A Little Competition

Part 2

Tony and Brian sat momentarily stunned. Marry, where the hell had that come from? Perhaps they had heard wrong. Then again, maybe it was just the heat of the moment. Guys tend to say all kind of things when they’re caught up in the heat of the moment. “Did you just ask us to marry you?” Tony dared to respond first.

“Yes, I did.” Justin said.

“Jesus Christ!” Brian fell backward, onto the bed.

“Are you serious?” Tony wanted to make sure he had heard right.

“I’m very serious.” Justin said.

“Jesus Christ!” Brian called out again.

“Well don’t everybody answer all at once.” Justin frowned.

Tony stood up from the bed, and grabbed his robe. Suddenly he felt naked. Justin’s question had caught him off guard. He needed to think of something quick to say. “Justin…..princess, you don’t want to get married..” was all that he could come up with.

“Yes I do.” Justin insisted.

“Jesus Christ!” Brian howled again.

Tony looked over at Brian, who was being absolutely no fucking help at the moment. “Princess, you’re only 23.…” Tony tried again.

“I’ll be 24 in a couple of months. What does age have to do with it?” Justin wanted to know.

“You’re too young to get married.” Tony said.

“I’m the same age my parents were when they married.” Justin informed him.

Brian sat up on the side of the bed. “Is that what this is all about, you’re doing this to please your parents?” he voiced his suspicion.

“Not exactly, although I have to admit that’s part of it. However the answer to your question is no.” Justin said.

Tony sat down in the big white chair on the other side of the room. “Then what is it, princess?” he asked.

 “I’ve been watching Ben and Michael plan for their wedding, and their life together.” Justin began. “They’ve never seemed happier….”

“Don’t we make you happy?” Brian interrupted.

“Of course you do, but it’s not the same.” Justin continued. “My mom said that Ben and Michael have even been looking at houses…”

“Is that what you want, a house?” Tony interrupted.

“No, I don’t just want a house. I want a family, my own family.” Justin explained. “Don’t you understand that I want to come home to the men that I love? I want a commitment, a legal commitment that says that we’ll always be together. I want to be married in a church, with a real minister, and my family, and friends there to wish us well.”

“He’s lost his fucking mind.” Brian was now certain.

“No, no I haven’t. I’ve never been more clear minded, and levelheaded than I am right now.” Justin assured him.

“You’ve gotten carried away with this Proposition 14 thing. Just because I’m pushing for it doesn’t mean that I really believe in it..” Brian said.

“What Brian is trying to say is that marriage isn’t right for everybody, and it’s not right for us.” Tony attempted to soften the blow.

Justin begged to differ. “Marriage is a natural state of being when two people love each other.” he said.

“Two people, Justin. Let’s do the math here. There’s three of us.” Brian reminded him.

“That’s where Tony comes in.” Justin smiled.

“Me?” Tony’s eyes widened.

“You’re Anthony Massey. You can do whatever you want to do.” Justin reminded him.

“But…but I can’t rewrite the rules of marriage..” Tony stammered.

“This is crazy.” Brian decided. “You can count me out of this bullshit. If Mikey and Ben want to imitate breeders, then that’s their prerogative, but not me. What’s next, baby strollers, and mini vans? Oh hell no, not me. I like my life just as it is, and if you can’t deal with it, then to hell with you. There you go, your problem is solved, marry Tony.”

“Wait a minute, I never said I wanted to get married!” Tony looked over at Brian.

Justin began to gather his clothes. “Just forget I said anything. I’m sorry that I asked,” he said. “Stupid me, how dare I want what breeders want. What was I thinking? I don’t deserve what my mom and dad have. I’m just a boy-toy, a little blonde plaything to be shared between the two of you, then discarded at your leisure. My dad was right. For all of the love you both profess to me. Neither one of you loves me enough to marry me.”

Tony and Brian both watched as Justin began to put on his clothes. “This is so like you! When things don’t go the way you want them to go, you just run away!” Brian snapped.

“That’s not going to work this time, Brian. I’m done settling for less than I’m worth. That’s something you taught me, Tony. I knew Brian would be skittish when it came to marriage, but I never expected such a yellow streak from you. You’re both cowards. I deserve better than both of you.”  Justin finish dressing, and exited the door of penthouse four.

“You’re going to just let him go?” Tony looked at Brian.

“What am I supposed to do?” Brian shrugged his shoulders.

“Go after him!” Tony said.

“You go after him! This is all your fault anyway!” Brian pinpointed the blame.

“My fault? How the hell is this my fault?” Tony wanted to know.

“You’re the one who Bogarted your way into this relationship…..”

“Bogarted?”

“Yes, Bogarted!” Brian snapped. “Justin was perfectly happy with me until you came along, you, and your fancy manners, and your goddamn money…”

“Fuck you, Brian. Don’t blame me for taking up your considerable slack in the boyfriend department. Don’t forget that it was Justin who kept coming back to me!” Tony reminded him.

“You had no business fucking with him in the first pace!” Brian hissed.

“Why not? You’re the one who was insisting on an open relationship at the time. Don’t get mad at me for tapping that sweet little ass, when you’re the one who put it out there. Tell me, Brian, are you mad because I fucked him, or are you mad because I fucked him well?” Tony smirked.

That did it. Brian stood up from the bed, and made three giant steps over to where Tony was sitting. With lightening speed, Justin’s unpredictable tiger landed a sharp right directly into Tony’s arrogant grin. “Son-of-a-bitch! I should have done that a long time ago.” Brian rubbed his knuckles, then walked away, and began to put on his clothes. 

Tony saw a flash of light before covering his mouth with his hand, and doubling over. For a moment he didn’t know where he was, however, the distinct taste of blood quickly brought him back to his senses. That bitch, Brian, had just hit him. Justin’s furious lion stood up from his chair, and made three giant steps toward Brian, grabbing him from behind. Tony wrapped his arm across Brian’s throat, and flung him down onto the floor.

The fight was on.

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With his dream now shattered, the last place Justin wanted to go back to was his empty apartment. This latest blow to his young ego warranted some serious thinking, and drinking, preferably away from the prying eyes of Babylon regulars who since the explosion had moved their party to Liberty Avenue’s other two most popular gay clubs, “Meat Hook” and “Pistols”. Justin decided that he would drown his sorrows at a place where the royal trio was not well known, “Boy-Toy”.

The clientele at Boy-Toy was noticeably different from the Babylon crowd. There was no ogling line of Ted Schmidts when Justin walked through the door. In fact it appeared as if no one noticed him at all when he bellied up to the bar, and laid his ID, and car keys on the counter. “Vodka gimlet, and keep them coming.” Justin ordered, then scanned the crowded dance floor while he waited on his drink. The shirtless young men were moving their hips to music he had never heard before. Gangster rap was not a genre indulged at Babylon, and Justin wasn’t quiet sure if he liked the raw lyrics or not.

The bartender returned, and placed a tall glass down in front of Justin. “One vodka gimlet from the young man at the end of the bar.” He pointed to a smiling dark haired beauty.

Justin politely smiled back, then looked down to take a swig from the long, thin straw. When he looked up again, the young man at the end of the bar was gone.

“This thing you’ve got going with Brian and Mr. Massey…Is that really what you want ,Justin, to be a perpetual boy-toy for two men old enough to be your father, until you become too old, and they tire of you, and toss you aside for another, younger plaything? Is that the kind of life you’ve always envisioned for yourself, son?” Craig Taylor’s words haunted his son, as the music played on. Justin finished his first drink, and was about to order a second when the bartender placed another tall glass in front of him.

“This is from the same gentleman,” the bartender said.

Again Justin looked toward the end of the bar. This time, the dark haired beauty was nowhere to be seen. Justin continued with his drink in a futile effort to drown out his father’s voice. “Does either of the men that you profess to love care enough about you to marry you, and give you the commitment that you deserve?”

“This is from the same gentleman.” The bartender placed yet another refill in front of Justin.

Craig’s speculations had proven to be true. Justin sipped his drink, and wondered what was going to happen now? Would he continue to remain with two men with whom he had no future, or would he take his dad’s advice, and find someone more his own age, and more receptive to his values?

“I hope whoever it is you’re trying to forget is gone. You’re far too beautiful to be crying over anyone.” Someone broke Justin’s chain of thought.

Justin turned toward the unfamiliar voice to find the dark haired beauty who had been supplying him with drinks all night. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” Justin asked.

“Not yet, but you will.” The handsome young stranger stroked his fingers through Justin’s beautiful blonde hair. “My name is Ethan. Ethan Gold,” he smiled.

NEXT WEEK:  A Little Competition, pt 3

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