Page 40 of Bassist With Benefits
The dog came running in, wagging her tail and wearing a happy smile. Since Derek was the closest, she rested her head in his lap, and then sniffed at his chin. She must have just finished drinking, because there was a nice wet stain in Derek’s crotch.
“Thanks a lot, slobber face.” Derek covered the dog’s head with the dishtowel and ruffled her fur. She thought it was playtime and yanked the dishtowel from Derek’s hand and shook it vigorously.
“Give me that back!” Derek called after her, but she took off.
Jeremy watched her run past the kitchen area with the towel still in her mouth and hop into one of the bottom bunks. The dog acclimated surprisingly well to traveling on the bus and loved the stimulation of being around so many people all the time. Jeremy frowned. Before Cam met Brandon, the poor dog probably stayed home alone all day. She was sociable and fun loving, and the idea of her moping around all day by herself saddened Jeremy. “I’m glad she’s on tour with us. She’s a lot of fun.”
“Say that when she soaks your balls.” Derek pulled at the crotch of his jeans with one hand while scrolling through his phone with the other. “I found it.”
“Found what?”
“The bar we’re going to tonight. Try to stay with the program, Kagan.”
Jeremy realized that must have been what he had agreed to a few minutes ago. “Let me see that.” He grabbed the phone from Derek and stared at a photo of a bearded, hulking, sexy-as-fuck, half-naked dude. The Bear Bar – Hottest Bears in Town, the advertisement announced. It was different than the usual gay bars they visited, and normally Jeremy would have been up for it, but everything had changed now. Maybe he should just confide in Derek that he and Alan were together, but were they? Their noncommittal commitment was a giant question mark at the forefront of Jeremy’s head.
“What is that?” Alan asked, trying to see the phone from the couch across from Jeremy and Derek.
“Doesn’t anyone fucking listen to me?” Derek took the phone from Jeremy’s hand and turned it toward Alan. “The Bear Bar. I’ve been talking about snagging me a bear for two days. No one pays any fucking attention to me.”
Alan’s brows pinched together as he stared at the phone. Without moving his head, his eyes shifted to Jeremy, and then back at the screen. He grabbed the phone, his jaw tightening with each scroll of the screen. Jeremy knew that Alan focused on the intent of the establishment, which was clearly implied in the advertisement. It was a hook-up joint, mostly with the bears who worked there. Upscale, but still a sleaze joint. Alan finally sat back. His forehead remained wrinkled and his lips pursed together tightly. “You’re goin’ there tonight?” He addressed Jeremy without saying his name.
Derek answered. “Yeah. I know you prefer those boyish twinks, Alan, but you should come with us.”
Alan shook his head. “I have no desire whatsoever to go to that place, tonight or any other night.”
“Why not? Dick is dick. Whatever.” Derek clapped Jeremy on the back. “I guess I’ll just have to rely on Jeremy to be my wingman tonight.”
“You’re really going?” Alan pinned Jeremy with an accusatory glare.
“Um.” Jeremy couldn’t think of an excuse to get out of it. “Unless you don’t want me to.” He gave Alan a quirky, teasing smile that made everyone laugh. Everyone except Alan.
They dropped the conversation after that and spent the rest of the bus ride taking turns hitting various targets at the back of the bus with Brandy’s squeaky ball, which provided her with a half hour of rigorous running back and forth retrieving her ball. It turned out that Brandon was a 6-foot tall, 200-pound mass of uncoordinated muscle. He could throw hard and fast, but he seemed to be aiming at anything except the intended target, which was the door that closed off the back bedroom. And Cam was the all-star of the bunch, who credited his skills to hours of playing fetch with Brandy at the park.
No one had mentioned the night’s trip to The Bear Bar in almost an hour, but Jeremy knew it was still sitting uncomfortably at the forefront of Alan’s mind. The tension in Alan’s shoulders was a dead giveaway.
When the bus pulled into Denver, Felix was already waiting in front of the hotel, room keys in hand. “Looks like we made it under the radar,” he said as he stepped onto the bus. “Not a groupie in sight.” He handed everyone a card key. “The usual. Brandon and Cam in one suite, and the rest of you in another. At least you’re on the same floor, though I don’t know if that’s good or bad. And I’m right next door to you three,” he said, looking directly at Jeremy, Alan and Derek. “By the way, the walls are paper thin. Try to remember that, huh? I’m not a prude, but,” Felix closed his eyes and shook his head, “I hear things that I can’t unhear sometimes.” He walked down the two steps and paused before he exited the bus. “Your night’s free. Tomorrow’s itinerary is already in your rooms.”
Cam put Brandy on her leash and exited the bus first so the dog could relieve herself near the bushes, while everyone else grabbed their overnight bags. Brandon was next to step off the bus. With his hair blowing in the slight breeze, he looked from his left to his right, disappointed that there weren’t any fans to greet him. “Where is everybody? Don’t they know Bulletproof is in town?”
“I’m here, baby,” Cam replied with a sultry smile before leaning over and kissing Brandon really hard on the lips.
“Take it upstairs, you two.” Derek gave them a small shove out of the doorway so he could exit the bus.
Jeremy paused to wait for Alan, who was still stuffing a shirt into his bag. “You coming?”
“Right behind you.” Alan followed closely behind Jeremy as they walked from the bus to the hotel. “I can’t believe you fucking agreed to go with him tonight,” he scowled.
“I wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Do you want to know why?”
“Whatever. You’re going and—”
“I wasn’t paying attention because I was too busy watching you.”
Alan’s eyes softened. “What do you mean, watching me?”
