“Fuck him. He shouldn’ta asked if we were homos.”
“Those chicks we ignored put him up to it. I’m sure.”
“Still.” Griffin staggered, then caught himself and leaned against David for support. “Bros before hos. Every guy knows that. Just ’cause we didn’t want no pussy, doesn’t mean we’re gay. Shit. Fuckin’ pussy, anyhow. Nothin’ but trouble.”
“Shh. Don’t say that too loud–there might be more paps around.” All he needed was that sort of quote showing up on the tabloid shows.
“Dude. Sorry.” Griffin slapped him between the shoulders, made him stagger back. The hotel lobby was quiet and cool. “Hey. There’s a pool table in the bar. Wanta play?”
Pool. He played all the time at home with Dan. He’d whip Griffin’s ass. “Sure, yeah.” Why waste a bitchin’ buzz?
They had the bar to themselves, aside from a hot little number serving drinks–who let them know from the get-go that she was into chicks.
“California girls,” he muttered. “Boob jobs and fish tacos, that’s what they all want.” Enrique played on the jukebox, screaming about a dirty, dirty dancer.
“Yeah, well.” Griffin paused to rearrange the pool balls in the rack. “Unless a chick needs pulled out of a fire, I’m not goin’ near one anymore. Fuck ’em all. Go ahead and break.”
David shot, blasted the balls apart, sunk the two and six in the far corners.
Griffin bent over, laughing. “So that’s how it is, huh? Damn.” He shook his head while David kept shooting until he’d cleared all the evens.
“Over there.” David indicated a side pocket, then sunk the eight.
“Well, fuck. If I’m gonna keep watching you bust it out like that, I’m gonna need some more tequila. Whattaya say?”
“Loser buys,” David answered, racking the balls.
“Fuck that!” Griffin laughed on his way to the bar.
David didn’t care how many eight-dollar shots he had to buy, so long as tomorrow, he couldn’t remember a damn thing about today. Maybe he could drink enough to forget the whole damn week.
* * * *
His cell was vibrating, and his head hurt like a motherfucker. What the hell time was it, anyway? He had to stop the noise somehow. Screen said Dan.
“H’lo?” he croaked.
“Now you’re a fag?” Dan cackled into the phone.
“What?”
“It’s all over the net and headlines on that E! channel. Video of you with some guy out at a bar. I had no idea, brother.” More laughter.
“Fuck.”
“I especially like how you flipped ’em off, though. They had to blur your hand and stuff, and you kept moving it around. Must’ve taken ’em all night to get it edited for TV. On the net, they just show you giving ’em the bird.”
In the other bed, Griffin groaned and pulled his pillow over his face.
“Fuck.”
“Is that all you got to say? How’d you end up gay on that cruise? Not enough chicks to go ’round?” Dan’s laughter had to be the most annoying sound on the planet.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Don’t worry, bro. Once you get out here tomorrow, we’ll tie a few on, and hit some sweet babes. Everybody’ll know it was a bullshit story.”
“I gotta go hurl now. Later.” He pressed End and moaned. Hurling would have to wait. He hurt too much to get up and puke.
“So we’re lovers now.” The pillow muffled Griffin’s voice, and his chuckle.
“Don’t even fuckin’ say that. And it’s not funny.” The whole gay thing… Jesus. He wasn’t. He couldn’t be, not if he wanted to keep his sponsors.
“Christ, man. Lighten up.” Griffin flung his pillow at him. “I gotta face the guys at the station. They’ll never let this go.”
True enough. Griffin probably would get razzed at work just like he had from Dan. He shouldn’t, but… “Yeah, well. I can see how it’d be harder for you. After all, you enjoyed getting BJs from dudes.”
“Whatevs, man. I can guess how it was with you and Mr. Grant. Uh-huh.” Griffin sat up and stuck his tongue in his cheek, mimicking a blow job.
Christ. “Keep fantasizing.”
“No, dude. Seriously.” Griffin cradled his forehead with one palm, but his eyes met David’s. “You wouldn’t, like…tell stories about stuff from the cruise to anybody, right?” He hunched forward, holding his belly. “Cause, really, I’m not into that. I never expected to see you again when I told you that shit.”
Whew. Griffin had his own shame, so they were in this thing together. “It’s cool, man. We’ll put all those stories in the vault, right?”