Twenty
"Are you okay?" JC asked when Lance
opened the door to the suite thirty minutes later. "You look upset."
"No,
I'm fine." Lance looked to the
sofa, where Justin was tugging on a pair of sneakers without socks to walk down
to the pool. "Ready, Justin?"
"Yeah." Justin stood. "I guess there's towels
and all that down there, right?"
"You've
learned to live in the lap of luxury quite fast," JC observed, smiling.
Justin smiled back and patted him on the cheek as he walked by.
"Hey,
I don't get to sit in that lap very often, so I gotta take advantage of it
while I can," Justin said cheerfully.
Lance glared at him but said nothing.
"Chris
said he'd be along," JC said as they headed for the elevator. He wore a
baseball cap pulled low over his face.
"You
gonna swim with that thing on?" Justin teased.
"Nah...just
to get down there. I've had a few run ins with fans since I've been here, and I
want to have a nice time while you're here," JC told him. Justin whistled and walked a few steps
ahead. "You SURE you're
okay?" JC asked, stopping Lance.
"Yeah,
I just..." Lance looked down at himself. He wore a pair of swim trunks and
a tshirt. He then looked at Justin, who was sauntering down the hallway in only
swim trunks and sneakers, his muscular chest out in the open for the world to
see.
"I
picked you, didn't I?" JC said gently, but his voice had a firmness to it.
"I had that, and it was nice. But you're the one I'm paying for, and
you're the one I invited to spend time with me. Not him. Okay?"
Lance
blushed slightly, amazed that JC was reading his mind. "Okay."
"Hey,
Chris!" Justin said cheerfully as he jabbed at the elevator button.
"Hi,"
Chris grumbled. "The record
company called. They want to talk to you about that Broadway thing."
"Haven't
we gone over this already?" JC snapped, his eyes dark. "I don't want
to talk about it." He put an arm around Lance's waist and pulled him
close. "Not now. It's my
vacation."
"We
need to talk..."
"Fuck
them," JC spat. "Not
now."
"Okay,
okay," Chris sighed.
The
pool was beautiful, a sparkling aquamarine sight against the arid desert
day. Lance sighed, still amazed that he
was even there. "Wow."
"Oh,
I could so get used to this," Justin sighed quietly.
"There
are some chairs," Chris said, pointing. They found some lounge chairs in a
secluded corner and dropped their things.
Justin immediately dove into the pool.
"Go
ahead. I'll be in soon," JC told Lance. Lance smiled and went in after
Justin. JC looked at Chris. "You need to be somewhere else
tonight."
"I
don't care if I hear your little sexcapades," Chris said.
"I
care. You'll be somewhere else. Take Justin out."
"I
don't WANT to take Justin out!"
Chris said, exasperated.
"Please,
Chris. Just be nice to him. I can tell that he doesn't get this kinda thing
very often, being cooped up in that place," JC said softly. "Be nice to him."
"Fine,"
Chris grumbled, and JC grinned.
"Like
it's such a hardship," JC teased, and Chris glared.
Lance
and Justin were hanging on the side of the pool, just enjoying the cool water
and talking. JC slipped into the water
next to Lance, and Chris sat on the edge by Justin's head. "This is so nice," Lance said.
"Thank you. Really."
"Yes,
thanks," Justin added.
"No
problem. It's not like I'm not getting
something out of it, too," JC said, running a finger down Lance's side
under the water. Lance shivered.
"What
are YOU getting out of it?" Justin asked Chris innocently.
"Nothing
but trouble," Chris said, and Justin laughed. He squeezed Chris' leg but
said nothing more.
"So...I
thought we could all go for a nice dinner," JC said. "And then Chris
volunteered to take Justin out on the town. I thought we could stay in, unless
you want to go out," he said to Lance.
"I'm
not into clubs or anything," Lance said.
"Really?
A night out on the town in Vegas?" Justin almost yelled. "Chris, you
are the BEST!"
"Please
keep reminding me," Chris said.
"We'll
need to go shopping," Justin said, and Lance punched him under the water.
"What? We do? I have a nice suit
to wear for dinner, but you don't."
"You
need clothes?" JC asked quickly.
"I
don't, uh, see, I really only have work clothes, and the guys back at the
um...place...they loaned me other things, but nothing for a nice
dinner." Lance wanted to crawl
into a hole and die.
"After
we get out of here, you go buy something.
Go to the shops at Caesars or something," JC said. "I'll give
you some money."
"This
is turning into Pretty Woman," Chris grumbled. Lance blushed and JC gave Chris a look to fry him.
"Yeah,
but in Pretty Woman, wasn't Richard Gere's partner or whatever a real
jackass?" Justin asked. Chris bit
back a reply.
"Lance
is much prettier than Julia Roberts," JC said suddenly, and Lance blushed
again. Chris looked at JC for a long
moment, then looked away, deep in thought.
