Doug had made a deal with the devil, or Brendan Brady as some called him, and now he felt that he was living on borrowed time until the Irishman came looking to collect. It was all made so much worse because Ste didn't know and Brendan was an ex of the I-don't-fucking-want-to-ever-see-that-twat-again variety.
The thing is Doug couldn't get too worked up about the situation he was in because he was on cloud nine. The last twenty-four hours had been incredible, eye-opening and life affirming and the last few months were special, too.
"There you go. Dukka spiced chicken wings with lime yoghurt sauce and a portion of Mediterranean couscous. Enjoy." He said as he passed the order over the counter to the last customer of the evening.
"Thanks mate."
"No problem. They are all the chef's recipes. You'll love them." He said with pride. Then he followed the customer to the door of Carter and Hay Deli. "Have a nice evening."
Doug threw out a million watt grin that lingered a little longer than necessary.
The customer looked amused and vaguely scared as he started to walk away, backwards. "Yeah. Okay. Cool."
He practically sprinted off.
Undiluted happiness was a foreign state of mind for Doug and yet right now he couldn't help smiling like an idiot. By nature he tended to err towards the serious and sombre. He was, by his own admission, one of life's 'cup half empty' guys but he reckoned he had smiled and laughed more since meeting Ste than he had his whole life.
He closed the door before locking it and flipped the 'closed' sign round.
"Are we done?" Ste's muted voice called out from the pantry.
"Yeah!" Doug said as he whipped his apron off and went to join his boyfriend.
I, Doug Elijah Henry Carter, have a boyfriend! As in a guy. With balls and a thing... He thought in wonder.
Who would have thought it?
It took him a good few weeks of hanging out with Ste to acknowledge the depth of his feelings for his business partner. When he did he blurted them out to a surprised Ste.
However, Ste recognised his indecision. Doug had been reluctant to acknowledge what was right before his eyes; that years of failed, half-baked relationships with girls and strong undeniable bonds to guys pointed to his true sexual inclination.
It took two weeks of introspection and hermit-like behaviour to get to a point where he could say the words out loud to Ste.
I am gay.
It wasn't as easy as saying he fancied Ste (which he did) and that he wanted to go out with him (which he really did).
Doug was worried that admitting that he was into guys cast a shadow of doubt on experiences he had had up until that point with people he knew and loved. How were they going to react to him saying he wasn't what he had said he was for years? Sure, he was still Doug Carter, failed student, failed drug dealer and well intentioned New Yorker with a tendency to make bad choices (capital B.A.D.)
But Riley and his guy mates would ask him whether he had faked all those conversations about tits and ass, how Holly Willoughby was looking really fit recently and how torn up with grief he was about Jenny's murder. His parents would feel lied to about the 'serious' girlfriend he brought home for the summer. How could he justify the man he was in the past while being true to the person he was now? Had those emotions been fake on his part?
"I'll keep taking inventory back here if you check the cash register and calculate our takings." Ste called out. "You know how the numbers start floating in front of me eyes! I don't know how you do them figures."
Doug walked into the pantry and leaned on the door. Ste was kneeling near one of the shelves, dressed in an identical uniform to him with a pad in one hand and a pen clasped between his teeth while staring at tins of chopped tomato.
"We have different skills." Doug said. "You are creative and I am cerebral."
And you're hot, funny, smart, and cute and a thousand other things I'm not.
Ste frowned up at him. "You saying I'm thick?"
"No I'm saying I'm the brains. You are the beauty." Doug grinned.
Ste laughed. "Fuck off! I have brains."
Seeing Ste on his knees like that reminded Doug of how he was on his knees last night only there were fewer clothes involved and Ste was doing something to him that made him go all hot under the collar just thinking about it now.
Ste had called it 'Making Doug Gay- Lesson Number One.'
Doug remembered Ste's teaching style; see one, do one. He was a good teacher. Patient. Thorough. Encouraging. Never annoyed at having to repeat himself...
"Um, yeah. Course you've got brains." He said, clearing his throat.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven..."
"What are you doing?"
"Counting the cans."
"Do it later." Doug said suddenly.
"Shush. I'm counting." Ste said. "twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen..."
Doug impatiently got down onto his knees, prised the paper and pen from Ste, flung them to one side and went in for a kiss. It wasn't like him but Ste was making him feel things and do things that he wouldn't have dreamt of in a million years.
Ste emitted a surprised laugh against his lips and hesitated for only a second before curling his arms around Doug's shoulder's and pulling him even closer.
He groaned in appreciation as Doug's hands skimmed over his back, tracing his lithe contours.
"Did you lock the door?" Ste whispered heatedly between kisses.
"Yeah. Why?"
"So we don't get any surprise interruptions." Ste encouraged Doug down to the floor so that the American was on top of him. The kiss deepened as limbs became entangled and fabric was rubbed over skin, hands trying to find a way in.
Doug found himself desperately dry humping his lover. He could feel his own erection pressing against his chinos, fighting for freedom. Ste released a surprised giggle and reached between their bodies to feel it through the material.
"You're already hard."
Doug felt like a sex-deprived sex pest. "Sorry."
"No. Right. It's good." Ste looked up at him intently. "Do you fancy having your next lesson now?"
"Make Doug Gay- Lesson Number Two?"
Doug swallowed in anticipation laced with a whole lot of apprehension.
What did Ste want exactly? Because if it was anal that was way out of Doug's comfort zone.
Ste kissed him gently as if trying to sooth his anxieties. "Yeah. We'll take it slow."
He touched Doug's frown lines on his forehead.
Doug looked with wonder down at his boyfriend. Ste was like a breath of fresh air; the ying to his yang. Upbeat and positive when he was downbeat and negative. That was why during all his internal musings and self-questioning Doug couldn't get Ste out of his head; his smile, his blue, blue eyes and crazy lashes, his easy banter, the way he sometimes said something really dumb but then said something quick, sharp and on point. How he seemed like a playful kid one second but then a total grown-up the next.
That is why Doug had finally gone to Ste's place last night and said,
'Okay, you were right. I am gay. I like guys and I really like you. I think about you all the time. I can't sleep. I think I more than like you, Ste. And I want us to give it a shot.'
Maybe not the smoothest chat up line but it worked.
Doug got himself his first ever boyfriend.
Brand new and untouched with tags...
Only the 'untouched' bit wasn't true anymore. Not after last night where a timid almost platonic kiss built up into a slow sensual one and then a fast and furious dirty one. Not after all the fooling around in and around Ste's bed.
Doug had hesitated over doing anything more than touching, exploring and kissing but it all felt so good so he had succumbed to Ste's lips as the worried the skin of his lower stomach and up his inner thighs until they teased his balls, making him come off the bed. When he had said he liked what Ste was doing, Ste traced the line of his rigid dick with a finger before grabbing it in a fist and giving him the best blow-job Doug had ever had.
When he came he had seen stars. His body had been so toneless that he thought, for a moment, that he would never get up again. It was only when Ste shifted to lie next to him and curled himself around his body, that he had become aware of Ste's dick, still hard and jabbing into his side, unattended and ignored. He had looked at it the way a food lover looks at an exotic yet unfamiliar dish; not knowing whether the next mouthful would be heaven sent or hell bent.
'It's okay. It won't bite.' Ste had said as he took in Doug's expression. He was right. It had been heaven sent.
"You okay?" Ste looked up at him as he lay under him on the floor of the pantry.
Doug smiled as he felt Ste's erection against him. Already, it felt more familiar and less scary than it had yesterday.
"Yeah." He kissed Ste and ran his fingers slowly down his body through the sky blue uniform shirt, feeling warm, toned flesh under thin fabric. He unbuttoned Ste's shirt and helped him out of it, then peppered kisses all over the exposed skin. No boobs. No soft curves. Just taut firm skin over muscle. Weird but hot. Really hot.
"You're good at that." Ste sighed when Doug started tonguing his nipples before sucking his neck.
"I know." He whispered with a grin. "Little known fact. I'm an animal in bed!"
Ste snorted a laugh and then helped Doug out of his shirt before working on the belt and the fly of his trousers; all between kisses and petting.
Doug pulled away and got to his feet so that he could quickly take his trousers and underwear off. His dick sprung free bouncing upwards. It never occurred to him that the location for their fun and games was an odd one but that was probably because he was super horny.
He was, however, self-consciously holding his cock in his hand, partly hiding in from view in the bright light of the small room.
Ste hadn't expressed dissatisfaction at its size and in any other circumstance Doug would be very happy with the respectable appendage God had given him. But he had the displeasure of knowing both of Ste's exes very well. While his assessment of Brendan's size was based on the assumption that someone that confident had to be packing some serious meat, he had seen Noah's package with his own two eyes in the changing rooms of the gym. Noah was eye-wateringly big. Big enough to make Doug feel insecure about his.
Ste didn't seem to care though as he eagerly stripped out of his clothes while on the floor then he lay on his back; knees bent and feet apart. He jerked off while looking up at Doug. He looked ready for action. His eyes closed momentarily when his fingers crept back towards his hole to swipe over it lightly before stroking his own dick again. He was smooth like he shaved or (wince) waxed down there.
Doug suddenly felt his own inexperience wash over him as question upon question flooded his brain. Ste looked tight. Almost shut. How was he going to be able to take Doug's dick? How had he been able to take Brendan and Noah? The maths didn't add up. Would Doug have to do something to open him up? Or did Ste have to? Or did it just happen? And would it hurt him?
Doug was transfixed when he saw his boyfriend wet a finger with his mouth and then slowly press it into himself. Ste's head rolled back in what looked like extreme pleasure as he slowly moved it in and out. It was a surprising turn on. He ogled as Ste's erection got impossibly hard before his eyes just by penetrating himself.
So Ste actually liked it. Just pleasure registered on his face. No pain. That was good to know. This was going to feel less like assault...
Doug had never done anal before. The girls he had been with had not been into it but he had heard the lads go on about it. Riley, Noah, Ethan all said that there was nothing quite like it. It felt tighter, deeper, hotter. It made you cum like a freight train. But they had all spoken as tops, not bottoms. Doug assumed those on the receiving end would have something less complimentary to say about being fucked in the ass.
"Doesn't it hurt when someone puts their dick in you?" He asked before he could sensor himself.
Ste nearly choked in shock. He pulled his finger out and continued to stroke his own cock. "No. Like maybe the first couple of times because I was really nervous and tense but now no. Now it feels really good."
"Right." Doug looked down at Ste and realised that he had subconsciously started jerking off as well.
"It's well cold down here, Doug." Ste said with a shy grin, his body a flushed with need. "And I'm feeling like a right moppet naked on the floor on me own so-"
"I'll-" Doug said, looking down at his own naked body and rigid dick in the palm of his hand.
"I'll-"
He got down on his knees too abruptly, hurting them as they connected with the floor sharply. He shuffled in between Ste's legs and they automatically wrapped themselves around him like a Venus fly trap. Ste's arms went up to pull Doug down to him so that Doug's elbows rested either side of Ste's head.
He looked down at Ste point blank. Ste's eyes were wide, the blue almost completely replaced by the black of his dilated pupils. Doug moved to lie right over him so that they were hip to hip; groin to groin. Ste's cock was trapped between their bodies.
Oh my God, my dick is touching his ass! Doug thought. This is about to get real.
"I really want to do this." Ste whispered to him before kissing him intensely.
Doug kissed him back, hoping that Ste wouldn't feel differently after Doug had done the deal.
"Me too." He said thickly. "What do I do now?"
Ste smiled gently. "Kiss me some more. Touch me."
"Oh. Okay."
So he did and one of his hands automatically gripped Ste's hip and he found himself gyrating so that his cock grazed over the cleft of Ste's asshole. That and the rub of Doug's lower belly on Ste's erect cock elicited a moan of satisfaction from the Englishman.
"That's nice." Ste sighed.
"Yeah."
Fuck yeah, Doug thought. He wanted nothing more than to move on to the next level... now.
"Get a condom." Ste whispered heatedly.
Doug stilled. Wow. That was fast. No preamble from Ste. Just right in there. It was clear that they were on the same wave length. Ste couldn't wait either.
But.
"I haven't got one."
Ste's head flopped back so that his head hit the floor hard and he let out an exasperated sigh. "Fuck. Nor have I."
"Does that matter?" Doug whispered as he felt up Ste's chest, tummy and ass. He knew Ste's answer already. Soon the body he was touching was going to be covered; boxed up for a later date.
"Yeah. Course it does. I don't do it without one, me."
Doug collapsed onto Ste, covering him with his weight in disappointment. He sighed deeply and inhaled his heady scent. Then he sat back and reached for his shirt.
"Yeah. Sure. Okay." He said reluctantly as he tugged his shirt on. "Well, this was nice."
"What are you doing?" Ste said in confusion.
"Getting dressed. I'm guessing this is a rain check on Lesson 2."
"No." Stephen looked at Doug like he was stupid. "I thought maybe you could go to Price Slice and get us some stuff, you know, so we can do some... stuff."
Doug gave him a smile that barely hid his glee. Sometimes Ste was pure genius.
"Why didn't I think of that?" He quickly got to his feet and got dressed.
"Now who's got the brains?" Ste said cheekily. "By the way, we'll need lube too, yeah?"
Doug felt red with embarrassment. "Yeah. Sure. Back soon."
He ran out of the Deli, leaving it unlocked, and made the short walk to the mini-mart.
The shopping list of condoms and lube expanded to a bottle of white wine and a couple of packets of crisps. Thank goodness no one he knew was working behind the counter. He had no time to answer questions right now about why he needed johns and for whom.
Annoyingly, however, on his way out he bumped into Leanne.
"Alright, Stranger!" She looked Doug up and down, taking in his dishevelled appearance. "Look at the state of you!"
She smoothed his hair down and tucked his shirt into his trousers like a fussing mother.
"Leanne!" He groaned and pushed her hands away.
"Where have you been?"
He looked down nervously at his bag of goodies. "Work. Just finishing up now."
"I mean yesterday. You didn't come home, did ya? Dennis reckons you are seeing someone behind our backs."
"Dennis said that?" Doug said sheepishly. He hadn't yet said anything to his flatmates about Ste. He hadn't had a chance since yesterday and now was not the time. Not with the promise of hot sex waiting for him.
"Um hum. But I told him that you haven't been anywhere with anyone recently since you and Ste have been working on the deli 'til all hours."
The mention of his boyfriend's name prompted him to look over her shoulder at the eatery in question. So close and yet so far.
"Yeah. Well, you are right. It is keeping us busy."
"So where were you last night?"
At Ste's place, getting blown and blowing for the first time, thanks for asking.
"I crashed at Ste's place."
"When are you getting home tonight? Texas is making fajitas. She's sent me out to get sour cream and tortillas."
Doug was starting to get impatient. At this rate Ste was going to cool and he wouldn't be in the mood by the time he got back.
He put a firm hand on Leanne's shoulder.
"I don't know if I will be back. I'll call you, yeah? I really need to get back to the deli now to close up for the day so..."
He shoved past her and headed back to the shop.
"Oi! Rude!" Leanne called out after him.
Once he got inside he sighed with relief. This was his haven. A place where he and Ste could call their own. Only that wasn't strictly speaking the case. The start up money was neither of theirs. It was Brendan's and at some point Doug had to figure out a way to raise enough money to pay the £80,000 back so that he wasn't indebted to Ste's ex anymore. Especially since he was with Ste now.
"Ste?" Doug called out.
"Yeah. I'm still here."
Doug walked slowly through the dark shop towards the closed door of the pantry. "Sorry I was so long but I thought I would get us some wine so I was looking for a nice bottle and then I bumped into Leanne. She was wondering where I was last night. I told her I was with you but-"
His sentence died on his lips as he entered the room and saw Ste sitting on a crate, partly dressed, his trousers up but unzipped, his shirt flung on but unbuttoned.
Brendan was leaning casually against one of the shelves with his arms folded across his chest.
Doug nearly dropped his shopping bag in shock.
"Brendan's here." Ste said.
!
Not having Stephen with him made Brendan feel like he was stuck out in the cold. It made him crave for sunnier times and warmth. Body heat. It made him wish he had been better prepared because after months of figuratively having the middle finger pointed at him Brendan still felt Stephen's frostiness. It chilled him to the bone and left him aching.
Stephen had demonstrated in no uncertain terms that he had moved on and saw their relationship as a big mistake. An innocent hello was met with a sharp look and a curt reply. If they happened to be in the same place at the same time Stephen either ignored him or turned right around and walked out. Brendan couldn't penetrate the barrier the lad had put up no matter what he tried; friendliness, money, bribery, coercion, persuasion, even giving him some space.
Nothing worked.
The thing was there was still undeniable chemistry. He knew Stephen felt it too. That is why the lad was avoiding him. Together they combusted with energy.
He had to get back to that feeling. He wanted Stephen back so when the opportunity came to insert himself back into his life again he took it with both hands.
He gave Doug £80,000 to help set up Carter and Hay Deli because he knew that Stephen would also be indebted to him and that would become a concrete reason to be in his life again. Brendan didn't care if he ever saw the money again. All he wanted was for Stephen to stop being so bull headed and acknowledge that he needed Brendan as much as Brendan needed him.
That the feelings they shared hadn't faded.
He hadn't been into the small shop since its opening a few weeks ago. As he walked past it on his way to the club he felt a pull to see Stephen so he walked up to the door. It was shut. The lights were off inside and a sign indicated that it was closed.
The Irishman nearly turned away until he spotted a light shining under a closed door on the other side of the shop. Someone was in so he knocked and waited. When no one came he tried the handle and was surprised when the door opened.
He smirked as he made his way across the shop floor to the back picking up a de-seeded olive and eating it on his way.
"Doug?" He heard Stephen's voice. "Please tell me they haven't run out."
Brendan was not expecting what was waiting for him on the other side of the door when he opened it. A very naked Stephen scampered to his feet and hurriedly pulled clothes in front of him to cover his modesty while looking at him in disbelief.
He leisurely took in his ex's body; all that golden skin. That shitty tattoo. The short hair. The wiry muscles. The gleaming blue eyes. The pert bottom. The gutting hip bones and robust lankiness.
He wanted to reach out and touch him so much but he gripped his hands into tight fists and kept them to himself.
Casually, he said, "Well hello."
"Stop staring!" Stephen shouted then he turned his back to Brendan to quickly fling on his trousers and shirt.
"It's nothing I haven't seen a thousand times before, Stephen."
It took a moment for Brendan to figure out what was going on. Stephen was naked. He was expecting Doug. Which meant he was okay with Doug seeing him naked. And that meant that Doug was okay to see naked guys or just a naked Stephen.
But Doug wasn't into guys. Was he?
"Get out, Brendan!"
"You are waiting for Douglas." Brendan asked carefully.
"Yeah!"
"What kind of business partnership is this?"
Stephen turned to face him once he was largely covered up. His voice was defiant when he said, "Doug is my boyfriend. Not that it's any of your business."
Brendan wasn't prepared for the searing pain that ripped through his heart.
"You and Dougie-boy." He said quietly.
He spotted Ste's underwear in a corner, forgotten and another pair not far away. Doug's.
"I see. Business in the front. Party in the back. That's it, is it? Not sure what the food inspectors would say."
The Irishman's mind flooded with painful images of his ex-lover having it off with the American. He could almost feel the bile rising.
"Did you come over for a reason? Because maybe you haven't noticed, right, but we are closed to business for today."
Stephen crossed his arms in front of him drawing attention to the band of exposed skin through his open shirt, his stubble raw skin and flushed body.
Brendan's could not contain his jealousy. "From where I'm standing you are looking very open to business."
"Stop being crude. I'm not easy for anyone."
The club owner rubbed his eyes tiredly praying that when he opened them again he wouldn't be a man deceived by Doug and forgotten by Stephen. But when he looked his ex was still partly dressed, dishevelled and with an almighty scowl on his face directed right at Brendan.
"I came to say congratulations." Brendan said tiredly. "But then I see this circus..."
"I don't expect you to understand, Bren, but I really like Doug. I don't care what you or anyone else thinks."
"That much is clear." Brendan said. "You've got to care less if you go for someone like Dougie-boy."
"Just piss off, yeah." Stephen said in annoyance.
"Not going to happen." The tick in his cheek and the firm set of his jaw gave away the anger that he was making a valiant effort to hide. "I need to talk to Doug."
The main door opened and closed again and Brendan smiled emotionlessly.
"Speak of the devil."
"Ste." They both heard Doug call out.
Stephen looked at Brendan and said, "Yeah. I'm still here."
!
Brendan's stare was unwavering as he took in Doug's fearful expression.
"Brendan." Doug croaked out as his eyes darted between the older man and a half dressed Ste while trying to hide the incriminating bag from Price Slice behind his back.
There was no way he was going to find a way to justify this situation.
Shit. He was fucked and he knew it. Brendan was going to have him for breakfast, lunch and supper.
"You look surprised." Brendan stared evenly at the American. "Image my surprise when I walked in to find Stephen here in his birthday suit... waiting for you."
The level of menace in his voice surmounted all the other times put together.
"Let me get this straight. You are fucking."
Ste winced at the crassness. "Ignore him, Doug. He is being a twat."
Doug could feel tears of hopelessness building up. What was he going to do now? What was he going to tell Brendan? What was Brendan going to do to him?
Ste didn't understand how much power Brendan had over them and that he could crush them as a couple and as a business in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. Doug couldn't 'fight for his man'; not without jeopardising the business they had both worked so hard to get off the ground. So he stayed quiet.
Brendan smoothed down his moustache then thrust a finger into Doug's chest. "Why didn't you tell me the happy news, Dougie? Hey?"
"I guess it, um, it slipped my mind." Doug said looking at the floor.
"Brendan came to congratulate us on the deli. I was going to tell him that it's all our hard work. It's paying off now."
"Um, yeah." Doug said weakly.
"The thing is every business needs a helping hand to get started. Favours. People working pro bono. Cash injections. Am I wrong, Douglas? I'm not, am I?"
Doug felt his heart go a mile a minute.
"You're not wrong." He mumbled.
Brendan looked between the two men. They almost looked like twins. They had similar lean builds, hair colour and crystal blue eyes (one pair angry, the other frightened) and matching uniforms that were deconstructed from an attack of passion.
"I feel like I have interrupted something special here." Brendan said, trying to maintain control of the tone of his voice. Not wanting to let his disappointment and pain show.
He suddenly snatched the forgotten bag out of Doug's hands. The one that the American had been trying to hide from view.
"What have we here?" He looked over at Ste and remembered the Mancunian's comment when he first came into the shop and Ste mistook him for Doug.
Please tell me they haven't run out.
"Have you been sending your boyfriend on an errand, Stephen? Already?"
He delved inside the bag. "Let's see..."
Doug finally snapped into action.
"Give it back." The shopkeeper tried getting the bag back but Brendan was quick to move it out of reach.
"No." The club owner took out the packets of crisps. "Unhealthy."
He dropped them on the floor.
Doug leaned in nervously and dropped his voice, "Look, I get that you are angry but can we talk about this later."
His voice was shaking.
"Who's angry?" Brendan sneered at the shorter man. "I'm not angry, Douglas. What's that saying again? Don't get angry, get even."
Doug's heart stopped. He saw his life flash before him. Maybe the time had come to draw up a will.
"What have you got to be angry about? We aren't together no more. You don't own me and I don't owe you anything." Ste said.
The last statement was further from the truth than Ste could have ever imagined.
Doug was sure that Brendan was going to reveal all to Ste in that moment, instead after a momentary glance in his direction the Irishman blindly reached into the bag again.
"Lube. For extra comfort and pleasure." He read. "Is that right, Stephen?"
He dropped it to the floor too, not waiting for a reply and dipped into the bag again.
"Trojans. Regular size." He looked down at Doug's groin and then up again. "Really? You sure you're not overestimating?"
The condoms hit the floor too. Doug looked at the ground wanting it to open up and swallow him whole. He knew what Brendan was building up to and his stomach was in knots about how Ste was going to react.
Ste hated lies and secrets. Keeping the £80,000 loan from him was suicide.
"I'm more than happy." Stephen taunted his ex.
Brendan finally took out the wine bottle, rolled up the plastic bag and flung it into Doug's face so that it bounced off his forehead and onto the floor.
"Ah, cute. Nothing says love like a cheap bottle of Lambrini from the corner shop."
"It's a Pinot Grigio." Doug corrected. "It's good."
"You're jealous." Stephen said.
Brendan emitted a short sharp laugh. "Me? Jealous?"
He inspected Doug wondering what it was about this guy that Ste found attractive enough to be with. What did the American have that he didn't? Douglas was a shit dresser. A loser. Awkward. He had cheap taste in things. He had the confidence of an overweight ex-ballerina and the pessimism of someone who had been dealt too many knock backs in life.
And yet despite the American's flaws he was the one to end up with Stephen. They were work colleagues and lovers, just like Brendan and Stephen had been once.
"Why would I be jealous of that?" He said.
Yes. I am jealous. That is why I am going to destroy whatever this Disney fairytale bullshit relationship is between you two. I'll tell you how Doug lied to you and that the money isn't from some relative of his from across the ocean but from me, your detestable ex-boyfriend.
Boom. Relationship over.
He was ready to drop the bomb but Doug beat him to it with one of his own.
"I l-love him, Brendan." Doug said softly. "What I feel for him. It's serious."
Brendan went slack with astonishment. The wine bottle slipped out of his hand hitting the floor and shattering into a million pieces and spilling the contents. He looked stunned like he had not for a second entertained the possibility that this could be more than just a meaningless roll in the hay.
The silence that engulfed the room was thick and uncomfortable.
Brendan turned to look at Stephen who looked just as shocked at the revelation as Brendan was.
"Is that how you feel?" Brendan asked.
The Mancunian wrung his hands together nervously. "I know that I feel really good when I am with Doug. I haven't felt like that for a long time. I want to hang out with him all the time and yeah, I want to be with him."
Doug smiled at that and after a moment Brendan nodded his head slowly.
He went up to Stephen, his intention unclear and leaned in close to him. "You sure, Stephen?"
Stephen looked uncertainly into Brendan's eyes, searching them for some truth. Then he cleared his throat and with a shaky quiet voice said, "I am."
Brendan gently placed his thumb on Stephen's lower lip then his lips touched Stephen's. His ex didn't pull away, in fact there was a moment where Brendan felt Stephen relax against him and press his lips more firmly on his own. That couldn't have been his imagination. Brendan stepped back to see that Stephen's eyes were closed; his face relaxed and wistful, his lips still pursed to receive his kiss.
When he opened his eyes they were dark and dilated.
Stephen was still responsive to him even if his words were antagonistic.
For a moment it was just the two of them. Doug was insignificant, at least to Brendan.
"Those fucking lips, Stephen." He whispered hungrily at point blank range. He was taunting the American; daring Doug to step up and tell Brendan to back up and leave his boyfriend alone.
But Doug didn't move. He was probably terrified of their deal being exposed. Brendan had the power here. He could tell Stephen but he knew the lad would not only end up getting angry with Doug but also be pissed off with him.
Stephen would probably feel the need to return the money thus putting his own new business in danger. That would be bad. He would also probably hate Brendan even more and want to get as far away from him as possible thus defeating the whole point of the loan. That would be even worse.
So Brendan kept the secret.
With certainty and a hint of cockiness he said,
"I'll see you when things are over with this loser."
He turned on his heal, swooped down to pick up the crisp packets in the sea of split wine and shards of glass.
"Yeah, like that's going to happen." Ste said angrily.
"You'll need to clean this mess before you get busy in here, boys. Wouldn't want either of you to get cut on the glass." He stared at Doug. "Especially you."
"I think you should go now." Doug said tightly.
"Ah yes. Young love. Can't keep your sticky paws off each other. Come round to the club tomorrow, Dougie. I think we need to talk."
Doug nodded briskly as Brendan tore into one of the crisp packets and ate three crisps at once before saluting and marching out of the place.
Doug released a long held breath. Brendan had not jumped at the opportunity and revealed their secret even though he had had the chance. Relief turn to worry.
Why hadn't he? Did his new enemy have a much worse fate in store for him?
Once the main door closed, Ste came up to Doug and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "He is being a right twat today, in 'he?"
He looked over at the door. "I don't know what that kiss were for?"
Doug could feel a tremble run through Stephen's body and goose bumps on his skin. He hadn't noticed them before when they hugged or kissed.
Was that a reaction to him or to the Irishman?
Ste gently kissed him but Doug couldn't get into it. His mind was full of Brendan.
"He still likes you." Doug said against his lips.
"You think so? He has a funny way of showing it."
He could feel Ste shudder again.
Doug pulled him into a hug, resting his chin on Ste's shoulder. He exhaled slowly. It felt like before things had even properly started between them, they were over.
This was beginning of a battle. Him versus Brendan. Doug was David to Brendan's Goliath; the underdog in the fight for Ste's affections. Or was he? Because he was the one holding Ste in his arms right now.
He kissed Ste but it was his boyfriend's turn to appear distracted.
Ste looked vaguely towards the door. "I am not letting him get to me no more, Doug."
"I know." Doug picked up the lube and condoms then he lifted his expressive eyebrows at Ste.
"I'll clean this mess up tomorrow. Why don't you come over to my place tonight? Texas is making fajitas and then you can stay over."
"Stay over, stay over?" Ste asked lifting his eyebrows meaningfully.
"Yeah."
Ste's smile was small.
"Cool."