Page 20 of Lance
NINE
The concert, the first one of the tour, had gone very well. The crowd had screamed through all of it, and Lance had been able to relax, to let himself get into it. Part of him had worried that the fans might react to Jamie the same way that Ken had, reject him as being nothing more than a replacement for Darien, but there was no sign of that at all.
More than that, Jamie moved with fluid grace across the stage, and though Lance knew that the hard work had all been Jamie’s, he couldn’t help but be proud of himself for how well the guy was doing. He had come in knowing nothing about their moves, and now, he was keeping up with them.
So it was good. And they still had some time, a couple of days, before they had a show in Portland. Lots of time to polish up Jamie’s performance, but it was already amazing. Jamie was so skilled, and Lance was sort of in awe of his raw talent.
Encore after encore was called for, and the band wasn’t where it had been under Darien. But they were gelling with Jamie now, creating something that was different, yes, but maybe equally good.
If only Ken would give it a chance,the whole thing was obviously making him miserable. And his best friend just wasn’t all that good at hiding what he was feeling. It was obvious in the way Ken glared sharp, pointy, dangerous daggers at Jamie whenever they were together.
Not when they were on stage, though. That was something. Ken could keep the drama aside for the fans, which was a huge relief.
After the show, Ken pulled Lance aside, and Lance felt a little surge of nerves clawing at the pit of his stomach. Was this where Ken demanded to know what was going on with him and Jamie because Lance had definitely noticed Ken’s eyes on them before the show?
“Hey. You wanna go on another date tomorrow?” Ken smirked and gave him a coyly flirtatious look. “Lover?”
Lance frowned. He supposed that he should, just to keep the buzz up, but, to be honest,he was actually pretty glad to have an excuse to say no, though he was positive that Ken wasn’t going to like it.
“I can’t, man,” Lance admitted. “I already said I’d go shopping with someone.”
Jamie walked by then, covered in sweat, with a huge, sincere, wide grin on his face, and Ken and Lance both followed him with their gaze, though for much different reasons.
“With him?” Ken demanded, and when he turned back to look at Lance, there was jealousy burning in his eyes. Or so it seemed to Lance, though when he thought about it, how did that make any sense at all?
“Yeah.” Lance was casual about. He didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. Or did he? Ken certainly seemed to think so. “We’re just going shopping for some clothes. No big deal.”
Ken prickled up, his face twisting with anger, which radiated off of him like porcupine quills.
“You’re supposed to be helping me to drive him away. That was the deal,” Ken hissed, leaning in closer to Lance. “Not go fucking shopping with the guy. You’re … you’re … fraternizing with the enemy, that’s what you’re doing!”
On one level, it should have been ridiculous. Itwasridiculous that Ken could hurl words like that at him. On another level, though, it was highly dangerous. All Ken had to do was refuse to pretend to date him anymore, and Lance’s job would be at risk.
He had to be more careful. He had to. But at the same time—as he watched Jamie with the slow, languid grace of a hunting cat across the floor, as he watched the smooth, seductive rolling of his hips—he knew very well that there was nothing he could do to derail his desire.
It was what it was, and Lance could do his best to control it. He would do his best. But in the end, he was riding an unbroken horse without a saddle, or that’s how strong his desire felt. Eventually, he was going to get bucked off, and then that horse, his desire, and God forbid emotional connection, would trample all over him and ruin everything.
* * *
If only the bastard wasn’t so damn much fun to be around, it wouldn’t be so hard.
Sure, Jamie was hot. But lots of people were hot. That wasn’t actually even the most important thing to Lance. In his experience, beauty was great, but at a certain point the pure, visceral thrill of it wore off, and you saw the person inside.
The person inside of Jamie was not who Lance would have expected. Yes, he was sardonic. Yes, he had just a tinge of bitterness to him, which Lance would like to figure out, to poke at. But inside Jamie, under all of his snark, all of his defenses, there was a man who Lance was getting to know, and genuinely like.
They laughed about the most ridiculous things. Like the wind came gusting through and blew their hair around, and as they both moved to push it back, their eyes met, and they laughed. Things like that, silly little things, but by the time they were in the shopping district, Lance had a grin on his face that he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to kick.
He was good, though. He didn’t touch Jamie, and he made sure not to even look at him that much. There were reporters, paparazzi, all over the place, snapping pictures, and this had to seem like nothing more than two friends going shopping. Lester would even go for that, Lance figured, because really, what was more stereotypically gay than two guys interested in fashion?
It was the same area, he abruptly realized, where he and Ken had gone on their date. And he realized that because he saw the same display, the same three kittens in the window. He stopped, gazing at the adorable, tiny little animals. They were so young that any one of them would have fit comfortably in his hand, and he gave a wistful little smile as he looked.
“They’re cute,” Jamie acknowledged, and Lance stole a look over at him and nodded. Yes, they were cute. Downright adorable. Maybe someday he’d actually be ready to have a pet, something to take care of. But he wasn’t holding his breath for that.
“If you could have one,” Jamie asked, his head tilted fetchingly to the side, “Which one would you pick?”
Lance turned his head slowly back to the display and watched the three kittens as they played. One of them, a sweetheart with a puffball body and fierce blue eyes, with a tan body and a thick, fluffy brown tail, caught his eye more than the others, and he lightly tapped the glass.
“That one. It’s scrappy,” Lance explained. It was the kitten that always seemed to come out on top, and Lance couldn’t help but admire it, not to mention that it was beautiful. He wasn’t an expert in cat breeds or anything, but he would be willing to bet that one had some Persian in it. Or Siamese, but weren’t they sleeker usually?
