Guys on Top 02 - Guys on the Side (7 page)

As he turned away from the register, he spotted a young, thin man with sandy blond dreadlocks approaching, and he smirked.
This guy again
. His name was Brooks, or so he’d told Zach. The name didn’t fit him, Zach thought, it sounded too highbrow, and this kid was pure hippie, with tie-dye tee shirt bearing a pot leaf and multiple thread bracelets. He had a cute face, with cat-like, almond-shaped eyes and a sprinkle of freckles across his nose, but he wasn’t really Zach’s type. Brooks was skinny, and Zach preferred muscles...like Corey’s. But the kid had been in the last two times Zach had been working, and always stopped to flirt shamelessly with him for a few minutes before moving on to join his friends.

Brooks broke into a dance as he strode toward the bar, waving his arms over head and shifting his hips in time to Peaches ‘Bag It’ which played over the sound system. Zach shook his head as he watched.
Fucking goofball
. “Hey, Brooks,” he said when his dreadlocked admirer finally danced his way up to the bar, hopping onto a stool.

He grinned. “Hey, Zach. I need a drink. Something strong.”

Leaning his elbows on the bar, Zach asked, “Can you be more specific?”

Brooks trailed his eyes over the bottles behind Zach. “Mmm...vodka and soda. Make it more vodka than soda.”

“You got it.”

While Zach made his drink, Brooks drummed his fingers on the bar, watching him. “So when are you and I gonna hang out?”

Setting the drink in front of Brooks, Zach smiled. “We’re hanging out now.”

“Yeah, right.” Brooks took a sip, winced, and nodded. “You make a good strong drink.”

“It’s what you asked for,” Zach said, reaching for the bill Brooks handed to him.

Brooks held onto the ten-dollar bill, not releasing it as Zach tugged. “Do I get
whatever
I ask for from you?” He finally let go of the money, and Zach turned to the cash register.

“Depends,” Zach said, still trying to be polite.

“So we should hang out some night. Not here. Somewhere else. Just the two of us.”

Zach finished at the register and turned back to Brooks, handing him his change. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, you do?” Brooks raised his eyebrows, then shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “I guess I should have known. He must be some guy to have landed you.”

“You lay it on thick, don’t you?”

“I’d like to.”

Zach gave him a look.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop flirting,” Brooks said. “So is he cute, your boyfriend?”

“Oh, yeah,” Zach said.

“How cute?”

Zach leaned back, arms over his chest. “Well, I’d say he’s pretty much the hottest guy in Boston.”

Brooks slapped his hands to his cheeks. “Oh my gawd, is he like, the most popular boy in school?”

“Ha, ha. Okay, enough about my boyfriend.”

“I’m just messin’ with ya. So tell me, who is this amazing hottie who’s cock-blocking me from afar?”

Zach shrugged. “You wouldn’t know him. He’s a little older than us. Doesn’t hang out here. He’s more of a Bernie’s Pub type.”

Brooks shook his dreadlocked head as he stirred his drink. “Well if he’s gay and lives around here, and he’s as hot as you say, I’ve probably at least heard of him. Contrary to what everyone tries to tell themselves, there aren’t that many of us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah, you know. Fuckable gay men. Everyone clusters together in places like this so it feels like we’re teaming in numbers. But the truth is, everyone pretty much knows everyone else around here. So what’s his name?”

“Corey. Corey Stengel.”

Brooks spit out the sip of drink he’d just taken.

Handing him a napkin, Zach frowned. “You okay?”

Taking the napkin, Brooks coughed, then wiped his mouth. He grinned, looking up at Zach. “You’re making a joke, right?”

“About what?”

Brooks stared at him a moment, then shook his head, smiling. “Corey Stengel is your
boyfriend
.”

“Uh, yeah. Why? You know him?”

Brooks pointed at him. “You’re serious right now. You think Corey Stengel is your boyfriend.”

Irritation tapped at Zach’s temples. “I don’t think. I know he is. I take it you know him.”

Brooks snorted, but said nothing, taking another sip of his drink.

Zach leaned over, palms on the bar. “If you have something to say, say it.”

Brooks glanced around, then turned back to Zach. “Okay. Yeah. I know who he is. Your
boyfriend
has slept with half of Boston.”

Zach frowned, anger heating his face. He moved to stand before a customer who’d just sat down two stools away. The man ordered a beer, and Zach got it for him. Once the customer moved on, he strolled back to where Brooks sat. “Yeah, well, he doesn’t do that anymore,” Zach said.

Brooks shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I do. We’re together now. Monogamously.”

Brooks snorted again.

Zach turned away.

“Oh, come on,” Brooks said. “Don’t get mad. But come on, Zach. You really think he’s relationship material? I mean, Christ,
I’ve
had him. So has one of my friends.”

Zach whirled around. “Do you need another drink? If not, this conversation is over.”

Brooks stood. He picked up his drink, saluted Zach with it, and stepped back. “Sorry if the truth hurts, bro.”

As he walked away, Zach glared at his back, hoping he’d trip.

Zach went to check on the women at the end of the bar, and got one of the blondes another martini. He watched a few more people trickle in through the front door, but they went to Scott, the other bartender across the way, so Zach took a moment to himself, pulling out his phone.

I shouldn’t call him now
. Calling Corey while he was feeling this way was a bad idea. But he had the overwhelming need to hear Corey’s voice, to be reassured. Because what the fuck? Was it too much to ask to go
somewhere
without running into someone who’d slept with his boyfriend? Sure, Zach had known Corey was a player when he fell in love with him. But he’d also known there was something special between them, so he threw caution to the wind and let himself fall. He’d thought that finally winning Corey, getting him to choose Zach over all others, would have made the pain of knowing he’d been with so many guys easier.

But now that he could truly call Corey his boyfriend, the idea of other men—men like Brooks—made Zach a little nuts. He just needed to talk to him on the phone, real quick, if only to assure himself he was still number one in Corey’s life. After the talk they’d had at the apartment earlier, he knew he had to tone it down with the jealousy or else he’d drive Corey away.

He’d just call to say hi. He wouldn’t get angry, wouldn’t start a fight. And he wouldn’t bring up Brooks, or Doug, or Stewart, or anything else that might piss Corey off.

Leaning on the bar, Zach held the phone to his ear, waiting for Corey to answer. But the voice that came through the phone was not Corey’s.

“Corey’s dungeon of delights, Jairo speaking.”

For several heartbeats, Zach didn’t speak. What the fuck was Jairo doing answering Corey’s phone?

“Hellooo?” Jairo’s voice said.

“It’s Zach. Where’s Corey?”

“Oh hey, Zach! It’s Jairo.”

“Yeah. You said that. Where’s Corey?”

Jairo was technically a friend of Doug’s, but Corey had slept with him once, a while back, before he and Zach were officially together. Of course he fucking had.
I can’t go five fucking minutes without running into someone who fucked my boyfriend. Not five fucking minutes
.

“I’ll get him,” Jairo said. “Corey asked me to answer his phone because he and Doug are pretending to teach each other how to fight in the living room. I wish you could see this, Zach. Neither one of them knows what the hell they’re doing, they look like a couple peacocks pecking at each other.”

In the background, Zach heard Corey’s voice shout,
“Back off, Crandall, I’ll ninja kick you in the balls!”

“Sounds riveting,” Zach said. “Now could you put my boyfriend on the phone please?”

“Ooh,” Jairo said. “Sorreeeeee. Corey! Zach’s on the phone.”

Zach seethed while he waited for Corey—who was taking his damn sweet time—to come to the phone. He probably shouldn’t have been rude to Jairo, but his irritation was escalating after the altercation with Brooks, then hearing yet another of Corey’s ex-lovers answer his phone. Jairo had a boyfriend now and Zach was pretty sure he no longer had any interest in Corey. But the guy got on his nerves. Jairo was a handsome Mediterranean-looking man with dark curly hair and a wide smile. He was pleasant enough, but he was a bit campy and over enthusiastic all the time, and Zach merely tolerated his presence when he was forced to.

“Hey,” Corey’s voice asked. “What’s up?”

“Why is Jairo there?” Zach asked before he could stop himself.

“Doug called him. How’s work?”

“Doug’s there too, of course.”

“Yes, Zachary, Doug’s here too. How’s work?”

“Work’s fine. Why are you hanging out with Doug and Jairo?”

“Today was fucked up. A couple guys came by, the son of a client and some other dude, threatening me and calling me faggot and shit. The guy talked about coming back so Doug seems to think having a bunch of guys around me tonight is a good idea. Stewart’s gonna stop by, too.”

Zach bit back another snide comment at the mention of Stewart, Corey’s ex-boyfriend. Now that Stewart and Doug were together, with Doug living right downstairs from Corey, Zach was periodically forced to tolerate him as well. But he pushed that aside, more concerned by Corey’s words. “Who were they? Did they hurt you?”

“Nah, we got rid of them, no real trouble. Just pissed me off. I doubt they’ll come back, bunch of big talkers, that’s all, but Doug’s all concerned for my welfare because he’s a pussy.”

“Well, do you want me to come home?” Zach asked.

“To my place, you mean?”

Zach cursed internally. He’d slipped up by calling Corey’s apartment
home
. And of course, Corey had called him out on it. That he wouldn’t let Zach move in with him was another point of contention. Zach stayed there most nights anyway, he didn’t see what the big deal was. Corey had let Stewart move in with him after eight months of dating. The way Zach saw it, if they counted in all the months he’d sneaked around with Corey before making it official, they’d been together just as long now.

“Yes, to your place. I can leave work if you want.”

“Don’t be silly,” Corey said. “It’s fine. I doubt there’ll be any more trouble. Besides, the guys are here, and it’s not like you can really help.”

“What does that mean? And Jairo
can
help? What the hell is
he
gonna do if those guys come back? Challenge them to a dance-off?”

“I’ve had a bad day, Zach. Not fighting with you tonight.”

Zach sighed. “I’m not trying to start a fight. Just...why the hell does Stewart need to come over, too? I don’t like him hanging out at our...your place. He doesn’t live there anymore, why is he always around?”

Corey’s heavy sigh came through the phone. “Stewart is not always around. He’s at the house sometimes because he’s Doug’s boyfriend. You know this.”

“Well, then he should be downstairs with Doug, not upstairs with you.”

“Zachary! I just told you I got ambushed today, threatened, I could have been assaulted, and all you can do is this? Give me shit about who I hang out with?”

Zach took a deep breath.
Calm down. Don’t piss him off anymore
. He’d promised he’d control his jealousy. Clearly it was still something he had to work on, because he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “I’m sorry, baby. Corey, I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you. It should be me there with you. You sure you don’t want me to come over?”

“We’re fine.”

We. We’re
fine. Zach bit back another snide comment about Corey’s guests. “Okay. Then I’ll see you when I get out of work.” Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “I trust that all your ex-boyfriends will be gone by then, unless you’re planning on inviting them to sleepover, too.”

The phone went silent for a long time.

“Uh, yeah. Listen Zach, maybe you should just go home to your own place tonight. It’ll be late when you get done at the bar, and I doubt I’ll be much fun tonight.”

Clenching his teeth, Zach counted to ten in his head so he wouldn’t lash out again. “I don’t want to go to my place. I want to sleep with you tonight.”

“Well, I don’t want you here tonight. I still love you, so don’t start. I just need my space tonight, okay?”

It hurt that Corey didn’t want him to spend that night. It hurt badly, particularly since Corey clearly was feeling
fun
enough to entertain Doug and two of his ex-lovers. “Fine,” he said.

“Well talk tomorrow then?” Corey asked. “Zach?”

Go fuck yourself, Corey
, was on the tip of his tongue.

Zach hung up before he said something he’d really regret.

When he turned around, Brooks was back, standing at the bar, holding what looked like an Albino rose. He stuck his hand out, offering it to Zach. “I made you a flower out of a napkin,” he said. “I want to apologize for what I said. It was douchey of me. If you’re in a relationship with Corey, then good for you. People change, after all, and if anyone could make someone give up whoring around, it would be you.”

Zach took the paper flower from Brooks. “Apology accepted. It’s no big deal, don’t worry about it. You need a drink?”

“Nah.” Brooks leaned against the bar. “I’m pacing myself. There’s an after-hours party at my friend’s house later. You want to come? Doesn’t start ’til the bar closes.”

Zach shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Come on. I’m not gonna try and get in your pants. Just asking you to come party with us. Hey, I get that you’re unavailable, but you can’t stop me from worshipping you from afar.” Brooks grinned, twitching his eyebrows.

Smiling, Zach thought it over. It might be nice to blow off some steam after his shift, have a few drinks. Take his mind off Corey. Otherwise he’d only go home and sulk. And quite possibly end up calling Corey in the middle of the night, which would piss him off.