Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. No profit from or disrespect intended to Motel 6, ESPN, or Champions. Thanks to all the inspiration, my recently instated signature file says "send lawyers, guns and kitties."

***

There was no answer, but he hadn't really expected one. He headed down the hallway, looking for "120" and coming up short when the last room before the window was "118". He backtracked, finding their room just on the other side of the lobby.

"Yeah," Dustin's voice answered when he knocked.

"It's--" The door opened, and he finished, "Hunter. Hey, man."

"Hey!" Dustin yanked the door open the rest of the way and motioned him in. "Dude, that's some sweet stuff you got going on with Cam and the guitar! You guys sound really good!"

"Yeah, thanks," Hunter said, catching sight of Blake lounging against the window. "He keeps trying to teach me to play, but I just don't have the knack. Hey, bro."

"S'up," Blake answered. "Figured you'd stop by before you left or I woulda told you I was here. Gonna give them a ride over," he added, nodding at Dustin.

"Cool." Hunter dropped down onto the nearest bed. "We just waiting on Shane, then?"

"Yeah, he's like, fuzzing his hair or something." Dustin clicked the TV on and squinted at the sticker on top of the screen. "Dude, either I'm reading this wrong, or we get twelve different ESPN channels."

"Shane and Cam," Blake reminded him, ignoring Dustin. "Unless you're riding with us?"

Hunter shook his head, watching Dustin flip through the channels. "Nah, I was just making sure Dustin found the hotel again. Cam'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Ready for what?" Blake wanted to know. "I thought he wasn't coming."

Hunter smirked. "He's coming. You just have to know how to talk to him."

"You and Cam are weirdly close," Dustin commented, not looking up from the screen. "You ever think about, like, hooking up or something?"

Hunter stared at him, then turned his glare on Blake. Blake put his hands up in self-defense, shaking his head. "Not a word, bro," he declared. "I didn't say a thing! It's just obvious to everyone but you."

"We aren't together!" Hunter exploded. "I don't believe this! If either of you say anything to Cam--"

"Hey, whoa, calm down!" Blake interrupted. "It's just a suggestion, all right? What's wrong with you tonight? I'm the one that's supposed to be freaking out!"

"I'm not freaking out!" Hunter snapped. He caught Dustin's bemused expression and moderated his tone a little. "Look, I just think everyone needs to back off and mind their own business. Dustin and Shane do stuff together, and no one thinks anything of it."

"Yeah, but dude, we're not gay," Dustin pointed out.

"Gay people can have friends!" Hunter shouted.

"Hey," Dustin said with a shrug. He didn't seem at all taken aback, which unfortunately was what made him so easy to yell at. "Hook up, don't hook up; I don't care. I'm just saying. You seem good together."

The bathroom door opened, and Shane eyed them all warily. "You guys trying to scare the neighbors off, or what? What's going on?"

Hunter pushed himself to his feet. "We'll meet you there," he muttered, brushing past Shane on his way to the door. He barely made it past the lobby before he heard the door open again, and Blake's voice called out.

"Hunter, wait up!" His brother caught up easily, sliding in front of him to get his attention or block his way, it was hard to tell. "What's up with you? You and Cam are practically married, and we can't tease you about it?"

"We're friends," Hunter snapped. "I don't see why everyone has to read more into it just because I'm gay!"

"It has nothing to do with you being gay," Blake shot back. "It has everything to do with the way you act around each other. Friends don't hold the door for each other, Hunter. They don't change in front of each other, they don't use each other's silverware, and they definitely don't look at each other the way you guys did during that devil song!"

"That was a show!" Hunter protested. "We were performing!"

"Yeah, well, you didn't perform it that way two years ago!" Blake retorted. "It's not even a love song--how did you make it look like it was about an affair? And how many times have you practiced that song you did for me and Tori? Whose name do you use the rest of the time?"

"It's a performance," Hunter insisted, determined not to lose sight of the point. "We're better at it than we used to be, okay? That's all!"

"Yeah, whatever." Blake sounded anything but convinced. "Look, if it makes you happy I won't say anything to Cam. But you're awfully upset about something that you're telling me doesn't exist."

"Sure it exists!" Hunter exclaimed. "It just doesn't mean what you think it means!"

"Okay," Blake said, shaking his head in surrender. "If we're wrong, we're wrong."

"You're wrong," Hunter said firmly.

"But," Blake continued, as though he hadn't spoken, "if we're not wrong, you'd be less uptight if you were getting some."

Hunter punched him in the shoulder, harder than he'd meant to but Blake just snickered. "Think about it!" his brother advised, ducking out of reach and retreating down the hall. "I'm not telling you anything you don't know!"

That at least was the truth, Hunter thought wryly, turning away. It was the same advice he'd given Blake, years ago. At the time, he'd found Blake's discomfort hilariously entertaining. He should have known the words would come back to haunt him.

Pausing outside his door, he patted his pockets automatically and realized with dismay that he'd forgotten his key. He knocked, but there was no answer. A moment later, though, Cam opened the door with a phone to his ear and an expression of resigned amusement on his face. When he caught sight of Hunter he stepped back without a word, making room for him to enter.

"Thanks," Hunter said quietly, mindful of Cam closing the door behind him. They did hold the door for each other a lot, didn't they. He hadn't really thought about it.

"I sent you the directions in an e-mail called 'directions'," Cam told whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Two days ago. They were an exact copy of the directions that should have been in the invitation."

Hunter folded his arms, watching Cam walk past him on his way into the room. He was wearing the same dark jeans he'd been wearing this morning, but he'd changed his shirt to a long-sleeved black crewneck that would set off every gaydar within five miles. He had traded his amulet for the gold chain he sometimes wore, and it glinted in the fluorescent light. Only Cam could make such a thing look casual, even respectable.

It wasn't a hanging-out-with-the-guys outfit. It was a picking-up-guys outfit.

"No, Dad," Cam was saying. "It's an e-mail. It can't get lost. It's in your inbox, two days ago, from my school address with the subject line 'directions'."

Hunter dropped his arms with a smirk and followed Cam into the room. Cam was rifling through the pockets of his coat with one hand, trying to hold the tiny cell phone between his shoulder and his ear while he used his other hand to steady the hangar. Hunter grabbed the top of the phone just as Cam reached for it again, holding it against Cam's ear while he searched his pockets.

"You must have deleted it," Cam told his cell. He pulled the blue paper with the directions on it out of his coat and mouthed thank you to Hunter as he reached up to take the phone. "Look, I have the directions here. I'll just read them to you, okay?"

Cam turned to the bureau, setting the paper down and unfolding it with one hand. He waited, tapping an impatient finger while his dad spoke or looked for something to write with. Hunter just watched, trying to decide exactly what it was that Blake saw between them.

Cam caught his eye and obviously misread his stare. Sorry, he mouthed, rolling his eyes. He held up one finger apologetically.

Hunter waved it off, flopping down on his bed to convey his lack of caring. He rolled over on his stomach almost immediately, gaze drawn back to Cam as soon as he turned away. "It doesn't matter, Dad," he was saying. "I'll check it for you when we get home. For now, just let me give you the directions."

Sure, he looked hot. No question about it--but nothing new, either. Cam was one of those people that had to be bi, because it gave everyone a chance to dream. And yet he barely gave anyone a second glance. Why was that?

It was just Cam. That was the answer he always came up with, and he had never really questioned it. No more than he wondered why Cam looked like he was going clubbing whether they were on their way to a coffeehouse or to a sports bar like Champions. Cam went for intellectuals, not the kind of person you met at a bar, so Hunter didn't worry.

"The exit specifically says 'AGU' on it," Cam was saying. "You can't miss it. Unless you try to use your ninja telepathy while driving again."

He paused, and then added, "Of course I remember. You don't forget life-and-death experiences that quickly."

Cam was leaning against the bureau now, talking to the lamp on the nightstand between their beds. His gaze dropped to Hunter's while he listened, and he smiled wryly. It was an expression that invited response, and Hunter found himself smiling back. Not smirking at Cam's exasperation, not sneering at his dad's technological incompetence--just smiling, like he did it every time their eyes met unexpectedly.

See, that was exactly why he couldn't start thinking about Cam this way. Cam was hot, smart, and totally out of his league. Always had been, always would be. Hunter was the complete opposite of anyone Cam had ever dated--which was saying something, considering Cam used to date quite a lot.

"There's a big sign on the door," Cam said with a sigh. "You can read it from the road; it says 'Waysmeet'." There was a pause, and then a quirk of his lips. "Well, for all I know Rosie is a Ninja Academy graduate herself. Maybe you'll have something to talk about."

Okay, now he was in trouble. He couldn't take his eyes off of Cam. This was one of those things that would go back to wherever it had come from, right? He would get distracted and the next thing he knew he would forget he'd ever wondered? It really wasn't fair, he decided, that everyone thought they were together and he wasn't even allowed to stare.

"Yes, you did interrupt," Cam told the phone. "Hunter and I were just about to have wild, passionate sex and now you've totally ruined the mood. Thanks for asking."

He did not just say that. Hunter watched him watch the nightstand lamp, gaze diverted and for the moment perfectly safe. Cam nodded once, apparently in response to something his father had said, then added aloud, "Sure. See you tomorrow, Dad."

There was the briefest pause, then, "Bye." This last was said with an almost indistinguishable sigh, and Cam shook his head as he lowered the phone.

"Wild, passionate sex?" Hunter repeated, intrigued.

Cam glanced over at him. "Sorry," he said with a grimace. "I have to throw it in his face every so often or he starts to revert."

Hunter frowned, surprised that Cam hadn't mentioned it before. "I thought he was over that 'it's just a phase' thing."

Cam shrugged, gaze sliding toward the window. "Every time I go out with a girl, it comes up again."

He considered that. If there was any way to bring his parents back, he would have done it in a heartbeat... but at least he had been spared the agony of coming out to them. "That why you haven't been dating lately?" Hunter asked at last.

Cam turned away, refolding the sheet with the directions on it and putting it back in one of his coat pockets. "No," he said over his shoulder. "Too busy." He smoothed the coat out and caught Hunter's eye again, a half-smile on his face. "What's your excuse?"

It was his turn to shrug, feeling oddly defensive about it. Since when did it matter whether he was seeing anyone or not? "Maybe after the season ends," he said vaguely. He rolled over on his back and sat up, checking for his keys. "You ready?"

"Yeah." He saw Cam trade the phone for his wallet before he realized he was staring again, and he shook his head. Picking up his room key, he grabbed a sweatshirt and they headed out.

They found Champions without any trouble, other than their usual bickering over the best way to get anywhere. As far as Hunter was concerned, Champions was just off the boardwalk, and the boardwalk was west. Once you hit the water, there were only two choices: north or south. Fifty-fifty. If they got lost, they would ask someone.

Cam, on the other hand, felt that there would be no need to ask if they only followed the correct road. And of course he had his own opinions about which one was the correct one. Hunter was sure he stored a map of previously taken turns and street names in his head so that once they reached their destination he could explain how they could have gotten there faster his way.

It was a Friday night, and the small cyber bar was predictably crowded. The internet stations were all occupied, as Hunter had known they would be, and they found the rest of the guys in the back by the pool table. Apparently Shane and Dustin were trying their hand at the game, while Blake stood nearby and made fun of whoever was shooting. The baseball game played on the TV over their table.

"Hey!" Blake greeted them without giving Cam's appearance a second glance. "Want a drink? The first round's on me."

"Yeah, and that's the only time you'll ever hear him say that," Shane put in from the table. "Better take advantage of it."

"I'll take a raincheck," Hunter said with a grin. "I have a score to settle with my little bro first."

Blake lifted his hands in self-defense. "Hey, I don't know what you think I did, but--"

"Last time we were here," Hunter interrupted, before he could get any further. "You beat me at darts, remember?"

Blake's expression cleared. "Don't know how you think you're gonna settle that score," he taunted. "It's not like you can beat me!"

"Bring it on," Hunter challenged. "This time, I'm getting the darts, and you're going first!"

"Don't do that," Cam said, out of the blue. Hunter paused, but Cam was talking to Dustin. "You'll never make that shot into the far corner. The six-ball is just sitting there, waiting for you."

"Hey," Shane objected, even as Dustin lifted his cue and backed off. "No audience participation!"

"Speak for yourself, man," Dustin told him. "Blake showed you how to break. Cam's allowed to give strategic advice!"

"Yeah," Shane grumbled good-naturedly. "To me!"

Hunter grinned, retrieving the darts and handing three of them to Blake. His brother was awfully good at darts, but not as good as Cam was at pool. He wondered if Dustin and Shane had any real idea... Cam amused himself by beating Hunter whenever he had the opportunity.

Blake won, of course, and Dustin handed his cue to Cam while he went to take Blake up on his offer of drinks. When Shane failed to sink a single ball, Cam took over and that was the end of the game. Dustin came back in time to watch, cheer, and generally mock Shane in the most inoffensive Dustin-like way. Cam was good.

Shane persuaded Cam to give him a lesson, and Dustin settled back to watch. He was actually dividing his attention between the "lesson" and the TV, which made for some interesting commentary. Hunter challenged Blake to yet another game of darts, which Blake won easily, and somehow he missed the moment when Cam slipped away.

He glanced around, frowning, as Blake went forward to pull their darts out of the board. "Where'd Cam go?" he asked Dustin.

"I dunno, I think he's checking out the computers," Dustin said absently. He was paying more attention to the game than anything else at this point, but Blake had obviously overheard.

"He's down at the other end of the bar," Blake offered, pointing past Hunter with one of the darts. "Looks like he talked that guy out of his internet connection after all."

Hunter frowned in the direction Blake had pointed. It probably hadn't been the talking that did it. "I'll be back," he told Blake, starting across the bar toward Cam and the computer in question.

The guy who had been using it before Cam must have seen him coming, because Cam was alone by the time Hunter got to him. He draped an arm over Cam's shoulder anyway, leaning forward to see the screen better. He was perfectly aware that it looked like he was whispering in Cam's ear, and he didn't care. Bar denizens were off limits. Cam could date anyone he wanted from school and Hunter wouldn't say a word. But he was not going to butter up some random creep off the street just so he could amuse himself on the internet.

"Got a site address?" Cam asked, not batting an eye at Hunter's abrupt presence.

Grudgingly, Hunter recited it for him. It was a real site, even one that Blake had referred him to and he had never been able to get into. But he hadn't tried very hard, and he wasn't particularly interested in trying now. Especially if Cam was going to use success as an excuse to leave.

The site loaded on the first try, and Cam didn't say a word. He just tried to click through the splash page, and suddenly an error message popped up and the browser window vanished. Cam grunted noncommittally, but Hunter could tell he was surprised.

Cam tried again. Hunter grabbed an empty stool and pulled it over, using the computer as an excuse to keep his shoulder up against Cam's. He wasn't staring. That was an improvement, right? He was just warning people away from Cam, was all. They watched each other's backs.

Cam finally got into the site and then spent the next five minutes explaining the problems it caused and the fact that the graphics weren't really worth it. He nodded at appropriate moments, and Cam typed in a different 'zone address from memory. Hunter paid very little attention during the lecture on the fluid and apparently fickle nature of internet gaming.

He did look up, however, when the bartender placed two beers in front of them and even Cam paused. "From the ladies on the other side of the bar," the man told them, stepping out of the way with a sideways gesture.

Two girls, as close as they were and giggling into each other's shoulders, waved when the bartender indicated them. Hunter grinned back, amused, and lifted his beer in thanks. That made one of the girls wave again, and she looked like she was about to get up when Cam poked him in the ribs.

"Hunter," he hissed, sounding more than a little exasperated. "Don't encourage them."

"Why not?" Hunter demanded. "I appreciate a free beer as much as the next guy."

"Well, I don't," Cam said coldly. "If you want women to giggle over you, go somewhere else and leave me alone."

Since when did he want women to giggle over him? Cam was unusually snippy about the whole thing, and Hunter regarded him with surprise. "You done?" he asked at last.

Cam frowned at the computer but didn't say anything. Deliberately not looking at the other side of the bar, Hunter nudged his shoulder. "C'mon and dance," he urged, sliding off his stool and standing up. "It'll get those girls off our backs, if that's what you want."

Cam sighed, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I'm not dancing with you in front of them," he informed Hunter. He didn't have to specify. "Not with the way Blake's been watching us."

"Thought you didn't care what anyone else thinks," Hunter countered. He should have known Cam wouldn't be oblivious to Blake's attitude. "Friends can dance with each other, Cam. It's not against the law."

Cam rolled his eyes, but he allowed himself to be prodded up out of his seat. Hunter grabbed the other beer and saluted the girls across the bar before passing it to Cam. "Don't leave your drink," he chided.

"Why not?" Cam retorted dryly. "I don't want it."

Hunter feigned surprise as they twisted through the cluster of people gathered in front of the band. "And here I thought you were the polite one."

"What?" It was too loud to talk to someone's back here, this close to the speakers, and Hunter caught Cam's shoulder to turn him around. Draping his free arm over Cam's back, he pulled him closer and made a point of ignoring the band's rhythm.

"I said," he repeated, leaning in, "I thought you were the polite one."

Cam had to get close enough to talk in his ear, which Hunter didn't mind at all. "I'm also the DD," Cam informed him, shifting enough so that he could hang the hand with the beer over Hunter's shoulders. "No alcohol."

"One little beer's not going to put you over the limit," Hunter grumbled. He knew there was no arguing with Cam on this one, but that had never stopped him from trying.

"If I drink, we're both riding with someone else," Cam said firmly. "So unless you want to leave your truck here, let it go."

Hunter shrugged, but he wasn't about to remind Cam of the original plan. If Cam was going to stick around, he didn't mind losing an argument or two. "Whatever you say," he agreed, resting his own beer against Cam's hip.

He was aware as he did it of Cam's free hand pressing against his chest. He didn't say anything, but that particular gesture annoyed the hell out of him when they danced. It kept them at a polite distance that forced Hunter to lean whenever he wanted to be heard instead of just pulling Cam closer and talking directly into his ear. The latter would have been a lot more convenient--not to mention comfortable--but Cam was just enough shorter that it probably didn't occur to him.

"It didn't work," Cam muttered, and Hunter obligingly leaned closer.

"What?"

Cam nodded over his shoulder, and Hunter turned until he caught sight of the girls from the bar. Hand in hand, they were making their way toward the dancers even as he watched. "So?" he demanded. "They're probably together. Who cares?"

"You don't buy a guy a beer if you're with someone else," Cam countered, and the hand on Hunter's chest slipped a little as he craned his neck.

Hunter slid his arm around Cam's waist, pressing their bodies together before Cam could object. "Shows how much you know," he said in Cam's ear. Yeah, that was better. Loud music, cold beer, and an undeniably sexy partner... he could live with this.

Cam's voice in his ear was sarcastic and not at all unexpected. "You think a foursome would be better than them hitting on us individually?"

Hunter chuckled, lowering his head to rest his cheek against Cam's temple. "Depends on whether you'd go for a foursome or not," he teased.

He could see the girls coming without lifting his head, and he knew they were going to purposefully jostle Cam before they did it. "Right behind you," he murmured, and sure enough, the redhead bumped Cam hard enough that Hunter had to shift his weight to compensate.

"Hey guys," the redhead said with a laugh, making no attempt at apology. "Crowded tonight, huh?"

Cam turned instinctively, but Hunter didn't let him go. Keeping one arm around his waist, Hunter switched his beer to his other hand and took a drink. "Sure is," he agreed amiably. "Thanks for the beers."

"Thanks for giving us something to watch," the redhead replied saucily, and Hunter grinned.

"You gonna return the favor?" he wanted to know.

Cam elbowed him, and Hunter wrapped his other arm around him, holding him tightly enough that he couldn't inflict further physical abuse. The fact that he also felt damn good pressed up against Hunter's chest was entirely incidental. Resting his head against Cam's, he breathed in shampoo scent and warmth as he raised his eyebrows at the girls expectantly.

The redhead only smiled, winding her fingers through her girlfriend's hair as they slid into each other's arms. They knew what they were doing, too--they actually found a rhythm that coincided with every third or fourth beat of the music, making a slow dance into something that looked like it belonged there. Cam's hands found his, and Hunter absently appreciated the feel of their fingers twining together.

Then Cam shifted subtly, grinding backwards, and everything else in the room disappeared. Hunter froze and immediately tried to relax, tried not to let Cam hear his breath catch. That was an accident, right? He couldn't have done that on purpose, because Hunter knew Cam and Cam was Not Interested.

Cam moved again, and Hunter's grip tightened involuntarily. No way could he pretend that didn't affect him. He dropped his mouth to Cam's ear and whispered, "Fuck, Cam! Warn a guy before you do that, all right?"

Cam tilted his head, moving just enough that Hunter's mouth brushed his skin, and Hunter drew back in surprise. He felt Cam's free hand snake around behind his neck. His head was drawn back down before he knew what was happening, and Cam's face was inches from his as he murmured, "You want to be outdone by them?"

This was a game? Cam never used that voice outside of performances, except maybe when they were practicing, and he wasn't the most demonstrative person in the world even on the dance floor. But if he was offering... this was one game that Hunter could get into.

Taking the unspoken invitation, he lowered his face to Cam's neck and pressed his lips to bare skin. God, he tasted good. He would. Because he was Cam, and damn, was he in a weird mood tonight. Cam shimmied back against him again, making Hunter gasp as he kissed his way across Cam's jaw.

They were supposed to be dancing, not making out. But he was allowed to be physical for the next... however many minutes until they got themselves kicked out? Oh yeah. He was gonna take advantage of this. No question.

He was barely conscious of the way he rolled his shoulders as Cam's fingers trailed across his neck, but he did know in the back of his mind that he was responding to someone he wasn't supposed to want. Cam was his friend, maybe his best friend, and the reason they could be so close was that they both understood the boundaries. He could say and do anything around Cam precisely because Cam was Off Limits.

That hadn't changed, he reasoned. Rubbing his hand across Cam's chest, he pressed his mouth to the back of Cam's neck and smiled at the almost invisible shudder that ran through that lithe body. It wasn't like he had asked Cam to... Yeah, this was all Cam's idea. He wasn't breaking any rules here.

Hunter stepped into him, brushing his fingers against Cam's throat as he slid his leg between Cam's. He felt Cam swallow hard, and the hand behind his neck dropped down to his hip. There was a tentative push, the pounding in his ears louder than any base, and a rush of pleasure so unsatisfying that he buried his face in Cam's neck to choke back a moan.

The next thing he knew, they were moving together in a rhythm that had nothing to do with the music. He could feel Cam's fingers clenching and unclenching against his thigh. He didn't have any control over this feeling, and he couldn't care less. The only thing that kept him from tearing that black shirt off was the fact that Cam's back was pressed up against his chest and they were surrounded by a roomful of people--

Including one very unhappy bouncer, who could no longer ignore the show taking place right in front of a band that didn't seem to mind at all. "Kids!" he shouted, wading through the knot that had gathered around them and the girls. "Keep it clean or take it somewhere else!"

Hunter groaned, not caring anymore whether Cam heard him or not. He tore himself away, crushing Cam's hand in his and feeling the pressure painfully returned. He ached all over and all he could think about was getting out of this bar. He pulled Cam toward the door, not caring who saw.

The warm, damp air washed over them as they pushed their way out into the night, but it did nothing to alleviate the longing coursing through him. The surf whispered in the background, white noise that dampened the street sounds and the voices and the music that spilled up and down the boardwalk in every direction. People drifted by, in groups or in pairs, under lights that turned the darkness into daylight, and still the only thing Hunter saw was Cam.

Cam, who had braced himself against the outside wall and let his eyes close when his head fell back against it. Cam, whose whole body was stiff and whose fingers were clenched white around the bottle in his hand. Cam, who looked like he was fighting something so deep that he couldn't afford a single distraction lest his mind lose its tenuous grasp on reality.

He looked as likely to snap as melt if Hunter so much as touched him.

Hunter couldn't keep himself from doing it. He ground his fist into the wall behind Cam's head, fighting a losing battle as he leaned closer, tried not to and failed, his mouth a breath away from Cam's when Cam opened his eyes. That look stopped Hunter where a thousand other things couldn't have.

There was more than desire in that look.

Hunter stared into an anguished expression that he couldn't begin to comprehend. There was something there that he was supposed to know, that Cam wanted him to know, but it was gone before he could realize it and he felt incredibly clumsy in its wake. What didn't he know? What hadn't he seen? And why was it so wrong to kiss Cam now?

tbc