A strong hand touched the small of Matt’s back—Vic.An instant comfort swelled in him, chasing off the panic thatcircled his thoughts. In a low growl, his lover muttered, “Thesooner we eat, the sooner we can get out of here.”
Matt let Vic steer him toward the porch steps.Noticing them, Kyle wandered over and planted his hands on his hipsas he looked them over. “Everything all right?” he wanted to know.“You okay?”
“Yeah,” Matt said. At the slight frown on Kyle’sface, he laughed, a nervous, shaky sound. “Oh, you mean Vic. He’sfine. No harm done.”
Kyle gave Vic a quick smile, relieved. “That’s goodto know. I’m sorry it had to happen to you.”
From the corner of his vision, Matt saw Vic glower atKyle. In Matt’s mind, he asked, ::Who else would it havehappened to?::
Matt gave his lover a playful nudge in the side.“Vic, hush,” he murmured.
Kyle’s frown was back as he glanced between them. Toolate, Matt realized Vic hadn’t spoken out loud. To cover his slip,he descended the steps and leaned toward Kyle, lowering his voiceas he asked, “So that’s your new…boyfriend?”
“Jordan?” Kyle’s face cleared; he turned a sunnysmile to Matt’s old classmate, but Jordan was busy talking to oneof the other guests and didn’t return that grin. Kyle didn’t seemto mind. “What a great guy, I’m telling you. But hey, he says youalready know each other?”
Matt felt his blood run cold, and Vic rubbed his backin a soothing gesture as if to ward off the chill. What had Jordansaid about him? About Vic?
Before he could respond, Kyle laughed. “Small world,isn’t it? He says you two dated in high school, or something.”
“Or something,” Matt mumbled. He needed a drink, aglass to hold onto, or a can to hide behind. Preferably alcoholic,if that wasn’t asking too much. Frowning at a chunk of whiteStyrofoam on the sidewalk, all that remained of the cooler, heasked, “Do you have any more beer? Maybe something a little…I don’tknow, stronger? I thought I heard something about cocktails.”
At the sudden leer on Kyle’s face, he tried toremember how the invitation had read—had there been a dash orampersand between the words “cock” and “tail?” That was an old jokeof Kyle’s, a pseudo-innocent way of referring to sex, one Mattnever found all that funny. “I mean to drink,” he clarified. Thelast thing he needed was Vic to punch Kyle for some off-colorremark.
Kyle glanced past Matt and his smile slipped a notchor two; he didn’t have to read minds to interpret the black look onVic’s face. Clearing his throat, Kyle pointed at the far side ofthe pool, where a high, narrow table stood, flanked by a pair ofwooden barstools. “Got a bit of a dry bar going. You want somethingmixed? Or straight up?” He gave Matt a wink. “How drunk do you wantto get?”
“Shit-faced,” Matt muttered. He caught Vic’s hand inhis and gave it a quick, reassuring squeeze before he followed Kyleto the bar and the prospect of getting wasted.
Settling for a rum and Coke, he drank down half theglass in one gulp, then had Kyle top it off with more Bacardi. Asthe alcohol hit his system, he felt the knot in his stomach loosen,and for the first time since Jordan’s arrival, Matt began to relax.A few more drinks and he wouldn’t give a shit who Kyle had invitedto the party—he’d be horny as hell and looking to pull Vic aside.Not that he needed an excuse…
After he emptied the first drink, he filled the glassagain, all rum this time. Sipping his drink, Matt navigated aroundthe edge of the pool to where his lover still stood by the porch.With a seductive grin, Matt closed the distance between them, hisgaze never leaving Vic’s chiseled features. It was as if they werealone, just the two of them; the rest of the party, Kyle andJordan, the world, had disappeared. Instead of just stoppingnext to Vic, Matt pressed his whole body against his lover’s side,wrapping his arms around biceps that bulged with muscle as heleaned into them. Propping his chin on Vic’s shoulder, Matt purred,“Hey there, sexy.”
There was a slight smirk on Vic’s face, and his eyesglittered with faint amusement. “I see you got a drink.”
As his lover’s arm came up around his waist, Mattsnuggled against him. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I say that,” Vic countered, “like I think I’mgetting lucky tonight.”
Matt laughed. Alcohol went straight from his lips tohis dick. It was a proven fact—even a can of beer was enough to gethim going. Add Vic into the mix, and Matt only hoped they managedto get a bite to eat before he started stripping off hisclothes.
* * * *
When the burgers were done, Jordan scooped them offthe grill onto a plate Kyle held out for him. As the other guestsjostled for a position at the table, grabbing paper plates andburger buns and spoons full of potato salad, Matt wandered to thebar again. His glass was running low. To Vic, he asked, “Fix me aplate, will you? I’ll be right there.”
At the bar he stopped to look back. Vic’s bulk madehim easy to spot among Kyle’s other friends. His white muscleT-shirt gleamed in the setting sun, making the skin on his armslook darker than it really was. His bald pate shone from theliberal amount of sun block Matt had rubbed onto it in the car ontheir way to the cookout; the black tattoo on the back of his neckglistened with sweat. For a long moment Matt stood there, leaningagainst the bar, watching his lover. Vic stood out from all therest, a cut above the others. Mine, Matt told himself, andthe thought washed through him with warmth, like brandy curlingdown his throat to pool in the pit of his stomach. Opening hismind, Matt sent a wave of that feel-good emotion Vic’s way, chasingit down with one thought. ::I love you.::
Across the pool, Vic’s harsh mouth turned up
