It didn't take long for Treston to learn that strait-laced Cooper Boon, who appeared so conservative and set in his ways on the outside, had a few kinky needs in the bedroom. They weren't outrageous; just little things like Treston wearing his boots or Treston wearing long fake red fingernails. Cooper really seemed to get off spanking Treston with all kinds of things, from kitchen spatulas to the soles of his cowboy boots. Though these were not kinky things Treston would have ever done or even suggested, Treston felt the need to please the man he was in love with, partly because he was Treston's hero and partly because Cooper was the one man with the ability to take Treston away from the only life he'd known as a stripper.
While Treston headed toward the trail that afternoon, he started to whistle You Are My Sunshine again. He felt unusually excited and didn't know why. But as he turned right to head off the road, he heard a car coming, followed by sound of deep familiar voice saying, "Do you need a ride, bitch?"
Treston stopped walking and glanced up at the clear sky. He took a quick breath and rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened in the past month. He turned slowly and glanced at the long black limo that had stopped at the side of the road. He put his hands on his hips, frowned, and said, "No, thank you. I don't need a ride." He had to clench his teeth to force himself not to smile.
Chad Pratt was hanging out of the back window. From what Treston could see, he was naked. Chad climbed up a little higher, flashed his dick, and said, "C'mon, bitch. You know you need me. I'll take you home. This park ranger shit isn't for you and you know it. You need a guy like me. You crave it."
Ever since the night they'd had dinner, Chad had been trying to contact him. Treston had thought the roses Chad had sent the day after had been the end of all this silliness. But he'd been wrong. A week after that Chad came to the club to watch him shoot ping-pong balls and he'd requested a private show later that night. When Chickey told Treston that Chad was waiting for him in the back, Treston explained to Chickey he didn't want to do a private show with Chad because he didn't want to get involved with him. He told Chickey the entire story about meeting Chad, having dinner with him, and the way Chad had been hounding him. Chickey listened without saying a word. After Treston explained the situation, Chickey went back and told Chad it wasn't going to happen. This was one of the things about Chickey that Treston loved most. It was also why he insisted on giving Chickey plenty of notice before he quit his job to marry Cooper. Treston knew the ping-pong ball show was important to the club and he didn't want Chickey to lose money. Chickey truly cared for the guys who worked for him and he never forced them to do anything they didn't want to do. Not even with Chad Pratt.
"Will you please leave me alone?" Treston said. "I'm not getting in the car with you, you tired old movie star." Although Treston thought Chad looked as adorable as ever hanging out of the back window naked, and they both knew he was only joking when he called him a tired old movie star, there was nothing Treston would to do ruin his wonderful relationship with Cooper. To leave a good solid man with a set routine for the worst bad boy in Vegas might have been something Treston would have done a year earlier. But not anymore.
Chad threw one of his long legs out the window and over the side of the limo. He started playing with himself-clearly not serious about getting off because that would have been insane; just joking around-right there on the side of the road and said, "I'm never going to leave you alone. I love you. I'm even thinking about starting a new career as a stripper to get closer to you."
"Well, I don't love you," Treston said. "And you're too old to strip."
Chad laughed. "Yes, you do. You just won't admit it. And I'll bet I could shoot ping-pong balls out of my ass better than you."
"I don't have to admit anything," Treston said. "And you only think you love me because I keep rejecting you. I know how that works, trust me. It's all a big game with guys like you, the assholes of the world, and the only reason you want me is because I don't want you."
"I've changed," Chad said. "I'm not an asshole anymore. I'm not even an asswipe."
"That's not what I read in the newspaper," Treston said. About a week after Treston had had dinner with Chad, while Chad had been sending him roses and gifts, Chad's blond boyfriend with the potty mouth had discovered Chad in bed with his brother again. The blond potty mouth went berserk and chased his brother down the street naked. When potty mouth caught his brother, he beat him up-kicks and scratches-he wound up getting arrested and the brother pressed charges against him. Of course Chad had kept his own name out of the paper, and what that had cost him Treston could only guess. But Treston knew the moment he read the article and recognized the photo of the blond potty mouth on the front page, Chad had been the man they'd been fighting over.