The Cruiserweight (16 page)

“On the contrary, Kyra had nothing but good
things to say about you. I kind of let it slip you were being
considered for
Men in the Raw
, though. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, sweetheart. I told her
about it when we ran into each other the day after I talked to you
on the phone.”

“I should email Graham Sobeck or Gil Preston
and suggest they hire Kyra. She’d make a nice valet for
you.”

“Never mind. I, Brett Kerrigan, am a lone wolf
in the ring. Only hacks need a woman on their arms.”

“I guess that leaves me out too.”

“I said
in
the ring.
Away
from
it, I couldn’t have a better woman. What else did you two ladies
discuss besides me?”

“She’s making some appearances on the East
Coast next month.”

“No shit? I should call her and make
arrangements to get together. Maybe stop and bring you with me so
you two can meet in person.”

“Not sure if I can get the time off,
Brett.”

“I’ll talk to your boss. I think the guy likes
me, and even you say how charming I am. What do you think? You game
if Kyra can do it?”

“Keep me updated. Sounds very intriguing.
Listen, I have to get back to work. Can we pick up where we’re
leaving off when I get home later?”

“Sure. I’m on my way to the gym.
Congratulations on your syndication. I’m proud of you.”

“I can’t wait to see your
Men in the Raw
layout.”

“Won’t see anything you haven’t seen before,
baby. Love you.”

CHAPTER 27

Two weeks after his last conversation with
Karen, Brett was on a luxurious set, clad only in a G-string while
a
Men in the Raw
photographer snapped several pictures,
instructing him to pose in various ways. Assistants scattered to
made sure everything from lighting to the set was perfect, being
they were aware that Lauren Bello was a stickler for high-quality
features down to the last minor detail.

Brett felt a little self-conscious posing
almost nude in front of total strangers in spite of reassuring
himself it wasn’t much different from wearing a Speedo while
wrestling in front of audiences around the world.
What was I
thinking when I agreed to this? Oh yeah
…
Karen. Think about her and you should be
okay.

The circumstances became more tense when Lauren
appeared on the set with her personal assistant. Neither woman’s
eyes left Brett’s form during the entire photo session.
Great,
she‘s the last bitch I wanted to see. Is she here to make sure
everything’s going okay, keeping the photographer from hitting on
me, or expecting me to fuck her
and
her little bimbo
assistant as a ‘thank you’ gesture? If it’s the latter, forget it.
Bitch couldn’t pay me enough money, even if the thought of doing
two chicks at once is pretty hot.

“Remove the G-string and turn to the wall,” the
photographer instructed, snapping Brett out of his
thoughts.

“What?
Dude, I said I
wasn’t going to do any naked shit!”

“Of course, but there won’t be full-frontal
nudity. Just your ass.”

In that case, what the hell? With or without
a G-string, the full moon is out.
He
turned around and peeled off the tiny garment,
and now naked, he posed against a nearby wall, his back to the
camera.

He turned his head and gave a seductive gaze
into the lens.
Click.
“Beautiful, Mr. Kerrigan. Hold that
pose.”
Click, click, click.

Lauren still stared at him, licking her lips.
Oh yeah, she wants me for sure. Keep dreaming, because only
Karen gets my dick.

Brett enjoyed dancing, posing, flexing, laying
across a sofa, sprawling in a chair, and making other suggestive
poses. His “bad boy” side emerged
—
along with a slight erection
—
and the photographer, crew, and staff loved
it.

The photo session ended early in the evening,
and Lauren walked over and handed Brett the robe she‘d taken from a
nearby assistant. “Great job.”

“Thanks.” He slipped it on, covering his
nudity. “You have a great staff.”

“Would you like to go somewhere for dinner? My
treat.”

More like “Do you want to go somewhere and
fuck?” No thanks.
“Can I take a rain check? I
have other plans for tonight.”

“Sure.” Lauren slipped a card in one of the
robe’s pockets. “My private number in case you get some free
time.”

He gave her a slight nod and headed toward the
dressing room,.
Don’t hold your breath, lady.

Both the photo shoot and thinking about Karen
aroused him, and Brett sprinted to his dressing room, locked the
door, and stripped. He spread a towel across the sofa and got
comfortable. Once he was sure that he was alone, he could take his
time getting down to business
. Why rush something as intensely
physical and pleasurable as masturbating all the way to an orgasm
which completely took over his body?

His erection growing harder as he stroked, the
movement up and down on his shaft increased more as his thoughts
shifted to the night he and Karen made love the first time.
Feelings of intense pleasure enveloped his body, and Brett’s hand
was moving so fast, it was a blur. His breathing quickened as more
erotic memories with Karen took over his mind. He came with a howl,
squirting semen on the towel while his entire body shuddered in
ecstasy.

When he finished, he collapsed backward in a
heap, a sigh of both satisfaction and relief escaping his lips.
What a rush! Jerking off may not be sex with Karen, but it would
have to do.
He felt exhilarated.

After he recovered, Brett cleaned up, hiding
the offensive towel in the bottom of a laundry bin before he
showered and dressed. He then slipped out of the studio without
being noticed.

CHAPTER 28

Several weeks passed since Brett’s photo shoot
with
Men in the Raw
, and as expected, he’d gotten ribbings
from both Patrick and their fellow wrestlers. He took the
good-natured teasing in stride, laughing it off with comebacks such
as, “You’re just jealous because your dicks aren’t as big as mine,”
and “Is it impossible that a short dude gets a naked profile for
once?”

“When’s that thing coming out?” Patrick asked.
“I need something new to laugh at.”

“I suppose in the next couple of months. You
know, they have to pick out the best pictures and do editing
shit.”

“Yeah, they got to make you not so ugly so
women don’t get scared away.”

Brett gave him a playful punch on the arm.
“Shut up! You’re just ragging on me because
you
weren’t
picked.”

“I’m just fucking with you, man. To be honest,
I can’t think of a guy who deserves every bit of success more than
my best buddy.”

“Thanks, Pat. Hey, how’s the newest
movie?”

“Great. It should be done by next spring in
time for some film festivals. By the way, Dillard found that 2001
cheesy movie you were in being sold on eBay. One of my movie buff
friends took the liberty of finding a copy for me.”

“Oh, God.”
I was so hoping that part of my
life was gone forever once the shitty thing was out of
circulation.
“Show it to anyone else, and I’ll cut off your
balls, holmes.”

Patrick slid a DVD into its player. “Nah, this
is just for my entertainment until your skin spread comes
out.”

“Something you aren’t telling me? I thought you
only liked looking at naked bimbos.”

“I do, but I have to see yours to believe it
happened. Does Karen know your bare ass is about to be seen by the
entire world?”

“Yes she does, and it‘s no problem.”

“You must be kidding me. Most women would have
a bitch fit about their guys doing something like that. You know
when it comes out and you have other chicks all over you,
right?”

“She’s not the jealous type. I gave her the
heads up before everything happened, and she was cool, even wants
an autographed copy. As for other girls being ‘all over me’, the
only one who will matter is
Karen.”

“Damn, I need to find someone like
her.”

“You might have a better chance if you stopped
sneaking into women’s locker rooms to have quickies in the shower,
and stayed out of bars and strip joints.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Patrick began to laugh and
pointed to the TV screen. “Dude, what was up with you and the clown
makeup in this scene?”

“It wasn’t clown makeup, asshole. It was part
of the character I played.”

“Too bad, it kind of improved your
looks.”

“Very fucking funny. I’ll have you know it took
five takes to do that scene because the other dude kept missing his
cue. Now, may we finish watching the rest of the movie without you
bagging on me all night?”

“Sure, but I still say that face paint was so
you.”

Brett rolled his eyes. “Just watch the movie
without adding any more smart ass commentary.”

*****

Karen hadn’t been feeling well the last few
weeks, being more tired than usual and having periods of nausea.
She figured that she’d caught some kind of weird, persistent flu,
since some of her co-workers had been out sick as well. Despite not
feeling her best, she went to work each morning.

“What’s wrong?” Phoebe asked one day. “You’ve
been looking wiped out. Are you getting enough sleep?”

“I’ve been getting eight to twelve hours, but
still feel worn out. Some days, even thinking about food makes my
stomach upset.”

“Did you get a flu shot?”

“I went that route last year and spent a week
in bed with a bad case of it not long afterward. No
thanks.”

“At least go to the doctor for a
checkup.”

“I hate going.”

“So do I, but at least you’ll know for sure it
isn’t anything serious. I’m going to talk with Mr. Sullivan about
you taking off the rest of the day to visit the company
clinic.”

“Phoebe, really, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. I’ll be back in a few
minutes.”

Karen shook her head and went back to typing up
the current story she‘d been working on.
Why do I even bother
telling her anything?

The phone on her desk rang. “You have an
appointment with Dr. Saks at three-thirty,” Sullivan
said.

“But
I
—
”

“No buts, Ms. Montgomery. I have Miss Sellers
in the office and she’s told me you haven’t been doing well. Go get
a checkup and take the rest of the week off. I can have Romano
cover for you.”

Karen let out a long sigh.
There’s no point
arguing with him.
“All right, I’ll go see Dr. Saks at the
clinic if it shuts everyone up.”

“Not about shutting us up, just to make sure
you’re okay.”

“I am, it’s a little bug.”

“That’s why you’re seeing the doctor, to make
sure that’s all it is. Now go; you need to be there in half an
hour.”

CHAPTER 29

Brett planned to stay home the following Friday
in with a bowl of popcorn and video games for company. So far, none
of his plans seemed to work out. First, his game box died, and
while trying to fix the system, he had forgotten about the popcorn
before smoke began to billow from the kitchen. "Ow! Son of a…" he
exclaimed as he dropped a bag he’d pulled from the microwave,
grumbling a string of expletives under his breath as the doorbell
rang.

“Mr. Kerrigan?”

“Yeah?”

“I have a delivery that needs your
signature.”

“Sure, man, no problem.”

He signed with a flourish, took the large
manila envelope, and closed the door. Noticing the return address,
Brett ripped open the package, flipping through the advance copy of
Men in the Raw
until he reached his own feature, pleased
with the pictorial.
Damn, I look
good!
I think most
people will agree these aren’t as ‘dirty’ as other stuff in the
magazine.

Men in the Raw
only
used one shot of Brett in the nude from behind, but it was the
seductive stare picture, his favorite.
I got to scan this
shit and email it to Karen. She‘ll dig them.

“Hey, man, what’s happening?” The voice caused
Brett to jump.

“Patrick, there’s a specific reason the
doorbell is put in a certain place. Try ringing it.”

“You have a lock on your door for a reason
too.”

“Beside the point. What brings you
down?”

“I saw a courier come to your door while I was
coming back up from the lobby. Everything okay?”