to Chicago, Tyler added one more item to add to his growing list: Josh was quite possibly the only resident of Illinois who bothered to drive the speed limit. It was just as well they had two cars. Tyler decided that being a passenger in a car with Josh for that many hours would have driven him insane.
It was a good thing Tyler had programmed Ryan’s address into Josh’s phone before they left because while Josh was content to putter away in the right-hand lane, getting passed by everyone, Tyler had a difficult time keeping his speed under eighty, and spent most of his time in the far-left lane going faster than that, at least until he hit Chicago proper, at which point traffic slowed to its usual crawl, although it was still much better than the freeways at home.
When he got to Ryan’s neighborhood, he called Josh to let him know the best streets to look for parking and to see how far out he was.
“You’re already there? How is that even possible? The expressway’s been a damn parking lot ever since I hit the Kennedy.”
“Come to LA and I’ll show you what a real traffic jam is.”
Josh snorted. “I’ve been to LA and I lived near San Francisco for four years. Traffic there does not make me want to rush back. Look, I need to concentrate on driving here. Based on how fast I'm going, I think I'm maybe a half-hour away. It's going to depend on how bad the side streets are. Just go hang with your brother and I'll get there when I get there.”
Way to sell your city, Tyler. Great job. How about next I go on about how fabulous the smog is and then wax poetic about the drought? I am an idiot.
Then he thought, why am I worrying about how Josh feels about LA?
Still grumbling to himself, Tyler pulled into the garage under Ryan’s building and parked the Volvo between Ryan’s Mercedes and his new Porsche. He grabbed Oliver, who was the world's best travelling cat and still asleep in his carrier, and headed to the elevator.
He let himself into the condo with his key, opened the carrier door for Oliver, then went looking for Ryan.
“Did you hear that? I thought I heard something.”
The voice was male and unfamiliar to Tyler. Ryan had company? It didn't sound like Tom. Maybe it was the office flunky.
“It's probably one of my neighbors coming or going down the hall. I haven't heard from Tyler yet, so we have plenty of time.” That was Ryan.
Plenty of time for what, exactly? Tyler wondered. He belatedly remembered he was supposed to have texted Ryan when he arrived, and he’d forgotten. Oops. Tyler was dying to know what his brother was up to, so he crept down the hallway as quietly as he could. Before he even got to the living room, though, what Ryan was up to became clear. Based on the sounds Tyler heard, Ryan was receiving an enthusiastic if rather messy blow job from someone who was not his fiancée.
“So, what the fuck do you think you're doing?” Tyler demanded as he entered the room. Exactly as he'd predicted, there was his brother, pants open and dick out. His partner in crime scrambled backward at an impressive rate of speed, considering he’d recently been on his knees with his own dick out. Tyler, who couldn't help but play up the scene, covered his eyes with one hand and gave a theatrical shudder.
“It's not what it looks like,” stammered the man who’d been sucking Ryan’s dick, and it was all Tyler could do not to laugh.
He uncovered his eyes and stared at the guy, who was perhaps around his own age or maybe a bit younger, with tousled black hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He'd zipped and buttoned up his pants with remarkable speed and was even now buckling his belt.
“Really?” Tyler said, hands on his hips. “You’re going with ‘it's not what it looks like,’ despite being caught in flagrante delicto? You must have massive balls or be massively stupid. Either way, color me impressed.”
“Leave him alone, Tyler,” Ryan said. He sat there, unruffled and immaculate, as if he hadn't been having his dick sucked thirty seconds ago.
“You leave him alone,” Tyler shot back. “Or did you recently become unengaged?”
“This doesn't concern you,” Ryan said.
“Really, Ryan? This is the boathouse all over again. You going to swear me to silence this time, too? Only instead of Dad, who am I supposed to not tell? Stephanie? Although I think she's mostly interested in you for your looks and your money, so for all I know she's cool with your extracurricular activities. I guess there's still Dad, but you know we don't speak. And, of course, there's Josh.”
That last one got a reaction from both men. Ryan twitched, then stilled, and the other started asking questions. “Josh? As in Josh Rosen, Rachel’s brother? The one we're paying to be Tyler’s boyfriend?”
Tyler turned to face Ryan’s new chump. “The very same. Only I'm paying, not you.”
“Why would he care?” The young man looked very tense and his eyes darted to Ryan, seeking reassurance he was unlikely to find.
“Josh is the proto-you,” said Tyler, ignoring the warning growl from his brother. “The first, and until now I assumed the last. I caught him and my brother doing this very thing once upon a time. Let me see. I was eight, so it was seventeen years ago. But don't worry, new boy. They haven't been a thing since you were in elementary school. You should ask my brother why they stopped being friends one day. I think it would be edifying.”
“Tyler.” Ryan sounded threatening, but Tyler did not give a single fuck and he didn't look away from the guy sitting on the floor.
“What’s your name?” Tyler asked.
“Patrick. Patrick Malone. I… uh… work with your brother.”
“I thought he could be of assistance,” Ryan said.
“I'll just bet you did,” Tyler replied, not taking his eyes off the furiously blushing Patrick.
“That’s enough, Tyler. You've had your fun, but Patrick isn't yours to toy with.”
“Right,” he said, drawing the word out. “That’s your job.”
“I said that’s enough!” Ryan shouted, making both Tyler and Patrick jump. “I'm sorry I raised my voice,” he added.
Since Ryan rarely lost his temper enough to shout, Tyler thought it was time to back off. For the moment, at least.
Tyler went and sat on the other end of the couch from Ryan. “So, Patrick,” he said, “With zero innuendo, what exactly is it that you do for my brother?” He smiled wide and it m
ade Patrick look uncomfortable as hell, poor boy. Tyler could almost feel sorry for him, except he had to know about Stephanie, so he couldn't be completely innocent.
“Patrick’s a legal secretary for the firm. He's currently studying law at Loyola.”
Tyler arched an eyebrow at Ryan in the bitchiest way possible. “Is he also incapable of speaking for himself?”
“No, he's not incapable of speaking for himself,” Patrick said, standing up. He sounded less mortified and more pissed off.
“Excellent,” Tyler said. “Glad to hear it. And, aside from the obvious, you're here to do what, exactly?”
Patrick shrugged. “Ryan said he had a project I could help him with. I have classes during the day so I do a lot of after-hours work.”
Tyler was opening his mouth to say something that would no doubt get him shouted at some more when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and tapped a quick message on it. “Looks like Josh is here. He must've gotten lucky with the parking. I'll go down and get him.”
“Sit,” Ryan barked. “I’ll let George know to send him up.”
Tyler huffed. “Fine.” He waited for Ryan to move out of earshot, and then went over to Patrick. He leaned in close and whispered, “Do you have any idea what you're doing?”
Patrick glared at him. “Yes,” he hissed. He ran a hand through his hair, making it look even messier. “No.”
“Little piece of advice, pro bono: you should run. Just get out while you can.”
He looked miserable. “I can't.”
“Then you’re an idiot. He’s going to break your heart. Unless you're just in it for the sex and what you can get out of him, in which case enjoy the sex and don't think you'll get anything else, because you won't.”
He waited for a response from the kid, but all he got was a look of pure misery that might’ve made Tyler feel guilty if what he'd said hadn't been the truth. He gave his head a little shake and went back to sit on the couch.
Not long after, Ryan walked back in with Josh, the two of them laughing at something. They looked right together, like old and familiar lovers, which they were, Tyler thought. Something twisted in his gut at the sight. He looked over at Patrick and saw his own dismay mirrored on the other man’s face.
For all that Tyler loved his brother, sometimes he hated him just as much. He wanted to go and snatch Josh away from his brother. Mine. Not yours. Mine. As if Josh was a possession to be squabbled over, like the action figures he and Brad had stolen back and forth from each other when they were children. As if Tyler even had the right to make a claim.
Ryan sat back down on the other side of the couch and Josh took the chair nearest to him. Of course. Patrick stood there and looked uncertain. Tyler thought the kid probably wanted to sit next to Ryan on the couch, but he ended up deciding against it and sat instead in the chair next to Tyler.
Well. Wasn't this cozy? Ryan, two of his lovers, and his brother, who had fucked lover number one last night. He ought to do the same to Patrick, just for parity. He wondered what Ryan would think of that notion. Then he wondered what Josh would think. If it meant he could have Ryan in exchange he'd probably be all for it.
“So, who’s your friend?” Josh asked Ryan. Ryan didn't even have the grace to blush.
“Patrick Malone. He works for the firm. I'm going to have him do some of the legwork needed to get to the bottom of this video situation. Patrick, this is Josh Rosen. You know his sister, Rachel.”
“Of course,” Patrick murmured. “I'm pleased to meet you. I hear you and my boss go way back.”
Josh turned pink. Ryan shot Patrick a disapproving frown. Patrick radiated defiance back at Ryan. Tyler wished he had popcorn.
“Josh has been a part of the family for pretty much as long as I can remember,” Tyler said, loath to leave well enough alone. “He and Ryan were inseparable for years. And then they broke up—I mean, stopped being friends. And now he's my hired pookie bear. Life is strange.”
Now Ryan frowned at Tyler, Josh looked confused, and Patrick seemed worried.
“Yeah,” said Josh. “Extremely strange. So, about the video. Tyler told me that he thinks it was altered before it was leaked.”
Ryan visibly relaxed. “Yes, the video. I never saw the original, but Tyler did, right after it happened.”
“More than once, actually. First the principal played it with me, the other two guys, and all our parents watching so everyone could see what bad boys we'd been. Then later, after the police were called, it was shown in front of them as well.”
“And everyone’s faces were visible?” Ryan asked.
Tyler nodded. “Yes, at various points. But when I watched it yesterday I couldn't find one version of that damn thing where their faces aren't blurred or cropped.”
“For now, we'll go with the assumption that the video was altered before its release, but we'll do more digging to make sure. If we assume that the video was altered before it was leaked, we must ask ourselves why,” said Ryan, steepling his fingers.
“I think the more important question is how,” said Patrick.
“How it was altered?” Tyler asked. “Why would that matter?”
“No,” Patrick said. “How did they get the video in the first place?”
Tyler shrugged. “I have no idea. I thought it no longer existed. Last I heard the cops had it, and after no charges were brought, it was supposedly destroyed.”
“Obviously it wasn't, or a copy was made before it was. Who could've gotten it or made a copy?” Josh asked.
“One of the cops could have,” Patrick suggested.
“Possibly, and you guys should probably consider that, but this happened almost ten years ago. Why would anyone steal a tape out of evidence, sit on it for years, alter it so only Tyler’s face is identifiable, then release it anonymously? It must be personal. Someone who has some sort of grudge against him. Someone who also had access to the tape.” Josh’s serious face broke out into a smirk. “You piss off any cops in your wild youth, Ty?”
“No. My only other run-in with the police, I was the victim. Other than that, the only trouble I caused was…”
“What?”
Oh. Oh.
Tyler looked at Ryan. “Should we discuss this privately?”
Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Let me rephrase that. We need to discuss this in private. Now.”
Ryan heaved a sigh. “All right. Will you two be okay?”
“Of course they will,” Tyler said. They have so much in common.
Once in they were in his bedroom Ryan asked, “What didn't you want to say in front of them?”
“So many things. But specifically, I think it was Dad.”
“You what? That's crazy.”
“He's crazy,” Tyler said. “Who else had motive and opportunity? Who else hates me and has hated me my entire life? You know how chummy he was with the police in Highland Park. Are you telling me that Dad couldn't have gone in there, paid someone, and suddenly instead of being destroyed the video mysteriously disappeared? And the faces of those football players. Dad was friends with the father of the one I was sucking off. He might be friends with the other kid's dad, too. I didn't know him as well.”
“Yet you were okay with having his dick up your ass.”
Tyler wanted to punch his brother. Oh, you sanctimonious ass. “Ryan, I was sixteen, and being fucked by two football players seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. Unlike you, I didn't have a dedicated lap dog who was there whenever I needed a quick fuck. And look. History is repeating itself. Isn't it funny how that works out?”
Ryan glared at him. “Did you have a point to make, or did you come in here to lecture me about something that’s none of your concern?”
Tyler closed his eyes and counted to twenty. “Okay, Ryan, fine. It's your life and you can fuck it up however you choose. I just want you to consider that Dad could have been the one to have released the video. Although if his intention was to protect the other tw
o guys, it didn't work. The internet has outed them both. This is bad enough for me, but worse for them, I think. They didn't ask to be infamous.”
Ryan frowned. “The entire situation is unfortunate for everyone involved. As for Dad being the one to blame, I suppose it's possible, but I think it's highly unlikely that someone at the police station let Dad waltz in and take the video.”
“I think it's probable. Dad was a good one for getting people to do what he wanted. You know that,” Tyler said. “Besides, I know I'm irritating, but I'm not ‘steal a video and sit on it for ten years’ irritating. Only Dad hates me that much.”
“Dad doesn't hate you,” Ryan said, “and it’s within the realm of possibility that someone at the school made a copy before the police got ahold of it. Because I'm not a crazy person, my money is currently on Michael Koenig, that sleaze ball school counselor of yours.”
Tyler thought about it. “Maybe. I don't know, though. What reason would he have had to make a copy? That happened months before he tried anything with me.”
Ryan gave Tyler one of his “I am the all-knowing big brother and you are just an idiot child” looks. “He was a pervert, Tyler, who got off on having sex with minors. It was probably wank material. It wasn't like he was too concerned about breaking school policy or the law, either, considering what he did to you.”
“Technically it was what I did to him, and it wasn't exactly against my will,” Tyler said.
Ryan gave him that look again. “He was an adult and you were not. And he's got a motive, too. You were the thing that ruined his life. It makes sense he'd hold you responsible. Releasing the copy of the video now is logical. You’re about to potentially make it big. Now is the perfect time to try and bring you down. I'm not saying it's necessarily him, just that he makes more sense than Dad. You and Dad have had your differences, but he's still your father and he loves you.”
“Right. He just sent me out to be tortured for my own good.”
“He couldn't have known…”
“Maybe not the first time, but after I came home covered in bruises, an infected burn on my leg, and half delirious from fever, you'd think that maybe a caring parent wouldn't have sent me back.”