Second Best
Chapter 13
Brian walked out of Kinnetik unsure what the hell he was going to do. All he knew was that if Dillon was right, he still had a chance to get back what he and Justin had shared. He had to take that chance.
The short drive to Galactic was accomplished quickly. He found a parking spot almost in front of their offices. He shut off the engine of the Corvette and just sat there wondering what he was going to say to Justin when he finally faced him. He knew how stubborn Justin could be, having spent all those holidays with him and his family while he and Dillon were together. He had always encouraged Justin to talk to them about how they made him feel, but he'd never been able to get Justin to do that. It might have saved the young man a lot of needless heartache if he had, at least if Dillon was right about everything. He wondered if he could improve his powers of persuasion this time. So much depended on it.
Taking a deep breath Brian pushed open the front door of Galactic. It was pretty quiet inside. Most of the staff must be out to lunch. He walked over to the reception desk seeing Carly's familiar face there.
"Hey, Mr. Kinney, what can I do for you today?"
"Um … is Tom around?" Brian asked thinking that maybe he should get the boss' permission before he dragged Justin out of there.
"Did you have an appointment?" Carly asked with a frown. Mr. Kinney was an important client, and she didn't have any record of an appointment.
"No, no, I didn't. I just took a chance that he might be in."
"He's out to lunch. He should be back in about a half hour," Carly said looking at her watch.
"Would Justin Taylor be around?"
"I don't think so, but I'll buzz his desk." Brian waited as Carly made the call. She shook her head. "No one's answering. Justin's been going home for lunch a lot these days," she volunteered.
"Oh?"
"He … he doesn't seem to be himself ever since he came back from Miami." Carly hoped she wasn't betraying anything, but Justin had told her how happy he was with Brian. Now he never mentioned the man. Maybe they needed to talk.
"Thanks, I'll try him there."
Brian left abruptly wondering how much more of this he could do. His heart was hammering in his chest, his hands were clammy and his head was starting to pound. And now he had to go try to get into Justin's apartment. It would have been much easier to drag the man out of Galactic.
Outside the door to Justin's apartment Brian raised his hand to knock. He hesitated for a second and then sucked it up, rapping heavily on the door.
"Who is it?" a voice called from inside.
"Brian."
"Go away, Brian," Justin called out in a defeated manner.
Brian pounded longer and louder.
"I'm not going anywhere, Justin. You might as well let me in."
"We have nothing to say to each other. Just leave me alone."
"Not till you talk to me.
Brian pounded again keeping it up for several minutes until he heard Justin yell, "Enough! Fuck off!"
"I told you I'm not leaving." Brian picked up the steady hammering on the door once again.
"Fuck!" Justin said hauling himself up off the sofa where he had been lying in misery. "What the hell do you want?" he demanded as he opened the door a little bit but braced his foot against it so it couldn't be pushed open.
"I want to talk to you. Let me in."
"I told you that I have nothing to say to you." Justin tried to shut the door.
Brian pressed his weight against it preventing Justin from closing it fully. He played his trump card. "Dillon came to see me today."
"Dillon?"
"That's right."
"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?"
Brian knew he had Justin's attention now. "He told me that you look like shit."
"Great! Be sure to thank him for the charming review of the state of my appearance. Are you two getting back together?"
"Justin," Brian reacted knowing how hurt the man must be if that was what he thought. "He told me I look like shit too."
"That's my brother, spreading love and cheer wherever he goes."
"I know why I look like shit. Why do you?"
"What … what do you mean?" Justin asked unable to fathom what Brian was getting at. "Why do you look like shit, as if that was possible anyway?"
"I'll tell you if you let me in."
"I…" Justin began then stepped back and allowed Brian to open the door. He wanted to see what Brian looked like, just once more. He gasped at the hollow cheeks and dark circles around the eyes. "You do look fucking awful."
"Thanks. May I return the compliment to you in kind," Brian said sizing up how thin and sad Justin looked. "What the fuck have you been doing to yourself?"
"As if you care what I do?"
"I do … care. What the fuck happened, Justin?"
Justin held himself stiff and straight. "What's the matter with you? You said you'd tell me if I let you in."
Brian knew he was going to have to take the initiative and be honest if he wanted this to work out. "I miss you," Brian said simply. "I have trouble sleeping, and I don't care if I ever eat. I want you back."
"Won't the backroom tricks at Babylon be disappointed if I take you back? But then again, they'll always be there when you need them, won't they?" Justin scowled and sank down on the sofa.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I forgot. You have Mikey too … to look after your needs."
"Michael's gone back to California with Ben, his partner. Nothing happened between us. He's my friend, not my lover or a trick or an affair."
Justin looked up at Brian who still stood towering over him. "Then why was he at your apartment while you were in the shower?" Justin asked his voice full of accusation.
"It was you who called that day, wasn't it? He told me someone had called. I tried to get you back but you wouldn't answer your phone."
"What was he doing there?"
"He was forcing me to go to New Year's dinner at his mother's. That's why I was showering … to get ready to go with him."
"Not because you just had sex with him?" Justin asked wanting to get this all out in the open.
"Michael and I have never fucked. He's my best friend. That's all."
"I see," Justin said mulling this over in his head. "But when I called you the other time, you were at Babylon. I heard the music."
"How could you not hear the music?" Brian snorted. "Michael and a couple of other friends wanted to let off some steam, so we went to Babylon. I didn't know that wasn't allowed," Brian added with a frown.
"It's the hot guys that I didn't think were allowed."
"What hot guys?"
"Michael yelled something about hot guys."
"There are lots of hot guys at Babylon, but the only one I want is sitting right in front of me."
"You … you mean that?"
Brian nodded. "So what happened on New Year's Eve?" Brian asked sitting down beside Justin. "Speaking of hot guys who'll do in a pinch."
"Hot dead guys!" Justin reacted. "I wanted to kill that fucker. He grabbed me while I was talking to you, knocked the fucking phone out of my hand and kissed me."
"Lucky you!" Brian replied snidely.
"Brian…"
"So why didn't you call me back, or was the kiss good for half an hour?"
"I tried to call, but all the circuits were busy. It was midnight on New Year's Eve."
"Those fucking breeders tying up the phone lines so us gays can't communicate. The nerve of them," Brian snorted.
Justin laughed and threw himself into Brian's arms. "You believe me?"
"Of course I do. And you believe me?"
"Always."
Brian pulled Justin even tighter against his body and kissed the lips he had been longing for all these weeks. The kiss went on and on as the two lost themselves in each other's arms.
"I want you," Brian whispered against Justin's ear.
"I want you too," Justin admitted with a tentative smile.
Brian began pulling at Justin's clothes ridding him of piece after piece. Brian stood when Justin was fully divested of his clothes. He looked down at the beautiful, naked young man sprawled out in all his glory. With a growl he unzipped his trousers and found the condom and lube that he knew Justin kept in his end table. Brian kicked his pants aside and removed his coat and jacket. The room was suddenly unbearably hot.
When Brian started to tug at his shirt and tie, Justin looked up at the man and asked, "Leave it on. It's silk, isn't it?"
"Yes," Brian growled ready to do whatever Justin wanted.
He prepared his lover quickly with the lube and stroked on the condom. He knelt at the edge of the sofa between Justin's legs. "We're all right, aren't we?" Justin nodded. "I want you so much I ache all over," Brian said with a groan.
"We'll talk some more, but not right now," Justin said with a smile.
Brian found the pulsing hole and shoved the tip of his penis unceremoniously inside. Justin gasped and held onto Brian's arms.
"Okay?" Brian asked. "It's been a while for me too, but I'll take it slow."
"Were you waiting for me?" Justin asked with a shy grin.
"Later," Brian roared as he drove farther in unable to wait any longer. One more thrust and he was fully embedded. "I only want you," Brian whispered against Justin's throat. He drew back and thrust hard. He knew this would be fast and needy but he couldn't stop himself. It didn't take long for both of them to get off. The tight hot channel of Justin's body had Brian ready to explode the moment he was inside. When Brian grabbed the tail of his silk shirt and started fisting Justin's cock with it wrapped around his hand, Justin gave a mighty yell and came so hard the world stopped spinning for both of them. Brian felt like Justin's hole had cut off his dick and then he too orgasmed with jolts of cum that filled the condom.
Some time later Brian realized he was sprawled across Justin crushing him into the sofa. "You all right?" he asked rising up on his elbows.
"Never better," Justin sighed. "Except for the time we did it under the Christmas tree; that was the best."
"Shit! I knew I should have brought my little tree with me."
"Why didn't you?" Justin asked with a giggle.
Brian sobered. "I wasn't sure of my reception."
Justin grimaced. "How did we get to the way things were?"
"I'll deny it if you ever repeat this, but it's because we didn't talk."
"Yeah," Justin agreed. "We had all those misunderstandings and no way to clear them up."
"It didn't hurt that you are so stubborn too. OOWW!" Brian cried as Justin pinched his bare ass.
"I'm not the only stubborn one," Justin said.
"Maybe not, but you do have it down to a fine art."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"All those times I tried to get you to tell your family what you were feeling and you never would…"
"So?"
"So, that's a big misunderstanding too."
"What are you talking about? I know how they make me feel."
"But they don't know how they make you feel, and it's time that they did."
"Is that the gospel according to Saint Kinney?" Justin asked annoyed that Brian seemed to be siding with his family against him.
Brian snorted. "I'm only telling you what Dillon said."
"Do we have to talk about this?" Justin asked pulling Brian down on top of him and rubbing their dicks together.
"Want to take a shower … together?" Brian asked deciding he had said enough for now.
Justin shook his head. "No, I want you to fuck me long and slow right here."
"Even without the Christmas tree lights?" Brian smirked.
"Even without…" Justin said before capturing Brian's lips in another kiss.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After their long and slow fuck, Justin called his office and told Carly he'd be gone for the rest of the day before they finally made it to the shower. By the time they were finally ready for something more than sex, it was already after six.
"Are you hungry? I can order from that Thai place you like," Justin suggested as he snuggled up to Brian on the couch.
"Sounds good to me," Brian agreed. "And then we can talk some more."
"Brian, there's nothing to talk about. We fucked up because we jumped to conclusions and it won't happen again."
"I know, I was talking about the situation between you and Dillon. I think it's time you sat down with him and told him how you feel," Brian said, holding on to Justin as the smaller man tried to squirm away. "What have you got to lose?"
"Nothing I guess, I'm just not ready to do it right now. The last few weeks have been hell and I just want to enjoy being with you again. I don't think I'm mentally prepared for whatever might happen between my brother and me. Does that make any sense?"
"I guess," Brian sighed in understanding. He knew that he himself was emotionally exhausted by the last few weeks without Justin. He wouldn't be ready for any kind of emotional upheaval either. "Just promise me that you will talk to him...soon."
"I promise," Justin said as he reached up and placed a soft kiss on Brian's lips. "Now let me up before we starve to death. A man cannot live on sex alone."
"Who says?" Brian teased as he reluctantly let the blond go.
Brian waited until Justin had fallen asleep later that night before climbing out of bed and searching Justin's phone for Dillon's number. Once he had it, he took his phone out into the hallway in case Justin woke up. He placed the call.
"Hello?"
"It's Brian, sorry to call so late. I had to wait until Justin was asleep," Brian explained.
"I take it that he doesn't want to talk to me," Dillon pointed out sadly.
"He does; he's just not ready yet. He's been through a lot lately and needs some time to settle down before diving into another emotional scene."
"I take it you guys worked everything out?" Dillon asked.
"Yeah, we did. Thanks for coming to see me and knocking some sense into me. I know I would've eventually confronted him, but I'm glad I didn't wait so long. I don't think I realized how much I missed him until he opened the door earlier. I'm surprised I made it as long as I did," Brian laughed softly.
"Wow, you really have it bad, don't you?"
"You have no idea," Brian replied wistfully.
"Then make sure you hold on tight and never let go," Dillon said. "You're both pretty special to me and I'd hate to have to fly back to Pittsburgh just to kick both your asses."
"Don't worry; your services won't be needed. I have no intentions of letting go ever again," Brian assured him.
"You know, Kinney, it almost sounds like you're proposing marriage," Dillon teased.
"Well if I do, you'll be the second to know. Now listen up, because I think I have a plan to work things out between you and your parents and Justin."
"What do you have in mind?" Dillon asked curiously.
"I was thinking that Justin deserves a party for his birthday next month. Do you think you and Chad would be able to get away for the weekend?"
"I'm sure that can be arranged. Just pick the weekend and we'll make sure to clear our calendars. Mom and Dad, too. I spoke to them earlier and they're ready to make things right with Justin too," Dillon said. "Brian, we really didn't know Justin felt second best. It was never meant like that, I swear."
"Well, now's your chance to fix things. I have some connections at the Hilton. Once we confirm the dates, I'll make the reservations and all you'll need to worry about is your flight. I'll organize a small gathering in one of their conference rooms and make sure to invite his friends and co-workers. Just make sure that you don't open that big mouth of yours and tell him my plan."
"Hey, you never objected to my big mouth before," Dillon joked.
"Ancient history, Dil."
"Yeah, I guess it is."
"Are you sure you are okay with Justin and me being together?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, I am. You said it yourself. We were never meant to be forever," Dillon replied.
"Good, because I plan on being around for a long time," Brian said.
"Justin's a lucky man."
"That's where you're wrong, Dillon. I'm the lucky one. Now I better get back before Justin wakes up and thinks I've disappeared. I'll call you in a week or so and confirm our plans."
"Thanks, Brian," Dillon said. "For being there for Justin as well as giving us all a chance to fix things before it's too late."
"I'd do anything for Justin," Brian told him.
"For what it's worth, I think you're both lucky. Goodnight."
Brian closed his phone with a smile on his face. Dillon was right. They were both very lucky.