Princes of the Universe

by Serene Franklin

  “Is that why you’ve been acting weird around me? I figured you were a little spooked, but damn. I’m really sorry if I said anything to imply… what you thought I was implying. I swear, that thought never crossed my mind.”

  We stood in an awkward silence for what felt like ages. I kept my eyes glued to the floor while Bryan had taken a couple of steps back and tapped his foot—not in an impatient way, but more like a nervous tick.

  “This is my fault,” I mumbled. “You’ve been nothing but kind, yet I went ahead and let my paranoia take over, and I vilified you in my mind. That wasn’t fair.” I shifted my eyes from the floor to Bryan’s face, relieved he wasn’t angry with me. He had every right to be considering I’d assumed he was the worst.

  He shook his head lightly. “It’s not anyone’s fault, man. We have a unique history. I get why you’d be more on guard—”

  “And leap to worst-case conclusions? Yeah. I’m not the most socially adept person, if I hadn’t already made that painfully clear.” I pounded my fists on top of one another in front of me, suddenly feeling like I had to do something with my hands. Self-deprecation was nothing new to me, but I generally didn’t verbalize it in front of other people. Then again, I didn’t usually talk to other people to verbalize it.

  Bryan cracked a small half smile and shrugged his shoulders once. The silence between us felt lighter than it had moments ago. Bryan broke it the second time.

  “My offer for a drink still stands, you know. No pressure.”

  The urge to say no was still strong within me. Bryan might not be the sleazy asshole my mind had painted him to be, but we still shared a unique past that frankly made me uncomfortable. I was relieved to know he wouldn’t tell anyone, but just knowing that he knew made me want to reject his request and go home. However, I had a job to do. Spending time with Bryan under different circumstances didn’t seem like it would be a hardship, so I would do my job and I would try. I owed him at least that.

  “Yeah,” I started, “let’s go get a drink. The first round is on me for being an idiot.”

  Bryan’s face lit up, and he laughed. “You’re not an idiot, but I’m not going to turn down a free drink.”

  Well, at least he was easy to please.

  We walked over to a bar that we’d passed by earlier. It had air-conditioning and it wasn’t very busy, so I was instantly a fan. The place was very… woody, for lack of a better term—on the verge of being a dive bar. Wood-paneled walls, scuffed-up wooden floors, wooden chairs and tables… woody. It was clean, just old and lacking the flair of newer sports bars.

  Bryan had led us over to a corner table, away from the TVs and other patrons, and we were greeted by a server way sooner than I’d expected. She came back a few minutes later with two open bottles of pilsner. She set them on the wooden table in front of us, gave a smile and some kind words then moved on to serve another table, leaving us to fill the conversational void in her wake.

  “So…” Bryan said experimentally. “Do you want to just jump right in?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded before reaching for my beer.

  Bryan ran his fingers through his black hair, pushing it back from his forehead. “I’ll start. I lost a bet when I was twenty that resulted in me doing one porn shoot. I kind of liked it, and the money was really good, so I did several more videos.” He took a long drink and rolled his shoulders, his fingers never leaving the bottle. “It was my first time having my own money and doing something for me. The fact that it was kind of taboo just made it more alluring.”

  I scrunched up my nose at that. From what I read in his file, the Rettgers were a rather wealthy family—Bryan didn’t need to make money from porn.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said with a smirk. “Why does someone from a well-off family need to do porn for extra cash?”

  “Am I so transparent?” I deadpanned.

  “Kind of. It’s also a fair question. My parents would have given me the money had I asked for it. I have no doubts about that. See, university was the first time I ever left Texas. I grew up working the ranch, like all of my brothers, so I never had a normal job.”

  “Um, porn isn’t what I’d consider a normal job,” I said dryly. Bryan’s laughter spilled out of him, surprising me. I’ve been told by too many people that I was a bit abrasive, though Bryan didn’t seem bothered by my shitty personality.

  “No. It gave me financial independence for the first time in my life. After that, I took on a part-time job—one where I got to keep my clothes on.”

  I snorted at that. “Where did you get Rhett Ryder from?”

  Bryan’s eyebrows jumped up at that. “Oh. You remember.”

  “I—um… yes, I remember,” I replied quietly.

  “Rhett is a nickname from my varsity baseball days, taken from my last name. There was already a Brian on the team and it was confusing. Ryder is my mom’s maiden name. I thought it sounded pretty porny.” He took another drink then tilted the bottle in my direction before he set it down. “Why didn’t you use a fake name?”

  A humorless laugh rushed out of me, the robust quality of it shocking me. “I—uh, I didn’t really know what I was doing. Looking back, my name was pretty worthless, so it didn’t really matter.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I didn’t have anything or anyone. If news of what I’ve done came out now, that would be different, but I had nothing back then.” The words came out a little faster than they normally did. I reached for my beer to shut myself up before I said too much.

  “What about your dog?” Bryan asked.

  “Excuse me?” How did he know about Prince?

  “You said you had a sick puppy and needed money for her. I don’t remember what you said her name was, though.” Bryan’s forehead was wrinkled, like he was deep in thought. “I was looking forward to meeting her after the shoot.”

  “Oh. Yes. Her name is Prince.”

  “Like, ‘Purple Rain’?”

  “No, Princess Leia,” I said fondly. I had the sudden urge to tell him all about her, but I’d been told before by exes that I talked about her too much. I changed the subject instead. “Although I do really like Prince’s music too.”

  “Star Wars, right?” Bryan asked with his head slightly cocked.

  Was he being serious? “Yes, it’s from Star Wars. Have… have you not seen any of the Star Wars movies?” I asked disbelievingly. He couldn’t be serious.

  Bryan shrugged guiltily. “I’ve seen some of the one with Liam Neeson. It was”—he paused, waving his free hand in the air in front of him—“interesting.”

  Oh my God. I was wrong about us maybe being able to be friends. So, so wrong. Who in their right mind hadn’t seen at least one entry in the best franchise of all time? My fingers tightened around the bottle in my hand, cool condensation dripping over my fingers. I cringed both at my hyperbole and at Bryan’s tragic admission.

  “Oh, Jesus. You’re looking at me like I’ve just committed a sacrilegious offense,” Bryan teased.

  I tipped my hand back and forth in a so-so manner. “You kind of have. I don’t want to sound like an elitist asshole, but I find what you just told me to be rather troubling.”

  “You’re not the only one. I’ve gotten shit about it for years from my roommate. He goes to see all the new ones and tries to get me to go, but sci-fi has never been my thing. Shit, I’m not making this any better.” He laughed again and flashed me an apologetic look. “I’ll watch them all, how about that?”

  “I can’t force you to do anything, though I suppose I can judge you about it if you don’t.”

  He smiled, all white teeth and dimples. “Does that mean you’re going to stay on with my bakery?”

  “Yes. I said I would. Especially now that I know you’re not a blackmailer and just a guy with tragic taste in cinema.” God, was I actually teasing him?

  “Ouch. Okay. I promise I’ll watch them. Eventually.”

  “You can borrow them, if
you’d like. I have the series on Blu-ray.” Lending out my things to others wasn’t something I normally did—whether by choice or because there wasn’t anyone to share with was debatable.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t actually have a Blu-ray player. Mac has an Xbox in his room, which isn’t always convenient. I guess I could buy one.”

  I chewed on my bottom lip and studied Bryan. He was a nice guy. Even back then… he was kind to me. I could return that kindness now, like normally functioning, well-adjusted people did. “We can watch them at my place, if you want.”

  His eyes opened wide. In surprise? Shock? Probably both. “Like, movie night?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I guess you could call it that. Really, it would be my charitable contribution to society. Sorry. That was rude.”

  Bryan laughed again and shook his head. “Nah, don’t apologize. I like your brand of humor. We’ll see if you’re right, though.”

  We both finished our beers and ordered another round when the server came back. I wasn’t planning on staying for a second, but it was nice—albeit still mildly strange—talking to someone else other than Eve or Prince.

  “You mentioned Mac before. Is he your roommate?” I was pretty sure he was; I just wanted to talk to him more.

  “That’s right. He’s also the guy I lost that bet to back in university. Cheeky fucker.” There was tenderness in his voice that told me he really cared about Mac. That, and the fact that they’d been friends for so long, especially after a bet like that.

  “Why on earth did he make you do gay porn? That just seems like another layer to your punishment.”

  Bryan cocked an eyebrow at me and said, “Well, I’m gay, so doing straight porn probably would have been very difficult for me.”

  Foot, meet mouth. I blanched. I fumbled my hands on the table, but there wasn’t a new bottle for me to hide behind. Bryan never took his eyes off me, which only made me fidget more. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to suggest any—”

  Bryan’s hand shot up, silencing me. “It’s okay, Elijah. Does me being gay make you uncomfortable?”

  I shook my head immediately. “No. The shit that falls out of my mouth is the only thing making me uncomfortable. I’m not, if you were wondering.”

  “Not what?”

  “Gay,” I said quickly, causing me to visibly cringe.

  Bryan chuckled at me as the server returned with our new beers. I took mine as soon as she set it down and drank half of it in one go. “We’re going to need another round, please,” Bryan said to the waitress.

  “Of course,” she said before leaving us again.

  Still grinning at me, Bryan lifted his bottle to his lips and swallowed down just as much as I had. “I didn’t think you were gay. Not after your reaction to my admission. I’d assumed you were when we first met, but given the circumstances, that was an honest mistake.”

  “I’m really not offended. It’s just… nothing I say today is coming out right.”

  “Maybe you’re just out of practice.”

  “I’m not used to other people. Not like this.” As if that explained anything to him.

  “I’m going to give you another out. You made your offer before you knew about me, and I won’t hold it against you. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

  I really considered his words this time instead of answering immediately. I never knew any gay people, and I really didn’t have an aversion to them either. Bryan was still the exact same guy whose company I was enjoying enough to invite over to my apartment. It was actually kind of a relief that we wouldn’t be talking about women—I didn’t need to be reminded of my failed relationships or shortcomings as a lover. I took another drink and looked Bryan in the eye, for what felt like the first time in ages.

  “Which evening would you like to come over? I was thinking we’d start with the original trilogy so you can see how Star Wars is supposed to be before we watch the prequels. The newer films are an improvement from the prequels, but the original trilogy is still the gold standard.”

  A smiled spread across Bryan’s face and he bowed his head at me. “Your problem must be over; what you said just now sounded like it came out right to me.”

  “Yeah, I guess it did.”

  Four

  Bryan

  “We already talked about this last night, dude.”

  “I know, I know,” I said, holding my phone to my ear and pacing around the front space of my soon-to-be bakery. “Just let me be happy for a sec.”

  Mac sighed, and I could just picture him sprawled out upside down on the couch in his damn underwear. He insisted it helped him articulate his thoughts better when he was on the phone, but I thought he just enjoyed being a weirdo.

  “That’s fine, Bry. I want you to be happy, but Elijah isn’t gay.”

  “I know that.” I sounded petulant, even to my own ears.

  “We don’t need another repeat of senior year, when you were crushing on that third-baseman from Joliet. Oh, wait, we already got a repeat. Thrice! Don’t make this a fourth.”

  Mac had a point, even if I hated to admit it. My track record with straight men wasn’t great. “Does it really count if I already had the crush from way back, though?”

  Mac scoffed. I heard some rustling and could imagine him sliding all over the couch. “Zip it. What’re you making me for dinner?”

  I was about to give him some options when the door to the shop opened, the sun streaking through the overly dusty air. The guys I’d been expecting to come clear away the shelves and trash walked inside in work boots, thick gloves, and dark blue coveralls, looking every bit the sexy blue-collar type. I pushed that thought from my mind and waved my free hand at them in greeting.

  “Ah, that’s a surprise,” I said to Mac. “I’ve got to go. The guys are here.”

  “Love you,” Mac drawled.

  “See you later.”

  “Wait, say it ba—”

  I disconnected the call with Mac whining in my ear then smiled at the group of men standing before me, awaiting instruction. I introduced myself to each of them before setting them about their tasks. While they cleared out the front, I made my way to the back, picked up a crowbar, and went to work ripping down some wall-mounted shelves.

  We were trailing the opposing team by two points in the bottom of the ninth inning. Our opponents were a team of firefighters, and they beat us last month. The game’s just for fun and really shouldn’t have been taken seriously, but as former all-star varsity players, Mac and I took that shit very seriously and we were determined not to give them another victory. I was up to bat with Mac on first, and our buddy Axel was on third, ready to bolt for the home plate.

  No pressure, right?

  I cracked my neck and stepped up to the plate, rotating the bat in my hand and firming up my grip on the wooden handle. The pitcher was that same smug bastard who struck Mac out last game. Mac made it out to be some big battle-of-the-blonds drama and wanted redemption. Unfortunately, he didn’t get that chance. The pitcher intentionally threw for shit and walked Mac to the open first base. It was a smart move strategically, and I couldn’t knock the man for it. Mac had too much to prove, and they were playing to win.

  I was a known power-hitter, so I was sure to expect some tricky shit coming my way. No matter what happened, I had to connect. And hard. I rolled my shoulders then spread my feet wide, dropped my hips, and shifted my weight to the balls of my feet. Raising the bat up and over my right shoulder, I kept my eyes on the pitcher after winking at Mac. My breaths came in steady to keep the tension out of my stance and my attention sharp. Smug blondie up on the mound grinned then whipped off a curve ball toward the inside. I swung for it and didn’t connect, but instantly went back into my batting stance. One was nothing. I had two more shots to nail the fucker.

  The pitcher nodded, presumably at the catcher, wound up, and released the ball with a snap of his wrist, just like last time. But not quite. Not thinking he’d give me the same pitch
twice, I took a chance and adjusted my swing for an outside curveball. I swung with every bit of strength I had, and when the loud crack of the bat hitting the ball reached my ears, I knew the game was over. The force of the hit sent a familiar jolt up my forearms, bringing a smile to my face. I watched as the ball sailed high over the first-baseman, ultimately hitting the fence deep in the right field. I tipped my helmet to the pitcher, dropped my bat, and leisurely jogged around the bases. Mac was waiting for me at the home plate and gave me a bear hug, complete with a couple of back slaps.

  “I could kiss you, you hunky motherfucker,” he yelled with a wide smile.

  I burst out laughing, as did several of our teammates. “Maybe we’ll skip that and you can buy the first round instead,” I offered, getting the approving cheers of several of the guys.

  “Fuck it—done!” Mac hugged me a second time then Axel jumped onto my back, his legs wrapping around me tight. Axel was just twenty-one and the youngest—and smallest—guy on our team. What he lacked in size and strength, he made up for with speed and accuracy. He was our reliable contact-hitter and a very valuable member of the team.

  “All right, Axe-Man, get the hell off me before I throw out my back.”

  “That was so freakin’ cool, man,” Axel shouted, his voice kicked up higher than usual due to his excitement. He slid off my back and seemed to vibrate on the ground. “Did you see the look on that pendejo’s face? Amazing.”

  Several more colorful words were exchanged between several guys before we lined up and shook hands with the other team. Because, you know, good sportsmanship and all that. The guys with kids and significant others went home, but Mac, Axel, a new guy named Santiago, and Maxim all went out for a few celebratory rounds. A few turned into too many, as it often did, and I was in a world of hurt by the time my head hit my pillow. Messy, overindulgent nights meant putting in double the work at the gym the next day. I wasn’t looking forward to that.