Chapter 15: P.A.R.T.Y

"Oh, I don't believe this man.." Sonny shakes his head "..you win again!"

"Hey Sonny.." Devon smiles " I told ya I was good at this. Listen up, you bought the last two so let me get this round; Can't keep havin' ya funding my drinks all night." He places his hands on Sonny's shoulders and massages him "You know, you should come, get a massage. You're tense as hell there,brah! Gotta a lot of stored up tension, knotted in those muscles. A session with me and it'll make your back feel like it's twenty years old again. What you say?" he laughs loudly "You gonna come get naked and let me to work on ya body?"

Sonny frowns, though he knows he's probably joking, there's something that makes Sonny feel odd in his stomach, the way Devon mentions about the massage. But he's probably mis-interpreting his words, and laughs it off. "Seriously man, if you can make me twenty again, I might think about it. I know Clay said you was good and that the massage he had, it made him feel better."

"Oh yeah.." he turns smiling, towards Clay who's sat at the table watching them play darts "Clay enjoyed it. My massage much more intense than he thought it would be. Aint that right Clay?"

Clay's embarrassed, he just looks down at the bottle of beer stood on the table in front of him and doesn't say a word.

"But then you have to know, Clay's got a really nice body to work on. His muscles, are not so tense. He's younger, and that frame hasn't taken as much hard punishment yet, not like yours and mine."

Devon laughs and Sonny who's looking at Clay now feels slightly awkward and uncomfortable as his drinks his beer

"No Sonny, in my experience, Clay's got one of those body's, that you just wanna get your hands on. His muscles are like dough in your fingers, easy to work with. But he's also got some very firm muscles too"

Clay puts his beer back down on the table. He looks away, desperately trying not to blush as Devon stares, smiling at him. His comments make Clay feel anxious and he avoids looking directly at him instead he looks around, scanning the people in the bar, and as he does he catches Jason's attention.

Jason just stares at him, watching from his lofty perch on the high stool at the bar. Clay and him exchange glances back and forward. Clay smiles, but awkwardly Jason looks away and ignores him

"You know I need the men's room. Sonny get me another beer when you go to the bar."

Sonny throws the darts again "Seventy... oh, jeez man! I think I'm gonna be buying drinks all night as this rate!"

"Hey, let's take a breather, we got plenty of time. Night's still young" Devon smiles as he watches Clay leave, headed towards the toilets.

They're sitting around the table as Devon brings back a tray of shots back with some more beers.

"Oh no man!" Clay shakes his head "Not for me, not tonight. I had more than my fill last night , No I can't do another night of these."

"Oh, c'mon Clay.." Sonny laughs knocking back the first shot " .. what are you, man or mouse?"

Devon smiles pushing one of the shots in front of Clay. "Up to you man, but can't say we won't joke about it all night if you don't!"

Clay looks at it, sniffs it, then looking up to he can see both, Sonny and Devon, willing him to drink it. Then without another thought he knocks it back in one gulp, placing the glass upside down on the tray. Gaaahhhh! He closes his eyes to the taste of the neat alcohol quickly sipping from his beer to cover over the residue lingering on his tongue.

"Oh god no more, please! That was disgusting, certainly after last night."

They smile watching. He already looks like he's ready to heave. Devon slaps him hard on the back before smoothing his hand firmly across his shoulders. All innocent seeming to the world around them, but the way he smiles, the way his hand glides teasingly, Clay knows it's much more than just a friendly touch.

Ray's by himself, sat at the bar, slowly drinking the whiskey he has. He can't help but keep looking around checking on the group as they sit at the table behind him.

Jason now moves from his side of the bar, pulling his stool up next to Ray. Slapping him hard across the shoulders to get his attention "Hey man, so what you watchin' sat here all alone?"

"Just watchin' !"

"Just watchin what?" he looks around to see what's engaging Ray's interest so much.

"Your friend there?" Ray lifts his eyebrow in a disapproving way "Who the hell thought it was a good idea, to introduce him to Sonny, and Clay?!"

"Who?" Jason tuns around and now he can see Sonny and Devon laughing and joking at the table behind. "Oh shit! What the hell's he doing here, with them?"

"You tell me!" Ray stares at him "Oh don't act like you didn't know he was here. So, is that where you took Clay? For the massage the other week, to Devon's place? What the hell made you think that would be a good idea? Explain to me, why exactly?"

"Oh,you know, I just thought the kid could do with loosening up. And not being funny, Devon's the best around here, for massages I mean"

"Plenty other places you could've taken him though, right?" Ray frowns "Oh c'mon Jason, Clay's as mixed up as any kid I know, and you take him and put him in front of that... that animal and then encourage them to be friends. What possible good can come from it?"

"C'mon Ray, he's not that bad, sure he's had his issues in the past, but he's moved forward from there now"

"Are you serious? Are you forgetting what happened, or just handling it like you normally do, by trying to just ignore it ? Brother, the man is a psycho!"

"He's changed Ray. He got help. Sorted his demon's out. He has a whole new life now"

"Well I hope you know that for sure? And I hope he really has, at least I certainly hope so for Clay, and Sonny's sake. Cos last thing we need is a dangerous stalker involved with this team, again!"

"Oh, c'mon Ray, you're over exaggerating. Sure, he had problems and okay, he... he got overzealous about our friendship"

"Overzealous?" Ray frowns "Jason, he was obsessed with you!"

Jason coughs and looks around making sure no one can overhear them "Look, I don't know, maybe at the time I gave the wrong signals ... you know maybe, I should've made it clearer that I didn't feel that way, wasn't interested in that"

Ray laughs out loud, choking on his drink. "You should have made it clearer?" Jason the man had an obsessive crush on you! For god sake, he beat you up or don't you remember ?"

"It was a fight Ray!" Jason frowns and empties the contents of his drink into his mouth letting the fiery liquid simmer before gulping it back "He didn't beat me up. We got in an argument, and then we had a fight. It shouldn't've happened, end of! God .." he laughs "you're making it sound like we were in a relationship or something. We had a disagreement; we'd been drinking, and we had a fight."

He sighs pausing, calming himself before he continues " I was drunk, and so he got the better of me. But it wouldn't happen again. I shouldn't 'ave drunk so much that night"

"Drinking? Yeah that's one word for it. Jason you were wasted!"

"Yeah well, that's why he got the better of me!"

Ray shakes his head and sighs "God knows what would've happened if... well, you know as well as I do what he planned to do that night, he'd have gone all the way. He was out of control. What possessed him to think that you even felt like that? He must have known you were straight, right?"

"Ray, it's a long time ago, things have changed. He's settled down now, got his business, got his PTSD in control. A whole new life. He's just out having fun, that's all. If it'll make you happy, I'll keep an eye on them."

"Yeah well you better hope for Clay's sake, they don't get left alone, cos from what I can see, he's already making it pretty obvious that he likes Clay!"

"What the hell do you mean likes Clay ? Why do you have to say it like that?"

Ray laughs and drinks his beer. "You watch. The hand gestures, the little looks. The way he keeps touching Clay. He's making him feel uncomfortable. If I can see it then everyone else can too. He's doing it right in front of everyone, and he doesn't care who sees him."

"Oh, you're seein' things that are not there Ray. They're just having fun. Do you even remember what that is?" he sighs " Relax Ray, I've got this!"

"Yeah well make sure you have. Otherwise things are gonna get out of control" Ray takes his jacket from the back of the chair and puts it on "You know what, I'm going home but keep your eyes them. Cos I don't trust him." he sighs "See ya tomorra Jason. And remember what I said... eyes on the road ahead!"

Jason takes a deep breath and orders another whisky. He glares looking over his shoulder, watching the three of them laughing at the table.

"So, who's for more tequila shots?" Sonny rubs his hands "I got a taste for them now, let's PARTY! Hey, maybe we could do that club again? We could see if those girls are there, maybe they have another friend we could party with, if you know what I mean? " He winks

"Or maybe..." Devon smiles "..we could just have a party of our own. What you say?" he smiles and winks rubbing Sonny shoulders with his large hands.

"Oh um..." Sonny feels awkward at the turn of events "Oh you know um... that's not really my scene. I don't mean to offend you and each to their own but what I mean is... well that's not my bag, sorry!"

"Oh Sonny!" Devon laughs "You so disappoint me" he pulls a sad face "Hey, don't worry, I'm just jokin with ya brah! You're not my type anyway" he winks "But, you know Sonny, you should never say never until you've tried it!"

Sonny smiles awkwardly and suddenly some of the shine has gone off the evening. He's not convinced that Devon is joking and as much as he doesn't have a problem with Devon being gay. Suggesting what he did, and they way he did. Well it's not for him. Then as he sits there he suddenly thinks back to the conversation he had with Clay. And he now wonders if this, this is the guy that Clay was telling him about.

"Look I'll get us some more beers in!"

Devon moves seats around the table, so that he's now sitting right next to Clay. "So, how are you today?"

"Yeah I'm good. Well, I'm much better than I was last night. Um... look I wanted to say sorry, about that. I don't know what happened"

"Hey, don't worry about it. You know, I thought about it and maybe someone spiked your drink? It can happen, especially in clubs. I mean, you were so out of it so ... I'm just sayin' it wouldn't have been your fault, if that's what happened"

Clay frowns "You think, that's what might have happened? Oh my god! You know, I didn't think about it but I did feel pretty weird to be honest. Good job you were there then. I mean, who knows what might have happened. Easy to get taken advantage of, in that state"

"Well..." he smiles ".. if you hadn't been so wasted, then even I might have taken advantage!" he laughs "But you already know that right? "

Clay blushes awkwardly. He looks up and he can see Jason staring at them, watching. "Uh oh! Looks like the boss has eyes on me."

Devon turns around, he smiles then raises his glass towards Jason before taking a sip "Hey Clay, you wanna hit the road, get out of here. Go somewhere else ?"

"Um.. " he looks up at Jason again " Um no...no let's stay for a while, have a couple more drinks. What you say ?"

"Sure, I'm good with that. What ever you wanna do."

Devon leans back in his chair placing his hand, with a firm grip, on Clay's thigh under the table. Clay's not so sure about this bold move, he sighs nervously wondering if the gesture is too open, too much in Jason's face. Sure, he liked the idea of trying to get his attention, even try and make him a little jealous but maybe this was pushing it a bit too far. Plus, he doesn't want Devon to get the wrong idea, to think this all might all lead somewhere. Because no matter how nice the guy is Clay's not convinced that he really wants to sleep with him, well not so soon after his night with Jason.

"You wanna play? Darts I mean" Clay asks, his thinking to get away from the table open up the space and take the pressure off anything happening between him and Devon

"Yeah sure." Devon gets up. He smiles, leaning his hands-on Clay's shoulders and massaging deep into his muscles before openly running his hand up Clay's neck. He smiles, his cheek against Clay's ear whispering "Hey, just relax. No one's looking at us, they're all just going about their business, they're not interested in us."

He grins as he walks to the dart board and collects the first three arrows he'd thrown into it "So, Clay.." he smiles, he can see the now awkward look on Clay's face "..how's things, with you and Jason ? You go all the way yet?"

"Um... " Clay looks around nervously. Afraid someone might hear and unsure how much he really should say, even to Devon."Not good really!" He coughs trying to put on a brave face "We err... we did um... you know, the other night." He shifts from foot to foot awkwardly covering his embarrassed blushes "But now ...well now he's acting all cold and I don't think he wants it to happen again." he sighs as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Well that's Jason all over. Leads you on, then dumps ya, just cos he can't handle it. Me personally, I think he's mad. I mean who wouldn't want that body of yours, again and again."

Clay feels uncomfortable and he bites his lip. He wonders if it was a good idea to open up to Devon. He can tell that Devon likes him, but for Clay, it's too much, he's too open about his feelings. This is not the kind of friendship that Clay is in anyway ready for. Being out in the open, exposed is a different feeling to the intimate privacy of the bedroom.

"Oh, you know, I wouldn't say he led me on as such. I mean, I knew what I was getting into. But I guess, I just wanted more than he was prepared to offer me"

He shrugs throwing his darts and as he walks back from collecting them from the board he stares over to the bar. He can see Jason sitting with Sonny and he smiles at him, hopefully, but he's wasting his time as Jason just looks away.

Clay sighs out loud "You know what you were right, we're wasting our time here. Why don't we take Sonny up on his offer and go to that club?"

Devon smiles this huge grin " Now, we're talking. I'll just go to the men's room. Why don't you grab Sonny, tell him the plan."?

As Clay approaches the bar Jason gets up to leave "Need the men's room, catch you in a minute"

"Something I said?" Clay sighs watching him walk away "So Sonny, what you say, we go catch last drinks at that club? Devon's up for it too. "

"Yeah sure man. I'm ready, there's nothing much happenin' in here tonight. Hey Clay, before we go, what you think to this Devon guy? Does he seem, a little over friendly to you?"

Hes' okay I just think that's just his way. I guess he's a hands-on guy being a masseur, right?" He laughs.

"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right. Never thought about it like that "

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Jason enters the men's room. He looks around and sees Devon by the sink, washing his hands. "Alright?" Jason stands behind him looking at his reflection in the mirror.

"Jason!" Devon smiles watching him without turning around "Yeah, yeah I'm good, and you?"

"Yeah good. I was um... surprised,to see you here. Didn't think it was normally your scene, a bar like this?"

"Oh, I don't know, it kinda has some attractions. I mean there's a lot of muscle and testosterone in here. Some of it's blonde and well... very cute!"

"You know you um... you caught Ray's attention."

"Yeah well, Ray was always a party killer!"

"He's worried. About you hanging around Clay and Sonny."

"Really? So, what you worried too Jason? You worried about me being around Clay? or perhaps you're jealous, hmm? Question is, who...who you jealous of? Is it me, cos I get my hands on your boy or maybe..." he smiles " it's cos Clay's gonna get what you don't?"

"Listen Devon, what happened between us, is a long, long time ago. We were both in a messed-up place and it's never happening again. Get that!"

"Messed up place? Is that you tell yourself? Is that how you justify sleeping with me all those times? That it was just some issues you needed to work through. Cos if it is, then how do you justify sleeping with Clay? Oh yeah he told me. I mean how to you square away sleeping with one of your team Jason." he gives a huge smug grin "That's pushing boundaries, even for you, wouldn't you say?"

"Leave it Devon, alright! Don't involve Clay in this, between us. If this is about me and you then leave Clay out of it. Do you understand me?"

"Oh, get over yourself Jason, this isn't about you. Mind, I don't say no to a threesome if that's what you're thinking?" he laughs, as Jason glares at him.

"You back off from Clay! Leave him alone! He's not ready for your type of thing. He's not ready for what you're offering. You treat people like toys and he's not that"

"How do you know what I'm offering him? You worried cos I'm not all warm and fuzzy like you. I don't like being soft and gentle. No, I admit I don't. But I can show him how real men fuck. You know guys like us, some rough and tumble. He's a big boy and he's certainly got the physique to rough it up a little. Oh what?" he laughs "You worried he might enjoy it more?"

"He won't enjoy it; I know him too well, it's not his kinda thing. Devon, I'm warning you... don't go near Clay, otherwise .. .." Jason stops. He coughs awkwardly as someone enters the bathroom, then with no more opportunity to talk he looks up and glares.

Devon smiles, a huge smug grin "You know I have to go. Your boy wants to go out and play. Don't wait up!" He blows Jason a sarcastic kiss "Hey and Jason, don't worry, I'll try not to be too rough with him. Let's catch up soon, hey!"

Fuck! Jason sighs scratching his head. He stares at himself in the large mirror, taking a deep breath while he thinks.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey guys!" Devon' back beside them at the bar. He places one arm around Sonny, and one around Clay's shoulders. "So, we ready to P.A.R.T.Y?"

"Hey...Sonny Quinn is party king, he's always ready to party!" Sonny makes a sound like a wolf howling "Show me where the ladies are!"

Just as they're leaving, Jason catches Clay in the exit doorway "You off?"

Clay looks at him, staring him in the eye "Yeah, what it's gotta to do with you I don't know."

Jason sighs. "Clay don't be like this. Please let's just talk"

"Look, we're just going to that Club okay. It's Sonny's idea. He wants to see if those girls are there again. Supposedly they like to party!" He smiles "You know, I thought I might get myself in on some of that party action too!"

Jason takes a deep breath in." Clay don't do this . Don't go with him. Trust me when I tell you to stay away from Devon. He's not what you think."

"Yeah, so you said before. Well, he seems pretty cool to me. And he's not afraid to say what he wants. No hang ups!"

"He's not afraid to take what he wants either. Clay please trust me, don't go there. Not with him" Jason sighs "Alright, look fine if you must, then make sure it's what you want. And stay in control, cos if not, then... then he'll take it whether you're ready or not."

"Listen to yourself! Who the hell are you .." he looks around and hushes his voice "..who the hell are you to lecture me about anything. You know, I can handle myself. And I'm not as naive as you think I am. I know what he wants. And I know what I want. No one is leading me astray here. Just cos you can't handle how you feel about what we did, it doesn't mean I can't. Now if you excuse me I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow Jason."

Jason looks dismayed as Clay leaves with Sonny, and Devon. He sighs. Well don't say I didn't warn ya! Just do what you like, as usual.

"Hey," he pushes his empty glass toward the barman "Can I get another JD in there!"