One Year

January II

 

December 19, 2007 ~ Somewhere off the coast of St. Maarten…

Justin wandered into the bar and quickly scanned the room for a quiet corner. Unfortunately, they were all taken by others looking for some privacy too, but the end of the bar had some open seats so he could sit by himself and try to get his bearings. The blonde slumped onto the stool against the wall and signaled the bartender. He started to order a glass of wine and quickly changed his mind. He needed something stronger to get through the night. "Jameson, on the rocks—a double."

While he waited, he kept one eye on the entrance to make sure Ethan didn’t follow him. After hours of tears and screaming, he only got the other man to leave him alone by promising they would work it out tomorrow. That lie bought Justin enough time to get off the boat when they docked at St. Maarten for the day. Before Ethan knew he was gone, he’d be back home. And before Ethan could get back, he’d be gone. But where?

Justin swallowed a big gulp of the whiskey and felt his eyes water as the liquor burned his throat. He gasped and coughed, then took another drink. He knew people were looking now, but at least they saw a man who couldn’t handle his liquor, instead of a man who couldn’t handle his lover. He sat back against the wall and forced himself to relax, letting the liquid fire burn into his gut. Once the warmth spread, he wouldn’t feel anything else.

Even with the numbness spreading through his limbs though, he couldn’t stop his mind from running in a continuous loop. ‘You knew…you knew…you knew…you knew…’

No news there. Of course, he knew. He’d caught the fucker before. And he’d left. Only to be drawn back in by the promises. Ethan swore on his life it would never happen again, and he’d do anything to get Justin back.

No, Justin didn’t believe him. Not at first. He made Ethan prove it. And he’d done everything Justin asked. Ethan quit touring for a while and they moved to the country. Justin wanted them to concentrate on their relationship, away from the distractions that tempted Ethan the first time.

It was there, in their garden, that Ethan finally proposed. And Justin accepted—despite his misgivings. Ethan had made so many sacrifices for him, Justin felt bound to keep his promise too. He had promised to give the man a second chance, and he did.

Thank god, it was finally over. There was a silver fucking lining after all. He could quit waiting for the other shoe to drop now. Now, all he needed was a plan.

He finished the whiskey and signaled the bartender for another.

Okay, so first, he needed to find a place to pass the rest of the night when the bar closed.

 

***
 

Brian was finally able to disentangle himself from the three musketeers. Michael had met a chiropractor in the casino and they disappeared about an hour ago. Brian assumed the doctor was giving Mikey a good adjusting right about now. Ted and Emmett had lost all their money so they went to raid the buffet to recoup some of their losses. Fucking ecstatic to be left alone again, Brian headed back to the bar, still looking for the evening’s entertainment.

He quickly scanned the bar, looking for anything remotely interesting, and then he saw him.

 

***
 

"That’s him," Justin hissed, suddenly stopping the sad story he was telling the bartender. He jerked his head at the man coming towards them.

The bartender looked over his shoulder and saw the man Justin indicated. "Figures," he muttered, patting the blonde’s hand. "He’s a real slut, honey. He’s been in here every night, like a bitch in heat."

Justin shrugged. "Doesn’t matter," he resigned. "If it wasn’t him, it would’ve been someone else. Ethan’s the dog," he spat, tossing back the last of the whiskey.

The man in question sat down a few stools away, obviously making his move on the red head next to him.

Justin wished he wasn’t so close, but he refused to be driven away. He needed another drink, and he liked having someone to talk to. The bartender had to go check on his customers so he refilled Justin’s drink, on the house, and said he’d be right back.

Left alone for the moment, Justin couldn’t help but watch the handsome brunette trying to lure his prey back to his cabin. He wondered what he was saying. Whatever it was, it was obviously working.

He wondered if the brunette whispered the same things to Ethan, or had Ethan propositioned him? Justin wanted to know what prompted his lover to cheat on him with a total stranger.

The blonde felt a twinge in his gut. That’s what hurt the most. Their relationship ended because of a stranger. Did that make it more or less of a betrayal? Ethan argued less, swearing it didn’t mean anything. Justin argued it was worse. If it didn’t mean anything, why risk it?

Unable to be that close to the trick any longer, Justin went to the restroom. It looked like the brunette and the red head were going to leave together, so he hoped they’d be gone when he returned.

After Justin relieved himself and washed his hands, he went back to the bar, only to discover the red-head was gone and the bartender was reading the riot act to the brunette. The blonde didn’t even want to know what was going on, so he decided to simply leave then. But before he could escape unnoticed, the stranger turned and pinned him to the wall with a penetrating glare.

"Can I help you, Goldilocks?" the brunette drawled coolly. "Oh, wait, I already did," he added with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Leave him alone," the bartender snarked. "Haven’t you done enough?"

The brunette cocked an eyebrow. "There’s no such thing as enough. You said so yourself when you were begging me to fuck you—again—last night."

The man behind the bar glared at him, but the other man was impervious. He turned back to Justin, whose mouth was open in shock. "Your…friend here thinks I’m a homewrecker." The last word dripped with sarcasm. "But really, you should be kissing my ass." He smiled lecherously. "Now there’s an idea."

Justin blinked at him. The urge to flee quickly dissolved in disgust. "Don’t you have a…date?" he asked, scanning for the red head.

The bartender snickered. "His wife came looking for him."

The brunette ignored him, but Justin still saw the flicker of anger in the man’s eyes. The hazel orbs darkened and flashed, and the blonde’s heart leapt in his chest. He laughed nervously under the intense gaze. "Too bad you couldn’t do her the same favor," Justin stammered. Then suddenly blushing at his own outburst, he quickly reached for his drink and downed half the contents. Why was he talking to this man? He was the reason Justin was… free.

"Yeah, too bad," the brunette muttered to himself as he turned abruptly to leave.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Justin asked before he could stop himself.

Fuck.

The blonde’s stomach twisted in a knot. Why did he do that? He wanted the man to leave, and now he just invited him to stay.

 

***
 

Brian had to get away. There was something about the blonde that was unsettling and he didn’t like the feeling. It was definitely killing the buzz he finally had going.

Then the younger man offered him a drink. Brian was about to say no when he noticed the bartender was staring daggers at him. And not because he thought Brian was a prick. Gopher obviously wanted a piece of Goldilocks there. That was why the man ripped him a new asshole about busting up the blonde’s ‘relationship’. He was trying to score some points with the younger man. Oh, no, he wasn’t going to get that kind of score. Brian would see to that.

The older man winked at the bartender and turned back to the blonde. "I think you’ve had enough, Sonny Boy." He took Justin’s glass and finished it. "Let’s go get something to eat instead."

The blonde stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded. He slid off the stool, politely thanking the bartender before he left. Brian just smirked and waggled his fingers at the angry bartender who wasn’t bothering to hide his disappointment as they left.

As the blonde led the way, Brian got a spectacular view of the most perfect ass he’d ever seen. For the first time, the older man wondered why that stupid fiddle-fucker was looking for anything else.

Hell, with his considerable lack of talent, the fiddler should’ve been pleased the blonde put up with him.

And why was that?

Brian sighed to himself. Probably because they both sucked in the sack.

Shit.

Brian was never one for regrets, but he seriously regretted getting between the fiddler and his blonde muse. What plague had he unleashed on queers everywhere by freeing two sexually inadequate men from the bonds of monogamy? For the first time in his life, he suddenly understood the need for relationships. It seriously lessened the odds for a bad pull!

He was about to just turn the other way, he could be gone before the blonde even noticed, but his eyes wandered back to the enticing sway of the hips in front of him. Regardless of his brain’s opinion of the situation, his cock disagreed and decided to stay the course.

Fuck.

 

***
 

January 3, 2008 ~ Woody’s

Justin wandered into the bar and quickly scanned the room for a quiet corner. Unfortunately, they were all taken by others looking for some privacy too, but the end of the bar had some open seats so he could sit by himself and try to get his bearings. The blonde slumped onto the stool against the wall and signaled the bartender. He started to order whiskey and quickly changed his mind. As much as he’d like to be drunk and unconscious, he didn’t want to give his mother something else to worry about so he just ordered a beer.

After they stopped at the diner and Jennifer talked to Debbie, his mother took him to his favorite restaurant for lunch. Justin knew there was no getting out of the talk then, so he let it all out during the meal. Well, almost all of it. All of it about Ethan anyway. He deliberately excluded Brian from the story.

Jennifer was understandably upset, and it didn’t take much to convince her to let him stay for a while until he figured out what he was going to do. Unfortunately, staying also meant listening to more unsolicited advice. He knew she meant well, but he definitely needed some time to himself to figure out what he wanted to do now.

Where was he going to live? What was he going to do about the gallery? Who was--?

"It’s on me," a voice purred in his ear as the bartender set the beer in front of him.

Justin’s thoughts were jerked to the present as a tall, thin man with long black hair paid the bartender and sat down next to him.

"Oh, well…um, I--" Justin pulled away from the hand settling on his thigh.

Suddenly the potential trick was yanked from the stool he was sitting on. Justin looked up to see Brian pushing the other man away.

"Fuck off," Brian told the trick, then turned to the stunned blonde.

Justin tried not to cringe as the angry hazel eyes bore into him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" the older man demanded.


 

Return to One Year