Final Encore (23 page)

“Is it a bad sign that I’m not getting any air play

yet?” Bily asked.

“No, not realy. Sometimes it takes a few days,

but I can guarantee you that when we’re done with the

press tours, you’l be sick of hearing yourself on the

radio.”

It was four thirty in the morning, and they stil had

a two and a half-hour stretch on I-75 from Chattanooga

to Atlanta. Bily had been driving Ian’s SUV for almost

four hours, and he was starting to get a little fidgety. He

was about to press the scan button to look for another

country station when he heard the DJ say, “Don’t miss

Cadilac Jack in the morning when Capitol Records

Nashvile recording artist Bily Eagan stops by to talk

about his new single and hopefuly give us a live

performance. But in the meantime, here’s Bily Eagan

with ‘The Love of a Man’.”

“Ian, do you hear that? I’m on the radio, I’m on

the frickin’ radio.”

“Yeah, cowboy, you are, and if I may say so

myself, you sound good enough to eat.”

Bily was so excited he puled across three lanes

of traffic and onto the shoulder of the road. He got out

of the car, ran around to Ian’s door, opened it, and

puled him out. He took Ian into his arms, kissed him

deeply in the darkness, and then lifted him into the air

and spun him three times.

“Thank you, Ian, thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me, cowboy; you’re the one singing

on the radio. Now put me down before we get shot by

some drunken redneck.”

Bily was so excited he was trembling. He had no

idea hearing himself on the radio would have such an

effect on him.

“Bily, get in the car, and I’l drive the rest of the

way until you calm down.”

“Okay, good idea,” Bily said. “I don’t want to

kil us the same day I hear myself on the radio for the

first time. It wouldn’t be good karma.”

Ian got in the driver’s seat and slowly puled back

onto I-75. “What do you know about karma, anyway?”

“For starters, since I met you, I’ve got a record

deal, I’ve got a newly released single, I’m on the way to

do a radio interview and a show promoting my single,

and I’ve got a boyfriend. That sounds like pretty good

karma to me.”

“Wow, that’s a mouthful, Bily. I can’t take al the

credit. If you didn’t have talent, I couldn’t have done

any of this. I think we make a pretty good team, but no

labels as far as we go.”

“Gotcha, but speaking of mouthfuls,” Bily said

with a smile on his face, “I’m about to get me one.”

Bily reached over with his left hand and started

rubbing Ian’s dick through his jeans, and right on cue, it

responded immediately. “Bily, we can’t do this here.

What if someone sees us?”

“Who’s going to see us in the dark?” Bily said

while continuing to stroke Ian’s now semi-erect cock.

“Maybe a trucker or two, but even if some trucker

does see us, my face wil be buried in your crotch so

deep that no one wil be able to see it.”

How can I argue with that logic, and I really

don’t want to anyway.

“Go for it,” he said.

Bily unbuttoned Ian’s jeans, and Ian lifted up so

he could slide them down to his knees, just far enough

to get at what he wanted. Ian’s now fuly erect dick

pushed tightly against his Calvin Kleins. Bily opened the

fly of Ian’s underwear, and his cock popped out and

stood at attention. Bily teased Ian’s dick by kissing it

and circling his tongue around the head several times,

then kissing it again. Ian moaned with pleasure and

caressed Bily’s head and neck with his left hand while

steering with his right. Bily, stil teasing the head of Ian’s

dick, began to suck and nibble while alternating the

teasing circular motion.

In one gulp, the head of Ian’s cock was at the

back of Bily’s throat, as if he was attempting to

swalow him whole. Ian moaned, “Yes, cowboy” with

delight as he began to move up and down, slowly

fucking Bily’s mouth. With his mouth stil paying special

attention to the top half of Ian’s cock and his left hand

around the base, Bily’s right hand was attempting to

stretch open the fly in Ian’s underwear far enough to get

to his bals. When the opening was stretched as far as it

would go without ripping, he pushed Ian’s bals up to

meet his mouth. He released Ian’s dick momentarily,

sucked both bals into his mouth, and tenderly tousled

them around until Ian was gyrating in the driver’s seat.

Bily released Ian’s bals and switched his

attention to Ian’s rock-hard cock again. He released

Ian’s dick long enough to stick his middle finger in his

mouth and wet it thoroughly. He went back to bobbing

up and down while he slipped his hand up the inside

right leg of Ian’s underwear. He found what he was

looking for in seconds and felt the tight pucker against

his finger. He massaged the opening while continuing to

swalow Ian whole and then move up, go down, and

swalow again. Ian said, “Cowboy, I’m about to—”

and Bily pushed his finger in Ian’s ass as far as it would

go. He felt Ian’s ass tighten and release around his

finger as he bucked with each shot of his load hitting the

back of Bily’s throat. When Ian was through emptying

his bals, Bily slid his finger out of Ian’s ass as he heard

him gasp.

Bily bled Ian dry of every drop of come and

saliva, and once convinced he had finished the job, he

slid Ian’s now soft dick back inside his underwear. Ian

lifted again, and Bily puled his jeans back up to his

waist. With one knee on the steering wheel, Ian used

both hands to button his jeans. Bily leaned back in his

seat and, with his left hand resting on Ian’s right leg,

closed his eyes and said, ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever

done that, and it was damn hot.”

“If this means that every time you hear your song

on the radio, I get one of these, cowboy, I’m about to

start working a hel of a lot harder.”

“I think that’s a plan, so get to work.”

They puled off at the next exit for a quick

bathroom break, got a cup of coffee and a bagel at a

drive-through, and got back on the road. They had just

enough time to check into their hotel, take a quick

shower, and get to the radio station by seven o’clock.

By noon they were finished with the interviews

and driving back to the hotel to get some rest before the

show. They had sound checks at seven o’clock and the

show started at ten thirty.

When they got back to the hotel, Bily lay down

on the bed and Ian went into the bathroom. When Ian

came out, Bily was curled into a bal, fast asleep. Ian

tried to remove his boots without waking him, but that

was impossible. Bily roled over onto his back, and Ian

was able to remove his boots and his jeans. He sat up

briefly, and Ian took off his shirt. Bily slipped under the

covers while he watched Ian undress. Ian set the alarm

for six o’clock to be ready for the seven o’clock sound

check, and then they could come back to the hotel,

shower, and get a bite to eat before the show. Satisfied

that al bases were covered, Ian slipped under the

covers with Bily and closed his eyes. Bily lay awake

for a few more minutes, turned and snuggled up behind

Ian, and said, “I love you, Ian.” Ian wasn’t asleep, and

the words Bily murmured repeated in his head over and

over.

THE next six months were more of the same: press

junkets, radio interviews, and one-nighters, but they

were al paying off because Bily’s single was at number

fifteen on the country music charts and climbing.

The album was finaly finished and the release was

scheduled in two weeks, to coincide with the kickoff of

Trace and Bily’s tour. Bily and Ian had the last week

before the tour to rest. They’d planned on going down

to New Orleans for a few days, since Ian had never

been there and Bily didn’t know when he would have

time off again to visit family.

But before their vacation, they had to get through

Nashvile’s Fanfare, an event sponsored by al the

record labels and designed to let fans get up close and

personal with the artists. Bily had endless hours of meet

and greets with his growing fan base, posing for photos

and signing autographs, and he thoroughly enjoyed

every minute of it.

Trace was performing on the last night to officialy

close the event, and Ian arranged to have Bily open for

him to test the line-up for the tour. It was Bily’s first big

concert, and he was ready for it. He was a sensation.

The crowd loved him, the label execs loved him, Trace

loved him, and as Ian stood in the wings watching Bily

finish his encore, he knew in that very moment that he,

too, loved Bily. Not just loved him, but he was in love

with him.

The realization hit him hard, and he stood there

frozen with his eyes closed on the verge of tears; not

tears of happiness, but tears of fear and panic.
This

wasn’t supposed to happen. How could this have

happened? I was so guarded, so sure that I’d had

kept everything in the proper compartments.
He had

convinced himself that he was only along for the ride.

Just get Bily where he needs to be. He could quit

anytime and not look back. What was he going to do

now?

When Bily came offstage, he was exhilarated. It

was like he was high on something, the fans, the lights,

and the energy; it was like he had just performed for the

first time.
Where’s Ian?
he thought.
I need Ian
. People

were crowding him, congratulating him, and Josh was

there with a huge grin on his face, but no Ian. “Josh,

have you seen Ian?”

“He was here with me during the encore, but then

he said he wasn’t feeling too wel and went back to

your trailer.”

When Bily was finished thanking al the wel

wishers, he went straight to his trailer to find Ian. When

he opened the door, the trailer was in darkness; he

flipped on the lights and realized that Ian had been

sitting there in the dark. He ran to his side and saw tears

running down his cheeks. “Ian, what’s wrong, are you

sick? Should I cal a doctor?” No response. “Ian, talk

to me.”

“I’m fine. I just need to go home.”

“Okay, I’l have you home in fifteen minutes.

Let’s go,” Bily said.

“No, I want to go to my house, in Westhaven,”

Ian replied.

“Sure, handsome, whatever you want, but can I

ask why?”

“We need to talk,” Ian said.

“About what?” Bily asked with panic in his voice.

“Not here,” was al Ian said.

THEY drove to Westhaven in silence. Bily tried to get

Ian to talk, but it was useless. It was like he’d just shut

down. He was cold and distant, not himself, not the Ian

he had falen in love with.

When they got home, Ian walked directly to his

bedroom and Bily folowed.

“Okay, we’re home, now talk to me.”

Ian said, “I can’t go on tour with you, Bily.”

“Why the hel not?”

“Because I can’t. I’l cal Josh and have them

assign another manager to your career and you’l be

fine. Your career has a momentum of its own now.

You’l be okay.”

“I don’t want another manager, Ian. I want you.”

“You can’t have me, Bily.”

“What are you saying, Ian? This is it, just like

that?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s better

this way.”

“Better for whom?” Bily shot back.

“Better for both of us,” Ian said. “Go to New

Orleans, go on tour, and enjoy your career. You earned

it.”

“I don’t want any of it without you, Ian. I love

you.”

“Bily, don’t say that. It can’t work.”

“Ian, you can’t push me away. I won’t go without

a fight. You’ve got to tel me what happened to you,

who hurt you so terribly that you’re wiling to give up on

us. This is kiling me and it’s kiling you.”

Through sobs, Ian said, “It doesn’t matter, Bily.

I’m damaged goods, and you deserve so much more

than I can offer you. You’re the best man I know, and I

can’t continue to hurt you. You need to let me go.”

“Don’t begin to think you can tel me what I

need,” Bily said. “I know you give me everything you

can, and I’ve never asked for anything more than that.

You wanted no labels and you got no labels. I kept my