Busted (27 page)

He looked around. They were parked on the side of a nondescript cinderblock building. There were a few other cars in the parking lot, but it was otherwise pretty empty.

"Where's here?" Chris asked.

"Here," Joe said, "is a place to relax. C'mon, you'll enjoy it. Drinks are on me tonight."

Chris flashed back to the previous weekend. He was still embarrassed about that. "I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

"Nothing stronger than caffeine for you tonight, mister," Joe said, smiling. "Who knows, maybe you'll even get lucky. But only if I approve," he continued, wagging a finger.

Chris blushed, thankful his coloring tended to hide that.

"I don't think so," he said. The last thing he wanted to do was take some woman home. He'd made that mistake enough in the past. He couldn't honestly imagine anyone but Joe in his bed at this point, though he was trying not to think about that.

"You never know," Joe said with a faint smile as they walked into the building. Joe waved at the bouncer at the door as they walked in. It was still early, and the music wasn't at deafening levels yet.

"Hey," Chris hissed, stopping. "He didn't check our IDs."

"Relax, Chris," Joe said with a little smile. "It's okay. You don't have to be a cop tonight."

"No, it isn't okay. They're supposed to check," he said. Chris turned and walked back to the door.

"Hi Bernie," Joe called before Chris could start anything.

"Hey Joe. Hi Alex, I like the haircut. You guys are here early tonight."

Chris stopped short, astonished. Bernie had recognized him. He'd called him Alex. How the hell did
he
know about Alex?

"Yeah, well,
someone
had a bad day at work," Joe said, clapping Chris on the shoulder. "But this isn't Alex. Bernie, I'd like you to meet Chris. Chris, this is Bernie."

"Twins? You dog," Bernie said with a big grin. "Pleased t'meet ya, man," he said, sticking out a meaty hand.

"Likewise," Chris said, dazed.

"Can I see some ID?"

"What?"

"ID. Gotta check everyone I don't know," Bernie explained patiently.

"Oh, right," Chris said. He fished out his badge and showed it.

"A cop?" The grin got even wider. "Does he have any handcuffs? 'Cause that can be…"

"Bernie!" Joe cut him off. "Be nice. It's his first time." It was only a guess, but he was pretty sure.

"Ah, you're no fun. At least the regulars will keep their hands to themselves tonight," he said as he waved them on. "G'wan, go have fun. Nice to meet you, Chris."

"What was all that about?" Chris asked. "And how did he know about Alex?"

"Are you kidding? Alex and I are here two nights a week, sometimes three. Pretty much everyone knows Alex."

"Everyone?" Chris almost squeaked. He'd only known of five people who had ever claimed to have seen Alex. His parents were two of them. Joe was another. Nobody else had ever seen him. Why should they? He wasn't
real
.

"Yeah," Joe said with a smile. "So you should actually be okay. Unless you say anything everyone will think you're him and mostly leave you alone. I've gotten kinda… possessive before," Joe said. Unlike Chris, Joe's coloring didn't hide the blush at all.

"So you can relax, and you can dance, and you can have a good time," he said as they turned the corner into the club itself.

It was early, and there were maybe twenty people there. A few couples were dancing, the rest scattered around the seats and booths at the edge of the club. Joe walked straight over to the bar and found he'd left Chris behind before he'd gotten halfway there.

"This is a gay bar," Chris said when Joe got back to him.

"Well, duh," he said. "Why would I take you to a straight bar? What the hell would we do there, drink and play pool? What good would that do you?"

Chris turned and looked at Joe. "You said I might get lucky," he said. There was accusation in his voice.

Joe sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Let's not do this now, Chris. You like guys. I don't know if it's just like guys, or like guys too. Do you need another kiss to remind you?"

For one wild moment Chris was tempted to say something so Joe would do just that. He let the moment pass.

"I'll go grab a table?"

Joe gave a wry grin. He'd almost kissed Chris again, to prove his point. He wasn't sure if that would've been a good thing, or a bad thing, or for whom.

"I'll get the drinks. Then we hit the dance floor, buster."

Chris sat in a booth on the far edge of the club. It was as out of the way as he could manage, though that wasn't very far. He watched the dancers, young men just moving to the music. Two of the couples were shirtless, paying as much attention to each other as actually dancing.

Chris felt a little uncomfortable, watching the open… affection? That wasn't right. More like lust. They were raw, and primal, like they were fucking rather than dancing. He wasn't sure what to do, wasn't sure if it was okay to watch. Wasn't sure if he wanted to be dancing like that.

He shook his head. He was long past twenty one. He sure as hell wasn't going to be out there without a shirt on, humping Joe in public.

"Watching the pretty boys?" Joe asked with a smile as he slid into the booth next to Chris. They were touching, from shoulder to knee. Chris' dick, half hard from watching the dancing boys, sprung fully erect.

"I was just…" Chris started to sputter.

Joe nudged him with his shoulder and laughed. "It's okay. Nobody gets on the dance floor and strips down if they don't want to be stared at."

Chris ducked his head and blushed again.

"You can watch, Chris. We're all gay here. Nobody'll judge."

Chris wasn't sure. Watching made him feel guilty. Not like he was doing something he shouldn't, more like he was cheating on someone by doing it. He wasn't thinking about who. He was making an effort to not think about who.

He took a swig of the drink Joe had gotten for him to try and cover for his discomfort. It was sweet and fruity, and surprised him. He wasn't sure if there was any alcohol in it.

"What is this?"

"Coke with shots of orange and lime syrup."

"It's good," he said, surprised.

"Thought you'd like it." It was one of Alex's favorites, and Joe had guessed Chris would like it too.

"Now c'mon," he said. "We're gonna go dance."

"But…"

"But what?" Joe asked, fixing a steely glare at Chris.

"I don't dance?" Chris said meekly.

"
Everybody
dances," Joe said, like it was some immutable law of the universe. He clearly wasn't going to take no for an answer, and half-dragged Chris out onto the dance floor.

He hadn't gone out clubbing since college, and had always felt awkward then. Now he felt positively embarrassed. He really didn't want to go dance, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse Joe.

Joe's hand felt right in his own, and he almost grabbed for it when Joe finally let him go. They were standing in the middle of the dance floor. The music was thumping, the lights were flashing, and Chris felt very uncomfortable.

"Now dance!" Joe called and started to move. Chris tried his best to follow.

At first he was stiff as he moved. At second and third, too, honestly, but Joe kept with him, swaying and moving, occasionally touching. He was happy and flirting outrageously, but never quite crossing the line. He never danced with anyone else, either. Chris was strangely gratified, and as he relaxed he found he was actually having a good time.

Eventually Joe dragged Chris off the dance floor. They both were tired, shirts damp in spots with sweat. A couple was groping each other in the booth they'd had earlier, so instead Joe steered them towards a small table near the bar. Chris collapsed into a chair, crossed his arms on the table, and laid his head on them. Not moving was a relief.

"See?" Joe asked. "You dance!"

"Guess I do," Chris replied. He was exhausted, but the dancing had distracted him, let the stress drain away, at least for a while.

Joe was standing behind Chris, and had the urge to reach out and touch him. He shouldn't, he knew it was a bad idea, but his hand was on Chris' back before he could work out the reasons he shouldn't.