Happy World (10 page)

Totally worth it.

Chapter Nine

Kyle decided there was something seriously wrong with him.

Maybe his neurons were going haywire, or his synapses were misfiring. Or maybe he’d just spent far too much time under the broiling hot sun, and had finally fried his gray matter. Whatever it was, it was making Kyle think about things he never had before. Things like sex. Lots of it. With Rory. In places that would make Happy Hamster’s googly eyes spin around in their sockets.

He’d had sexual daydreams before, of course. After all, what healthy, red-blooded American male hadn’t? What worried Kyle was that he couldn’t seem to stop having them, even when he had other things to do. Important things, like going to work and doing his job.

He’d jacked off in bed the night before, and again in the shower this morning hoping it would free his mind, but it hadn’t worked. He was almost three minutes late clocking in for his shift because he’d been caught up in a fantasy in which Rory gave him a blow job on one of the glittery islands in the It’s a Tiny Planet ride. In Kyle’s daydream, Rory was humming the ride’s famous theme song while he sucked Kyle inside out, surrounded by bobbing, spinning, animatronic, Day-Glo kids.

There just had to be something mentally wrong with him, right? No normal person would have a fantasy like that, would they? And certainly not be involved in it enough to make him late for work.

It wasn’t the only one Kyle had, either. He’d fantasized about having sex with Rory on almost every ride in Happy World, in every position imaginable. Worse, he was sorely tempted to actually make some of them come true.

We did it in the storage closet on Shell Island and didn’t get caught, an evil little voice that sounded like Kyle but couldn’t possibly be Kyle, whispered as he punched his time card and hurried to Wardrobe. You know where all the security cameras are. You know what bits and pieces of the rides aren’t being filmed. Like inside Spooky Manor, for example. You and Rory could fuck each other’s brains out in the graveyard behind the Happy Hamster-shaped tombstone, and nobody would ever see you. Somehow, the thought of screwing onstage, just out of sight of the reams of guests riding the attraction made Kyle hard all over again.

No! He had the urge to shake his head violently, as if to clear it of his lustful, totally un-Happy World-worthy thoughts. At the same time, Evil Kyle said, Rory would be willing. You know he would.

Kyle couldn’t resist barking a short, quiet laugh. That much was true enough. Rory would probably think it was a great idea. Hell, Rory would think having sex aboard one of the floats in the three o’clock parade would be doable.

What scared Kyle was that he was beginning to agree.

No, no. It’s a very, very bad idea. Bad, Kyle. Bad. No biscuit.

He admitted it wasn’t just the lurid fantasies he’d been having that had him on edge. It was Observation Day for Rory. In other words, Kyle had to shadow Rory all day, watch him do his rounds, and make sure Rory had everything down pat. It was like a final exam, and if Rory passed, training would be officially over. They would work together only if they happened to be scheduled for the same shift. Even then, they would only cross paths now and then while inside the Park.

He sighed unhappily as he checked his image in the full length mirror. For the first time he could remember, Kyle wasn’t looking forward to seeing another Groundskeeping actor graduate. The truth was, he was going to miss working with Rory all day, maybe more than he should, considering all the trouble they’d gotten into together. He got the distinct impression work would never be as much fun again. He was distracted, pinning on his nametag, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, and spun him around. He was shocked to find Charlie standing behind him and felt his stomach lurch with apprehension.

“Hey... it’s Kyle, right?” Charlie’s handsome face creased with a warm smile.

Smile? At him? Kyle frowned. Something was up, and whatever it was, he didn’t like it, not one bit. Why would Charlie, who’d never so much as acknowledged Kyle’s humanity before, and who’d already had a couple of run-ins with Kyle’s protégé Rory, want to talk to him? “Uh, yeah. Kyle. That’s me.”

“I’ve seen you around. Look, I just wanted to make sure there are no hard feelings, you know, over what happened with that jackass you’re training. I mean, I don’t hold you responsible for his assholery, you know?”

“Rory’s not a jackass,” Kyle stated firmly. His frown deepened. “He might be a little misguided, but he only did what he thought was the right thing.”

Charlie put up both hands, as if to deflect Kyle’s anger. “Sure, sure. Look, whatever problems I have with him, they don’t involve you. You and me, we’re good, right?”

Oh, something was definitely up. “What do you want, Charlie?”

“Just to make sure that you don’t get the wrong impression of me, that’s all. I’ve been watching you, you know? You’re cute. I was hoping you and I might, you know, catch dinner or something.”

Kyle resisted the urge to look over his shoulder to see who Charlie was really talking to, certain that it couldn’t be him. “Me and you? On a date?”

“Yeah. We could eat food, catch a movie. What do you say?” Charlie cocked his hip, and his smile held a promise of something a lot more fun than a simple dinner date.

Kyle wouldn’t have been more shocked if Happy Hamster himself walked up and tried to jerk Kyle off. Charlie had been the focus of many of Kyle’s fantasies, but earlier, before Kyle found out what a supreme asshole Charlie could be. Since Kyle met Rory, Charlie had definitely been relegated to the back of Kyle’s fantasy bus. “Uh, I don’t think so. Thanks, but I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Although Kyle was sure Charlie tried to hide it, there was a new edge to Charlie’s voice that belied his pouty lip and sad, puppy dog eyes.

“Both.” Kyle was positively shocked at his temerity. He would have never dared been so cavalier with Charlie before. Charlie knew people, people who could make Kyle miserable, and keep him in Groundskeeping forever. He didn’t feel that way anymore, not after Charlie had tried to get both he and Rory fired. Now, he found he could care less if Charlie imploded on the spot, and actually found himself sort of wishing Charlie would. It gave him the courage to turn Charlie down flat. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Charlie, however, was having none of it. Either he couldn’t take a hint, or was too self-absorbed to believe he was being turned down. After all, who in their right mind would turn down a date with a man who looked like Charlie? “Yeah? Well, I think it’s a great idea. Look, you don’t have to answer now. Take some time and think about it, okay? I’ll catch up to you later.” Charlie flashed him a toothy grin and a wink, then left, leaving Kyle feeling a little shell-shocked.

What the fuck had just happened? Charlie Taylor, asking him out? Had he somehow fallen down some twisted, fucked-up rabbit hole into an alternate reality that morning?

He shook his head. Best to pretend it never happened. Charlie was up to something, of that Kyle was absolutely sure. Maybe Charlie lost a bet or something. Yeah, that was probably it.

Kyle tried to push the encounter out of his mind, but a niggling little voice kept whispering that trouble was streaking toward him like a runaway freight train, and that Charlie Taylor was the engineer.

***

By the time Kyle found Rory, all thoughts of Charlie had been wiped clean from his mind, replaced by all the wicked little fantasies he’d been storing up since he last left Rory. His hard-on returned, and he hoped fervently it wasn’t too obvious through his thin costume pants.

Rory’s arched eyebrow and lecherous grin told him it was indeed visible, probably highly so. Kyle groaned and turned to face the wall of the Bits o’ Magic Boutique, trying to adjust his dick into a less noticeable position.

As if he could. One look at his groin told him he looked as if he were smuggling a broomstick in his pants. There was just no hiding it. In a last ditch effort to appear G-rated, he grabbed one of the maps he always kept in his back pocket and held it over his crotch.

Rory grinned at him. “Does your dick know how to read a map? Because if it does, I say we’re ready for the talk show circuit.”

Kyle’s cheeks heated and he frowned. “It’s your fault. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Me? What did I do?”

The look of faked surprise on Rory’s face was comical and made Kyle chuckle in spite of his discomfort. “You know what you did,” Kyle said. He lowered his voice into a hoarse whisper. “The janitor’s closet on Shell Island? Remember that?”

Although Kyle didn’t think Rory’s grin could grow any wider, it did. “Like I could forget it. Baby, that was the most fun I’ve had since I started working here. If that was an attraction, the line for it would be at full capacity day in and day out.”

Kyle snorted. “Yeah, well, Mr. Full-of-Yourself, I couldn’t stop thinking of it either, hence my unfortunate condition.”

Rory looked left and right, then brushed his hand over the map covering Kyle’s bulging erection. “I don’t think it’s very unfortunate at all.”

Kyle fought to keep the groan that escaped him low enough not to be heard. He didn’t think he succeeded. “Damn it, Rory, stop that! I don’t want to have to go change my pants.”

Rory took Kyle’s arm and manhandled him around the corner of the Bits o’ Magic shop, and into the darker shadows on the side of the building. “One kiss. Come on, Kyle. I’m dying to taste you again.”

The hungry look in Rory’s eyes took Kyle’s breath away. Rory looked like he actually meant it, like he was starving for a kiss.

Kyle’s lips parted to say no, no way, it was a bad idea, completely against the rules, but before he could, Rory’s tongue was in his mouth. It was only by supreme effort that Kyle managed to end the kiss and gently push Rory away. “Dude, not now! There are guests around. Somebody will see us,” he said. He sounded a little breathless, which in fact, he was. Rory’s kiss did that to a guy, stole the breath from his lungs and pushed all the blood in his body to a central location. Kyle’s dick throbbed with need, harder than ever.

“Then let’s get ourselves someplace where they can’t see,” Rory said. His hand brushed over Kyle’s cock again, making Kyle moan softly. “You know the Park better than me. Where can we go?”

“No. We can’t do that again, Rory. We’ll get caught... “

“We weren’t last time, and we won’t this time either. Look at you, Kyle. You can’t walk around like that all day. People will think you’re a pervert.”

“Well, maybe if you stopped touching me, it would go away,” Kyle answered huffily.

“Maybe I don’t want it to go away. I like having you hard for me,” Rory said. His smile was more wicked than ever. “I like it a lot.” He took Kyle’s hand and placed it over his crotch. “Feel that? I’m hard for you too, baby.”

Oh, fuck. Kyle’s body stiffened to the point of pain. On one point, Rory was absolutely right -- he couldn’t walk around all day with a hard-on. He had two choices, as he saw it. He could either punch out and go home, which he really couldn’t afford, or do what Rory suggested.

He didn’t want to admit that even if he could afford to go home without pay for the day, he would still find the second option the most tempting. “Fine, but this is the last time,” he said. Liar, his inner voice said with a mocking laugh. He ignored it and looked around.

They were in the middle of Fairy Tale Land. The closest attraction was the Pieces of Eight Pirate Ride. It consisted of “ships” that carried guests through a rollicking adventure complete with pirates, treasure, and booming cannons. It was loud enough to cover any sounds they might make, and had enough dark corners out of sight of guests and cameras to make a tryst possible. “Come on,” Kyle said. He nodded toward the back of the ride. “We can slip in through the back door. There shouldn’t be anyone back there. All the Actors will be up front loading the rides, or working in the control tower. Follow me.”

Holding his map firmly over his crotch, he led Rory toward the back door of the ride. He’d been right -- there was no one in sight, for which Kyle was eminently grateful. The last thing he wanted to explain was why he was trying to enter the ride building, especially while he had huge hard-on.

It was very dark inside. The onstage area was beyond a thick black curtain, assuring that no guest on the ride might glimpse the inner workings of the ride and have the experience ruined for them. Kyle led Rory down a narrow hallway and then through a dimly lit tunnel. Moving quickly, he pulled Rory onstage, onto the Pillage the Village scene.

In front of them was a crowded collection of animatronic buccaneers and villagers chasing each other back and forth across the stage, as boatload after boatload of guests sailed by. The familiar pirate music boomed from hidden speakers while periodic cannon blasts rattled the walls.

He and Rory ducked behind a well in which a hapless pirate was repeatedly being dunked by an angry peasant woman.

“Nobody can see us from here,” Kyle said. He grinned at Rory before both of them popped open the buttons on their pants, unzipped, and wriggled their pants down to their knees. They sat on the floor with their backs to the well, dicks pointing up toward the star-speckled ceiling.

God, Rory’s cool hand felt so good on the hot skin of his cock! He could smell the scent of sex, although he didn’t know whether it was his own or Rory’s, and cared even less. He reached over Rory’s leg and captured Rory’s dick in his hand, stroking.

“Fuck,” Rory whispered. “Like that. Sweet fuck, Kyle. Keep it up, make me come.”

There was nothing Kyle wanted more at the moment, other than to come himself, which was a foregone conclusion with the way Rory was jerking him. He was going to come and hard, and only hoped all the racket of the ride would keep his cries from reaching the ears of the tourists.

“Faster,” Rory hissed. His hand picked up speed on Kyle’s dick, too. “Coming!” he cried in a hoarse, strangled voice. He grunted loudly as hot spunk dripped onto Kyle’s hand.

The smell of sex got stronger, more potent, and drove Kyle beyond the point of his endurance. He came just as hard as he’d thought he would, stars winking behind his tightly closed eyelids. When he finally opened them, he saw Rory grinning at him.