Which Way the Wind Blows

Chapter 23

Chris was happy to help Joe and Kee set up for the bachelor party they were planning for Tom. It made him feel like he was part of a group … like he’d actually made friends. And he knew Joe and Kee counted him as one of their friends. Kee, particularly, made sure he included Chris in these types of events. Joe told him Kee insisted that Chris come to the party, even though he’d only met Tom the one time when they helped move the couple into the condo. When he asked if they needed any help decorating the place, Kee jumped all over the idea, saying he wanted to introduce Chris to his friends Genie and Wendell. Joe said Kee got that way about certain people he met who “passed” whatever mental test he put out for them. Chris didn’t know how he did it, but he was glad he did. Having friends like Kee made him feel accepted.

When the room was done there was nothing left to do but wait for the rest of the guests and the groom to arrive. Kee and Joe had mentioned something about a surprise Tom wasn’t likely to forget any time soon. It sounded ominous to Chris, but the pair looked positively thrilled over it. He watched them talk to one of the strippers before ambling over to the bar and getting himself a beer. Might as well kick back and relax.

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Victoria laughed her head off as the male stripper picked up Lauren’s chair – with her in it – and proceeded to dance around the glitzy little bar they’d found in midtown. Lauren wasn’t upset by it either, whooping loudly and slapping the tanned and buff guy’s bottom lightly.

“You sure are cute!” she grinned at him. “Maybe I should rethink this whole marriage thing!”

He waggled his black eyebrows suggestively at her and winked while he danced to the beat with her.

“You want to go for a spin?” Lauren called over to Victoria as she was spun around.

“No, thanks!” Victoria guffawed. “You keep him all to yourself, lady.” She lifted her Cosmo in a toast. “My gift to you, as your best and only girlfriend in New York.”

“And how glad I am to have you in this time of need!” Lauren grinned.

The stripper put Lauren down and proceeded to give her a lap dance while Victoria ordered them another round.

“I hope the boys are having some fun tonight!” Lauren said as the stripper put his chiseled face between her breasts.

“Who cares?” Victoria laughed.

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The she-male stripper was a hell of a surprise to Chris and he laughed along with Kee and Joe as the guy they punked stumbled away from the table. Joe started dancing with her and led her back to their table while the other four strippers took over the rest of the show for – as Kee called them – the breeder boys. The four ladies all dropped their g-strings to prove they were the real deal – or at least post-op, as Genie called out. Genie was loud and flamboyant, but Chris liked him a lot. Genie wore a yellow tank dress with a black, long-sleeved tee under it and purple leggings that matched his eye shadow. Chris liked Wendell too, but the taller blonde was more reserved than his smaller redheaded counterpart. Not that this was a bad thing. Wendell dressed as colorfully as his boyfriend – in a fire engine red net tunic with brown tights – but had a quieter demeanor. They seemed to complement each other perfectly.

Two other figures broke away from the main tables and made their way back to their table as well. Chris paid them no mind at first until he felt a stare burn into him. He turned his head to nod to the guy – only to meet Warren’s shocked stare. He sat stifle next to the blonde guy Chris had seen at the building. He looked away from Warren’s hard stare and moved his chair a little closer to Genie’s. The mood was becoming awkward because he caught Kee’s quizzical glance. He knew he couldn’t just ditch though. Kee and Joe were his friends and he was sure that wouldn’t go down well. He decided it might be best if he spent the remainder of the night sitting at the bar, though. He wouldn’t have to face Warren’s accusing glare if he did. So, when the song changed to a fast beat and all the girls started bouncing again, causing loud cheers to erupt, Chris snuck away and pulled up a stool to the darkened corner on the far side of the bar where he wouldn’t be noticeable.

The bartender grinned as he walked over and Chris had to stop his eyes from rolling as Scott ran a gaze down him as he approached.

“Having fun?”

“Sure,” Chris gave him a small polite smile.

“What’ll you have?”

“What’s the strongest you got?”

Scott lifted an amused eyebrow. “The she-male get to you, too?”

“She was great,” Chris smirked. “I just had a rough day.”

Scott poured him a tequila shot and Chris settled onto the tall stool.

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“What the fuck is he doing here?” Jake whispered to Warren so no one heard him.

Warren shrugged as he watched Chris disappear from view. He hadn’t missed the guilty look Chris sent him when he noticed him sitting there, nor the way he pulled his chair closer to the colorful couple he sat near. Chris was no happier to see him than he was to see the blonde. But this was his friend’s bachelor party and he wouldn’t have said anything. Still, Chris seemed to think it would be better if he kept away from Warren. It only made Warren more curious. The Chris he knew – who he’d decided had to be under there somewhere, because, hell, no one could possibly change THAT much – would never leave the table for him. He’d give him arrogant, knowing looks and stare him down, but he’d never surrender his seat. He knew his ex was playing at some scheme. He had to be.

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Chris knocked back six tequila shots before they started hitting him.

“Slow down,” Scott laughed, putting a beer in front of him. “I know it’s a bachelor party, and getting drunk’s part of the requirements, but tequila’s serious shit!”

Chris waved at him irritably. “It makes … things-s-s-s-s better.”

“It just seems that way,” Scott replied as he wiped down a glass. “But trust me, it does anything BUT make things better.”

Chris sniffed and coughed before chugging back his beer and sat in sadness in the dark.

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Warren gave the party another hour or so then excused himself to go looking for Chris to see what happened to him. He found him facedown at the bar with some empty shot glasses and beer bottles surrounding him at the bar. Scott, who Warren recognized from Kelly’s, nodded to him.

“You know Sleeping Beauty?”

“Oh yeah,” Warren smiled mirthlessly.

“Too bad,” Scott smirked. “I was hoping to hook up with him. Not tonight, of course, but sometime.”

“Don’t despair,” Warren sighed. “Knowing him, you might just get your chance.”

“Chris?” Kee called as he rushed over and shook the drunken blonde. “What the hell happened?” he demanded of Scott when e got no response.

“He asked for something strong,” the bartender shrugged innocently. “I just gave him some.”

“Some what?!”

“Tequila.”

“Tequila?!” both Warren and Kee cried.

Warren knew Chris wasn’t a heavy drinker – at least not back when they lived in Seattle. Sure, he’d been drunk a few times, but never on anything stronger than beer or cognac. Kee sighed heavily and a look of guilt flashed across his face. Scott left to help someone else. Then he fixed a curious gaze onto Warren.

“How do you know him?” he asked in a deceptively calm voice.

But Warren had heard Tom talk about his temperamental best friend before and the she-male stripper proved he wasn’t completely over his anger issues with their mutual friend. Warren decided he should answer carefully.

“He and I went to the same college,” he said softly.

“Really?” Kee asked skeptically. “Because you two didn’t seem too happy to see each other.”

“We were surprised we knew the same guy,” the dark haired man said calmly. “That’s all.”

“Well, I have to arrange to get him a cab,” Kee said distractedly. “Victoria will have my head if anything bad happens to him.”

At the mention of her name Warren bristled inwardly. He knew she was still with Chris. He just knew it! They were planning something! Well, he’d head off whatever it was right now.

“That’s okay,” he assured the fretting brunette. “I’ll take him home.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s cool,” he smiled encouragingly at Kee. “I know where he lives, and I was going to head out now anyway.”

“But you don’t have to. Your friend’s still here,” Kee said as he pointed to Jake.

“He’ll be fine,” Warren waved at Jake who nodded back at hi, probably assuming Warren had picked up again. “I told him I was probably leaving early anyway.”

“Um …”

“Really,” Warren said as he went to stand behind Chris and patted the back of his head,.

“War-ren?” Chris whispered.

“Yeah, buddy,” he drawled into the blonde’s ear.

“Okay then,” Kee said reluctantly. “Chris, you okay to go home with Warren?”

“I mis-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s War-en,” Chris sighed.

“I’m right here, Chris,” Warren smirked down at him.

Kee shrugged then, deciding Warren knew what he was doing, and walked away.

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Chris was humming a tune to himself as Warren laid him on his bed. He wasn’t planning on actually fucking the guy in this condition, but wouldn’t it be fun to see his face in the morning.

“Miss War-ren,” the blonde sighed again. “I miss you.”

“Sure wish you really meant it,” Warren replied angrily as he pulled off Chris’ shoes.

“Do mean it!” Chris slurred. “Told my family …” he hiccupped. “An’ left when they said I was queer.”

“And that erases everything,” Warren sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “All six years of you hiding me like a bad habit!”

Chris crawled his way to a sitting position and clutched at Warren’s shirt desperately, trying to get the words out that he’d held in for so long. “I love you, Warren,” he said with a tear in his eye. “I always loved you!”

Warren looked down at his ex coolly. It all looked so perfect. But then with Chris, it always did. He had this practiced down to a T. He knew how to act, even drunk. True he’d never actually said those words, but the desperate sentiment? Yeah, Warren had seen that many times before.

“Prove it,” he said flatly.

Chris sniffled and blustered for a bit then lay on his back on the bed and started taking off his clothes slowly. Warren’s eyes ran over the body he’d known so well critically. Other than losing a little weight, the blonde looked exactly as he had back in Seattle. And Warren was surprised at how easily his cock hardened, remembering how good Chris felt to him. He hadn’t meant to fuck the guy, but the sight was awfully tempting right now.

“Take me, Warren,” Chris said breathlessly. “I want you … on top … this time.”

“Really?” Warren drawled again letting his Southern accent drift out as he moved toward the bed. “I think I can accommodate you.”