Of course. Why would Kelly seek the company of a woman when he had a perfectly good hand at his disposal? If Owen had that particular hand at his disposal, he might not be so anxious to hook up with some stranger either.
Memories of Sara had done this to Kelly; Owen just didn't understand why his friend was faithful to a dead girl. After Sara had passed, it had taken Kelly a couple of years to even touch another woman. Then he'd progressed to eating them out as long as they were restrained and Owen had been there with him. Now Kelly wouldn't do anything sexual with anyone, no matter how many times Owen agreed to give him a hand or any other body part he wanted to utilize.
When Owen had given Kelly the cuff, he'd hoped it would be another step forward. He'd wanted the bracelet to remind Kelly of how stupid he was being-that no matter how much he wanted Sara back, it was impossible. She was gone. But the constant reminder of her on Kelly's wrist had only managed to solidify his dedication to abstinence. He hadn't merely taken a step back; he'd fallen off the ladder. Sure, Kelly went to Tony's sex clubs with the rest of them, but he never did anything. Comparatively speaking.
"Don't you think it's time to take off that cuff?"
"Not yet," Kelly said. "But I am a little horny."
"A little? Dude, your balls are so blue, you should start your own Blue Man Group."
Kelly laughed. "And you know that how?"
"Gabe was checking you out in the shower. He told me you're suffering from a colorful condition."
Owen had noticed their drummer standing in the shadows-you couldn't miss that eight-inch-high, red and black mohawk of his-but didn't know if Gabe was listening in or not. Hard to tell with Gabe-the dude was often lost in thought. A person could carry on an entire one-sided conversation with him, and he didn't hear a word. He was, however, paying attention tonight.
"They were a little blue," Gabe said. "I don't think they're quite up to Blue Man standards. Better luck next time, Kellen."
"Hopes, dreams, and aspirations dashed again," Kelly said. "One day they'll be blue enough, you wait and see."
Gabe chuckled and shook his head.
"Hey," Owen said, grabbing Kelly's arm and leaning close, trying to look earnest, "you're not allowed to leave the band for the Vegas spotlight. I don't care how blue they get."
"I thought you, of all people, would be supportive of my desire to attain permanent blue balls. Surely you recognize my need to find others of my kind." Kelly said this with such conviction that anyone who didn't know him would have thought he was serious and offered him a cash donation for his cause.
Owen tried to keep a straight face, but snorted as a laugh escaped him.
"God, will you two knock it off?" Adam said. His ever-expanding collection of chains rattled in the semi-darkness to Owen's left. "You act like a couple of prepubescent boys when you're together. If I wanted kids, I wouldn't have made an appointment to get a vasectomy."
"As much as I joke about my balls," Kelly said, "I'd never let anyone come at 'em with a scalpel. Ever."
"And that's why you'll end up paying child support someday." Adam crossed his arms to rest on the body of his guitar and lifted a dark eyebrow at Kelly. "Some gold-digger will poke pinholes in your condoms and whoops, there's a two-million-dollar mistake."
"Does your girlfriend know you're getting snipped?" Owen asked. "She seems like the type who'd want kids."
"That's why I'm getting them snipped."
"You don't trust her?"
"Of course I trust her. I just lose my head around her. She'd say the word and I'd be doing my damnedest to knock her up. I don't have any business fathering a child. Look at the example I had to follow."
Adam's father was the poster child for bad parenting, but that didn't mean Adam would follow in the old man's footsteps. Still, Owen understood his hesitation over kids. Just the thought of having a kid made him break out in hives. He might consider it in twenty or thirty years. Or never.
"Kelly's not getting any, so he doesn't have to worry about it." Owen said. "But I strictly adhere to the BYOC rule. No kids for me."
"With that monstrosity in your junk, you probably poke holes in your own condoms by accident," Adam said.
Another reason Owen always brought his own; certain brands were more durable than others. A man had to be careful to use the right protection if he had adornments in certain body parts.
"You guys don't know what you're missing," Shade said. "Kids are awesome." The band's lead singer had sported a stupid grin of one degree or another all day. Sure, Shade smiled now, but if his ex-wife ever found out why he looked like he'd been huffing nitrous oxide, he wouldn't be smiling then. Tina would rip his lips right off his face. His ex wouldn't take kindly to Shade dating her sister. Tina hated Shade's fucking guts and wanted him miserable for all eternity. So far, fate had been working in her favor.