Part 18


Lance sat on the park bench, creasing his eyelids to smooth slits in the early-afternoon sunlight, and took a large bite of his mocha-fudge ice cream, snipping a bit of the sugary waffle cone's crisp edge with his two front teeth. Behind him, Foster and Dingo caroused together on their leashes, growling playfully and rolling around with each other in the thick grass. Beside him, Jesse's sleek bare shin brushed and rubbed against his own, their knees bumping together gently.

Quite naturally, hardly even thinking about it consciously, he lifted his arm and slowly slid it across and around the back of Jesse's shoulders, letting his hand drape over Jesse's sharp collarbone. And a familiar, pleasant fire blazed in his stomach in spite of the icy cold treat he was eating.

"Brilliant idea on the cones, babe," he rasped, leaning closer to Jesse's ear. "Mine's damn delicious. Hit the spot. Thanks."

Jesse smiled and shifted over nearer to Lance's hip and chest. "I know how you love you some sweets, sweets."

"Guess that's why I like you so much then, huh? 'Cause you're so fucking sweet?"

Jesse snickered, big brown eyes bright and flashing, and snuggled a little closer to whisper: "But you're sweeter……….the way you taste………the way you felt last night……….Fuck……….Baby, I do believe you're the sweetest thing I've ever had in my mouth."

"Hmm. And I do believe that if any fuckers in earshot are listening to us right now, they are so killing over dead from a massive toothache stroke sugar hemorrhage or whatever. We're grotesquely sickening," Lance chuckled, shamelessly rocking his legs against Jesse's.

"Crazy little thing called love." Jesse winked.

"Yeah. You make me crazy all right. Way crazy. And I love it. All of it."

Jesse slipped the fingers of his free hand down between Lance's thighs, where the shorts had risen up and exposed warm flesh. He squeezed lightly. "Me too, baby. All of it." Then he threw a quick glance over his shoulder at their rowdy dogs. "And the boys love it too. Look at 'em. They're having a blast of a time. Santa Monica's their kind of town. See?"

Nonchalantly, Lance turned his head for a second and then went back to his ice cream. "Hey! Settle your pooch asses down back there, kids, or I'll be pawning you off on the first damn taker that comes along. You hear me?"

Jesse squeezed harder on that firm inner thigh flesh, scolding, teasing. "Lance, quit. You'll do no such thing, you butthole. They're our babies."

Lance knew exactly what he'd see if he cut his shaded eyes just a few degrees to the left and glanced at his gorgeous partner. But he looked anyway, with tingling heat swirling in his gut. And yes. There it was. Jesse sticking out his multi-talented tongue and caressing the rounded knob of his scoop of peach-almond ice cream with a long, slow stroke, warm dark-pink flesh melting and lapping up the creamy pearl-colored stuff, setting off fiery explosions in Lance's crotch, driving him totally insane.

"You are a beautiful and absolutely wicked person, you know."

Still leaning into Lance, Jesse swept another cool lick of his long tongue over the curves of the frozen treat and stared in front of them at the steady flow of human bodies trailing along the sidewalk not far from where they sat, folks soaking up the sun and checking out the goods at the local arts festival. He squirmed a little on the bench and pat the inside of Lance's knee to refocus his attention.

"Heads up, baby. Cute doggy alert. Look. What breed is that one over there? Isn't that completely adorable?"

With minimal enthusiasm, caring much more for the warm body so close to him, Lance dragged his eyes off Jesse's face and moved them in the direction of Jesse's gaze. He focused on the Miniature Schnauzer Jesse had been so smitten with and then on its owner on the other end of its leash - a very platinum-blond, very young guy wearing a skin-tight fuchsia tank top and unbelievably short shorts.

"Okay now. Just gag me. That breed goes by the name of nauseating twink. Yuck."

Jesse giggled and rubbed Lance's leg. "No, baby. Not the little prissy boy thing. The puppy. See it? Isn't it precious?"

But Lance was no longer seeing the effeminate young man and his precious dog. His keen vision had lit on another sight altogether - two guys (without a dog at all) strolling leisurely behind the twink, talking to each other peacefully, it seemed, and not very aware of the different breeds of people milling about all around them. Lance winced as a big glob of cold ice cream got sucked down his throat involuntarily.

"Jess, babe," he gasped. "I. Will. Be. Damned."

"What?"

"That's him. Right there. I can't fucking believe it. That's him."

"Who, baby? Him who?" Beneath the maroon-tinted shades he wore, Jesse's eyes narrowed toward the crowds.

Lance swallowed again and tried to catch his breath. "That guy Justin's all hot and gah-gah over. JC."

"The racquetball dude?"

"Yep. The one and only."

"No way! Where?"

"Yes. Way. Small world and all that shit, I guess. Damn. He's right over there in that black baseball cap. See him? Cute boy alert."

Jesse kept peering intently but without forgetting to lap at his ice cream cone. "The one next to the chunky, roundy guy? The one in black?"

"That's the one."

"Damn, baby. Forget cute boy alert. This one is a hot man alert. For sure. You guys were totally right. He is sexy. J's got some awesome tastes."

"Told you," Lance simpered, with a sly smile.

"Aww, check it out. He's wearing black leather flip-flops. Like you, baby."

"And a clingy muscle shirt. Like you." Lance moved his hand down Jesse's chest to tweak his nipple through the taut cotton.

Jesse squirmed and giggled. "Sexy feet too. Damn, is that a toe ring on left foot? Second toe over?"

"Looks like it. Subtle. Just a little shiny. Nice."

"More with the hot and sexay," Jesse murmured. "He's totally cute."

"Yep. I'll give him that."

"What color are his eyes?"

"Dunno. Didn't get that close last time."

"Damn. Too bad……….So who's the little hefty sidekick next to him with the weird facial hair?"

Lance smirked. "Uncle Fester, for all I know. Dude, do I look like a psychic over here? How the hell do I know?"

Jesse laughed softly and settled backward into Lance as they watched JC for a few more silent moments. As he went from booth display to tent to booth display, etc., they took in the way his pectorals writhed under the black sleeveless tee when he breathed, the way his hips moved inside the camouflage pants when he walked, the way his almost-black hair caught the sunshine and curled strands of itself around his ears beneath the baseball cap.

"Hmm. Got abs?" Lance muttered, admiringly.

"Abs? Got biceps? Or maybe we could just rent him and his biceps. You think?"

Lance snorted. "I wish. Hell, Justin would murder us painfully. Eight times each."

Jesse scooted forward on the bench excitedly, turning mischievous eyes on Lance. "Let's go and check him out up close. Whadaya say? C'mon, baby. I really wanna see him. And this faraway stuff just ain't getting it."

"No."

"And why not? You're usually the one going all sense-of-adventure on me, hon. And wait! You even did man-hunting and stalkage on him once before! Why the hell not now?"

"Too risky this time," Lance said flatly and shook his head. "See, if things work out with him and J, chances are we'll probably get to meet the dude down the road. And he might remember us if we go all bumbling into him today. Hello?"

Jesse huffed. "Hello? We don't have to get up in his face, now do we? Hell, he doesn't even have to see us, baby. Just a little closer than this. Please?"

In spite of Jesse's prettypretty pout and his pleading chocolately eyes, Lance remained firm. "No, Jess. We just can't. Run on over and get yourself a better look at the guy if you want. But I don't plan to be jeopardizing Justin's odds here with any fucked-up high jinxes. Anything could go wrong. So no. None for me, thank you."

"I hate it when you pretend to be all grown up. It's not fair, damnit."

"I said go on over there and sneak up and gawk at him up close by yourself, babe. I'll wait right here."

"You're totally no fun."

"That's bullshit, and you know it." Lance pinched his pert nipple again.

Jesse snickered and flinched and said nothing else for the moment. He just finished off his ice cream, wiped his fingers on his shorts, and leaned in to brush his cool lips breathlessly over Lance's. Then, softly, he whispered.

"It's just that it's always better when we do it together, baby."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

A little over an hour later, the two of them rejoined the waves of people and sauntered through the festival-goers in the park side by side, a dog on a leash in one of their hands and each other's fingers interlaced together in the other hands. Their intent was to pass by the oval-shaped row of vendor tents one final time and then take the furry babies home. Lance, at least, was beginning to tire.

Something unseen, however, spooked or excited Dingo and Foster, making both of them jerk and strain against their tethers. Wanting to break and run, they scurried and darted and wove in between the interspersed random bodies, dragging a caught-off-guard Lance and Jesse in tow with them - until one such random body brought the bustling movement to an abrupt halt by simply (and coincidentally) standing in the path of it.

"Whoh-oah! Hold on there! It's an ambush of the canine variety! Dogs gone wild! Where'd you guys come from? Whoah!"

Lance and Jesse narrowly avoided slamming into the guy themselves after Dingo and Foster had collided with his shins and stumbled, slowing them down considerably. Holding tightly to Dingo's leash, Lance brushed past him and swallowed a thick breathy gasp as he instantly recognized the chunky guy who'd been with JC earlier.

Oops. (!)

Jesse had stopped directly in front of him and would have been face-to-face with him had the guy not been laughing and spinning around to follow the boisterous dogs with his lively eyes. Recognizing him too, Jesse shot a hurried Uh-oh! What the fuck do I do now? glare over his shoulder to Lance who could do nothing but hunch his shoulders helplessly.

Wing it, babe. You're on your own.

Yep, it was the same guy. And they'd just accidentally sideswiped him, thanks to their two hyper-rambunctious kids.

"Aww, man! I am SO sorry!" Jesse turned back to the stranger and rasped, tugging on Foster's leash to settle him down. "They freaked over something and almost got away from us. We SO didn't mean to trample you and give you a scare," he went on earnestly.

Behind him, Lance walked on a few steps into the grass, gripping Dingo's strap with one hand and making sure his dark shades were secured over his green eyes with the other. Clearing his throat was his subtle message to Jesse that, indeed, this was who Jesse suspected it was.

Be careful what you wish for, or you might just skid right the hell into it.

"Hey, it's cool, it's cool," the guy quipped and grinned. "I love doggies! And the park is where they belong, right? So a dude ought to be expecting to run into a couple……….or a coupla dozen doggies if he takes himself to the park. Am I right, C, or am I right?"

Before Jesse could respond, the guy laughed, high and hearty, lowering his eyes to the ground just off the paved sidewalk where someone was stooped into a crouching position studying a framed sparse painting that was leaning against a vendor's tent. The "someone" - dressed in leather flip-flops and a black tee and camouflage pants and a black baseball cap - had already begun to pivot around on the balls of his feet to investigate the noisy excitement going on behind him. Foster instantly pranced right over to him, happy that at least one person in this whole damn place was now eye level with him.

"Hey, dude! What's shaking, like, besides your tail?" the squatting one answered, gently addressing Foster and smiling as the dog spastically nuzzled his chin and ate up the petting affection hungrily. "Well, you're a friendly little sucker, aren't ya?"

Instinctively, Jesse loosened his restraint on the leash a bit, to give the dog more room to move, and stared, trying hard not to, at the sight below him. At JC. He couldn't, right away, come up with anything else to say. The other guy, standing next to him, chuckled again and nudged his arm.

"Hey, man. Don't sweat it. Dogs will be dogs. And yours are cool."

"Yeah, well, they get one of those massive attacks of crazy once in a while and just go totally out of control. We didn't mean to damage you or anything. You're not scratched, are you, man?" Jesse asked him.

"Nah. I'm good. And it's no big thing. Do we mind, C?"

"Do I look like I'm minding, man?" The dark-haired crouching figure laughed airily, grabbing and rubbing both sides of Foster's head. Foster wagged his tail frantically. "No, I don't mind good boys like this one at all. No way."

"I'm Chris. That's my buddy JC." Chris touched Jesse's lean, bare bicep again.

"How's it going?" Jesse turned from watching JC and smiled at Chris. "I'm Jesse. That's Foster, one of our kids. Lance, my partner, is over there with the other naughty one named Dingo. Nice to meet you guys."

"Yeah, man. Nice to meet up with you both too. Or should I say you four?" Chris giggled.

Still petting and patting Foster, JC glanced upward to smile and nod his head, first to Jesse and then over to where Lance shuffled Dingo around in the background. Lance waved casually and then pretended Dingo needed more of his attention.

Jesse liked it that JC's sunglasses were perched temporarily on the bill of his cap. Because, for a moment or two, he got to see his whole face, including making contact with those bright blue eyes.

"How ya doing?" JC sort of grunted as he stood up, still half smiling. "Nice dogs. What are they?"

"Mutts," Jesse blurted out quickly and laughed. "Mixed breeds. We're not picky."

"You're not?" Chris chirped, with a lingering pointed look at Jesse and a sly-smile, slow-blink glance over his shoulder at Lance. "Coulda fooled me."

"Don't start acting up, CK. Down, boy. We're in public, and we hardly know these dudes," JC warned him and snickered, reaching down to rub the eager, panting dog again.

"Who? Me?" Chris feigned disbelief, widening his eyes. "I'm just saying these guys both look like they held out for the top choice of the litter, if you know what I'm saying."

Jesse laughed out loud and blushed. Behind him, Lance chuckled and started stepping closer to the conversation, giving in and figuring what-the-hell at this point. JC shook his head and rolled his eyes as he glanced at Jesse again and then to Lance.

"Don't mind him, you guys. And don't be scurred. I swear he's house-trained. He just gets a little frisky around new people."

"Hey, we're used to that. It's just that excitable freaky leg-humping you gotta watch out for," Lance interjected and grinned.

JC laughed out loud, and Chris huffed, again dramatically. "I will have you to know that I am on my best behavior. Hush yo mouth, dude."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"Well, that was, um, interesting," Jesse whispered as he and Lance walked away from the other two a few minutes later and hit the grass again with the dogs. "And the Chris dude wasn't with J's new boy. Not like that anyway."

"Yeah, didn't he, like, mention being a neighbor in the same building as JC or something?" Lance asked. "I'm guessing they're just buds."

"But the guy was pinging, man. Pinging the g-dar loud and clear."

"Who was?"

"Uncle Fester."

Lance elbowed Jesse's arm with this own. "Don't call him 'Uncle Fester,' babe. That's major rude."

Jesse giggled. "Oh, gimme a break, Lance! YOU called him 'Uncle Fester' first. And I'm saying the dude was at least bi, if not all-out queer-ified."

Lance smirked. "I noticed how he couldn't keep his hands off you……….I thought I might havta come front and center and break him in two damn pudgy halves."

Jesse snickered and reached his free hand up to caress the back of Lance's neck. "Right. As if you needed to, baby. Never. Please. I'm a spoken-for man, don't forget."

"But you know? I saw his wandering eye checking out chicks too. Maybe you're right. Could be a switch-hitter."

"We could set him up with Joe," Jesse suggested.

Lance laughed loud. "No, you didn't! Christ! And I even liked the dude! He was wild and funny! Don't go messing with him, hooking him up with Fatone and crap."

Jesse giggled. "Thanks for finally bringing your ass up in there to join the chat. I was hoping you would."

"Ah, I couldn't leave my boy hanging out there with some strange dudes all by himself."

Jesse shrugged against Lance's shoulder, brushing their hips together. "I'm just glad I got to see that JC cute thing up close. He's gorgeous. And a nice guy too. I liked him. Justin's gonna be a lucky dude when they hook up."

"Totally. And can we hardly wait to hear about that or what, babe?"

"Hardly."

"Yeah. So let's get home. I've got a great big fucking 'hardly' to try out on you."

Jesse rain-dropped his fingertips down Lance's spine. "You're kind of a perv, baby. Anyone ever tell you that before?"

"Justin. Like 24/7. So yeah. I know."

"And I love it. All of it."

"Yeah. I know that too."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his camouflage pants without thinking about it, JC stepped closer to Chris's side and quickly blew in his ear. Then he turned and focused on the departing couple they'd just met, deftly flipping his shades back down over his eyes.

"Stunning duo, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, CK. You're right. They looked good together. They were cool too. Fun dogs and all……….Man, was it just me or did they even seemed genuinely happy? How many times do you see that on Planet Earth anymore?"

Chris nudged him and murmured. "Put it on your wish list, dude."

"What?"

"Ah, you know that's your style, right there, that scene, Chasez. Look at them, waltzing off into the sunset so sweetly together, with their little beastly children. So fairy-tale and heart-warming……….Don't just envy it. Make it happen, yo," Chris said quietly as he turned toward the tent behind them to get information on the artist JC had recommended.

JC barely heard him. He was watching the two men, obviously in love, walk away, heading home comfortably with their pets. And he knew that he did want to be in that scenario, like Chris had said. The prickly warmth in his gut said so too.

"C'mon, man. We need to book," he whispered, aware, vaguely, that Chris couldn't actually hear him. "I've got to go to work……….and then I've got……….a date……….with Justin."



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