“What about our underwear?” Luis asked. His voice was so slurred his words ran together.
“Let’s just leave it here,” Jase said. “We don’t need it.”
Luis nodded yes and lifted his right leg. He braced himself by holding on to Jase’s neck, then jumped up so he could wrap both legs around Jase’s waist. When he did this, and his legs were spread as wide as they would go, the guys below them went wild. Three of them pounded the bar, and one reached up and tried to put his hand on Luis’s ass. Another guy was begging Jase to fuck Luis right there on the stage. “Just bend him over and give it to him hard,” the guy shouted. “Fuck his brains out, man.”
But Jase wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. His only concern was to get Luis off the stage and back to the locker room safely. So he reached down and placed both hands on Luis’s ass to support him. Luis was much lighter than Jase had imagined he would be, and when Luis rested his cheek on Jase’s shoulder and curled up against Jase’s body, Jase didn’t even break a sweat. It was nothing to carry him off the stage and back into the locker room so they could get dressed and go home.
* * * *
They put on their clothes and made it back to the truck without any problems. But on the way back home, Jase had to pull over twice so Luis could throw up. Jase tried hard to drive slowly to avoid bouncing around. Everything would have been fine if an older man carrying a duffel bag hadn’t decided to cross the street in midtown without looking both ways. Jase had to stop short and pull to the right, and the truck jumped the curb and he wound up halfway on the sidewalk. A block later, Luis made him pull over so he could open the door and throw up. The second time they pulled over was while they were driving through the park. Jase misjudged a curve and the back of the truck fishtailed. By the time Jase righted the truck, Luis was begging him to pull over again.
When they finally reached Jase’s parking garage, Luis wasn’t dizzy anymore and the world wasn’t spinning in circles. Throwing up had helped sober him. He only staggered slightly when they walked back to their building. When they both realized they’d forgotten their keys to the front door, Luis pushed Mr. Gordon’s button and Mr. Gordon buzzed them into the building.
Inside, Luis started to ramble with a slurred voice and he couldn’t seem to navigate the stairs safely. So Jase picked him hip, tossed him over his shoulder, and carried him up all five flights.
On the fourth flight, Mr. Gordon leaned over the railing and screamed at them. “I’m going to call the police this time. I’m never going to get any sleep in this place. Why can’t you people remember you keys?”
Luis looked up and shook his fist slowly and awkwardly. “Stop shouting, Mr. Gordon, you’re going to wake up the entire block.”
Jase looked up and waved at the old man, signaling that everything was okay. Mr.
Gordon looked down at him and frowned. Then he shook his head and walked back into his apartment.
As usual, Luis had left his apartment door open. When they were inside, Jase put him down and he stumbled into the kitchen to check the dog. “I have to walk him,” Luis said. “He hasn’t been out since we left for the airport.”
“I’ll take him out,” Jase said. “You’re in no condition to go back outside.”
“There’s absolutely nothing significantly wrong with me,” Luis said. His voice was still slurred and his eyes were still glossy.
Jase picked the dog up and walked back to the door. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
It didn’t take long. The minute Jase put the dog down on the sidewalk, he went to the nearest tree, lifted his leg, and relieved himself. Jase waited a few minutes to see if the dog had to do anything else, then scooped him up and brought him back to Luis’s apartment. Luis was standing on the kitchen counter by then, rummaging around a shelf above the cabinets for something.
Jase put the dog down and walked up behind him. He put his hands on Jase’s hips and said, “You’re going to kill yourself up there. Come on down now.”
“I want a drink,” Luis said. He pulled a bottle of vodka down that couldn’t have had more than an ounce at the bottom.
Jase helped him down and said, “You’ve had enough tonight. You need to go to bed.”
Luis frowned and jerked away. “I want another drink,” he said, and then he opened the bottle and gulped down the few remaining drops.
When he was finished, he looked up at Jase and said, “I’m finished with looking for Mr.
Right. I’m going to take Derrick up on his offer.”
“What offer?”
Luis lowered his head and leaned forward as if he were about to tell Jase a deep national secret. “Derrick has asked me to move in with him. He wants me to be his life partner and I’m going to accept the offer.”
Jase ran his hand down the back of his head and looked down at his shoes. Though Derrick was a nice guy and he’d enjoyed spending time with him, the man was old enough to be Luis’s grandfather.
“What’s wrong?” Luis asked. “Don’t you approve?”
Jase’s entire body tightened. “It’s none of my business,” he said. His voice was flat and even. He showed no emotion whatsoever. In fact, he didn’t approve. But Luis was too drunk to know what he was saying or doing and he didn’t want to discuss anything important until Luis was sober.
“Don’t look at me that way,” Luis said. “Don’t judge me. Derrick is a wonderful man.
He’s one of the wealthiest real estate agents in Manhattan. He has millions. I’m tired of waiting for Mr. Right. I want money this time. I want lots of money. By this time next month, I’ll be living with Derrick. We’ll be one of the most important gay power couples in town.”
“I’m not judging you,” Jase said. He wasn’t taking anything he said seriously.
“Do you have anything to drink in your place?” Luis asked. “I want another drink.”
“You’ve had enough,” Jase said. “Let’s get you into bed now.”
“I can pay you for it,” Luis said. “I have money. I don’t want a man who disapproves of me buying me drinks.” He walked into the living room and crouched down on the floor. He pulled a small metal box out from under the loveseat. When he opened it, he pulled out a wad of cash and found a twenty-dollar bill. He tossed the cash back into the box and handed the twenty to Jase. “Here,” he said. “Take this.” He waved it up and down. “I won’t take drinks from guys who don’t approve of me, especially guys like you who are being kept by younger men. You should be used to taking money from younger guys like me.” Then he dropped the twenty between Jase’s feet and yawned.