No, he realized just then, he didn’t love Bennie the same way he loved Tommy. He had gone five years waiting for Tommy to get out of prison, barely even looking at another man the entire time. He had quickly forgiven Tommy for fucking their lives up, for the crime he had committed and the incarceration that followed. He had been alone all that time waiting for Tommy to come home, not even sure if he would return to him.
He was not sure if he would have done that for Bennie. He loved him, but it was not the same.
Bennie pulled himself out of Chance’s arms. “Well, I guess we don’t have to drive to Hardaway now, do we?”
“No. Thank you for getting me home last night.”
“Anytime. Give Tommy my best. He’s a lucky man, you know that?”
“Maybe I’m the lucky one,” Chance said, knowing it was true.
Bennie left and Chance went back to the bedroom. He climbed in the bed, curled himself around Tommy, felt his steady breathing and regular heartbeat thumping in his chest. Tommy moaned, rolled over. His head rested on Chance’s chest. Chance wrapped his arm around him, hugged him even closer. He buried his face in Tommy’s hair, kissed the top of his head. Tommy was out of prison; Chance’s unwanted freedom was gone.
Finally, after five years, they had both come home.
A RIDE HOME
Brent Archer
1992
B
ryant Thalman stepped off the bus, pulse racing as his anxiety skyrocketed. He checked his watch.
Shit. Twenty minutes late. Damned buses. I’ll never get the system down
. He took in his surroundings in the unfamiliar neighborhood. The low brick buildings all looked the same. One story, large windows, and all attached to the next. Searching each one for its number, he sighed in relief at the blue awning with large white letters on it a block away—D
ANCE
O
N
C
APITOL
H
ILL
.
So that’s what they meant by “The DOCH” when they sent the rehearsal invitation
. He hurried across the street and down the block, opening the glass double doors and peering in as his eyes adjusted from the bright sunshine outside. To his right, a tiled hallway led to a small sandwich shop. Music floated up the stairs in front of him, so he descended to the lower level and found locker room doors next to two dance studios.
Change and bathroom break before dancing
. He pulled open the door.
Bryant’s jaw dropped at the sight that met him. A tall dark-haired man faced away from him with fingers hooked into rapidly descending jeans and underwear. A taut ass dusted with dark curly hair spread in front of him. His eyes grew wide as saucers and fiery heat rose in his cheeks.
The undressing dancer jumped, apparently realizing the door had opened. He spun to face Bryant with his eyes wide, face red and hands covering his cock. “Oh, sorry, I’m just changing into my jock.”
Their eyes locked and Bryant’s chest tightened. Warmth spread across his body. He’d never in his eighteen years experienced this feeling. The lean athletic dancer before him had full lips and eyes the color of his green T-shirt. A tuft of curly dark hair peeked over his collar, and a dark thatch of hair poked out from under his hands and led to long muscular legs.
He grinned. “Mind closing the door? There’s a bit of a draft.”
Bryant snapped out of his daze as his eyes again swept over the hunk in front of him. “Oh, sorry. You just took me by surprise.” He pulled the door shut and then scurried over to an open stall. Slamming the door shut before the stud could see the erection rising in his jeans, the flustered teen stood with his back against the stall door.
Whoa, what a stud
. He took a couple of deep breaths to slow his racing heart and opened his dance bag, pulling out a pair of black shorts and a tan T-shirt.
The door to the locker room banged shut as Bryant changed his clothes. He cracked open the stall door and peeked into an empty room. Shrugging his shoulders as disappointment settled over him, he stepped out of the stall.
Probably in the other studio. I’m so late I can’t imagine he’s one of the dancers in my group
. He left the locker room and took a deep breath as he walked into the rehearsal.
The only familiar face was Tony from the audition a couple of months prior. Older, with long blond hair and piercing green eyes, he greeted him warmly. “Bryant, so glad you made it.”
“Sorry, I’m trying to figure out the buses and missed the first one.”
Tony’s hand clasped Bryant’s shoulder with a strength that made the young man wince. “No problem. Let’s get started.” Tony introduced him around. Bryant’s smiled faded a bit when he didn’t see the handsome stranger from the locker room amongst the dancers.
They partnered up, and the lines started moving. The tall sweet woman, Anne, took his hand and placed hers on his shoulder. “I’m glad to meet you. Looking forward to performing with you.”
“Thanks. I think this’ll be a fun diversion from my studies.”
He concentrated on the moves until suddenly the sexy stud from earlier danced across the floor in front of him. Bryant’s breath caught in his throat as he tripped over his feet. His partner grabbed his arm.
“Sorry, Anne, I lost my concentration for a second. I’m not usually so klutzy.”
“No problem.” She glanced over his shoulder and gave him a smirk. “There are a few distractions for your dancing as well as your studies in this studio.”
Heat rose again in his cheeks as he spun her around the floor.
Concentrate on the dancing, not on your dick. Geez
.
Over the next hour, Bryant struggled to keep up with the rest of the group. The dance moves were unlike any he’d attempted before, and he dripped with sweat. The stolen glances at the hot stud from the locker room didn’t help the heat flowing through his body. Between choreographies, the overheated teen gawked as the older hunk bent over to stretch his legs. Bryant dropped to the floor and reached his arms for his outstretched legs to hide the erection pushing against his shorts. He’d have to figure out how to make his cock behave during rehearsals.
At the break, the object of his desire approached Bryant. “Hi, I’m Alan.” He put out his hand. Bryant grasped it and the sizzling touch sent a shot of lust through his arm and down to his crotch.
“Bryant,” he croaked. He held Alan’s hand, mesmerized by his green eyes.
Alan smiled. “I’m gonna need that back before we start up again.”
Bryant relaxed his grip and Alan withdrew his hand. “Sorry. You weren’t here when Tony introduced me to everyone.”
“Yeah, I had to run back to the truck. I left my dance shoes out there.”
On the other side of the studio, Tony clapped his hands together. “Okay, break’s over. Let’s run the last routine again.”
The sexy stud turned back to him with a wink. “No rest for the wicked.”
Bryant melted as Alan turned away to take a sip from his water bottle. Another view of that luscious ass sent the hot and bothered young man into overdrive as he willed away his erection.
They rehearsed for another two hours. Each glance at Alan sent shivers up his spine and jolts of erotic energy into his cock. Finally he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Stop looking at him, or you’re gonna pop a boner and humiliate yourself
.
At the end of the afternoon, the exhausted teen flopped down onto the bench by the door, panting.
Four-hour dance rehearsals
.
What was I thinking joining this company?
He checked his watch as his stomach grumbled.
Great, another hour before the bus, and then forty-five minutes more until I get to eat crappy dorm food
.
Alan sat down next to him. “You looked great out there. Have you performed before?”
His heart raced again. “Yeah, I danced in high school, and now that I’m at university, I want to continue. That’s why I auditioned for the group. I’m not sure I’m cut out for the long rehearsals, though.”
“What? You did great out there. It just takes some getting used to. You’ll be fine.”
Bryant glanced at him, and then turned away. “That’s nice of you to say, thanks.”
They were quiet for a moment as Bryant played with his fingers, nerves preventing him from starting another conversation.
Alan turned to him. “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. I usually use one of the stalls, but being late, I just dropped my pants. I’m sure you didn’t want to see my hairy ass when you opened the door.”
Heat rose into Bryant’s cheeks. “It’s fine.”
Alan arched an eyebrow and grinned. “Oh really? Well, thank you.”
Heat surged from Bryant’s cheeks to his toes. Suddenly the room got a lot smaller, and he glanced at the door as he stood and spluttered his response. “Uh, I’d better get going to the bus stop.”
“When’s the next one?”
Bryant looked at his watch and sighed, sitting on the bench again. “Forty-five minutes.”
Alan stood and extended his hand. “How about you come to dinner with me and then I’ll take you home. You’re at the U, right?”
“Yup.” Anywhere this handsome guy wanted to take him had to have better food than the dorm. Besides, a better opportunity to get to know Alan probably wouldn’t present itself. “You don’t mind that I’m a sweaty mess?”
“I don’t mind if you don’t. I’m a bit of a mess myself. I know a great pizza place that won’t care.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, it’s on my way.”
Decision made, Bryant smiled, flushing with warmth and pleasure. He took the offered hand and pulled himself to his feet. Sparks of desire flew between them as they made contact. “I’d like that a lot.”
1997
“What the hell do you mean you promoted him?” Bryant’s boss Llewellyn Fiske pushed his massive frame across the room, passing Bryant’s desk with an angry glare. He strode into his office and slammed the door, the artwork on the wall shuddering as the crash sounded throughout the office.
Bryant hung his head.
Fuck, why did I put in for that promotion?
Jeri, the executive assistant to all the lawyers on their floor, hurried to Bryant’s desk. “I’m so sorry. Not exactly the way you wanted to celebrate. I think it’s great you are moving up.”
Bryant turned to her. “But Jeri, the idea was to be able to bill for my time. I don’t get why he’s so angry.”
Jeri put her hand to her forehead. “You’re not the first person to get promoted out from under him. It’ll be fine, I promise.”
Just then, Llewellyn opened his door and stuck his head out. “You.” He pointed his stubby finger at Bryant. “Don’t you
ever
bill
anything
for
any
of my clients.” One more nasty glare, and he slammed his door shut again.
Jeri chewed a fingernail. “Oh dear.”
Bryant burned.
Bastard. Now what the hell do I do?
He pushed his chair back and stood. “I’ll see you later, Jeri. I need to clear my head.” He walked down the hallway toward the firm’s HR office.
First job out of college. Shitty pay, I’m bored to tears, and now the boss makes it impossible for me to do my job. Fuck him, and fuck this place
.
He reached the door. Tracy looked up from her desk and smiled brightly. “Hi, Bryant. Congratulations on your promotion. You really deserve it.”
Bryant stood in the doorway leaning against the frame, still on fire from the boss’s tirade. “Llewellyn doesn’t think so. In fact, he’s decided in rather a spectacular fashion to not allow me to bill for any work I do for his clients.”
Tracy’s face fell. “What?”
Bryant’s blood boiled. “Yup, that’s what he said as he pointed his finger at me and yelled.”
“Shit.”
Bryant stood up straight. “I really appreciate you going to bat for me, but I can’t stay in this kind of environment. I told myself I’d never work for someone who screamed at me. He’s crossed the line, and so I’m putting in my notice.”
“Bryant, please don’t do that.”
He crossed his arms. “Two weeks from today will be my last day.”
“Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?”
“No.”
Tracy nodded. “I understand. I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too.”
***
Bryant got off the bus and walked the block to his apartment. Still angry, he fumbled with the key to the outer door and dropped it on the ground.
Fuck
.
“Hey handsome, what’s new?”
Bryant snapped his head up. Alan walked toward him with a smile and a bouquet of bright yellow daffodils. Bryant’s shoulders dropped and some of the weight he carried slid away. “I’m so glad to see you.” He set his backpack onto the sidewalk, and wrapped his arms around Alan’s torso.
“Hey, baby, what’s wrong?”
Bryant nuzzled his face against the fabric of Alan’s dark-blue sweater. He inhaled the scent of ground coffee beans, and squeezed him tighter. “I got my promotion.”
“Hey, that’s great. Let’s go celebrate.”
“I quit my job.”
Alan pushed him back far enough to look into his eyes. “What?”
Bryant sighed. “The boss went berserk when he found out. I guess they didn’t consult with him before making the decision. He basically cut me off at the knees and made the promotion worthless. What use is a document clerk that can’t bill for his time?”
Alan shook his head. “Fucking lawyers. I’d never work for a law firm.”
“He thought yelling at me was a good idea.”
Alan pulled him back against his chest. “Well, it is definitely their loss. You don’t want to work in a place like that. I still want to take you to dinner.”
Bryant rested his head against Alan’s chin. “What am I going to do? I just got a notice that rent is going up a hundred and eighty a month. I couldn’t afford that
before
I quit.”
Alan kissed the top of his head. “Let’s take this inside. You can put your stuff away and we can talk about it.”
Bryant reluctantly pulled away and retrieved his key from the ground.
“Mmm, I love it when you bend over.”
In spite of his worry and stress, he laughed, putting his hands on his knees in mid bend to steady himself. Turning to Alan, he grinned. “You always know the right thing to say.”
He unlocked the lobby door and checked his mailbox. Alan took his hand and squeezed it. Bryant glanced at him and smiled as they walked down the creaking hallway. Bryant looked at the faded paint on the wall as he inhaled the musty scent of the carpet.
Maybe it’s not a bad thing to find another place. This building hasn’t improved with the new owners
.