Mandarin Orange: Sweet and Sour (9 page)

Oh, fuck. That was just what Riley needed. To go cruising dudes at a gay bar with Jer and Troy fucking Ballard. Shit, Ballard would never let him live it down. “I don’t know, man.”

Jeremy chuckled, though he still looked a little baffled. “Troy won’t have any idea. It’s not like you’ve never been to the Habitat before. We’ll just call it a night out and Troy will be so happy that I’m taking a few hours off from studying, he won’t even think there’s another reason.”

True enough, really. Hell, Riley wouldn’t have questioned Jeremy taking a night off to go out, either. The guy spent more time studying than could possibly be healthy. Ballard would be fucking thrilled. “See if the twinkies want to come with,” Riley suggested. “The three of them are so distracting, even your too-fucking-aware boyfriend won’t be able to pay attention to anyone but them and you.”

It sounded like a decent plan, really. Fucking awesome. And if Riley discovered that it wasn’t just Kelly who was so attractive to him, out of the whole have-their-own-block-and-tackle set, at least then he’d know. He suspected that wouldn’t happen, though, because Riley had never been homophobic or even slightly standoffish with people based on their gender attraction. He’d just never seriously considered men as sexual partners. But kissing Kelly... well, maybe that was it.

Maybe experiencing that kiss had opened his metaphorical eyes or something. And maybe those open eyes would go wide for any number of dudes. Only one way to find out, and Riley was looking forward to it. Just as long as it didn’t happen that night, because he was going TV shopping with Kelly, then having dinner, and that was another thing Riley was looking forward to. Maybe more than he should be, but considering what Jeremy had said, maybe not.

He hung around for a while longer and the conversation moved on to other things, like Kelly thinking Riley was fucking his own uncle and the fact that Kelly wasn’t Peter’s newest trick but related to a friend of Peter’s. They talked about Goober, and Riley related the story of how Kelly had found the dog as a pup.

By the time Riley left, he knew he’d been talking way too fucking much about Kelly. He also suspected that Jer knew who Riley had kissed, but since Jeremy didn’t say as much, Riley didn’t either. That was how they were, how their friendship worked. They might taunt each other over things they’d discussed, but they didn’t rub each other’s faces in shit that hadn’t been said. That was part of the reason Riley loved Jeremy so damned much and thought Troy Ballard was such a lucky fucking man.

***

Watching Riley in the electronics store was an education. The guy moved from display model to display model, asking questions Kelly would never have thought of. Of course, he didn’t understand most of them, much less the answers the entirely-too-helpful clerk gave. As far as Kelly was concerned, the only things that mattered were picture and sound quality, and where the ports to connect a video gaming console and whatever else he decided on were located. He needed a DVR, definitely, and maybe -- depending on which TV he bought -- some external speakers. But Riley seemed to know way more than Kelly had ever suspected there was
to
know. Because obviously, Riley was one of those guys. The kind that felt all manly and in charge when talking electronics.

It was cute, really, and Kelly added that thought to the ever-lengthening list of things he would never say out loud. Like the way he felt left out while Riley and the clerk, whose name tag said Bob, kept talking about things Kelly didn’t know. He didn’t like the way the guy was looking at Riley, though. It wasn’t lustful or anything; Kelly could have at least understood that. Riley was a damned fine-looking man, and lustful glances would have made sense. But no, this
Bob
was looking at Riley like there was something weird on Riley’s face, which Kelly knew there wasn’t. It was... speculative, Kelly decided.

“Okay, so we’ve got it narrowed down to Kashihaka’s Luminary line,” the clerk said then. “The next question we need to answer is what kind of space you guys have and whether you’re interested in the full theater effect. And we don’t have them on display, but all of the Luminary televisions are available with colored casings. Sure, it costs a little extra, but not everyone wants black, right? I can show you the brochure if you have a certain color scheme you’re trying to match.”

Riley snorted. “Dude. Seriously? Who matches their TV to the walls, or what the fuck ever? That’s fucking bizarre.”

Bob-the-clerk laughed and that weird, considering look faded. “Well, you never know,” the guy said with a shrug. “I mean, you didn’t really seem like the type, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, right? Look, last week I had a guy in who wanted to know what his speaker casings were made of because he wanted to paint his new speakers with flowers -- posies, if you can believe that -- and he didn’t want the paint to peel. He was... different.”

Another shrug, and Bob shared a grin with Kelly, but the tiny bit of smirk Kelly thought he saw under the humor left him cold. It almost seemed like the clerk was trying to imply something. Or else it was the fact that the last
Bob
Kelly had known turned out to be a lying sack of... well, something that Kelly’s grandfather would have boxed his ears for if Kelly had said it aloud. That was probably it. Kelly was prejudiced -- for the moment -- against guys named Bob. It wasn’t fair, but there it was.

“I’m good with the black,” Kelly chimed in, finally. “The silver looks cool, too, but it doesn’t matter which one I get. I just don’t want to be stuck waiting for a special order. Um, as far as size goes...”

He didn’t know the actual dimensions of the wall in his new living room, but between him and Riley, they managed to approximate the space Kelly had available. It was easier to decide on a TV for the bedroom, because while Kelly wanted one, he didn’t plan on spending too much time watching in there. Nothing huge was necessary, and while Riley disagreed, he also admitted that it was up to Kelly, what with it being Kelly’s apartment and everything. Big of him, really, Kelly thought with a smile.

“Dude. You’re gonna have such a kick-ass system.” Riley grinned. “I might have to come hang out or something. It’s gonna be fucking awesome. Now let’s go look at the stereo shit.”

Bob-the-clerk chuckled. “Tell you what. I’m going to hook you guys up with my friend Rob, over in the audio section. He knows his stuff. I’ll go ahead and finish up your purchase order and it’ll be waiting for you at customer service when you’re finished, okay?”

Kelly frowned, but Riley nodded. “Cool, man,” Riley said. “Hey, you got someone in, like, the video games department? Because my buddy, here, needs everything. I don’t know what kind of system he was running out west, but fuck if he’s gonna be using that old-ass shit, right?”

“Hey!”

Riley smirked, obviously teasing. “Dude. You’re getting new furniture and shit. And you said your old stuff sucks ass.”

“I bet
he
does, too.”

Kelly heard the words, but couldn’t quite believe it. They’d been muttered, but he’d heard them, and he was damned sure they hadn’t come from Riley. In fact, Riley went still -- completely and utterly still -- for just a moment. Long enough that Kelly was sure Riley had heard them, too.

Kelly’s own moment of stunned disbelief passed quickly. “You know--” He didn’t know what he was going to say, but it didn’t matter because Riley cut him off.

“Maybe you should hand us off to Rob now. And go ahead and write up that order. We’re not big on waiting around much.” Kelly didn’t know Riley too terribly well, really, but he definitely knew the man better than
Bob
did. And even so, Kelly almost missed the coldness in Riley’s voice. If he’d barely noticed it, it was a good bet that Bob didn’t have a clue.

Ten minutes later, after being introduced to Rob -- who was apparently Bob’s friend, and Kelly was sure that had to get confusing for other people -- Riley raised one hand to stop Rob in the middle of a sales pitch.

“Dude,” Riley said, his brows drawn down, lips tight and thin. “You know your shit. No question. But we need to get going, so how about we finish this shit up another time? Later, man.”

“Um, Riley...”

“Outside.” One word, snapped out, then Riley grabbed his hand and dragged Kelly from the store. Kelly didn’t fight it, really, but mostly because he was confused. “Fucking bastard,” Riley muttered, once they were storming down the sidewalk. “That fucker Bob and his ‘bet he does, too,’ like he knows a single fucking thing about you. He’s gonna get exactly what he fucking deserves.”

On the one hand, Kelly could understand Riley getting all defensive about what the first clerk had said. Riley had a lot of gay friends, so it was probably second nature. On the other hand...

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate you taking up the banner for my people,” Kelly said, trying to tease a smile from Riley when they reached the Bronco. “I do. It’s really great that you care so much. But can I point out that we were in that store for close to an hour, and I still don’t have a TV, much less an entertainment system?”

Riley’s laugh was mirthless, but there was a strange sort of satisfaction in both voice and gaze when he left Kelly at the passenger side of the Bronco and moved around to open the driver’s side door. “Yeah. But that fucker Bob’s probably sweating bullets right about now, so I think it’s time well spent.”

Whatever that meant. Kelly didn’t know. Then Riley got into the vehicle and leaned across to unlock the door. Kelly got in and fastened his seatbelt. “Okay. So why would Bob be... what happened in there? Aside from some random, stupid comment.”

“Most of the electronics stores now are chains,” Riley said, while pulling out slowly into traffic. “But Kralinger’s is local. The clerks still work on a commission basis, man. When we walked out, our buddy Bob lost an ass-load of money. So did the store. And I’m pretty sure he listened to me and already wrote up your order, so it was in the computer and being pulled in the warehouse out back for future delivery by the time we left. So now he has to explain why customers who were gonna spend huge amounts, especially with the economy the way it is, just walked right the fuck out.”

“Um.”

Riley tossed a glance his way, and Kelly couldn’t help smiling at the sheepish-looking quirk to Riley’s lips. “Sorry, man. It just pisses me the fuck off, you know? Shit, I would have kissed you right there if I thought it would do any good. Uh, not that kissing you is something that would be for a fucking plan or anything. I mean, you kiss like. Uh, it’s good. But that’s not the fucking point. I mean...”

A groan left Riley, soft but obviously heartfelt, and whispered through the cab of the Ford. “Shit, I don’t know what the fuck I mean, except that Bob-guy figured we were all gay with each other, then he decided I was the straight dude with a gay friend, and then he decided -- for whatever fucked-up reason -- he could say shit about you, and it pissed me off. So we’ll go to that Buy Rite outside of town and we’ll get you all the same stuff, okay? It’ll probably cost about the same with delivery added in, and the clerks won’t know fuck-all, but we’ll get you set up, man. I swear.”

“Um, okay.” Kelly said the words, but he wasn’t actually paying attention to himself at that point. He was more caught up in the fact that Riley --
I’m straight, dude
Riley -- thought the kiss from days earlier had been good. That was... well, not entirely unexpected, but it definitely had Kelly thinking yet again about whether Riley was as straight as the man claimed to be.

It also had Kelly sure that, regardless of what Riley’s actual bent might be, it would be a really bad idea to push things. He wasn’t certain that he wanted to, anyway. Kelly had already tried the whole dating-the-bi-guy thing, and that really hadn’t worked out. At all. Trying to get involved with a straight guy would probably be even worse, so it would be far better to just ignore whatever strange thoughts Riley’s admission had started brewing. Kelly knew that. And maybe he’d just flipped a switch for Riley, too -- clued him that kissing a guy was still just kissing. Kelly suspected Riley had done plenty of kissing before. Looking the way Riley did, there was about zero chance that the guy hadn’t.

That didn’t make it any easier to push away the memory of Riley saying their kiss was good, though. No matter how Kelly tried, he just couldn’t seem to forget those words.

“What do you want for dinner?” Riley said then, dragging Kelly from his speculations. “Burgers? Steak? Shit, anything with meat works for me, man, but I can eat pretty much anything. Fuck saturated fats. After that fucker Bob, I want meat. Still not fast food, though.”

Kelly shrugged, trying not to stare at Riley. “I don’t know any of the places here, so you pick. I’ll follow your lead.” And while that statement had more meanings than one, Riley didn’t seem to notice, which was good, as far as Kelly was concerned.

Dinner was good, too. Kelly even talked the bar into making him a Citrus Explosion, though it wasn’t the same without the pureed fruit.

Chapter Eight

“Well, here we are,” Riley said once Kelly joined him and the others in front of the Habitat. Officially named M. Butterfly’s Habitat, the club had become something of a fixture on the gay scene in the fifteen years since it had opened. It had started out as a cabaret-style place with drag shows every night, and changed over time, or so Riley had been told. Currently, the drag portion of the entertainment was confined to two nights a week, while the other nights were devoted to a more pick-up and hook-up friendly attitude.

“Welcome to the Habitat, Kelly,” James said for himself as well as Pauly and Randy, who were busy trying to lick each other’s tonsils near the front door. “Ignore them, by the way,” he added, nodding at his boyfriends. “They like to put on a show.” Kelly looked a bit baffled, but he shrugged.

Riley smirked. “Dude. Like you fucking hate it when they do. Right.” He turned fully toward Kelly and gave him a wink. “Seriously, man, all three of them will be out of here in, like, an hour. Pauly and Randy get all sexed up on each other, James gets hot and truly-fucking-bothered. Then they all disappear, and we don’t hear from them for fucking days. It’s kind of their thing.”

Kelly made a sound between a cough and a sneeze and Riley realized the guy was trying not to laugh. “Hey, whatever works,” Kelly answered, grinning. There was a little bit of pink to his cheeks, but Riley wasn’t sure if the guy was blushing or if it was a reflection from the pink neon sign over the door. “I can’t even remember the last time... you know what? Way too much information, so I’ll just ask how the drinks are.”

The last time
what
? The last time Kelly had sex? Or the last time he spent fucking days... fucking? Either way, it couldn’t have been that good if he doesn’t remember it, but I want to know what it was, for fuck’s sake, and he’s not saying. Shit, give a guy a clue, damn it!

“Riley likes the Cosmos.” And that was Ballard being so fucking helpful, the prick. “He won’t admit it, but he does.”

Riley snorted. “Dude. I fully embrace the pink drink. When in Rome and all that shit, right? Besides, I’ve seen the guys who drink beer in this club, and they look pretty fucking stupid when everyone else has something colored. In a glass. With little paper parasols and fruit. I’m secure enough in my masculinity to drink a Cosmo, girly or not.”

Jeremy’s stifled laugh sounded more like the guy had swallowed a bug, but Riley knew that expression when he saw it. It was fucking annoying but it was still better than being laughed at. Of course, Riley didn’t know why Jer was laughing when Riley hadn’t said anything funny.

“We should probably go inside,” Jeremy said a moment or two later. His shoulders still shook just a little when he looked at Riley, but fuck it. Gay dudes laughed at all kinds of weird shit. Riley knew that from experience. So did straight dudes, for that matter.

Ballard and Jer went in, then Riley waved Kelly through the door ahead of him before following with James, who had uncoupled his lovers for the moment.

“You know,” James said, giving Riley that look that always seemed so skeptical, “I think you’re the only straight man I’ve ever met who not only knows what a parasol is, but can use the word in a sentence. I’ll admit that I find it funny when one of the associates at the firm, or even a client, says they went ‘parasol-ing’ on vacation, but that’s a whole different thing and I never correct them. The mental image is just too amusing.”

Jesus fucking Christ. Yeah, it was. Just like that, Riley was picturing guys, young and old, in swim trunks, holding lacy, ruffled umbrellas and strolling along the beach with mincing little steps.

Jeremy and Troy stopped and turned when Riley burst out laughing harder than he’d done in weeks. Then Kelly turned, too, and Riley found himself explaining the snapshot in his brain.

When they all finally stopped laughing, Riley and Kelly took drink orders and headed to the bar on the far side of the club. It was farther away than the main bar, but with the number of men already gathered near the door, service would be faster and less hurried at the secondary bar. Faster because there weren’t a huge number of people that far in yet, and less hurried because the bartenders there didn’t need to rush quite so much.

Riley looked back and saw Ballard and Jer dancing -- no surprise there -- while Pauly and Randy made out more, under the watchful eyes of James. Because James did like to watch. It was kind of his thing, as far as Riley understood it. No one had ever said whether the watching extended to the bedroom, and Riley didn’t want to know, but in public, and especially at the Habitat? Oh, yeah. James liked to watch. Not just his guys, either. James also liked to watch other men watching his guys, which Riley didn’t really get, but so fucking what? The twinkies-three weren’t hurting anyone, and whatever they got up to, as long as they were happy? Riley could give a fuck.

It didn’t take long to get the drinks from the sub-bar, but Riley couldn’t deny being glad Kelly was there to help carry the three Cosmos, two Long Island iced teas, one gin and tonic, and one vodka martini, extra dirty. That last was for Ballard, who would nurse it all night, but that was fine. Ballard was driving for himself, Jer, and the twinkies-three, assuming the threesome didn’t ditch the club for some alone-time.

The drinks distributed, Riley found himself leaning against the wall by the dance floor, Cosmo in hand, while Kelly leaned right beside him, sipping slowly at the gin and tonic.
Sipping slowly and making a fucking grossed-out face. Weird.

“Dude,” Riley nearly shouted to be heard through the loud-ass music. “If you don’t like it, get something else! Maybe one of those orange things you like!”

Kelly’s eyes reflected the flashing lights over the dance floor, but Riley thought he saw amusement in that shine. “I hate gin,” Kelly answered, just as loudly. “That’s why I ordered it! It’ll take me at least an hour to finish this one drink, and that means I won’t need to worry about wrecking my bike! I don’t think they have mandarin orange pulp here, anyway, but if they did I’d end up drinking more than I should!” It made sense, even if Riley didn’t like it. He hadn’t liked the idea of Kelly riding into town to begin with, when they were going from the same place
to
the same place.

“You could have rode in with me,” he said then, repeating his offer from earlier that day, when he’d accidentally mentioned that he was heading to a gay bar that night. He hadn’t actually planned on Kelly going, too, but once the plan was out in the open, there hadn’t been any way of telling Kelly the true purpose of the evening. And if Riley was being honest, he would admit that there was something pretty cool about the idea of spending time with Kelly in a gay bar.

Kelly shook his head, looking at the dance floor. “I could have,” he shouted, “but there’s no guarantee that I’ll be going home tonight, man! If I have the bike, I’ll be able to leave whenever I want, right?”

Kelly went still while Riley stared at him, shocked by the words he’d just heard Kelly say. Then Kelly went on. “Oh, man! That guy can dance!” The next thing Riley knew, he was holding a gin and tonic in one hand and a swiftly warming Cosmo in the other... and Kelly was on the dance floor, shaking things Riley couldn’t look away from.

“Oh,
hell
no,” Riley muttered, but fuck if he was doing anything even remotely like moving. Instead, he just stood there, something in his chest burning, turning to acid while Kelly proved himself to be even more flexible than Riley had figured a martial arts guy would be.

He tossed back the rest of his drink, stomach turning sour, then finished off Kelly’s despised beverage and deposited both empty glasses on the small ledge that ran around the periphery of the club. His arms crossed tightly over his chest, and while Riley wanted to glare, he forced himself to just stare. He didn’t have any right to be angry. Kelly was single and available. Kelly had every right to be looking for a one-night stand, or even something more. And fuck if Kelly wasn’t hot enough, out there dancing, to have anyone he chose. Fuck, Riley was pretty sure the guy could entice even Jer and Ballard or the twinkies-three into a night or two.

And I’m not here to watch fucking Kelly. I’m here to check out the dudes and see what flips my gay-butt-sex meter. Shit, someone must, so it’s just a question of finding them.

Someone had to. Otherwise, Riley figured he was in for a world of fucking disappointment, because the way Kelly had just run off to rub himself all over some random dude seemed like a pretty good sign that Kelly was totally not into Riley. At all.
Fuck!

***

God, what was he doing?

Unfortunately, Kelly didn’t know. Oh, he knew he was dancing with a tall, lanky redhead who had some idea of how to move, but he didn’t know why. The redheaded man wasn’t his type. He was attractive enough, Kelly supposed, in a pale and freckled sort of way, and he was definitely attentive, but that was about it. Kelly wasn’t entirely sure about why he’d fled from Riley’s side -- because he’d done exactly that -- or even why he’d said what he had, about maybe not going back to the house that night. He had every intention of going home, damn it, but...

Maybe it was the way Riley had been scanning the crowd. It was possible, Kelly figured. First the guy said all that crap the night before about how kissing Kelly had felt good, then they were at this club and Riley had barely even looked at him. In fact, Riley had been looking at everyone
but
him whenever Kelly checked.

That had to be it, Kelly realized, because even thinking about it had him getting pissed off again. It must have showed on his face, because redheaded-pale-guy stepped back a little, putting a good foot of space between them.

“Hey, you okay?” the guy hollered, and Kelly sighed to himself and slapped on a smile as he nodded. Redhead’s eyes rolled, seeming bright blue in the colored lights, and the next thing Kelly knew, the guy leaned closer. “It’s just a dance, and you’re really hot, okay? If it helps at all, that big, butch guy you were with just stomped off like a five-year old who’s had his blankie taken away. And I would know. I teach kindergarten.”

God, that surprised a laugh out of him. Of everything Kelly might have expected the redhead to say, that wasn’t even close. “Sorry,” he said back, not shouting as such, just speaking loudly because of the music. “He’s my temporary roommate, and we’re apparently fighting or something. Don’t worry about it. Um, you’re a good dancer.” The redhead grinned. “I’m Kelly, by the way,” Kelly added, introducing himself.

Redhead smiled, and it made the guy about ten times more attractive. “I know. And I’m Leonard. Nice to meet you. Now, about the dancing... I’m thinking we should finish at least this song. Maybe another, too. Unless your
roommate
needs you.”

Kelly snorted, quietly and to himself. “I’m sure Riley’s fine,” he answered. “He’s just here to observe my kind in our natural habitat. He’s straight.”

Leonard’s eyes widened and seemed to sparkle with humor. “That’s what they all say, right up until they have a few drinks in them. Next thing you know, they’re pounding your ass through the bathroom wall. Or maybe that’s just me.”

Oh, God. God help him, Kelly thought as he and Leonard returned to dancing. He really liked Leonard. The guy was funny and snarky and far too limber.

And maybe, Kelly realized as one or two songs turned into six or seven, maybe he’d been right when he’d told Riley he might not be home that night. Leonard might not be Kelly’s type, but there was something appealing about the man, and Leonard was definitely giving off the right kind of vibes.

The dancing wasn’t getting Kelly excited or anything, but that didn’t mean a little private time with Leonard wouldn’t be different. Kelly had never been an exhibitionist, anyway, and clearly his body knew that as well as his mind did. Yeah.

Kelly remembered waving goodnight to Pauly, Randy, and James. He’d still been dancing with Leonard then, but he’d seen them and offered a grin for Pauly’s blown kiss, too. He was pretty sure Troy and Jeremy were gone because they’d driven the threesome to the club. Unless the twinkies-three, as Riley called them, had taken a cab when they’d left. Either way, Troy and Jeremy weren’t on the dance floor that Kelly could see, and who the hell knew where Riley might be? Kelly hadn’t felt the man’s eyes on him in ages.

The music broke, switching to something slow, and Kelly was already trying to find a graceful way of leaving the floor without offending Leonard when the man leaned in again and spoke. “I could use some water; how about you?”

“Sounds good,” Kelly agreed, thankful for the excuse, though by the time he and Leonard reached the bar, Kelly realized it wasn’t actually an excuse, as such. He really was thirsty and just hadn’t noticed. It was while Leonard was ordering two bottles from the bartender that Kelly remembered what the man had said earlier, and when Leonard turned around with their drinks in hand, Kelly just asked.

“What did you mean before? When I told you my name and you said you knew? I’m just curious.” More than curious, because now that Kelly had had a chance to think about it, that was a little weird. A school teacher knew his name? Yeah. Definitely a fair bit on the freaky side.

Leonard laughed and handed Kelly one of the waters. “You know, I’m guessing you’re the world’s worst liar, because right now you’ve got this look on your face like you think I’m some kind of stalker or something.” He shook his head and opened his bottle, then took a swig while Kelly stared. “Look, it’s nothing like that. I told you I teach, right? Well, it doesn’t exactly pay well enough to cover all my bills, much less martial arts classes, so I work part time for Tiger Holloway and get matching hours of instruction instead of pay. When he told me we were closing down for renovations because he’d taken on a partner and could finally afford it, I got curious and looked you up. Then I saw you here and you came over to dance and I figured it’d be better to admit I recognized you from the pictures I saw online. So, no big, right?”