Small Town
Part 14
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“I guess I’d better get going,” Brian said quietly, his forehead pressed against Justin’s as he hovered above him on the sofa.
“Do you have to?”
Pulling back slightly so he could see the blond’s entire face, his
eyes traveled down to the full lips, then back up to the piercing blue eyes,
he sighed and regretfully answered, “Yeah, I think I’d better before
you get into trouble.” He
knew he wanted to devour the man’s mouth, ravish his body and stay inside
him forever, but Justin’s sleeping parents upstairs were causing a little
damper in that plan. He knew
he should go. He didn’t
want to get on the wrong side of the
“What’s the smile for?” Justin asked.
“For you.”
Justin’s beaming smile lit up the room and he couldn’t help himself as he reached up and captured Brian’s lips in a open mouthed, tongue probing, mind blowing kiss.
When they finally broke apart, panting and aroused, Brian looked at the glassy-eyed man beneath him and growled, “You’re gonna kill me.”
Laughing softly, Justin just smiled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Shaking his head, trying to get a grip on his resolve that was quickly slipping away again, Brian said, “No…no.” But when he saw the pout on the blond’s still swollen lips, he felt himself swaying in his decision, until once again his rational side took hold, telling him that they couldn’t do it and to leave before he just gave in and attacked the man. He stood up and held his hand out to Justin, who took it and pulled himself up beside Brian.
“I really don’t want you to go yet,” the blond whispered.
Running his fingers through the soft, blond hair that hung over the nape of Justin’s neck, Brian smiled softly and said, “Neither do I, but I have to. Don’t worry, I’ll see you really soon. In fact, are you busy tomorrow night?”
“Wow, three days in a row? I’m gonna start to think that you really like me or something,” the younger man said with a sly smile as they walked towards the front door.
“I do,” the brunet said sweetly.
Justin instantly felt his insides turn to mush and his knees weaken from the unbelievable sincerity in Brian’s words and the intensity in the hazel eyes that were locked on his. Already he could tell that whatever he needed to know could always be seen in Brian’s expressive eyes. All he had to do was look for it, and it was there. “I do too.”
Placing a gentle kiss against Justin’s lips, a promise of more to come, Brian opened the front door and let himself out. Turning around as he made his way down the porch steps, he smiled and waved at the blond who was clutching the front door, watching him. “Later,” he called out softly.
“Later,” Justin said with a sigh…he couldn’t wait.
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The next morning, Brian woke up late, rushed through his shower and hurried to the store. When he’d gotten home the night before from Justin’s house, he was so worked up, thinking about everything that had already happen between them and how great it was going that he couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Finally, he did, but it was late and when his alarm went off, he intended to hit the snooze button, but must have been so out of it that he turned it off instead and slept in.
“Sorry,” Brian called out as he made his way into the backroom. He just hoped that his father wasn’t in a bad mood. Not like he was ever in a good mood, that was definitely a rare occurrence, but he just hoped for the best so that the day would at least be tolerable.
“Hey, Sonny Boy, glad to see you finally made it. Wouldn’t want your job to interfere with your sleep, now would we?” Jack said sarcastically as he saw his son approach.
“My alarm didn’t go off,” the younger man said simply, not wanting to get into a fight.
“Uh-huh, well, try to not let it happen again,” Jack returned, then walked off towards his office.
“Hmph, that was easy,” Brian said softly, amazed at his father’s lack of anger. ‘Maybe it won’t be such a bad day after all,’ he thought, making his way out to the front of the store and beginning his morning ritual of restocking the shelves.
A few hours later, while Brian was trying to take stock of their inventory, seeing what they needed to order from their suppliers, he was shaken from his thoughts by his father’s loud voice.
“Well, look what we’ve got here,” Jack said amusedly.
“What?” Brian looked at his father, and shook his head, not having a clue what the man was talking about.
“Seems like someone got some action last night,” the older man said, pointing at Brian’s neck.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sonny Boy, I know hickies when I see them. I’m not dead you know, and I get my fair share of action, not that the warden has anything to do with it,” Jack bragged.
“Ewww, not a picture I really want to think about,” Brian said with a grimace, then realized what his father had said and grabbed the side of his neck. ‘Oh shit!’ he thought. ‘Justin.’
“So, who was she? Did you nail her?” Jack asked with pride in his voice.
“Oh, God, yeah, that’s just what I’m going to talk to you about,” Brian said sarcastically. He had no interest in discussing his sex life with his father, especially when the man would have a coronary if he found out that it wasn’t a SHE but a HE that gave him the marks.
“Come on,” Jack nudged his son with his elbow. “Give an old man a thrill.”
Laughing at the idea that his father usually had nothing to say to him, unless it was berating and belittling, and now he wanted to dish about his sex life…yeah, maybe in another lifetime, but certainly NOT in this one. He looked at his father, but said nothing, silently letting the man know that he was done.
“Awe, you’re no fun. Okay, okay, keep all the details to yourself, but remember to use something. The last thing you want is to get yourself into a situation where you have no choice,” the man said as he turned to walk away. “Never should have been a family man…never had a fucking choice…fucking kids…” he continued to mumble as he headed towards the back.
Sighing heavily, Brian rushed over to the mirror on the wall by the cash register and looked at his neck. “Holy shit,” he said under his breath at the sight of the purplish marks littering his skin. Then he couldn’t help but laugh as he thought about Justin’s pale skin and the vivid marks that would be on him. They would look like beacons against his porcelain skin. He just hoped he noticed them BEFORE he left the house.
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Justin reached over and slammed the button on the clock radio to get it to finally stop buzzing. He hated that fucking sound. He hated getting up for school. He pretty much hated mornings. But what he didn’t hate was knowing that the sooner he got out of bed, the sooner he got to school and the sooner that the day would be over, giving way to the evening so that he could see Brian again. This brought an instant smile to his face and he leapt out of bed.
He made his way to the bathroom and was washing his hands after relieving his aching bladder, when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. The bright smile instantly left his face, to be replaced by a gasp of horror.
“Oh, my God.”
He grabbed at the skin of his neck, rubbing it to see if it was possibly just some dirt that would wipe off, when in reality he knew what they were the second he saw them.
“I am so fucked,” he groaned, thinking about having to face everyone at school with all the hickies on his neck.
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“Justin, why are you wearing a turtleneck when it’s 80 degrees outside?” Daphne asked her friend as he headed up the stairs towards her.
“I, uh, I think I’m getting a cold. I had the chills this morning, so I wore this,” Justin said, trying to make it sound as believable as possible. He’d gotten the same drilling from his mother at breakfast. He hadn’t told her the same story though, because he didn’t want her telling him that he couldn’t go out that evening. He told her that he was presenting a project in class and had to look the part of a French painter, hence, the black turtleneck. He had been surprised at how easily she’d bought his excuse, and was hoping that Daphne would be just as gullible.
“Well, you look fine to me. Maybe it’s just all the excitement from last night,” Daphne said with a knowing smile.
“Maybe,” Justin returned, his smile growing brighter at the thought of last night and Brian.
“Well, I just think that…hey, what’s that?” Daphne stopped what she was going to say when she noticed something peeking out from under the collar of Justin’s top.
“What?” the blond asked, trying his best to act innocent, hoping that maybe his friend would just let it go. But, he knew her better than that.
“That,” Daphne said, pointing to his neck and the one large purple mark that he just couldn’t seem to hide.
“Fuck, okay, it’s a hickey.” Justin looked around to make sure that no one could hear them, then moved closer to his friend and looked her straight in the eye. “My neck is covered in them, and I didn’t know what to do, so that’s the real reason I’m wearing this fucking hot turtleneck when it’s stifling outside.” The blond felt better, having gotten it out in the open. He hated lying to Daphne.
“Oh, my God,” the girl said, pulling the neck of the top down slightly and getting a better look at the marred skin. “Wow, you guys must have had a REALLY good time.”
Smiling, Justin said, “Yeah, the best.”
“Well then, I guess that you’ll just have to wear this until they go away, which hopefully won’t take too long,” the girl said with a worried look on her face. “Remember, you have swimming in gym class today.”
“Oh, fuck,” Justin ground out, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself. That’s all he needed. For Chris Hobbs and the other jocks to see the marks. They heard the bell sound and Justin opened his eyes to find Daphne watching him with concern. “I guess it’s going to be a LONG day,” the man said resignedly, making his way into the school with his best friends supportive arm around him.
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The store had been so busy all day and Brian couldn’t be happier that quitting time was just around the corner. He hadn’t even had a spare moment to call Justin and let him know when he’d be picking him up. He hoped the man wouldn’t be upset with him. He had been worried all day that Justin would have problems because of the marks on his neck that matched Brian’s. Just as the brunet was reaching for his cell phone, finally alone and able to call, the front door bell rang, signaling another customer and Brian sighed. “I’m fucking never gonna be able to call him.”
He turned to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised to find the blond man that had been racing through his mind all day in front of him.
“Hey,” Justin said with a beautiful smile.
“Hey,” Brian returned, unable to stop the silly smile that spread across his face from the thrill at seeing the blond. “Why…what are you doing here?”
“I hadn’t heard from you all day, so I decided to come and make sure you were okay. Daphne’s mom dropped me off after school. I hope that’s okay?”
“Yeah, of course, I’m so happy you’re here,” the brunet said sincerely, having noticed Justin’s uncertainty and wanting to reassure him. “Sorry about not calling. It’s been a bitch of a day. I just couldn’t get away.”
“That’s okay. You’re here now,” the younger man said softly, almost intimately.
“Yeah, I am and so are you.” Brian couldn’t help the giddiness he felt welling up inside of him. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard his father coming up behind him.
“Hey, Brian, I have something to tell you before you head out. Oh, I didn’t realize you were busy,” Jack said, noticing another person with Brian, then smiling slightly when he saw who it was. “Oh, Justin, nice to see you again.”
“Yeah, you too Mr. Kinney,” Justin replied, trying his best to keep the smile on his face.
“So you boys gonna do something again tonight?”
Looking at his father like he’d grown a second head, Brian was amazed at the way his father was acting like the model parent. Something was definitely up, and he wondered what. “Uh, yeah, actually, we’re heading out now.”
“Great, well, have good time.” Then Jack turned towards his son and said, “I’ll talk to you in the morning and try not to be late again.” Then the older man turned and walked away.
“I wonder what he wants to talk to you about?” the blond asked.
Turning his attention back to Justin, having just been wondering the same thing, Brian shrugged and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. There was no way he was willing to let his father infringe on one single moment of his time with Justin. “Come on, let’s go,” the brunet said, grabbing hold of Justin’s arm and pulling him out the front door.
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“Justin.”
“Uh, yeah?” Justin turned, slightly dazed.
“Where were you? That was the third time I called your name,” Brian said with concern.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about something that happened at school today.”
“Everything alright?”
“Yeah…yeah, fine.”
“You don’t sound very convincing, Justin. Is there a problem at school?”
“No, nothing out of the ordinary. Just the same old stupid jocks with the same old stupid attitudes,” the blond answered. He didn’t feel like getting into it with Brian. He’d had a difficult day, especially in gym and didn’t feel like reliving it.
“Well, if there’s anything you want to talk about or need help with, I’m here,” the brunet said, resting his hand on top of Justin’s.
Justin looked down at their hands and was amazed at how completely his smaller one fit inside of Brian’s larger one. He smiled and looked back up at Brian, his face so open and honest. Willing to do whatever he needed to do to help. It made Justin tingle all over, knowing that he had that kind of support from the man. “Thanks,” was all he said, the perfect smile on his face saying the rest.
Brian gave Justin’s hand a squeeze, reading everything he needed to know in the man’s beautiful smile.
“By the way, nice turtleneck,” Brian said with a laugh.
“Oh, sure, torment me. Like I didn’t have a hell of a day already, trying to explain to EVERYONE who asked why the hell I was wearing a turtleneck in this incredible heat,” Justin said, flailing his arms about for affect.
“Well, at least you realized BEFORE you left the house. I didn’t notice until dear old dad was kind enough to point the hickies out to me. Let me tell you, that was a treat,” Brian scoffed.
Laughing at both of their little performances, Justin looked at Brian and the man couldn’t help but join in. They both sure knew how to bring on the drama queen moments when they wanted to.
Happy for the lightness that had returned, Justin asked, “So, where
are we going?”
“Well, I thought that maybe you’d like to see some more of Liberty Avenue?” Brian turned towards Justin, wanting to see the man’s reaction.
“Sure, I’d love that,” the blond said excitedly. He’d loved the diner and thought that Debbie was a hoot, and he couldn’t wait to see more of what the area had to offer.
“Great, so that’s where we’ll go. Do you want to call your parents and let them know that you won’t be home for supper?”
“No, I already told my mom that I was going to the library after school with Daphne and wouldn’t be home until late.”
“Why did you have to lie?” Brian asked, not sure why he felt a slight pang of sadness at the thought that Justin didn’t tell his parents that he was going to be with him.
Justin thought he heard something in Brian’s voice and turned to face him. He saw a veil of sadness pass over the man’s face and knew what he was thinking. “Brian,” the younger man said softly, “I don’t want my mom asking a million questions, not yet, so I lied. I’m sorry if you think that I’m ashamed of you. I’m not. I just…I don’t think my mother would understand and I know that she already suspects something.”
Brian turned sharply at the younger man’s last words. “She does?”
“Yeah, she was acting all weird when I came in from being with you that first night. I know she wanted to ask me more, but I left before she had a chance. And then last night, I saw the way she was looking at you.” Justin shook his head and closed his eyes. He was scared of what his mother’s reaction would be when she found out the truth. And his father – shit – he didn’t even want to think about that one. Feeling Brian’s hand tighten around his, Justin opened his eyes and looked back at the man.
“It’ll be okay. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. Alright?” Brian said reassuringly.
“Yeah, okay,” Justin whispered and smiled, thrilled that he would have Brian by his side. No matter what.
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