Business Partners

The phrase had become a disguise. To the proprietors of Cincerity, it was just a joke. To the owners of Chez Chez, it was a façade to cover Brendan's loneliness, to cover Joel's shame.

"You never let me do anything," Joel began, pacing around the bar, taking long angry strides. "How can I prove myself when you never let me do anything?"

Brendan gazed at the floor, mentally wishing Joel would calm down.

"Your time will come; relax." He murmured in a soothing tone, taking the opportunity for his hand to drift onto his shoulder – he could claim he was being comforting if an excuse was necessary. Under normal circumstances, Joel would shift uncomfortably under the touch of a fellow male in a non-violent context, but over the past few weeks, the awkward element had been dissolved by their growing friendship and mutual respect for each other. The trust issues, however, remained as rock solid as they were since the day they met. Joel moved in slightly closer till the two men were nearly touching and focused on Brendan's eyes.

"Why won't you let me? Why don't you trust me? I can do the job just as good as any one of your other little helpers.." he complained bitterly. Brendan closed his eyes just to escape Joel's moving glare. It was getting to him, drawing him in, making his mind and heart race with anticipation and bad ideas. He tried to clear his mind, he knew someone like Joel would try to play his loneliness up to his advantage.

There was silence between them.

"Oh, but Joel," Brendan allowed his hand to drift to the back of Joel's neck, pulling the two in closer. "You fail to notice that you're not like my other... helpers. I chose you for a reason."

"Oh yeah?" Joel retorted quietly, not attempting to end their physical closeness. "Why's that then?"

"I guess you could say... you're a good guy. I like you, Joel, I like you…" Brendan whispered, locking eyes with him, giving into both Joel and his own mind, and their lips soon followed course, feeling Joel loving every moment with every shred of guilt in his mind dissolving as the kiss went on and he wrapped his arms around Brendan's waist.

"You want me," Brendan whispered, breaking the kiss. "You want me bad."

"Judging from that, you want me pretty bad yourself." Joel smirked, licking his lips. Goddamn, what was it about Brady that had captivated him? It took one hell of a guy to convince Joel not to be afraid of his apparent, dormant homosexuality, and to embrace it instead. He supposed Brendan was one hell of a guy.

"Maybe I do want you," he smirked. "So what if I do?"

"So what if I like you either?" Joel replied.

"I knew it…" Brady laughed, kissing him again. Somehow, the kisses felt so much more alive with Joel than they did with Ste, there was more passion, more desire, and certainly more lust – and none of it was corrupted by anger, like when he was with Ste.

He pinned Joel to the wall of the bar, stripping him of his trademark leather jacket and ripping off his shirt as he gripped Brendan's neck, totally engaged in the kiss, in everything that was to follow, his heart racing wildly. All his prejudices and fears and worries faded into the distance as he felt his jeans get a little tighter at Brendan's touch.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you…" he smirked, subtly shedding him of his belt and letting his right hand wander.

"Didn't think you were going to…" Joel smirked back. Brady's strokes, albeit gentle, were electric.

But both of them had one thing lingering in the back of their minds. It was just past closing time. Neither one of them mentioned it, but they knew they were both thinking about it. Someone could still walk in, Cheryl or Mitzee, or Warren or Mercedes or anyone… But another thought stood in front of that one – life's too short not to take opportunities like this, the opportunity to fuck your "business partner" in a public place.

Brendan managed to unzip Joel's jeans with his teeth before gently peeling off his boxers and letting his tongue do the work, feeling Joel's arousal. Just as he did so, there were light footsteps amidst the floorboards of Chez Chez. Neither one of the boys heard over the sound of Joel's panting and Brendan's dirty talking. Ste stood where he knew the two wouldn't be able to see them, watching with raw shock flowing through his veins. The two of them… he'd never have guessed that Joel would be up for that. He would never admit it, not even to himself, but in that moment, jealousy ran wild through his whole body, never before had he ever wanted to be someone else so much in his life.