spin the wheel
by Lily.
Graphic by Fidela.

Chris needed a girlfriend.  He first realized this when he called Joey to go golfing and was shot down because Joey already had plans.  

“That’s cool,” Chris said, and shrugged.   He didn’t really feel like golfing anyhow; he was just bored and missed Joey.  It didn’t really matter what they did so long as it got him out of the house.  “What time?” 

“Uh, sorry man,” Joey said uncomfortably, after a pause where Chris could very clearly hear hushed arguing.  “It’s like, a couple thing.” 

“A couple thing?” 

It was the dumbest thing Chris had ever heard of.  Still, he gave Joey bonus points for having the balls to say, “Yeah.  You know.  Me and Kel and another guy and girl,” as though he really believed in it, which he so obviously did not.  “No offense,” he added quickly, and Chris laughed. 

“Right.  None taken.”  He meant it, too, because how lame was it that Joey could only go out in matched pairs now, and only pairs pre-approved by his bride-to-be at that?  It wasn’t even worth making the obvious pussy-whipped comments.  Too easy.  It was a lame situation, but he didn’t know how lame until the next time he managed to get a few hours alone with Joey and got to hear about all the coupley things that Joey was now subjected to on a regular basis.

“I mean, I only get so much time to hang out, y’know?” he said from where he’d stretched out across Chris’ couch.  He was probably staying the night, seeing how he’d already downed about eight beers, and Chris had cheerfully offered up each and every one of them.  He was happy to just have Joey here, even if all he’d done for the past hour was nod sympathetically while Joey talked about engaged life.  “…and the last couple we went out with, the guy hardly said a word for the first two hours.  And when he did talk to me, all he wanted to talk about was Justin. He was obsessed.”

“Obsessed?”  For the first time that evening, Chris didn’t have to feign interest. 

“Yeah.  He wanted to know if me and Justin ever like, share clothes.  What the fuck, man?  Is he blind?”  He gestured down at his own body and snorted.   “And then it started to get creepy.”

“Started?”  Joey had always been too forgiving. 

Joey licked the rim of his beer bottle thoughtfully and gave Chris a look that said he didn’t know the half of it.  “And.  He actually asked me if I’ve ever seen…” 

Okay, pretty creepy.  “People ask us that all the time,” Chris said helpfully, proving that he was really a good friend and deserved to see Joey more often than once a month. 

“Yeah, chicks.”  Joey groaned and took another drink.  “It sucks, Chris.  It’s like, I’m supposed to be friends with these guys because Kelly knows their girlfriends, but you have no idea how many boring people are out there.” 

Chris rolled his eyes.  Like Joey, who hadn’t moved from Chris’ couch in the past six hours or talked about anything other than his girlfriend, really had room to talk.  Still, Chris definitely agreed that Joey needed to put an end to these outings.  Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was desperation, but when the idea hit him, it left him reeling with its brilliant simplicity.  “Dude,” he said suddenly, and sat straight up on the couch.  “I’ll just get a girl.  Kelly already knows me, you know me, all I need is a girl and we’ll be set!”  All the frustration of the past year was almost worth it just for the awed expression on Joey’s face, as though Chris were some sort of genius, which he really was.   So it was decided:  Chris was going to find a girl. 

The problem was it was a lot harder than it seemed to find someone.  More specifically, it was hard to find someone that Kelly would want to hang with.  It wasn’t that Kelly was a bitch, it was just that she was the type of woman who knew exactly what she liked and didn’t like, and wasn’t afraid to say so.  Some people got these two things mixed up, but Chris didn’t, and as far as he knew neither did Joey.    

Joey came up with several suggestions that made it significantly more difficult to find someone who fit all of the prerequisites for being Kelly’s friend.  Joey had said she needed to be calm, which ruled out most of the girls Chris knew.  He also said she should have a big rack, which Chris thought was less Kelly’s preference and more Joey’s, but wrote it down anyhow.   The list gradually grew, and Joey would call him every once in a while with something like, “Hey, Kel hates people who talk about politics too much,” and “I noticed all her friends are about her height.  You think that means anything?”  Chris wrote it all down just in case.  Pretty soon, he had a lengthy list of requirements and was ready for some practical application. 

The first couple women didn’t even make it to Kelly and Joey’s place.  Chris started thinking of it as a game show where the contestants had to get through a series of grueling preliminary rounds before making it to the final bonus round.  The bonus round, of course, was the chance to double-date with Joey Fatone and his lovely and unsuspecting fiancée.  He tried to think of himself as a Regis Philbin-type host, but more often than not he found himself slipping into Donald Trump mode, sending them packing without so much as a parting gift.  It was only because he didn’t know any other way. 

He met a student nurse who was almost perfect, but the first time he brought her around, Kelly mentioned that her hair would look good with highlights, which Chris jumped on with a little too much zeal.  When he mentioned it later, she gave him a weird look, and when he went a step further and offered to drive her to the salon, she’d gotten pissed off and told him not to call her anymore.  It was a shame and Joey yelled at him over it for a week, but it was quickly forgiven when he met Kendra.  

Kendra was a 29 year old seamstress with a calm demeanor and quiet sense of humor.  She had boy-short hair and wore a lot of delicate, dangly jewelry.  Her constant serenity put him on edge a bit, but Kelly latched right onto her, and within a couple weeks of the first double date, she and Kelly were off at some kind of “know yourself” seminar, which left Joey and Chris free to do whatever they liked. 

“Success!” Joey said when they were safely inside the VIP room of a club they hadn’t been to in ages.  “I owe you big, man.”

“So big,” Chris said smugly, but Joey’s smiling eyes were thanks enough.

In all honesty, things usually worked out according to Chris’ plans, yet he was still surprised whenever they did.  It was like he was afraid he was going to run out of good luck, but so far it hadn’t happened yet.  The Girlfriend Plan had gone even better than expected, and seeing Joey on a regular basis was enough to keep him happy even though he wasn’t getting laid for the first time in forever.  It just kept getting better, so when he arrived at Joey’s place a couple months later to see if he wanted to hang out for a while, he was so used to things going well that it seemed perfectly normal for Joey to answer the door with a huge grin and no girlfriend attached to his side.

“Dude, hooking up with Kendra was your best idea ever,” Joey declared, leaning in close and glancing toward the stairs.  His hand squeezed Chris’ shoulder twice, gleefully.  “I was just up there, and your girl’s got Kel up on this stool, right, wearing nothing but her underwear.  And she’s just kneeling there wrapping this tape measure around Kel’s hips and damn.  Life is good,” he sighed happily. 

“What the fuck are they doing?” 

Joey shrugged.  “I guess she’s making Kel some kind of dress for this concert they’re going to.  We’re totally not invited.”  He made a high pitched sound of joy and squeezed Chris’ head against his chest.  Chris shoved him away, feigning outrage, but it was that exact kind of contact that he’d missed so he retaliated by tackling Joey onto the couch until it threatened to topple and Bri started to screech with anxiety. 

“So, what’s she like?”  Joey asked, once the women were out of hearing range.  

“What?” 

“Kendra,” Joey said, exasperated, as though Chris were intentionally holding out on him.   “What’s she like?” 

“Oh.”  Chris stopped short, baffled.  Not an unreasonable question, but it hadn’t even occurred to him to try and sleep with Kendra, which made no sense at all because she was hot.  “We haven’t exactly done the dirty deed.  Yet,” he added, lest Joey try to challenge his manhood. 

“Really?  Hasn’t it been like four weeks?” 

Chris nodded.  “Six.”     

“Whoa.” 

“Shut up.  Kelly made you wait six months when you first got together, and you never shut up about it.  She had you convinced her pussy was made of pure gold, too, and when you finally got some you were all, ‘That’s it?’”  Chris mimicked Joey’s young, bewildered expression and was immediately swept into a headlock that was really tighter than it needed to be.

“Shut up!”  Joey growled.  “We were teenagers!  You’re in your thirties.  Tick-tock,” he added, sounding much happier.

Chris struggled against Joey’s grip, but he was too confused to put up much of a fight.  This wasn’t the first time it had happened; he was constantly forgetting that he was dating Kendra as opposed to simply grooming her for friendship with Kelly.  He definitely did need to get with her, and soon, but Chris felt like he’d passed some kind of window of opportunity, and now that a precedent of abstinence had been set, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing.  Joey didn’t help matters; he mocked Chris endlessly every time they spoke, and later on, even Chris’ mom seemed to be in on the abuse.  She met Kendra when they both dropped by unexpectedly one morning when Chris was barely awake.  They bonded over their amusement over the state of Chris’ house- and his hangover, which was a direct result of the state of his house- beer bottles everywhere, ashtrays full of blunts and cigarette butts, and a few random strangers passed out for good measure. 

“Is this how I raised you?” Bev asked, surveying the wreckage after Kendra was gone.   

“What?  To be a kick-ass host?” he asked.  “Yes.”   He started collecting beer bottles one at a time, lining them up on his counter until a pattern started to emerge in the arrangement of greens and browns.  “Don’t worry; I recycle.”  He was hoping to avoid the subject, which was probably about to be the fact that he’d heard Kendra tell Bev that they’d been dating for nearly three months.   

“She’s a nice girl,” his mom said, but there was more behind it.  She snapped on some yellow rubber gloves and filled the sink with water. 

“Yeah.”  He concentrated on fishing more bottles out of the regular trash. 

“Not your usual type, though,” he heard her say, and for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. 

“My type is whoever makes me happy,” he defended.

She nodded, up to her wrists in suds.  “I know.  I can tell you’re happy; I’d never say otherwise.” 

“So, what are you saying?”

“Nothing,” she sighed.  “I’m saying she’s not your type, Christopher.  Your type.  You’ve pathologically dated the same exact type of person since you were old enough to date, and she’s just something new.”  His mom really was too smart for her own good, but it was hard to explain about his girlfriend who had been so carefully selected for Kelly that he’d forgotten about himself, so he just nodded and continued the beer-bottle roundup.  When he was done, he was a little awed by the sheer quantity of them.  It was almost like art, but not the boring kind that Lance pretended to like.  Briefly, he considered leaving them there, a monument to partying, but it was really starting to smell.  Instead, he took a picture and emailed it to everyone he knew, especially those bastards who hadn’t come to his party, like Joey, and Lance who’d been at the party but had to leave early because Jessie was a lightweight who needed to be carried out to the car before midnight.  Chris went ahead and sent off pictures of that, too. 

It was the girls’ idea to go away for the weekend.  They showed up for dinner one night with brochures and grand plans of nature and intimate evenings, and Chris just shrugged because a weekend of boredom was well worth all the fun he’d been having.  The cabin was anything but rustic, which was just the way Joey liked it.  Chris was just glad for the vacation, and there was something when he watched Kendra and Kelly together, their private jokes and low giggling, that reminded him of the glow on Joey’s face.  They were all so happy, and it occurred to him that what he was feeling was a lot like being in love. 

The girls went to bed early the first night because of early morning plans, but Chris and Joey had movies and donuts and liquor; probably not the best combination, but they were comfortably intoxicated by midnight, and Chris couldn’t think of anything better.  He kicked his feet out in front of him and accepted the fact that he was too far gone to follow the plot.  Instead he started talking shit about Lance, JC and Justin, which Joey was more than happy to oblige him by joining in.  After a while even that got boring, and Chris sighed contentedly, crawling under the covers. 

On tv, a telephone psychic promised to reveal all for only 2.99 per minute after the first two minutes.  “I can read your palm,” Joey slurred, his eyes hot and bright as they moved from the tv screen to Chris’ face.  “My aunt showed me; wanna see?”  He groped around for Chris’ hand until Chris offered it out, his arm stretched between them like a lifeline.  Joey’s hands were warm and gentle on Chris’ own, holding firmly with one hand as his other traced across the palm of Chris’ hand.   “This is your life line,” he said softly, and squinted at Chris’ hand.  “I.  Hmm.  Or, that’s your love line.”  He frowned and retraced the crease with the edge of his thumb while Chris shivered and pretended to follow. 

“Does it look good for me?” he asked.  He couldn’t imagine anything better than what he already had.

Joey looked closer and swept his finger lightly down the middle of Chris’ palm as though to erase everything he’d said.  “I think so,” he said, nodding slowly.  When he stroked down over the soft pale skin of Chris’ wrist, Chris tried to twist away, but Joey held on.  “I’m so wasted,” he blurted, and rolled closer.  His mouth found Chris’ in the dark and clumsily pressed a kiss onto Chris’ mouth, his hand still folded tightly around Chris’ wrist.  His lips were wet and soft, but were gone almost immediately, and then Joey was back on his own side of the bed.

The psychic had been replaced by a dating service, and completely frozen, Chris stared at the girls on the screen, lounging around in lingerie and talking on the phone.  He didn’t look away until Joey shifted on the pillows and said, “Uh, sorry about that.” 

“It’s okay,” he answered.  It really was okay; definitely not the first time Joey had delivered a drunken kiss to Chris, but this time it had been different.  Softer.  And Joey had certainly never been sorry before.  That feeling was back, the gentle grip of giddiness in his chest, so he went with it.  “I’m in love,” he said quietly, but it didn’t ring true.  He was pretty sure he wasn’t noble enough to be in love with someone he wasn’t even interested in sleeping with. 

“Congratulations,” Joey mumbled sleepily, and Chris let his eyes drift shut.

Chris still had sleep lines on his face and Joey wasn’t even upright yet when the girls came back from their morning walk, laughing and pink-faced from the cold.  They walked shoulder to shoulder and bustled off to the kitchenette as soon as they were inside, breezing past the guys so they could whisper and make unidentified cooking sounds.  Chris hoped for some food, but asking was the type of thing that tended to send Kendra into tirades about men’s sexist expectations, which he didn’t particularly like.  However, these lectures always seemed to impress Kelly, so he sighed and defied his throbbing head by yelling, “What’s for breakfast, woman?” 

“Oh, God,” Joey groaned.  “Why, Chris?  Whyyy?” 

“It’s for the greater good,” Chris said, but at that point he was really starting to forget what that was supposed to be.  Kelly was already sold on Kendra, but old habits were hard to break.  If he wasn’t supposed to be promoting Kendra’s merits as a person, then what was he supposed to be doing?   He was getting to spend as much time with Joey as he wanted, Joey was more relaxed than Chris had seen him in over a year, so…what was the goal here?  Chris floundered with no clear objective, but it seemed as though there was still something off.  Whatever it was, it was definitely within arm’s reach.  He was certain of it. 

The next time JC called, Chris told him that he might be in love, just to get an objective opinion. 

“Wow,” JC had said, and went for a minute.  “I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.” 

“You met her at my party, C!  We’ve been together for months!  Kendra?  You danced up on her for at least an hour.” 

“Kendra?  The short girl with Kelly?”   

“Yeah.”  Chris rolled his eyes. 

“The one with the freckles?”

“Yes.” 

“Oh.  Huh.  Okay…it’s just, she’s just not your type,” JC said, sounding confused.  Chris didn’t bother asking what his type was, because when he thought about it, his fingers always went to the underside of his wrist where he rubbed thoughtfully, no better off than he’d been before.

“And sorry,” JC said quickly.  “I didn’t mean to get all freaky with your girl.  I thought she was, you know.” 

Chris didn’t know, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want to. 

“This is really weird but, uh…” 

Joey’s reluctance worried Chris because whatever it was couldn’t be weirder than the time they’d had to wax each other’s chests, or the time Chris had gotten so wasted he pissed himself and Diane Bass had been the only sober person around to help him get cleaned up.  They had a whole history of weirdness between them, a history that Chris was rather proud of, and he knew Joey didn’t exactly have delicate sensibilities either.  Whatever it was, Chris would try his best to be supportive. 

“…Kelly and Kendra want to have a foursome.  Of sex,” he added, in case Chris was having trouble catching on, which he most certainly wasn’t. 

It was almost a shame that he knew Joey well enough to know he wasn’t joking.  If it were a joke, then they could have a big long laugh about the very idea of Chris finally getting a glimpse of Kelly’s much raved-about but always under-wraps double-D cups.  That definitely wasn’t the worst thought in the world, but Chris wasn’t sure how the whole thing would work.  He really doubted that Kelly, after this many years, suddenly found Chris irresistible, so it was more likely that Kendra was interested in Joey.  He couldn’t even blame Kendra; they weren’t exactly making fireworks in the bedroom.  She was a nice girl, but most of the time it took him so long to come that the last time she’d actually brought porn along.  It had worked for the most part, but he still felt like a tool, and now they probably all knew about his tragic sexual dysfunction. 

“Sure,” he said slowly.  What else was he supposed to say?  “And when is this foursome of sex supposed to happen?” 

Joey laughed nervously and scratched at the back of his neck where his hair was growing longer, curling out at the ends.  “That would be tonight,” he admitted, and pursed his lips.

“What?” Chris shouted.

“I was supposed to ask you a week ago.  Wasn’t sure you’d say yes, man.  It’s kind of…”

“No shit.  Tonight!”  Chris wasn’t sure how much time it took to prepare for having a foursome with your best friend and his girlfriend, but he was sure it took longer than—he checked his watch and made a choking sound—two hours. 

“They just-“  Joey shrugged his shoulders helplessly, holding Chris’ eyes.  “Kel really wants to.  You should’ve heard them talking.  They’re into it.” 

“Are you into it?” 

“Of course!  My girl’s hot, your girl’s hot…” he trailed off and gestured as though it were obvious. 

It seemed as though Joey was overlooking a large portion of the concept of a foursome, but then the girls came in and it was too late for Chris to say anything.  He let Kendra take his hand and followed her woodenly out the door, and he had to give them credit, the three of them, the way they talked and laughed their way through dinner.  By the time they got back to Joey’s place he’d almost forgotten what was supposed to happen because it all seemed pretty normal, Joey and Kelly making out on one couch, he and Kendra on another.  It wasn’t until he glanced over and saw that Joey had Kelly’s shirt off that Chris realized that whoa, it hadn’t just been talk.  They were going to do this thing. 

Kendra seemed pretty into what Joey and Kelly were doing, watching intently from where she sat on Chris’ lap, but after a few minutes she rubbed his arm and said, “You’re in, right?” and Chris nearly broke his neck nodding yes because he wasn’t the guy who was asked if he was in.  He was the guy who did the asking, cajoling and arm-twisting if necessary.  Of course he was in.  He was totally in, totally into it…until Kelly pushed Joey away and looked up.  She wasn’t looking at him, thank God, although Chris had no idea why his stomach had just flipped the way it had.  He supposed it was because of the hotness of the situation.  The hypothetical hotness, at least.  Hopefully, the hotness would hit home by the crucial moment because it was one thing to let down one person, but three all at once?  That was just unthinkable.

“Upstairs,” Joey said loudly.  He smiled at Chris and made a point of casually sliding his hand inside Kelly’s bra.  For the first time all evening Chris felt the beginnings of arousal, a warmth that flared and faded, and only returned when halfway up the steps he thought again about Joey’s hand, agile and determined.  The girls reached Joey’s bedroom first, and he was pretty sure that the way they slowly undressed each other was hot, even if it were feeling a little bit like incest at that point. 

“Hey,” Kendra said when she approached him from behind.  She whispered a few things in his ear-nice dirty things probably intended to get him going- and then whispered, “Your turn now,” and pushed him toward Joey.  She giggled when he dug his heels into the carpet and refused to be moved.  “C’mon,” she coaxed, “If we’re all gonna do this…”  Judging by the expression on Joey’s face, Kelly was telling him something similar, but Kelly had always been able to get Joey to do anything.  Before long, he was nodding and pushing himself up off the bed with one knee, headed for Chris.

It was strange when Joey tugged him close until their bodies were pressed loosely together.  His eyes flickered over Chris’ with a flash of humor and they both breathed out a little laughter at their own awkwardness.  The humor was short-lived, replaced with a determination that made Chris’ stomach do another flip when he realized that the way his hands fit around Joey’s forearms, the soft prickle of hair, the way Joey breathed when he leaned in for a kiss, none of it was wildly hilarious like he’d thought it would be.  In fact, it wasn’t funny at all, and when Joey used his mouth to coax Chris lips open, Chris allowed it and took Joey’s tongue into his mouth, their lips sealed together, hard and fast because Chris didn’t know any other way. 

It figured that Joey was so good at everything.  He had Chris’ pants peeled open before Chris could even think about what to do with his own hands, and if Chris’ cock was shy around Kendra, it was nothing but cooperative with Joey, already heavy and throbbing in Joey's hand.  He almost didn’t want Joey to touch him like this, not until he got himself under better control, but he was tumbling into it too quickly, falling headfirst into a place where all Joey had to do was tilt his head and Chris was right there, opening up and offering more of himself than was probably appropriate for a first date.  There must have been actual falling involved as well, because a few seconds late he found himself sprawled on top of Joey, still kissing, pants open, with his dick nestled firmly into the pliant warmth of Joey’s belly. 

Across the room, the girls were giggling.  When he turned his head to make sure they weren’t laughing at him, Joey caught his mouth again and splayed a hand on Chris’ ass, keeping him close. 

“Forget about them,” Joey pleaded, and it wasn’t even like that was anything sexy, but Joey just sounded so desperate, and his stomach heaved against Chris’ dick, and that was it.  Chris clutched at Joey’s shirt and while his brain told him to pull back, his hips insisted on surging forward, straining against Joey, wanting more.  He knew he should stop, that this was only supposed to be some kind of showy foreplay, but it was already too late.  It had already started the second he’d felt the shock of Joey’s bare skin on his dick, and he just gave it up and went with it because it had been so long since he hadn’t had to work for his orgasm, ages since it had taken him like this, leaving him gasping and weak and shaking with it. 

“Fuuuuck,” he moaned, and buried his face in the damp skin of Joey’s neck.  It was probably too much to ask for the whole scenario to have escaped Kendra’s notice, and there was no way that Joey didn’t know.  When he lifted himself up to take a peek, he groaned again because Joey didn’t even have his pants off; it was just Chris’ red, swollen dick hanging out of his underwear and a wet mess slicking up the line of hair on Joey’s stomach.  He wasn’t sure, but he suspected that might somewhat impede Joey’s attempt to get sexy with Kelly anytime in the near future.  

“Chris-“ Kendra said, and he couldn’t look at her.  He didn’t want to see her expression, and definitely didn’t want to see Kelly’s face after he’d just come all over her boyfriend.  He was already zipping himself back into his pants by the time he got to the door, making sure to move his legs slowly enough that no one would ever be able to say that he ran away. 

The only thing left to do was to avoid everyone involved, including those who might possibly have found out about the incident.  Chris carefully screened all his calls and didn’t leave his basement, and ended up concentrating so hard on avoiding them that it was four days before he realized that he didn’t need to go to the trouble because they were apparently all avoiding him as well.  The fifth day, Kendra left him a voicemail that left him even more confused. 

“Hey,” she said in a small voice.  “It’s me.  I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, and…just, I’m really sorry.  Take care.” 

It didn’t sound hopeful for the future of their relationship, but it didn’t exactly sound like a breakup call, either.  If things were normal, he’d call Joey and make him listen to the message, but that wasn’t an option so he called Lance, which was the next closet thing.   

Lance came over right away and listened to the message twice, paying close attention.  Chris loved that about Lance, that he treated everything like it was of the utmost importance, even if it was something lame like deciphering a voicemail from the girlfriend of a neurotic friend.  He leaned on Lance’s shoulder and listened to Kendra’s voice, mostly upset because he didn’t even miss her all that much. 

“What’s to figure out?” Lance asked.  “She’s sorry.  What’d she do?”

“I don’t know,” Chris said helplessly.  “And here’s the thing.  Technically, the last time I saw her…it may have been me who did something that requires an apology.” 

“Uh huh.  So, you did something shitty to her, and now she’s calling to apologize.” 

“Yes.” 

“Chris,” Lance sighed.  “Does this have anything to do with why Joey won’t return my calls?”

“I…what?  He won’t?”  It made sense for Joey to ignore him, but not for him to ignore Lance.  “It’s…all fucked up,” he said, and covered his eyes with his hand, just in case.  His throat felt tight and full, and he didn’t want to freak Lance out by crying, or something.  “I fucked things up.  I had sex with Joey.” 

Lance made a sound that Chris had never heard him make.  “You had sex…”

“Sort of,” Chris said quickly.  “I, sort of.  Look, the details aren’t important.  It was an accident.  It was a foursome.  Kinda.” 

“Oh my God,” Lance said weakly.  If he laughed, Chris was never forgiving him.  He didn’t laugh, though.  He hugged Chris tightly, and Lance always smelled so good that Chris couldn’t help but feel a little better.  “It’s okay.  I accidentally slept with Justin once,” Lance whispered mid-hug.  Chris jerked back, wide-eyed, but Lance was already talking in his normal, everyday voice like nothing had happened.  “You should call him,” he advised. 

“I should call Justin?” 

“Fuck off.  Call Joey, you ass.  There’s no such thing as accidentally sleeping with someone.” 

“There is!”  That was the point where Chris figured he lost Lance, because when he tried to explain the slippery slope of the foursome, Lance wasn’t having any of it.  Chris wasn’t even sure that Lance even felt sorry for him anymore.  He just handed Chris the phone and glared until Chris dialed Joey’s number.  Joey answered on the first ring. 

“Hi,” Chris said, brightly.  “Long time no see.” 

“Now isn’t really the best time,” Joey said.  He sounded distant, and it pissed Chris off because five days was plenty of time and Chris was just hanging here. 

“When the fuck do you think would be a good time, then?”  From the corner of his eye he could see Lance shaking his head. 

“Chris…” 

“No, really, Joe.  I deserve at least that much.  Just tell me exactly when you’ll be willing to talk to me again, and I’ll leave you alone.” 

There was a long silence from the other end of the phone.  Chris wanted to take back everything he’d said, but it was too late.  Maybe Lance would take the phone and make everything okay, but before he could even ask, Joey cleared his throat and said, “Me and Kel broke up.” 

“Holy shit,” Chris breathed.  His eyes met Lance’s, and whatever Lance saw made him get out of his chair and come over to where Chris was standing.  “Joe,” he choked.  “I’m sorry.  I can’t believe she, because I-“ 

“No,” Joey said, and laughed, a small, hollow sound.  “It’s not because of you.” 

“Then, why?  Did you have a fight?”  Chris didn’t believe Joey for a second.   “I can talk to her for you, I can tell her…” 

“It wouldn’t do any good.” 

“Why not?” 

“Something happened after you left, okay?” 

Whoa.  Chris had just assumed that when he’d left, it was the end of the fun—not that it had been very fun to begin with.  “Just, come over Joe, please?  Lance is here,” he added, just in case Joey was too weirded out by what had happened between them on his bedroom floor. 

“I don’t know…” 

“Please.  You don’t even have to talk to me.  Just, talk to Lance, okay?” 

Joey sighed into Chris’ ear.  “Dude, it’s not that I don’t want to talk to you, so just stop.  I just have bad news, and it’s really fucking bizarre.” 

Chris paused.  He was too smart to demand bad news. 

“Chris?  You still there?”

“Yeah.” 

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” 

He arrived in fifteen, but Lance was already gone, begging off with some bullshit excuse that Chris knew was him trying to give them some privacy.  Joey looked tired, and if Chris found it hard to look at him, it was all right, because Joey was spending a lot of time looking at his hands. “Do you need anything?” he asked. 

“No thanks.” 

“Mind if I sit here?”  Chris pointed at the spot next to him on the couch, and Joey settled back into the cushions.

“No, man.  I told you, it’s not.  Fuck.  It’s not you, it’s Kendra.  I know you probably think she was pissed or whatever when you left, but she wasn’t.  She probably didn’t even notice!  They sure as hell didn’t notice that I was in the room.  They were just…they’re together, Chris.  I think they have been for a while.”

“But…” 

“I was such a dumbass,” Joey said.  He traced the patterns on his camouflage pants and shook his head, his mouth twisting with self-deprecation.  “I thought I was so smart, getting Kel out of my hair so I could-“ he stopped abruptly. 

“So you could what?” Chris asked, trying to get a good look at Joey’s face.  

“I don’t know!  Whatever we were doing,” Joey said helplessly.  His hair was sticking up in every direction and Chris wanted to smooth it, so he did.  As soon as his fingers crawled into Joey’s thick hair and over his scalp, Chris knew it wasn’t the best thing because that fluttery feeling was back, the love feeling. 

“Well,” he said, and withdrew his hand.  “I’m sorry about everything.” 

“Me too,” Joey said, miserable.  The hollows under his eyes looked deep and bruised, and when Joey rubbed at them, Chris flinched.  “It sucks for you, too,” Joey said.  “You said you were in love, and everything.” 

“No."  Chris coughed.  He was a little surprised at how much he didn’t care.  His mom had been right; Kendra wasn’t his type.  Joey was his type, Kendra had just been a way to get closer to Joey all along.    “I barely even knew her.  The sex was awful,” he added, and Joey made a sound almost like a laugh. 

“I heard.” 

“Yeah, well.  Don’t knock it till you try it.” 

“I thought I had tried it.” 

“That doesn’t count,” Chris protested.  He hadn’t meant to bring it up, truly.  But here it was, mocking him just like every other decision he’d made in the past few months.  “I was…” 

“Turned on by my sexy body, I know,” Joey said.  “And I think that’s the least effort I’ve ever had to put into getting someone off.” 

“You lazy bastard.” 

This time it was a genuine giggle.  “I do better work with my pants off.  My dick is usually involved.” 

Chris’ gaze drifted to Joey’s pants, to the row of covered buttons, all in camo greens and browns.  He shouldn’t even be thinking about it, but Joey was the one using all the sexy imagery.  With his eyes, Chris followed the seam down between the sprawled legs to the place where it split off to trace down the insides of his thighs.  He imagined the heat he’d find there between Joey’s legs, and fuck but he wanted to feel it.   While he watched, Joey shifted slightly, and there was no mistaking the shape that filled out the front of his pants, just to the right of his button fly. 

“Quit looking at my dick.”

Chris raised an eyebrow.  “I think your dick likes it.” 

“I can think of a few things it likes more,” Joey replied.  He let his arms fall to his sides, hands resting innocuously on the couch, and the timing wasn’t perfect but Chris had never let things like bad timing or dismal odds get in his way.  He slid his palm up the inseam he’d been eyeing until he was cupping Joey’s crotch in his hand; radiant heat against his skin, even through two layers of cloth.  “And that’s one of them,” Joey gasped. 

“Bet I can figure them all out.” 

“Yeah?”  Joey pushed up into Chris’ hand.  Chris hadn’t ever seen Joey so boneless and compliant and he studied him, watched the way his movements slowed and his eyes glazed over, drugged with arousal.  It drew Chris in and made him slow down, turned the first kiss into something lazy and wet, tongues tracing and testing, nothing like the last time they’d been together.  Every time he rocked his hand Joey writhed against him, not straining for more or less, just trying to ride out the sensations, and it was good.  It gave Chris a chance to think, for a change, about what he wanted, but all he could think about was fucking and he wasn’t sure how into that Joey was.  He buried his tongue in Joey’s mouth and tried to think of how to ask for it right up until the point where Joey knocked Chris’ hand aside to yank open his fly, licked his lips and said, “If we’re gonna fuck then I want your bed.” 

They’d never talked about it, but Chris had always known that Joey would be a fantastic lay; the best bottom Chris had ever had, so he was taken off guard when Joey pushed him onto the bed and stretched out over him, heavy and warm.  They’d lost their clothes in the living room, but it turned out that Joey had a weird thing about fucking in bed and had made the most pitiful sound ever when he had eased his dick out of Chris’ overeager mouth and insisted on going upstairs.  Chris didn’t care where they were so long as he was allowed to keep touching.  He couldn’t choose any one thing; he wanted to lick the crease of Joey’s thighs, nuzzle into the silky bristle of his beard, and most of all spread his legs and get inside.  At the moment it seemed his chances were declining rapidly, what with the way Joey had him pinned so he could hardly move, not that he wanted to.  He was two seconds away from just yanking his own legs open and begging for it, but Joey raised up on his elbows and moved up so that Chris’ dick slid into the crease of his ass and ground down until Chris moaned where he’d been sucking on Joey’s neck. 

 “Okay, yes, now,” he said, and toppled Joey when he rolled over and reached his arm down behind the bed to find the lube he knew was there somewhere.  While he fished around back there, he prayed he wouldn’t find anything disgusting or worse yet, alive. 

When his fingers closed around the small plastic bottle, he gave a triumphant yell and rolled back to Joey, who was slowly jerking himself off, knees raised and spread in anticipation.  It was the second time Chris had been between Joey’s naked thighs and he didn’t think he’d ever get enough of it, wanted to feel those legs wrapped around him, squeezing him tight.  He stroked behind Joey’s balls just to feel his thighs tense and to hear him say, “Oh, fuck yeah,” and then snapped open the lube and tipped it until a stream trickled out onto the base of Joey’s dick.  When Joey swept it up with his hand and pumped himself with a now-slick fist, Chris saw his ass clench, tighten and release, so he drizzled a little more onto his balls and used his fingers to spread it around, massaging until Joey’s balls were drawn up tightly, his hand no longer moving on his dick but just resting there, covering the hard length of it with his hand.  He was breathing hard and Chris knew when enough was enough. 

He worked his fingers into Joey carefully at first, but it was obvious that Joey loved being fingered from the way he pushed his head back into the pillow, hair clinging wetly to his face, and kept declaring that fuck, fuck, he was going to come.  That would be the hottest thing ever, Chris thought, Joey coming on his fingers, but he didn’t really believe it until suddenly Joey’s hand was moving on his dick again- not a lot, just sliding from the base to the tip and back down again-  and there were a handful of hard, tight spasms around Chris’ fingers. 

Chris stared at his hand where it disappeared into Joey’s body and at Joey's fingers, clenched around his dick and dripping wet.   A flare of heat rose up in his face that he was positive matched the one that Joey wore high on his cheeks.  Their eyes met for a second, and then Joey wriggled his way away from Chris’ fingers, flopped onto his stomach and waved his ass around in invitation.  “C’mon,” he said, still breathless.  “Chris.”   

The disappointment of not getting Joey’s thighs wrapped around him was immediately dispelled by the way Joey used them to push back in a strong, fast counter-rhythm to Chris’ fucking and he licked Joey’s spine, bit at his shoulder blades, anything to distract himself.  It wasn’t nearly enough of a distraction because being draped over Joey’s back and grasped inside the tight heat of his ass was bringing him close, closer, and all it took was a few minutes of Joey bucking underneath him with unrestrained strength before Chris let it take him, waves of pleasure that seemed harmless enough until they slammed him full-force.  When it was over, he stayed put, mouth pressed into Joey’s sweaty skin until Joey grunted in what Chris figured was a hint. 

The second he collapsed onto the bed, Joey’s mouth was on his again, hot breath and slightly chapped lips.  Chris slid his arms underneath Joey’s and held on, letting himself be held in return.  “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he said.  Joey smiled against his mouth and then pulled away, stretching languidly. 

“I almost asked you to, that night at the cabin.” 

“Yeah?  Too bad you didn’t.  I mean, I was seriously wowed by your palm-reading technique.  You could’ve totally had me.” 

“Shut up,” Joey laughed. 

“I’m serious.”  Chris absently stroked the soft skin of Joey’s belly.  “That’s some come-on, Joe.  Does your aunt know you’re using her as a cover story to get people into bed?” 

“I already had you in bed.” 

“And now you’ve got me here again,” Chris reminded him, and moved his hand lower.  “So what do you say?  Do you see good things for me?” 

“The best,” Joey promised. 

 *******