All About Justin
 

Chapter 10

“Hey,” John greeted Bobby as he walked into Bobby’s office.

“Wow. First Justin visits me, twice, and now you. I’m beginning to feel all warm and fuzzy,” Bobby teased.

“I hope I always make you feel warm and fuzzy,” John said as he shut Bobby’s office door then swiftly took the younger man into his arms for a passionate kiss.

“Oh wow!” Bobby said when he could finally focus. “I guess the Kinney side of you is making an unexpected but very welcome visit,” Bobby purred with a brilliant smile. John smugly smirked a la Brian then gave his lover another deep kiss.

Bobby felt himself growing hard then reluctantly but gently pushed his spouse away. “I wish we could right here, but we can’t,” Bobby said with a disappointed sigh.

“I know, love. Maybe one day when you own this firm, we can lock the doors then we can make love on your desk,” John said expressing a fantasy.

“You know there’s nothing stopping us from making love in our own office in the attic.”

“I think we’ve done that.”

“But never on the desk,” Bobby said with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

“It’s a date,” John confirmed.

“Now that’s settled, why are you here?”

“I wanted to find out if you’ve received any more information about the Kinney properties.”

“Actually I have. The land surveys are complete and it’s been confirmed. The only home involved is the St. John’s home. Some of the property is adjacent to the school and the camp. I don’t foresee any complications with the transfer of the land. I’m more concerned with the old mine.”

“Mine, as in only one?” John asked as he took the report out of Bobby’s hands to read for himself, as Bobby steered him to a chair.

“It originally looked like two mines; however, on closer inspection it’s just one, a very large one with multiple access points.”

“Making it look like two. Sometimes they started at opposite ends of a deposit then ended up in the middle.”

“That’s what the investigator said. He also said it was abandoned fairly early and the tunnels were deliberately collapsed for safety reasons but we can certainly have it fully inspected.”

“I’d like to have the ground water around the area tested as well.”

“We can do that. I don’t think it’ll be as bad as we may have first thought.”

“Good. I think Justin would have been devastated if the report showed any environmental damage.”

“I know. He’d blame himself for pushing the investigation.”

“I was wondering why he was so quiet the night you presented the preliminary report. You told him to stay quiet.”

“I advised him to let me give you and Brian the results.”

“Why?”

“John, do you remember how enthusiastic you were when Justin spearheaded our trip to South America?”

John smiled; he did indeed remember. He also remembered how exhausted he was. Aside from the fact that they were all so much younger, he remembered that he couldn’t help but get caught up in Justin’s boundless energy.

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

“I think so. You were concerned that if Justin told us we’d get caught up in one of his causes and probably agree to whatever he asked.”

“You make me sound so callous.”

“Not at all. You wanted to present the facts objectively and rationally so that Brian and I could make an informed decision. Brian sometimes gets distracted by Justin.”

“You do understand!”

“More than you think I do,” John mumbled as he made the realization.

Bobby, so in tune with his mate, understood. “John, Justin has a special place in your heart. Your regard for him is different from what you feel for me.”

“You’re not bothered by it?”

“John,” Bobby began as he came around his desk and made himself comfortable on his spouse’s lap. John smiled under the solid weight of his spouse. No matter how old they got, John absolutely loved when Bobby sat on his lap. “You have so much love in your heart. And I can tell the difference.”

John relaxed as he wrapped his arms around Bobby. “You sure we can’t have sex on your desk?” John asked with a leer that made Bobby giggle.

“God, I love you so much. I promise to give you the ride of your life tonight if you get out of here so I can finish up. I’m drawing up the transfer papers for the school, camp and the St. John house. I agree with Brian about having a meeting with all the affected parties. But we should make our own inspection of the land in question before we do. This way we can anticipate any questions and be prepared to act.”

“I agree. May I have a copy of the final report? I’d like to call in Gordon and some of the people I’ve worked with to consult with them. When it’s convenient, we can go on a field trip to inspect the properties.”

“You can take the one I gave you,” Bobby said as he stood up. “When I get home, we can speak with the guys.”

John nodded then just before leaving his lover’s office, John reminded Bobby that his Kinney side was raring to go.

“Later tonight, I promise,” Bobby said as he batted his red lashes at his lover. “I promise,” he repeated as John left the office.

 

*****
 

“Well?” Justin asked. It was well after dinner; the dishes were all washed and put away. Bree and Patrick were quietly reading together before it was time for bed. Justin had gathered Brian, Bobby and John together in the porch to give their opinion regarding his painting.

Over dinner Bobby shared the final report. Brian and Justin agreed to go on a field trip with John and Bobby to personally look over the land prior to the meeting with the school and camp.

“It’s Brian,” John said as he compared the sketch to the revised painting. “But different.”

“The painted version of Brian reminds me of John,” Bobby said almost wistfully. He so wanted to go to bed early to pounce on the Kinney part of John.

“Brian?” Justin turned to the man in question.

“This is me, now,” Brian said softly, indicating the painting. “The man that I’ve become largely because of you, Sunshine. And you and you,” Brian said to John and Bobby. “The pain is gone,” Brian simply commented. He gave his brother and brother-in-law a kiss good night, gently caressed Justin’s face then retreated to his side of the cottage.

“You did good, Justin,” John said with a handsome smile.

“He’s right. The man in the sketch no longer exists. He’s so much better,” Bobby affirmed as he hugged Justin. “Have a good night,” Bobby whispered into Justin’s ear.

John gave Justin’s golden hair a ruffle before taking Bobby’s hand then returning to their side of the conjoined cottages.

Justin stood staring at his painting, very pleased with the outcome. He checked the hooks then securely attached the ropes of the pulley system to hoist the painting up to the rafters. He then returned the sketch back into its protective frame.

When he finished putting away his paints and brushes, Justin turned off the porch lights then went to find his spouse.

“She in bed?” Justin asked Brian as he joined Brian in their bedroom.

“Yes, and asleep and after only one story. This party planning business is hard work for an almost seven year old.”

“I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that.”

“Why do I feel a lecture coming on?’

“I don’t know, maybe because you know me so well?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. Okay, lay it on me,” Brian said as he made himself comfortable on the bed, mentally preparing himself for Justin’s lecture.

“I think we need to set some limits on this sleepover party. Between Emmett and Bree, it’s beginning to sound like one of Sharon Brenner’s soirees. She’s going to be seven. Not twenty-seven. We should keep this simple. Simple food, simple agenda,” Justin said emphatically.

“I agree.”

“You do?”

“You’ll get no argument from me, Sunshine. We’re hosting a bunch of little girls not having a cotillion. Emmett’s going through a nesting phase. He thinks he has to plan an elaborate social event for his favorite princess. I swear if he could he’d grow a uterus and breasts then force Drew to make him pregnant.”

Justin laughed.

“The simpler the better, Justin.”

“Who’s going to tell her and Emmett?” Justin asked with his eyes large and innocent.

“I never send a boy to do a man’s job,” Brian snarked.

“Riiight.”

Justin slowly batted his lashes at Brian then licked his lips. Brian watched the path Justin’s pink tongue took as it slowly swiped along the contours of Justin’s lips. Brian arched his brow as he contemplated his next move.

Brian pounced.

All moves next required no contemplation at all.

 

*****
 

Brian arched his back and let out a moan. This was one helluva dream he decided in some faraway part of his brain. He felt the fire spread through his loins, up his spine and explode in his brain.

“Aaaah!”

“That’s it! Come for me!”

“UUUHHH!” Brian felt his cock shoot long and hard into the warm confines that held it tight and secure. He slowly opened his eyes, unwilling to have the lovely dream be over. His eyes gradually focused on a certain blond with a very smug look on his face. Said blond was licking his lips in the most tempting manner, and seemingly enjoying every morsel of what had covered them. “You’re real?” Brian asked as the world seemed to drop back into focus.

“That was your morning wake up call,” Justin grinned.

“I … I thought I was dreaming.”

“As long as it’s me you’re dreaming about…”

“Always you,” Brian said, reaching around behind Justin’s head and pulling his husband up towards him. “You taste … yummy,” Brian whispered as his lips captured Justin’s.

“Hm,” Justin said with a big smile when he was released from the warm, sensual kiss. “I see you’ve taken to quoting our daughter.”

Brian chuckled. “I only quote the best.”

“She is the best.”

Brian nodded as Justin settled his head atop Brian’s heart and listened to the steady thumpa thumpa.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, and I do mean pleasure, of this wake up call?” Brian asked after a moment.

“It was a thank you,” Justin whispered letting his lips slowly pass over Brian’s nipple as he spoke.

“A thank you?”

“Yep.”

“For what?” Brian asked with a frown. “Did you buy something extravagant that I’m going to get the bill for?”

Justin laughed against Brian’s chest. “Yep, my shiny, new red Ferrari will be here tomorrow.”

“Hey, I thought that was my kind of car,” Brian laughed.

“We all have our fantasies.”

“Yes, we do.”

“I think the shiny, red Fur-Harry is actually Gus’ fantasy,” Justin said using Bree’s pronunciation of the car’s name.

“In his dreams,” Brian responded.

“Yeah, but we all have those dreams.”

“Seriously, Justin, what was my delightful thank you for?”

“For helping me fix my painting.”

“I didn’t help you do anything,” Brian protested. “You’re the painter.”

“I know, but I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the painting, and you saw it right off the bat.”

“You give me too much credit.”

“No I don’t. Usually you don’t get enough credit.”

Brian snorted. “I’m not looking for credit, but I did enjoy the fringe benefits,” Brian said running his fingers through Justin’s hair.

“Glad to be of service.”

“I could reciprocate,” Brian suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows as Justin looked up at him.

“In a minute,” Justin replied. “I want to run something by you.”

“Oh, what?”

“You know I started looking through my sketches so that I could ‘Chronicle Justin Taylor’?” Justin asked using the name Sidney had applied to his show in London. Brian nodded. That was going to be the official name of this new series, and probably the show that would follow.

“Yes, I know all that. I think it’s a good idea.”

“I did too … at first,” Justin said with a thoughtful look on his face. “But then I ran into that problem with your portrait, and I realized that you can’t go back, because nothing’s really the same when you try to.”

“I get that. But what’s the problem with the title.”

“I woke up this morning with the idea that I should call this series ‘Then and Now’. I think it should be the sketch that inspires me, but the paintings that I make for them will be wild and abstract and innovative, except for the one of you that I just finished. It’s perfect the way it is … now.”

“Hm,” Brian said as he watched Justin’s face. It glowed with creativity and he talked at lightning speed when he had been struck with inspiration. Brian loved to see that look on Justin’s beautiful face.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re a genius. I always think that.”

“I didn’t feel like much of a genius when I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with that portrait.”

“That was just part of the process to get you to this idea that I can already see you’re crazy about.”

“I am,” Justin said with a happy smile. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

“Happy to oblige,” Brian smirked.

“Can I use that sketch of you with your dick hanging out, the one from my first show at the GLC?” Justin asked.

“Sure,” Brian said. “You did flatter me … just a tad in that sketch.”

Justin laughed. “That’s how you looked to me.”

“I know, and I loved every minute of your adoration.”

“Of course you did, although you didn’t appreciate my adoration until much later in our … relationship.”

“More’s the fool me!”

“But you do now, appreciate my adoration I mean,” Justin said with a smirk. “And I promise your dick will be world famous before I’m done.”

“I thought it already was,” Brian said with his own smirk.

Justin giggled. “Perhaps.”

“Now it’s time for your reward for giving me the best wake up call I’ve had in ages,” Brian said. Just before he pounced on his unsuspecting artist.

 

*****
 

“This is our school, Dada,” Bree exclaimed stating the obvious as they slowly drove up to the vacant lot adjacent and to the back of Bree and Patrick’s school.

“Yes, it is, Squirt,” Brian replied.

It was early Sunday morning; the family was packed into John’s Navigator. With maps, a GPS device and the surveyor reports, the descendants of JAB Kinney and family were prepared for their day trip around the county. Their first stop was the school, then the camp and then on to the St. John house. They decided to save the trip into the countryside for later in the day.

“Do we know why this lot has stayed vacant?” Brian asked out loud to no one in particular. The lot looked full of rocks with bare muddy patches. It certainly wasn’t safe as it was.

“I’ve looked into some of the past town meeting minutes,” Bobby began to explain. “About thirty years ago the city council wanted to clean up the lot and perhaps turn it into a small working farm as part of an agricultural school, or build a new high school on the same campus as the grade school. But the council never found the original owner of the land so the proposal went nowhere.”

“Now we know why,” Justin added as John pulled away from the curb and on to the camp.

They found a similar sight near the camp, although they could tell the adjacent land would be full of weeds and possibly all manner of vermin during the warmer months.

Brian frowned. “Why haven’t I noticed this before? I’ve been dropping off Bree and Patrick to school and camp for over two years and I’ve never noticed they’re both situated next to garbage dumps.”

“Brian, this is hardly a garbage dump,” Justin said as he patted Brian’s arm. “But I admit, I never paid too much attention to the lots around the school and camp either.”

“Brian, the purpose of this field trip is to inspect the properties and take notes on what we have to clean up,” John remarked reasonably. “I’ve seen much worse. The theater and bowling alley were in far worse shape than what we’ve seen so far.”

“You taking notes, Sunshine?” Brian snarked.

“As a matter of fact I am,” Justin said as he took out a small notepad from his ever present messenger bag, waving it in front of Brian’s slightly aquiline nose. “It’ll be okay,” Justin whispered to his worried spouse.

Brian refrained from snorting. Justin’s enthusiasm for this latest ‘project’ was just as catching as all his other family projects. Brian had no doubt that if Justin believed it was going to be okay then it would be. He leaned over to kiss Justin’s cheek.

“Is this Ashley’s house?” Bobby asked with a frown. He had never seen Bree’s best friend’s house before. The house was small and squeezed onto a tiny plot of land surrounded by an old fence that was on the verge of tumbling down.

“Yes, Unca Bobby,” Bree confirmed for her uncle.

“John, which piece is ours?” Bobby asked his spouse as John pulled over to park.

“Let me see the survey,” John requested. Bobby handed him the survey and they all waited quietly for John’s answer. “According to this, the Kinney property extends from the house back several hundred feet and toward the corner.” John indicated a plot of land four times the size of the current St. John home.

“I don’t understand why all these vacant lots were never developed,” Justin said with curiosity.

“The land goes fallow if the county can’t figure out to whom it belongs. And I recall many of the Kinney records were destroyed in a flood or something,” John stated. Justin nodded in agreement. The records had been lost. If the Kinney will hadn’t been found hidden behind one of JAB Kinney’s paintings, Claire and John’s house might have been lost too.

“Sometimes I forget how fortunate we are,” Bobby commented softly.

“We are, love, but we’ll make this right for Ashley and her mom,” John reassured his spouse.

“Brian, I know you wanted to arrange to speak to all parties involved at the school, but I suggest we speak to Mrs. St. John in private. No one else needs to know her business,” Bobby suggested.

“Bri, Bobby’s right. Susanna is going through a divorce. This should be handled carefully,” Justin said.

“You’re right. You’re both right. We’ll call her later. Bobby, you may have to confer with her attorney. I want to make sure Susanna and Ashley are protected,” Brian said with concern.

“Dada, will Ashley be okay?” Bree didn’t understand what was being said but she did understand that her fathers and uncles were concerned about her best friend.

“It’ll be fine, Squirt, I promise,” Brian said with authority.

“Okay, Dada,” Bree said, confident in her Dada’s abilities to keep her friend safe.

As they were driving closer and closer to Bridgeton, John made an announcement. “Grandma Claire and Grandpa Steve have been missing the two of you. We’re going to drop you both off so you can spend the day while we take a hike into the countryside for a while.”

“Dad, I can hike too,” Patrick said a little disappointed that he wasn’t included in the field trip.

“I know, son. But I’d rather take you when the weather is a little warmer. It’s still March and the weather can be unpredictable. Let me check things out first then I promise to take you. Gordon and I will be going back. You can come with us then,” John told his son.

“Okay, Dad,” Patrick said feeling a little better.

“Paaatwick, please stay with me and Gamma Claire,” Bree asked her cousin as she batted her blond lashes at him.

Patrick sighed; sometimes he could not resist those lashes. The three older men in the vehicle could all commiserate with Patrick. They understood the power in those blond Taylor eyelashes.

“Sure,” Patrick said.

“Yay!” Bree squealed with delight.

Very soon John’s Navigator was negotiating the lane toward his mother’s farm.

“Look who’s here!” Claire exclaimed as John parked the big SUV and the family spilled out. Claire was standing just inside her screened porch. Bree and Patrick ran to their grandmother to give her a big hug.

“I swear, you two have grown so big since you’ve been home from London,” Claire said. “Patrick, you’re almost as tall as your Poppa.” Patrick grinned from ear to ear. “Come on; let’s get inside before you all catch cold. Jackie, I’ve packed a cooler for you to take with you.”

“Mother, we’re not camping out.”

“I know that, but four men traipsing through the woods can work up an appetite. No arguments.” Claire glared at her son.

“No arguments,” all four men replied, gratefully accepting the cooler then placing it in the back of the Navigator.

They kissed the kids goodbye then headed out into the wilderness.

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