TOWJWAGABI, Part 4
Here's part 4!
The One Where Justin's With Another Guy, and Brian Interferes, Part 4
Brian stuck his head out the door and checked out Dan's ride before turning to the doctor. "Red Porshe a little cliche, isn't it?" he asked dryly.
"Yeah," Dan agreed with an easy smile. "So's the 20 year old I bagged to ride around in it with me. At least I'm consistent." He stepped further into the room, crowding an unmoving Brian as he did so. He had to tilt his head around Brian's shoulder to catch sight of Justin.
Justin stood at the dinner table where the rest of his curious friends sat, some necks craned at nearly 360 degrees to get a gander at Dan. Justin was wearing a pair of dark gray slacks and a black turtleneck that made his hair seem almost white by comparison. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were bright and he smiled with delight that made Dan's breath catch.
A woman in a wild red wig, wearing a t-shirt which read, Do not disturb--I'm disturbed enough already, jumped up and said, "Jesus Christ, Sunshine! Next thing you know you'll be trolling the old folks' home lookin' for a quick fuck!"
"Debbie?" Dan hazard a guess as he made a wide circle around Brian so he could approach the table. "Dan Forrester."
"I'm on this one tonight," the woman said, pointing a dagger-like finger at Justin. "I'll get to you next time. And there better fuckin' well be a next time, you understand?"
Eyes wide, Dan nodded. "Yes ma'am!" he said.
"You got manners," she said. "I like that."
She smacked a dark-haired man on the back of his head--her son, Dan figured, based on his startled, "MA!"
"It wouldn't hurt the rest of you fuckers to learn a thing or two from him."
Justin said, "You already know Brian and now Debbie." He started at his left and made introductions around the table. "This is Emmett Honeycutt, Vic Grassi, Lindsay, Melanie, Gus, Ted, Ben, Hunter, Michael, and the baby is Hannah."
Dan shook hands as Justin went and laughed when Justin heaved a big sigh at the end. "I'm gonna need a refresher course in a few minutes," he said while everyone shifted around to free up the seat next to Justin.
As Dan moved to sit down, he boldly-for him--leaned in toward Justin for a quick kiss. "You look beautiful," he whispered.
"Shut up," Justin said, ducking his head, but he slid a proprietary hand over Dan's thigh and kept it there while Deb loaded his plate full of lasagna and salad and garlic bread.
"So a doctor!" Deb said, gazing proudly at Justin. "My Mikey dated a chiropractor for awhile, but turns out, he was a huge dickwad."
"Um, oh," Dan said, his eyes sliding over to Justin who could merely offer him an encouraging look. "I see."
"A heart surgeon!" Emmett--Dan was pretty sure his name was Emmett--said, clapping his hands and looking dreamy-eyed at the very idea. "There Justin was with a broken heart, and who should fix it but you! It's just perfect, isn't it?"
"Well, I wouldn't say he was broken hearted," Dan said. "On the contrary..."
"So you must be totally loaded," the teenage boy said around a mouthful of garlic bread. "What do you clear in a year, a million? Two?"
"Nowadays much of that salary is to compensate for the skyrocketing cost of malpractice insurance," said Bob.
"Do you find yourself malpracticing enough to make the insurance worthwhile?" Brian asked with such cloying interest that Dan couldn't help but laugh.
"Dan's one of the best surgeons in the state," Justin proudly informed the crowd. "He's been listed in Pittsburgh Magazine as one of the city's top five cardiologists for six years in a row."
"Mmm top five? That number one spot keeps eluding you, huh?" Brian looked positively forlorn at the idea.
"It's not really a popularity contest," Dan said matching Brian's supercilious performance. "It's about helping people."
Justin beamed at him and laughed and gave his friends a look that said isn't he great?
"Absolutely," Emmett happily agreed. "That's the common thread running through all of my careers, from clothier to party planner."
"Don't forget porn star," Brian prompted, casting a sidewise glance at Dan to gauge his reaction.
"You may remember Em as our own Fetch Dixon," Michael said.
"Uh huh?" Dan said and looked to Justin for some kind of translation.
"Jerk-at-work.com?" Justin said, his tone asking if it rang a bell with Dan who shrugged helplessly. "Ted founded the porn site last year. Em was one of the website's stars."
"One of them?" Emmett echoed, offended by such understatement.
"The star," Justin quickly corrected.
"I'd get the sweetest e-mails from people," Emmett said with a happy sigh. "I really saw it as a service, you know?"
Helping people indeed.
"Do you favor internet porn or are you more old school?" Brian asked, leaning toward Dan in a show of interest.
"Well, uh..."
"Old school meaning print, video, DVD, that kind of thing."
"Yes, I made that leap myself, thanks," Dan said.
"For fuck's sake, lay off the guy for a minute," Deb said. "Besides, I'm sure Sunshine and his gold medal ass keep the doc here happy enough. Trolling around looking for meaty cocks to jerk off to is hardly a regular thing, right guys?" She looked from Justin to Dan, encouraging them to confirm the statement.
"Wow," Dan said. "The lasagna is out of this world."
"Oh dear, I think we're embarrassing the doctor with our frank discussion," Brian said.
"It takes a while to get used to," Ben said amicably. "But then it starts to sound like they're discussing the weather or current events."
"Called away at the last minute because of an emergency," the elegant blonde said. "Your work must be so fast paced. So high stress."
"It doesn't feel that way when it's just me and 6,000 reams of paperwork," Dan said with a smile. "But even given the precarious state of malpractice," he nodded toward Bob, "It's an amazing time to be in the medical field. From mapping the human genome to the strides made in gene therapy and other medical research, we're almost approaching a time when patients will be healed because of what we do not in spite of it."
As varying degrees of blank stares greeted him, Dan wondered if he was imagining the sound of crickets chirping.
"Uh huh," Brian said.
"I'm glad you got here," Justin said. "They were giving me a hard time. Ben's an English professor at CM, and since he's never seen me on campus, they're not convinced I'm really enrolled. You can vouch for me though, right?"
"Absolutely. I think the coffee house over on Knight Street has named a special wing for Justin, given all the time he spends there studying on the couch..."
Brian perked up. "This might be an interesting story after all."
"Not the way you'd judge it," Justin said.
"Plus I've seen his report card," Dan continued. "All A's I doubt anyone would be surprised to hear."
"Way to go, Sunshine!" Debbie cheered. While the rest of the table offered their own congratulations, she dragged him close for a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Justin beamed at her and shrugged and rolled his eyes as he smeared her lipstick around his cheek.
"And," Dan theatrically continued. "He was chosen to represent Carnegie Mellon at the Eastern University Art Fair. It's sort of an art show for non-art majors."
Brian, who'd been engaged in a pseudo sword fight with his son using their spoons, suddenly sat up straight. "Non-art majors?" he sharply repeated. "I thought your major was art & design?"
"It is," Justin said. "I'm concentrating on graphic design. It's more of a business school approach."
Brian's face grew dark and suddenly the crickets were back. "Why?" he asked. "What the fuck happened to your art? Your art-that's how you always referred to it. That's what it was always fucking about! What the God damned fuck happened to that?"
Dan felt his hackles rise at Brian's sudden hostility, especially when Justin flushed and shrank into his shoulders, as if absorbing a physical blow. "McGinty & Schiff, the studio where Justin works part time, has already offered him a job when he graduates," Dan said. "And one of his professors recommended him to the largest graphic design studio on the east coast--Merriman Shudd & Paul--that's how good he is."
"Of course you're still drawing," Vic said, and Dan thought he seemed well versed in smoothing things over. "Just shifting to a different focus at school, right?"
"Right," Justin said softly.
"Artist isn't a job description," Vic said, trying to catch Justin's eye. When he did, he smiled gently at Justin who returned it, then simultaneously they said, "It's a life form." There was a private joke somewhere in there.
"Justin, you know my studio is available anytime you want," the blonde said. She was holding the baby now, and she gestured between the baby and the little boy. "Believe it or not, I don't get up there very often these days." The way she smiled at the baby suggested it wasn't much of a hardship.
"Gus would love it," the dark-haired woman added. "Hell, Linds and I would love it. Long about noon, I'd kill for a grown up to talk to!"
Brian snorted loudly at that, and Dan wasn't sure if it was in reference to Justin being a grown up or the women wanting grown ups to talk to. Either way, the subject started shifting again.
"So what was the emergency?" asked Michael. "Justin said they call you in on the really big cases."
Dan chuckled. "Sometimes," he agreed. "This was more I was on call when the patient came in. Turns out, it was a routine blocked artery. A little angioplasty, and he was good as new."
"Do you do transplants and stuff?" asked the teenager. "You ever put, like, a murderer's heart in a regular person, and then they turned into a murderer too?"
"I do the more run of the mill surgery," Dan said. "Unblocking arteries, repairing damage caused by accidents, poor eating habits, genetic conditions, that kind of thing."
"Once, when I worked at the Big Q, a customer keeled over right there in Small Appliances. You ever had to save someone like that?" Michael asked.
Dan nodded. "I was at a Pirates game a couple of years ago, and a man in the stands had a heart attack. And once when I was in South Beach, a woman had a seizure and fell in a swimming pool. A little CPR and they were both on their way to being good as new."
"That must be amazing," said Ben. "Saving someone with your bare hands. Very...primitive. Basic."
"It is pretty amazing," Dan agreed. "But the flip side is how devastating it is when you lose someone."
As dinner came to a close, Dan realized that Deb really was on Justin that night, and Justin was trying to avoid it. For a while, they danced around in a circle, Justin helping to clear the dishes, but always managing to be back by the table when Deb ventured over to the sink.
Judging from the poorly concealed amusement from the rest of the crowd, they were all well aware of what was going on, and no one seemed surprised when Deb finally put a stop to it. "Sunshine! How fucking stupid do you think I am?" she bellowed.
Justin gave an impressive performance of a person nearly overcome with shock. "I don't think you're stupid!" he squeaked.
"When I say you and I are going to have a nice long chat, that means you and I are gonna have a fuckin' nice long chat. Now get your ass upstairs."
"But Deb," he said, eyes wide and blinking, all innocent angel. "I have to go to the bathroom."
Deb rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go take your piss and then you march to your bedroom, you hear me?"
Dan had seen five year olds exhibit more subtlety than Justin as he slowly plodded to the bathroom.
Deb shooed everyone out of the kitchen. Emmett sociably hooked his arm through Dan's. "I know just what you mean about devastation," he said. "I thought party planning would be all about joy. Twenty-four/seven, just love and happiness and delight. But let me tell you, you see a serious underbelly society in this biz. Try telling someone there was a power outage and the 500 chicken breasts they ordered are out of commission. Talk about life and death, flashing there before your eyes."
"So, is there like a scorecard or something?" the teenager asked. "A bulletin bored that keeps score of all the people who live and die. Like the doctor with the most people alive at the end of the year wins an award or somethin'?"
"Hunter," Ben scolded.
Dan laughed. "You're not too far off the mark, really. You have to have a balance between reverence for the importance of the work you're doing and distancing so you don't become paralyzed by all of the implications. You have to be able to move on your gut level instincts because you don't always have the luxury of time to weigh all of the possible outcomes of a decision."
"Wow," Michael said. "I don't think I want that kind of responsibility. I mean, sell a guy the wrong comic book and life goes on, you know? I don't want to be faced with life and death every second of the day."
"It takes a certain kind of person," the dark haired woman said. "You've got to be strong enough to handle a hell of a lot of pressure, that's for sure."
Brian, who'd been following the conversation with various eye rolls and incredulous stares, finally had enough. "Jesus Christ, it's not like he's opening up soldiers on a battlefield. We all have impossibly challenging careers, don't we?"
"Absolutely," Dan agreed. "I crack open people's chests and cradle their beating hearts in my hands, and you... sell them toilet bowl cleaner. It's almost exactly the same thing."
Still trying to elude Debbie, Justin returned from the bathroom and plopped himself down on Dan's lap. He leaned back and placed a loud, smacking kiss to Dan's cheek, grinding his ass into Dan's groin for good measure. He grinned knowingly at Dan's obvious discomfort and slipped off his lap. Brian noticed of course, and given Dan's understanding of the man's appetite for flaunting himself, Dan wasn't surprised at his look of disdain.
Dan knew Brian thought his unwillingness to molest Justin in front of a crowd meant that Dan's feelings were somehow inferior to Brian's. Well, screw him. It didn't matter what Brian thought. Justin didn't have a problem with him.
Justin had always been amused at Dan's appalled reaction to his casual reports of having sex in the restroom of this restaurant or the dressing room at that store; this alley, that abandoned shipyard, a backroom here, a doorway there. What Justin had seen as defiant shows of independence, Dan had seen as crass disregard for a partner. In Dan's mind, if Brian had cared about anything other than getting his rocks off, he never would have put Justin in such potentially humiliating circumstances. What if they'd been caught? Why would anyone take something so personal and private and put it on display like that anyway?
"Justin Taylor!" came Deb's voice from the top of the stairs. "Get.your ass.up here.now!"
Justin popped up. "Um...I'm going to go upstairs for a second," he said, then took the stairs two at a time. Dan couldn't see them, but he had the sudden image of Deb grabbing Justin by the ear and towing him into one of the bedrooms.
Brian took advantage of the free spot next to Dan and slid gracefully over to it. The rest of the family had settled in around the television set, and the two of them were far enough away that their conversation remained private. "Justin's been out and loud since he was 17," Brian said. "Your acting like he's diseased every fucking time he touches you doesn't..."
Dan interrupted before Brian could make his point. "Look, I'll play along to a point. You want to poke fun at a guy my age hooking up with Justin, go ahead." Dan kept his own voice down. This wasn't a conversation that concerned anyone else. "And I know I take myself more seriously than I should, so you want to mock how uptight I am, I'll take that too. You get off shocking me with your adolescent sexual innuendo, I'll survive. Bottom line, I just don't give a shit..."
Brian chuckled. "What can I say? I guess I like to play with my prey before I dispose of it..."
"But don't tell me about him," Dan continued, as if Brian hadn't spoken. "Don't tell me what he needs or what he wants or what I should be doing. You had your chance, and God knows Justin's over it, so I am not about to consider..."
Brian's eyes narrowed even as he mocked Dan's words. "There's no such thing as over as far as he's concerned. It'll always come back to me." Brian slowly circled around Dan, leaning close to Dan's ear as he slyly whispered, "You can blow the fucking shit out of arteries from now to the end of time, and it will always come back to me."
Dan rolled his eyes at the bravado. "Yeah, well, tell you what," he drawled. "In the spirit of fair play and all, next time you make a move on him, try not telling him he's responsible for his mother's death. Just a thought there, Buddy-o, free of charge."
It was a direct hit. Brian seemed taken aback, and Dan was sure he couldn't believe Justin had told him anything about their interaction. Brian probably thought whatever the two of them talked about was sacred, never to be shared with mere mortals.
With perfect timing, Justin started down the stairs at that point. He'd obviously been crying, but he was composed--Dan would almost say relieved.
Brian feigned nonchalance, but he was instantly aware of Justin, who paused on the stairs when Brian's eyes locked on his. They had an entire conversation without exchanging a single word, but Dan wasn't sure what they said.
Justin gave Brian a rather beseeching, questioning look that made Brian carelessly shrug before averting his eyes and ducking his head, but then he brought his head back up and met Justin's eyes with a determined, unapologetic look of his own. Justin sighed, looking confused now, and Brian's eyes softened, and he shrugged again, but this time it seemed more helpless than careless. Now Justin dropped his eyes. He looked so young sometimes. When Justin raised his eyes, Brian beckoned him over with a subtle crook of his head. Justin sighed once more and finished descending the stairs.
As he passed Dan, he ran his hand down Dan's arm and continued over to Brian who led him into the kitchen. Once there, Brian placed his hands on Justin's shoulders and turned him to face the living room. Standing behind Justin, hands on his shoulders, Brian leaned down and whispered something into Justin's ear as he motioned to the people chattering unwittingly amongst themselves. Justin was still for a long moment, and Brian's body language intensified as he whispered something more forcefully in Justin's ear, briefly shaking Justin to make his point. Justin blushed then slowly nodded. Brian smiled and caressed Justin's neck with a thumb before slapping him on the ass and sending him back into the family room.
Justin sauntered over to Dan and demurely settled himself under Dan's arm. "Ready to go?" Justin said.
"Yeah, I think so."
"I'm right behind you," said Justin.
Dan waited for Brian to chime in with some ridiculous comment, but thankfully, he and Bob were talking about something.
Dan kissed Deb's cheek. "Your dinner was great," he said. "Thank you for making me feel welcome."
"Anytime, honey. I'll drag you over here by your balls if I have to, so we'd better be seeing the two of you around here from time to time, you got that?"
"I've got it," Dan said.
Five minutes after Dan left, Justin called him on his cell, obviously on the road himself. "So, how many blow jobs do I owe you for surviving the night?" he asked.
Dan laughed. "Let me think. How many did I owe after Chas' football banquet?"
"Twelve," Justin promptly replied.
"Twelve?" Dan echoed, trying to remember the logic behind it. "That many?"
Justin helpfully refreshed his memory. "You were late, I had to ride with Kate and Frank and the A-Teens, the principal thought I was an exchange student, Maddox puked on me, and Lynn kept trying to get me to pretend I was her college boyfriend. Twelve was a bargain."
"I can't believe you still go anywhere with me," Dan said, laughing, then he ticked off his own list. "Okay, the one lesbian insisted that I hold her kid and its diaper was leaking, Emmett wants to bid on my parent's 50th wedding anniversary party with a theme that highlights how sexually active they may or may not be, I'm next on Debbie's list so I now live in a constant state of fear, and your ex-lover stalked me like a jungle cat all night."
"Three," Justin declared.
"Three!" Dan echoed, obviously flabbergasted at the lowball offer. "The beefy guy talked Free Tibet for a half hour like I'm supposed to head up the resistance myself, and the greasy kid kept leering at me, and one time I think he may have actually touched some of my naughty bits."
"Oh God, that does sound traumatic," Justin said. "I'll bump you up to six, by two of those times we get to keep the TV on."
Dan turned into the driveway and triumphantly announced, "Home! I win."
"Only because you drive like a maniac," Justin said.
"Not anymore," Dan reminded him, lowering his voice to a seductive hum.
"No?" Justin said, sounding doubtful.
"Huh uh. Remember? You asked me not to."
Justin pulled in behind Dan. Getting out of their cars with the phones still held to their ears, they both grinned and simultaneously shut them off.
Justin advanced on Dan and pushed him back against his car. "Fuck me," Justin whispered. "Right here, right now."
Dan leaned back and looked at Justin like he was crazy, a look Justin mimicked perfectly. "Yeah and then Chuck Finster will take me aside at the next block party to have a little neighborly chat."
"If he takes you aside it's because he wants some tips for satisfying a hot, horny lover," Justin said.
"Lois is quite the looker," Dan said.
"Should I be worried?"
"You saw those polyester pants she wore to the Hoffman's."
"'Nough said." Justin held up his hand to keep Dan from going into any more detail. He thoughtfully studied Dan for a few seconds. "I'm going to rededicate myself to keeping you well fucked," he promised.
"I guess Lois will have to get her pleasure elsewhere," Dan said. He covered Justin's mouth with his own, his heartbeat picking up as he did. He knew it was comical to view the kiss as some brazen gesture, especially given the audacious stories Justin told.
Dan had never so much as bussed Kevin on the cheek while standing outside the home they shared. Not that it was a sticking point with Kev, who might occasionally be so bold as to give the thumbs-up sign after scoring a basket, but anything else would have been far too effusive for the staid man. The tame kiss Dan had given Justin at Deb's dinner table would have seemed scandalous to Dan when he was with Kevin.
"Come on, let's do it," Justin coaxed. "Outside, here on the drive way. Pound me against the Porshe. The two things guaranteed to make you come, and you can have them both right now. Suck me, and I'll shoot my load all over the hood." He humped Dan in a slow, steady rhythm, his intense eyes wide as they bored into Dan's. "You'll get down here in the morning and your car will be covered in my come. All for you. I'll come for you. Only for you."
A joke about the likelihood of leaving overnight any kind of stain on his car died on Dan's lips, his throat suddenly too dry to speak. Justin stepped away and unfastened his pants, pushing them low enough that a tuft of pubic hair riveted Dan's gaze.
Justin reached for Dan's hand and gently placed Dan's fingers on top of the downy hair. The gesture was so sweet and open, it stole the breath from Dan, and his head fell back as he grunted, "Uh, fuck!"
"Fuck me," Justin whispered enticingly, his wet lips wrapping around Dan's earlobe. "Fuck me, Dan. The neighbors want to know who leads when we dance. Fuck me. You take the lead, don't you? Don't you want to show them how you fuck me? How you own me? How you make me beg? Don't you want to show them how I beg? Please, Dan? Please? I'm begging, see? Please? Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me."
Head spinning and dick throbbing, Dan couldn't help the sudden thought that the whole scene had been orchestrated by Brian Kinney. Maybe he dropped some sly comment as Justin was leaving that suggested a man's love required a sordid public display.
And then Dan felt twice as aggravated because a part of him felt like maybe for once in his God damned, play-it-safe life he might have actually gone for it if Brian Fucking Kinney hadn't been right there in the middle of it. "Shit, I can't" he whispered.
Justin didn't seem put out. "That's why God created kitchen tables, right?" he joked. He took Dan's hand and led him inside, peeking over his shoulder with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "And stairs, and couches, and showers..." The gentle affection of Justin's face disquieted Dan. It wasn't so much a look of anticipation at the evening's coming attractions but more the benevolent look you'd give an old, arthritic dog as he struggled to jump down off the couch.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The One Where Justin's With Another Guy, and Brian Interferes, Part 4
Brian stuck his head out the door and checked out Dan's ride before turning to the doctor. "Red Porshe a little cliche, isn't it?" he asked dryly.
"Yeah," Dan agreed with an easy smile. "So's the 20 year old I bagged to ride around in it with me. At least I'm consistent." He stepped further into the room, crowding an unmoving Brian as he did so. He had to tilt his head around Brian's shoulder to catch sight of Justin.
Justin stood at the dinner table where the rest of his curious friends sat, some necks craned at nearly 360 degrees to get a gander at Dan. Justin was wearing a pair of dark gray slacks and a black turtleneck that made his hair seem almost white by comparison. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were bright and he smiled with delight that made Dan's breath catch.
A woman in a wild red wig, wearing a t-shirt which read, Do not disturb--I'm disturbed enough already, jumped up and said, "Jesus Christ, Sunshine! Next thing you know you'll be trolling the old folks' home lookin' for a quick fuck!"
"Debbie?" Dan hazard a guess as he made a wide circle around Brian so he could approach the table. "Dan Forrester."
"I'm on this one tonight," the woman said, pointing a dagger-like finger at Justin. "I'll get to you next time. And there better fuckin' well be a next time, you understand?"
Eyes wide, Dan nodded. "Yes ma'am!" he said.
"You got manners," she said. "I like that."
She smacked a dark-haired man on the back of his head--her son, Dan figured, based on his startled, "MA!"
"It wouldn't hurt the rest of you fuckers to learn a thing or two from him."
Justin said, "You already know Brian and now Debbie." He started at his left and made introductions around the table. "This is Emmett Honeycutt, Vic Grassi, Lindsay, Melanie, Gus, Ted, Ben, Hunter, Michael, and the baby is Hannah."
Dan shook hands as Justin went and laughed when Justin heaved a big sigh at the end. "I'm gonna need a refresher course in a few minutes," he said while everyone shifted around to free up the seat next to Justin.
As Dan moved to sit down, he boldly-for him--leaned in toward Justin for a quick kiss. "You look beautiful," he whispered.
"Shut up," Justin said, ducking his head, but he slid a proprietary hand over Dan's thigh and kept it there while Deb loaded his plate full of lasagna and salad and garlic bread.
"So a doctor!" Deb said, gazing proudly at Justin. "My Mikey dated a chiropractor for awhile, but turns out, he was a huge dickwad."
"Um, oh," Dan said, his eyes sliding over to Justin who could merely offer him an encouraging look. "I see."
"A heart surgeon!" Emmett--Dan was pretty sure his name was Emmett--said, clapping his hands and looking dreamy-eyed at the very idea. "There Justin was with a broken heart, and who should fix it but you! It's just perfect, isn't it?"
"Well, I wouldn't say he was broken hearted," Dan said. "On the contrary..."
"So you must be totally loaded," the teenage boy said around a mouthful of garlic bread. "What do you clear in a year, a million? Two?"
"Nowadays much of that salary is to compensate for the skyrocketing cost of malpractice insurance," said Bob.
"Do you find yourself malpracticing enough to make the insurance worthwhile?" Brian asked with such cloying interest that Dan couldn't help but laugh.
"Dan's one of the best surgeons in the state," Justin proudly informed the crowd. "He's been listed in Pittsburgh Magazine as one of the city's top five cardiologists for six years in a row."
"Mmm top five? That number one spot keeps eluding you, huh?" Brian looked positively forlorn at the idea.
"It's not really a popularity contest," Dan said matching Brian's supercilious performance. "It's about helping people."
Justin beamed at him and laughed and gave his friends a look that said isn't he great?
"Absolutely," Emmett happily agreed. "That's the common thread running through all of my careers, from clothier to party planner."
"Don't forget porn star," Brian prompted, casting a sidewise glance at Dan to gauge his reaction.
"You may remember Em as our own Fetch Dixon," Michael said.
"Uh huh?" Dan said and looked to Justin for some kind of translation.
"Jerk-at-work.com?" Justin said, his tone asking if it rang a bell with Dan who shrugged helplessly. "Ted founded the porn site last year. Em was one of the website's stars."
"One of them?" Emmett echoed, offended by such understatement.
"The star," Justin quickly corrected.
"I'd get the sweetest e-mails from people," Emmett said with a happy sigh. "I really saw it as a service, you know?"
Helping people indeed.
"Do you favor internet porn or are you more old school?" Brian asked, leaning toward Dan in a show of interest.
"Well, uh..."
"Old school meaning print, video, DVD, that kind of thing."
"Yes, I made that leap myself, thanks," Dan said.
"For fuck's sake, lay off the guy for a minute," Deb said. "Besides, I'm sure Sunshine and his gold medal ass keep the doc here happy enough. Trolling around looking for meaty cocks to jerk off to is hardly a regular thing, right guys?" She looked from Justin to Dan, encouraging them to confirm the statement.
"Wow," Dan said. "The lasagna is out of this world."
"Oh dear, I think we're embarrassing the doctor with our frank discussion," Brian said.
"It takes a while to get used to," Ben said amicably. "But then it starts to sound like they're discussing the weather or current events."
"Called away at the last minute because of an emergency," the elegant blonde said. "Your work must be so fast paced. So high stress."
"It doesn't feel that way when it's just me and 6,000 reams of paperwork," Dan said with a smile. "But even given the precarious state of malpractice," he nodded toward Bob, "It's an amazing time to be in the medical field. From mapping the human genome to the strides made in gene therapy and other medical research, we're almost approaching a time when patients will be healed because of what we do not in spite of it."
As varying degrees of blank stares greeted him, Dan wondered if he was imagining the sound of crickets chirping.
"Uh huh," Brian said.
"I'm glad you got here," Justin said. "They were giving me a hard time. Ben's an English professor at CM, and since he's never seen me on campus, they're not convinced I'm really enrolled. You can vouch for me though, right?"
"Absolutely. I think the coffee house over on Knight Street has named a special wing for Justin, given all the time he spends there studying on the couch..."
Brian perked up. "This might be an interesting story after all."
"Not the way you'd judge it," Justin said.
"Plus I've seen his report card," Dan continued. "All A's I doubt anyone would be surprised to hear."
"Way to go, Sunshine!" Debbie cheered. While the rest of the table offered their own congratulations, she dragged him close for a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Justin beamed at her and shrugged and rolled his eyes as he smeared her lipstick around his cheek.
"And," Dan theatrically continued. "He was chosen to represent Carnegie Mellon at the Eastern University Art Fair. It's sort of an art show for non-art majors."
Brian, who'd been engaged in a pseudo sword fight with his son using their spoons, suddenly sat up straight. "Non-art majors?" he sharply repeated. "I thought your major was art & design?"
"It is," Justin said. "I'm concentrating on graphic design. It's more of a business school approach."
Brian's face grew dark and suddenly the crickets were back. "Why?" he asked. "What the fuck happened to your art? Your art-that's how you always referred to it. That's what it was always fucking about! What the God damned fuck happened to that?"
Dan felt his hackles rise at Brian's sudden hostility, especially when Justin flushed and shrank into his shoulders, as if absorbing a physical blow. "McGinty & Schiff, the studio where Justin works part time, has already offered him a job when he graduates," Dan said. "And one of his professors recommended him to the largest graphic design studio on the east coast--Merriman Shudd & Paul--that's how good he is."
"Of course you're still drawing," Vic said, and Dan thought he seemed well versed in smoothing things over. "Just shifting to a different focus at school, right?"
"Right," Justin said softly.
"Artist isn't a job description," Vic said, trying to catch Justin's eye. When he did, he smiled gently at Justin who returned it, then simultaneously they said, "It's a life form." There was a private joke somewhere in there.
"Justin, you know my studio is available anytime you want," the blonde said. She was holding the baby now, and she gestured between the baby and the little boy. "Believe it or not, I don't get up there very often these days." The way she smiled at the baby suggested it wasn't much of a hardship.
"Gus would love it," the dark-haired woman added. "Hell, Linds and I would love it. Long about noon, I'd kill for a grown up to talk to!"
Brian snorted loudly at that, and Dan wasn't sure if it was in reference to Justin being a grown up or the women wanting grown ups to talk to. Either way, the subject started shifting again.
"So what was the emergency?" asked Michael. "Justin said they call you in on the really big cases."
Dan chuckled. "Sometimes," he agreed. "This was more I was on call when the patient came in. Turns out, it was a routine blocked artery. A little angioplasty, and he was good as new."
"Do you do transplants and stuff?" asked the teenager. "You ever put, like, a murderer's heart in a regular person, and then they turned into a murderer too?"
"I do the more run of the mill surgery," Dan said. "Unblocking arteries, repairing damage caused by accidents, poor eating habits, genetic conditions, that kind of thing."
"Once, when I worked at the Big Q, a customer keeled over right there in Small Appliances. You ever had to save someone like that?" Michael asked.
Dan nodded. "I was at a Pirates game a couple of years ago, and a man in the stands had a heart attack. And once when I was in South Beach, a woman had a seizure and fell in a swimming pool. A little CPR and they were both on their way to being good as new."
"That must be amazing," said Ben. "Saving someone with your bare hands. Very...primitive. Basic."
"It is pretty amazing," Dan agreed. "But the flip side is how devastating it is when you lose someone."
As dinner came to a close, Dan realized that Deb really was on Justin that night, and Justin was trying to avoid it. For a while, they danced around in a circle, Justin helping to clear the dishes, but always managing to be back by the table when Deb ventured over to the sink.
Judging from the poorly concealed amusement from the rest of the crowd, they were all well aware of what was going on, and no one seemed surprised when Deb finally put a stop to it. "Sunshine! How fucking stupid do you think I am?" she bellowed.
Justin gave an impressive performance of a person nearly overcome with shock. "I don't think you're stupid!" he squeaked.
"When I say you and I are going to have a nice long chat, that means you and I are gonna have a fuckin' nice long chat. Now get your ass upstairs."
"But Deb," he said, eyes wide and blinking, all innocent angel. "I have to go to the bathroom."
Deb rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go take your piss and then you march to your bedroom, you hear me?"
Dan had seen five year olds exhibit more subtlety than Justin as he slowly plodded to the bathroom.
Deb shooed everyone out of the kitchen. Emmett sociably hooked his arm through Dan's. "I know just what you mean about devastation," he said. "I thought party planning would be all about joy. Twenty-four/seven, just love and happiness and delight. But let me tell you, you see a serious underbelly society in this biz. Try telling someone there was a power outage and the 500 chicken breasts they ordered are out of commission. Talk about life and death, flashing there before your eyes."
"So, is there like a scorecard or something?" the teenager asked. "A bulletin bored that keeps score of all the people who live and die. Like the doctor with the most people alive at the end of the year wins an award or somethin'?"
"Hunter," Ben scolded.
Dan laughed. "You're not too far off the mark, really. You have to have a balance between reverence for the importance of the work you're doing and distancing so you don't become paralyzed by all of the implications. You have to be able to move on your gut level instincts because you don't always have the luxury of time to weigh all of the possible outcomes of a decision."
"Wow," Michael said. "I don't think I want that kind of responsibility. I mean, sell a guy the wrong comic book and life goes on, you know? I don't want to be faced with life and death every second of the day."
"It takes a certain kind of person," the dark haired woman said. "You've got to be strong enough to handle a hell of a lot of pressure, that's for sure."
Brian, who'd been following the conversation with various eye rolls and incredulous stares, finally had enough. "Jesus Christ, it's not like he's opening up soldiers on a battlefield. We all have impossibly challenging careers, don't we?"
"Absolutely," Dan agreed. "I crack open people's chests and cradle their beating hearts in my hands, and you... sell them toilet bowl cleaner. It's almost exactly the same thing."
Still trying to elude Debbie, Justin returned from the bathroom and plopped himself down on Dan's lap. He leaned back and placed a loud, smacking kiss to Dan's cheek, grinding his ass into Dan's groin for good measure. He grinned knowingly at Dan's obvious discomfort and slipped off his lap. Brian noticed of course, and given Dan's understanding of the man's appetite for flaunting himself, Dan wasn't surprised at his look of disdain.
Dan knew Brian thought his unwillingness to molest Justin in front of a crowd meant that Dan's feelings were somehow inferior to Brian's. Well, screw him. It didn't matter what Brian thought. Justin didn't have a problem with him.
Justin had always been amused at Dan's appalled reaction to his casual reports of having sex in the restroom of this restaurant or the dressing room at that store; this alley, that abandoned shipyard, a backroom here, a doorway there. What Justin had seen as defiant shows of independence, Dan had seen as crass disregard for a partner. In Dan's mind, if Brian had cared about anything other than getting his rocks off, he never would have put Justin in such potentially humiliating circumstances. What if they'd been caught? Why would anyone take something so personal and private and put it on display like that anyway?
"Justin Taylor!" came Deb's voice from the top of the stairs. "Get.your ass.up here.now!"
Justin popped up. "Um...I'm going to go upstairs for a second," he said, then took the stairs two at a time. Dan couldn't see them, but he had the sudden image of Deb grabbing Justin by the ear and towing him into one of the bedrooms.
Brian took advantage of the free spot next to Dan and slid gracefully over to it. The rest of the family had settled in around the television set, and the two of them were far enough away that their conversation remained private. "Justin's been out and loud since he was 17," Brian said. "Your acting like he's diseased every fucking time he touches you doesn't..."
Dan interrupted before Brian could make his point. "Look, I'll play along to a point. You want to poke fun at a guy my age hooking up with Justin, go ahead." Dan kept his own voice down. This wasn't a conversation that concerned anyone else. "And I know I take myself more seriously than I should, so you want to mock how uptight I am, I'll take that too. You get off shocking me with your adolescent sexual innuendo, I'll survive. Bottom line, I just don't give a shit..."
Brian chuckled. "What can I say? I guess I like to play with my prey before I dispose of it..."
"But don't tell me about him," Dan continued, as if Brian hadn't spoken. "Don't tell me what he needs or what he wants or what I should be doing. You had your chance, and God knows Justin's over it, so I am not about to consider..."
Brian's eyes narrowed even as he mocked Dan's words. "There's no such thing as over as far as he's concerned. It'll always come back to me." Brian slowly circled around Dan, leaning close to Dan's ear as he slyly whispered, "You can blow the fucking shit out of arteries from now to the end of time, and it will always come back to me."
Dan rolled his eyes at the bravado. "Yeah, well, tell you what," he drawled. "In the spirit of fair play and all, next time you make a move on him, try not telling him he's responsible for his mother's death. Just a thought there, Buddy-o, free of charge."
It was a direct hit. Brian seemed taken aback, and Dan was sure he couldn't believe Justin had told him anything about their interaction. Brian probably thought whatever the two of them talked about was sacred, never to be shared with mere mortals.
With perfect timing, Justin started down the stairs at that point. He'd obviously been crying, but he was composed--Dan would almost say relieved.
Brian feigned nonchalance, but he was instantly aware of Justin, who paused on the stairs when Brian's eyes locked on his. They had an entire conversation without exchanging a single word, but Dan wasn't sure what they said.
Justin gave Brian a rather beseeching, questioning look that made Brian carelessly shrug before averting his eyes and ducking his head, but then he brought his head back up and met Justin's eyes with a determined, unapologetic look of his own. Justin sighed, looking confused now, and Brian's eyes softened, and he shrugged again, but this time it seemed more helpless than careless. Now Justin dropped his eyes. He looked so young sometimes. When Justin raised his eyes, Brian beckoned him over with a subtle crook of his head. Justin sighed once more and finished descending the stairs.
As he passed Dan, he ran his hand down Dan's arm and continued over to Brian who led him into the kitchen. Once there, Brian placed his hands on Justin's shoulders and turned him to face the living room. Standing behind Justin, hands on his shoulders, Brian leaned down and whispered something into Justin's ear as he motioned to the people chattering unwittingly amongst themselves. Justin was still for a long moment, and Brian's body language intensified as he whispered something more forcefully in Justin's ear, briefly shaking Justin to make his point. Justin blushed then slowly nodded. Brian smiled and caressed Justin's neck with a thumb before slapping him on the ass and sending him back into the family room.
Justin sauntered over to Dan and demurely settled himself under Dan's arm. "Ready to go?" Justin said.
"Yeah, I think so."
"I'm right behind you," said Justin.
Dan waited for Brian to chime in with some ridiculous comment, but thankfully, he and Bob were talking about something.
Dan kissed Deb's cheek. "Your dinner was great," he said. "Thank you for making me feel welcome."
"Anytime, honey. I'll drag you over here by your balls if I have to, so we'd better be seeing the two of you around here from time to time, you got that?"
"I've got it," Dan said.
Five minutes after Dan left, Justin called him on his cell, obviously on the road himself. "So, how many blow jobs do I owe you for surviving the night?" he asked.
Dan laughed. "Let me think. How many did I owe after Chas' football banquet?"
"Twelve," Justin promptly replied.
"Twelve?" Dan echoed, trying to remember the logic behind it. "That many?"
Justin helpfully refreshed his memory. "You were late, I had to ride with Kate and Frank and the A-Teens, the principal thought I was an exchange student, Maddox puked on me, and Lynn kept trying to get me to pretend I was her college boyfriend. Twelve was a bargain."
"I can't believe you still go anywhere with me," Dan said, laughing, then he ticked off his own list. "Okay, the one lesbian insisted that I hold her kid and its diaper was leaking, Emmett wants to bid on my parent's 50th wedding anniversary party with a theme that highlights how sexually active they may or may not be, I'm next on Debbie's list so I now live in a constant state of fear, and your ex-lover stalked me like a jungle cat all night."
"Three," Justin declared.
"Three!" Dan echoed, obviously flabbergasted at the lowball offer. "The beefy guy talked Free Tibet for a half hour like I'm supposed to head up the resistance myself, and the greasy kid kept leering at me, and one time I think he may have actually touched some of my naughty bits."
"Oh God, that does sound traumatic," Justin said. "I'll bump you up to six, by two of those times we get to keep the TV on."
Dan turned into the driveway and triumphantly announced, "Home! I win."
"Only because you drive like a maniac," Justin said.
"Not anymore," Dan reminded him, lowering his voice to a seductive hum.
"No?" Justin said, sounding doubtful.
"Huh uh. Remember? You asked me not to."
Justin pulled in behind Dan. Getting out of their cars with the phones still held to their ears, they both grinned and simultaneously shut them off.
Justin advanced on Dan and pushed him back against his car. "Fuck me," Justin whispered. "Right here, right now."
Dan leaned back and looked at Justin like he was crazy, a look Justin mimicked perfectly. "Yeah and then Chuck Finster will take me aside at the next block party to have a little neighborly chat."
"If he takes you aside it's because he wants some tips for satisfying a hot, horny lover," Justin said.
"Lois is quite the looker," Dan said.
"Should I be worried?"
"You saw those polyester pants she wore to the Hoffman's."
"'Nough said." Justin held up his hand to keep Dan from going into any more detail. He thoughtfully studied Dan for a few seconds. "I'm going to rededicate myself to keeping you well fucked," he promised.
"I guess Lois will have to get her pleasure elsewhere," Dan said. He covered Justin's mouth with his own, his heartbeat picking up as he did. He knew it was comical to view the kiss as some brazen gesture, especially given the audacious stories Justin told.
Dan had never so much as bussed Kevin on the cheek while standing outside the home they shared. Not that it was a sticking point with Kev, who might occasionally be so bold as to give the thumbs-up sign after scoring a basket, but anything else would have been far too effusive for the staid man. The tame kiss Dan had given Justin at Deb's dinner table would have seemed scandalous to Dan when he was with Kevin.
"Come on, let's do it," Justin coaxed. "Outside, here on the drive way. Pound me against the Porshe. The two things guaranteed to make you come, and you can have them both right now. Suck me, and I'll shoot my load all over the hood." He humped Dan in a slow, steady rhythm, his intense eyes wide as they bored into Dan's. "You'll get down here in the morning and your car will be covered in my come. All for you. I'll come for you. Only for you."
A joke about the likelihood of leaving overnight any kind of stain on his car died on Dan's lips, his throat suddenly too dry to speak. Justin stepped away and unfastened his pants, pushing them low enough that a tuft of pubic hair riveted Dan's gaze.
Justin reached for Dan's hand and gently placed Dan's fingers on top of the downy hair. The gesture was so sweet and open, it stole the breath from Dan, and his head fell back as he grunted, "Uh, fuck!"
"Fuck me," Justin whispered enticingly, his wet lips wrapping around Dan's earlobe. "Fuck me, Dan. The neighbors want to know who leads when we dance. Fuck me. You take the lead, don't you? Don't you want to show them how you fuck me? How you own me? How you make me beg? Don't you want to show them how I beg? Please, Dan? Please? I'm begging, see? Please? Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me."
Head spinning and dick throbbing, Dan couldn't help the sudden thought that the whole scene had been orchestrated by Brian Kinney. Maybe he dropped some sly comment as Justin was leaving that suggested a man's love required a sordid public display.
And then Dan felt twice as aggravated because a part of him felt like maybe for once in his God damned, play-it-safe life he might have actually gone for it if Brian Fucking Kinney hadn't been right there in the middle of it. "Shit, I can't" he whispered.
Justin didn't seem put out. "That's why God created kitchen tables, right?" he joked. He took Dan's hand and led him inside, peeking over his shoulder with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "And stairs, and couches, and showers..." The gentle affection of Justin's face disquieted Dan. It wasn't so much a look of anticipation at the evening's coming attractions but more the benevolent look you'd give an old, arthritic dog as he struggled to jump down off the couch.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-