Outing [8]

::OUTING::

Chapter 8

**Present time**

Vin’s POV

“Gabe, have you seen my black, pinstriped suit?” I frown, a bit frustrated, as I keep rummaging through the hangers of clothes. Damn! I think I sent it to the dry cleaner’s and forgot to pick it up. I’m such a mess.

“Why don’t you pick another one?” Gabe enters the bedroom, carrying a set of clean sheets to make the bed. “How about the beige?”

“I don’t feel like wearing the beige.” I huff under my breath. It makes me look fatter, but there’s no way I’m saying that aloud.
“In other words, you think it makes you look fat.”

Damn! I hate this mind reading shit Gabe is always pulling on me. “I don’t think-that.”

“Hm-mm.” He eyes me suspiciously and then grins. “I think you look damn sexy in it…then again you clean up real good.” Gabe gives me a seductive look and then moves towards the other side of our closet, pulling out my black, pinstriped suit, carefully draping it onto the bed. “Here. I picked it up from the dry cleaner’s yesterday, after I left the art gallery.”

So, I did send it to the dry cleaner’s after all and forgot to pick it up. “I feel like an old fart, forgetting shit.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I really need to get in shape.”

In response, Gabe snorts. “You need to get in shape like I need another cock.” He jokes, bending forward, smoothing the coat of the suit and picking some small white fluffs that got stuck on the black fabric.

I turn around, snickering at his reply but as soon as I see Gabe’s killer ass at level with my groin I let out a growl. Damn! He’s gonna be the death of me one of these days. Wonder how many blue pills are too many blue pills?

“Do not even think about it, big guy.” Gabe warns me, straightening. “Those pills are not coffee candies.”

You know? I really, really, hate this mind-reading shit Gabe’s always pulling on me, goddamnit! He’s been doing it for years though.

I just can’t keep things from him, never could; the same with him. Gabe can’t hide anything from me; he just can’t lie worth shit.

I still remember the first time we tried to fool each other; it almost ended up in a disaster. Good thing we were already falling hard and fast, otherwise who knows where we would be today? Not together, that’s for sure.

———-

**Past Time**

((Six years before))

Vin’s POV

My friends had been telling me since forever that I had no restraint, no caution. When I was younger, if I saw a fountain on a hot summer’s day, I waded into it. If someone called for help, I came running. And if I crossed paths with someone who made my cock twitch and my heart quicken, I worked my ass off until I got them in my bed.

Needless to say that this lack of restraint sometimes turned people off, and so that was the reason why I had been working on restraining myself. Not that I had been putting in a lot of effort, I admit. I mean, I liked to be impulsive and daring. If I wanted something I went to get it. No guts no glory, that was my motto. If I had made it this long it had been because I had never given up, ever.

The thing was that I did have boundless energy, but people got tired of it after a while; they said that it was hard to keep up with me. That was the reason why all my friends had kept telling me to tone it down a bit. But thinking about Gabe made me wonder if I had finally met my match. Somehow I knew that he could take everything I dished out, remaining cool. I remember that back then I thought that maybe Gabe would be the immovable rock to my unstoppable force. I wasn’t wrong.

All in all, I had sworn to myself that I would take it slow with Gabe; I didn’t feel like scaring him, but damn! All I could think about was finding out what he liked the most between the sheets and what sounds would he make if I ran my tongue over his back all the way down to his tight ass. I wanted to take his body to heaven, sending his mind south. I wanted to spoil him so badly that he’d hate every other guy’s touch but mine. I wanted to indulge in his every fantasy, one by one, just for him. Only for him.

So, with that harmless thought in mind and using what little I knew about Gabe, I had given Yoyo total freedom to do as she pleased on one condition: Gabe had to end up dazzled, astonished and fascinated. Of course, Yoyo, being the way she was, decided that because Gabriel was a painter a theme party would be the best option, and man, did she outdo herself.

When I came back to my house in LA on Friday afternoon, I found one huge tent placed in my basketball yard and like 20 employees working restlessly to get everything ready on time. Yoyo had personally supervised everything and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

She had divided the tent into different entertaining areas according to their purposes. One of them had been equipped with comfortable couches, large screens and four Xbox 360 consoles so my guests could play my videogames on them, and another area had a huge plasma screen on it to watch movies. Mine or pornos. Each area had its own bar where a stunning waitress would serve all kind of top-quality drinks and snacks, and all the meals would be self-served buffet style in a large dining room.

Yoyo had also kept in mind that my guests would need a place to chill out, dancing and partying, so her crew had turned one of the largest areas within the tent into a nightclub with go-go dancers, performers and DJs. Yoyo had thought about every single detail so it looked like a real nightclub with all the paraphernalia such as lights, sound system and the like.

The most impressive thing however was that the entire huge tent had been decorated as though an art gallery. And that wasn’t all. Yoyo had gone as far as having someone painting different backgrounds directly upon the fabric of the tent, high enough so they couldn’t be touched, and there were female and male models wearing outfits so that they could impersonate not only the paintings but also the sculptures. I had never seen anything like that before; it was fascinating.

“Well, what do you say?” Yoyo gestured around. “Do you like it?”

I nodded, speechless. To say that I liked it would have been the understatement of the century. I fucking loved it.

“Since you didn’t tell me which works of art your guest of honor likes the most, I took the liberty to choose a bit of everything.”

Yoyo was the only one who knew that I was throwing this party for just one guy. Needless to say that I didn’t tell her who my special guest would be, exactly; she didn’t need to know that. However, I could be certain that Yoyo wouldn’t reveal anything. Her discretion was as infamous as she herself was across the city of LA. She either revealed the sinner or the sin, never both, ever.

“It’s perfect, Yoyo.” I smiled, admiring the excellent job her crew had done. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but I just did my job.” She smiled pleased. “And I wouldn’t thank me just yet. Wait until you see the invoice.” Yoyo snickered and I laughed. I didn’t care what I had to pay. I was sure that it would be worth of every penny.

“Wow! What’s going on here?”

Yoyo and I turned around, finding Karim staring in awe at the walls of the tent. He was as stunned as I was, if not more.

“What are you doing here?” I frowned, glancing at Yoyo who, displaying her discretion slipped past us, heading towards the other side of the huge tent.

Karim chuckled, meeting my gaze. “I live here, remember?”

To be honest, I had been so consumed thinking about Gabriel that I had completely forgotten about Karim and the fact the he lived with me.

Yeah, I know what you all must be thinking, but in my defense let me tell you that Karim had a natural talent to make himself invisible. The boy was also pretty good at passing unnoticed if we were out and about, partying or whatever; he always managed to melt with the crowd surrounding me, never attracting the attention of paparazzi. Karim was many things but he wasn’t stupid and knew that standing out would only get him a one way ticket out of my life.

“So what’s the occasion?” He moved to my side, being careful to not get too close. Karim knew by heart rule number 1: never in public.

“I felt like throwing a party.” I looked around, doing my best to sound casual. “It’s been a long time since the last one.” The last thing I needed was Karim messing around during the weekend.

Karim knit a brow and then smiled. “I missed the hell out of you.” He pretended he was lazily stretching his back, but used the occasion to caress my lower back. “Can’t wait for you to show me how much you missed me.”

I tensed, glancing around. There were at least 15 of Yoyo’s employees coming and going. They seemed to be minding their own business and none of them were within ear shot, but I knew they were stealing glances at us. I wasn’t fond of public displays of affection either.

“‘Cause you missed me, didn’t you?”

I snapped out of my thoughts, smiling. “Yeah.” I lied.

I hadn’t missed him, not one damn bit. In fact, I hadn’t even thought about Karim at all while we had been apart, but I was not going to say that aloud, you know? It would have been thoughtless and rude.

“Vin?”

I turned around at hearing my name and saw my new PA, Oliver, quickly closing the distance with us.

Cynthia had personally selected her substitute, making sure it was someone as efficient, loyal, professional and discreet as she was.

In seconds, Karim moved away, so we weren’t too close to each other; the boy definitely knew the rules by heart.

“Yeah, tell me.” I smiled nonchalantly but hoped like hell that Oliver was bringing great news.

“The call you were waiting for.” He handed me his cell phone and I noticed how Karim looked at me, curious.

“Who is this?” Karim inquired, looking from Oliver to me and back to my PA.

“Business.” Oliver replied shortly before I had the chance to open my mouth.

“Thanks, Oliver.” I once more did my best to act nonchalant and, picking up the phone, I started to make my way back to the house. This was a call I wanted as much privacy as I could have to answer it. “Hello?”

“Vin?”

My heart skipped a beat as soon as I heard Gabe’s voice at the other side of the line. “Hey, how you doing, man?”

“I’m doing fine. What about you?”

“Now, I’m fucking great!” Before I realized I was smiling like an idiot. Good thing that there was no one around.

At the other side of the line, Gabe laughed softly.

“You sound happy.”

“That’s ’cause I am happy.” My smile grew even wider. “It makes me happy that you phoned, Gabe.”

“That’s way cool, Vin.”

I might have sounded happy but he definitely didn’t and my smile fell a little. I hoped like hell that he wasn’t going to cancel. “You coming to the party, right?”

The sudden silence at the other side of the line made me suspect that the answer would be ‘no’.

“Listen, Vin…”

I heard how Gabe let out a heavy sigh and my suspicions grew stronger. He was not going to come.

“I really appreciate your invitation but it’s been a damn long week and I’m not feeling too well.”

I knew it. My smile fell completely. “Are you okay?”

I guess the concern in my voice didn’t go unnoticed because Gabe hastened to answer.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. It’s just that…”

He trailed off, cursing softly under his breath and then went on.

“I’m not sure I’m up to party, Vin.”

There was something odd but I couldn’t figure out what it was exactly. I just knew, and it only concerned me even more. “What’s wrong, Gabe?”

He didn’t answer right away and I swear I could feel him tensing.

“Whatever is bothering you…just tell me. I’m sure we can work it out together.” The line was out before I even registered I had spoken at all. I didn’t even recognize my own voice. More than anything I wanted him to spend the weekend with me, in my house, and I realized then and there that I’d do whatever I needed to do to convince him.

Gabe went silent, as though he was thinking and I waited, growing anxious. He had to come; he had to.

“Gabe? Talk to me, man. Trust me.”

He hesitated and then mumbled something I didn’t hear clearly but that sounded a lot like ‘fuck it’ and I grinned a little.

“Where do I have to go?”

I swear my face would have split in two with the huge smile that spread on my lips. Gabe was going to come to the party and I was going to make sure that he had the time of his life. Little did I know that all my efforts would serve for nothing. I would only get Gabe feeling upset and deeply disappointed.

———–

Gabriel’s POV

‘Give me your address and I’ll send someone to pick you up’. That was what Vin had said. He had also added to get a change of clothes. Nothing fancy, just casual shit. I had rolled my eyes, snorting inwardly. Like I had fancy shit at all.

Anyway, I gave him my address and told him that I would be there in around three hours. I had yet to shoot the final scene and wasn’t sure how much time it would take.

To be honest, I had phoned the number Vin had given to me to decline his kind invitation. I though that it would be a very rude behavior to not show up without offering an explanation. But instead of Vin, a really nice guy had answered the phone. He had said that he was Oliver Wazowski, Vin’s PA, and to hold on the line while he went to get Vin.

In seconds, I had felt my heart working its way up my throat and my hands had started to shake, badly. I had been so fucking nervous that I had thought that I would pass out right then and there in the middle of the set. And then I heard Vin’s smooth, deep voice at the other side of the line and he sounded so damned happy…as though just hearing my voice had brightened his day.

It was a naïve thought and maybe even a bit stupid. I mean, who was I for real? I was a nobody and he was a celebrity. How was hearing my voice going to cause such an effect on him?

All in all the thought felt comfortable; in fact it felt fucking great, and I found myself blushing bright red. I didn’t know how or why but Vin made me feel that way, as though I meant something to him, as though he did really care for me. I wondered if this was how Vin made Valentino, Gordon and the others feel while being around him.

In a matter of seconds, my heart melted and my cock got harder. Good thing that I had used a break between takes to phone Vin. But, panic grabbed a hold of my guts too when he asked me if I was going to go to his party.

Without warning, Bruno’s words popped within my head and I recoiled in a heartbeat, wondering if Vin would still want to have something to do with me once he found that I was a porno actor. The ugly suspicion had upset me so much that I had started making up excuses.

It was true that I hadn’t been lying, not completely, anyway. I hadn’t felt too well. In fact, I had felt like puking my guts out, not because I was nervous, which I was, but because since I had been a kid, I had never been able to have a normal life, ever, and all I wanted was to enjoy some of that.

Hanging out with friends, making jokes, having fun…all these things had been out of my hand’s reach. A ‘just us’ guys party sounded like heaven, but I wasn’t sure if I would fit. And then there it had been again, that concern in his voice; it sounded real and it touched me like few things did.

I had never had a lot of friends either, and to be honest, I felt a bit lonely.

Lately, Max had seemed to be busier than ever, always partying around and doing a lot of things. He always included me in his plans, but half the shit Max was invited to assist in wasn’t my taste. There was Fred too, of course, but he had his own shit to deal with and some sort of a girlfriend he was spending a lot of time with. And then there was Gordon, but between his job and his busy schedule, well, he hadn’t been a lot around either. In fact, he hadn’t even shown at the gym during the last week.

So, yeah, I had been feeling pretty lonely and had also been wondering why couldn’t I enjoy some sort of normal shit like everybody else? I mean, I was always locked in my apartment, painting, or working. I almost couldn’t remember the last time I had gone out and about had been! Hell! Gordon had been damn right; I looked like a damned hermit. So, I said ‘fuck it’ and told Vin that I would be waiting for that ’someone’ to pick me up.

Shooting that final scene didn’t take as long as I thought it would take, and two hours later the scene was done, but so I was. Being fucked by five guys hadn’t been any joke, let me tell you. I didn’t have any bruises left, that was true, and everybody had been wonderful with me, but now that everything was over, well, I was exhausted and sore, and couldn’t wait to arrive at Vin’s place to chill out.

“Hey, Gabriel!” Bruno called me and I smiled at him as I finished dressing. “Derrick and I are gonna make dinner for some of the guys. You feel like coming?”

I shook my head ‘no’. “Thanks, but I already got plans. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” he waved away my apologies with a radiant smile and looked at Max. “What about you, Maximilian, you up to party with us?” I saw how Bruno openly leered at Max.

“I’m always up to party.” Max winked seductively and I chuckled.

Max had already told me that Derrick and Bruno had an open relationship; they used to invite people to have dinner and fun with them. Threesome and foursomes seemed to be daily occurrence at the couple’s home and everybody was welcome on one condition. Derrick got to record everything.

“Cool! Can’t wait to feel that gorgeous cock of yours up my tight, pretty ass.” Bruno gave Max a slow once over and Max reciprocated by leering back at him. Then Bruno returned his attention to me. “You sure you don’t feel like joining us?”

I smiled a bit apologetically. “Thank you, Bruno, but maybe another time.”

“Yeah, sure, whenever you want, honey.” Bruno sighed, a bit defeated and, giving one last look at Max, he left to get ready.

Max then looked at me. “Where are you going, sweetheart, if you don’t mind me asking.” His voice sounded casual, but I knew better.

“To a party,” I answered shortly.

I knew that Max didn’t like Vin too much, so I thought that it would be better if I kept to myself the details about who was hosting the aforesaid party, especially after what happened at Cynthia’s hen party.

“Up in the hills of LA?”

The hint of sarcasm in Max’s voice didn’t go unnoticed on me. I should have known that he would suspect where I was going, exactly.

I went on the defensive. “Yeah, got a problem with that?” I turned fully facing him.

I might be naïve but I wasn’t stupid. I had already figured out that Max was behind Bruno’s and Derrick’s enlightening chat. His intentions were good, but he kept doing it the wrong way.

You all should know that gays aren’t different than straights. Tell us that we can’t have something and it’ll be all we want, and we won’t give up until we get it.

“Hey, it’s your life, sweetheart.” Max lifted his hands as if in mock surrender.

“Damn right it is!” I snapped, rather sharply, I admit. I was starting to be more than fed up with people poking their noses into my life.

“Are you mad at me?” Max actually looked a bit surprised.

“Hell, yeah! I’m mad at you.”

“And what the fuck for? I’ve done nothing.”

“Nothing?” I found myself clenching my teeth. “You call setting me up nothing?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about this fucking movie, Max!”

“What about it?” Max looked a bit perplexed. He had great acting skills, that was for sure, but I was starting to see where all this shit was heading. “You said you hated amateur hardcore shit.”

“And I do hate it!”

“Than, what’s the matter?” Max crossed his arms over his chest. “I got you in this movie so you had a chance to get an agent or a contract with a serious production company, so you didn’t have to deal with fuckers like ‘Leather Daddy’ and ‘Stallion’ anymore, and this is how you thank me?”

“Thank you?!” I snapped getting angrier by the second. He had to be fucking kidding me. How was I going to thank him for this shit?

“Fuck, yeah! I did it so you had a chance to make big bucks with decent people like Derrick backing you up.” Max sounded serious, as though he really did believe what he was saying and his motivations to act in such a sneaky way with me. “No more fuckers taking advantage of you or shitty movies shot in someone’s basement. This is much better, at least with guys like these you’ll have a chance to do great.”

“Oh, right, so you did it for my own good?” I glared at him. I was not going to let Max fool me. This was selfish shit all the way.

“What other reason may I possibly have?” He cocked his head to one side and smiled smugly. That did it.

“Your own goddamnit good, Maximilian!” I shot angrily.

It was right then and there when it struck me. Max only had two close friends, Fred and me; well actually, we were his only friends. The rest of the people Max knew were just acquaintances, people he fucked or worked with.

If I got admitted to the art school, then I wouldn’t be around as frequently as I had been. Max surely feared that I would end up turning my back on him, pretending that we hadn’t been close friends nor had met at all. Of course, I wouldn’t have done that, not in a million years, but Max was pretty burned out. He didn’t trust people for the hell of it anymore.

“My what?” Max blinked, as though astonished by my reply and then he recovered in a heartbeat. “You’re fucking nuts, kid.” He turned around and started gathering his shit. I knew he was dismissing me and it only got me angrier.

My anger erupted. “No, I’m not nuts, you little selfish queer!” At my reply Max’s eyebrows shot up. Now he was astonished for real. “You got me in this movie to make sure that I didn’t have a chance to make a reality of my ultimate dream!” I paused, taking a ragged breath. I was almost panting. “You don’t want me leaving this shitty lifestyle ’cause then there won’t be anyone else around and you’ll be alone for real!”

“What the fuck are you talking about, boy?” Now he was the one going on the defensive and I knew that I had touched a sore spot. I didn’t care.

“You damn well know, Max! Everybody will watch this movie and, just like Bruno said, I won’t be able to have a normal life anymore. I will not be able to get a job outside the business after this! Hell! Maybe I won’t even be admitted at the art school!”

Max snorted, rolling his eyes, as though I had said the biggest bullshit ever, but the way his entire body tensed said another thing.

“Oh, come on, you don’t give a fuck about what people may say about you, Gabriel, you never did.” Max finally shot back with malice. “You worry ’cause maybe after this, Mr. Vin muscled asshole Diesel won’t want to fuck your pretty ass anymore, but guess what? He loves porno actors!”

I actually gasped, shocked at his words. What the hell was he talking about?

“Damn right, sweetheart,” he spit out the affectionate pet name like it was poison. “Ask around. He already did Sebastian Boner and others too. Diesel is especially fond of people in the porno business and he doesn’t care if they are men or women. It seems that the fucker’s huge, so that way he can be sure that he’ll fit!” Max paused for a second, thoughtful, and then chuckled. “In fact, I did you a favor, hon, in a way, I smoothed your way into his bed-Gabe!”

I recoiled. Max’s words did hurt me more than a kick in my balls and all my anger drained, leaving just pain. “Why are you doing this to me, Max?” I choked back on a sob, feeling the familiar sting of tears behind my eyes. “Do you hate me that much?”

In a heartbeat, Max threw himself at me, holding me against him. “Oh, sweetheart, I do not hate you, baby. I love you.” He whispered, squeezing me tighter. “And that’s the reason why I’m telling you this. You have to know what you’re getting into, Gabriel. I don’t want you hurting so badly that you wish you’re dead to stop feeling.” His voice sounded strangled as he rocked me gently, kissing my forehead. “You deserve much better than Vin Diesel, sweetheart. You’re too precious for someone like him.”

I squeezed my eyes shut but it was too late and the tears started rolling down my cheeks.

“I don’t want you going through the same hell I did, Gabriel. I don’t want you being despised or belittled because of who you are.” Max whispered, his lips pressed against my temple. “He’ll tell you that he loves you and he’ll do anything so you feel precious and unique…he’ll ask you to trust him, to let him in…and then he’ll break your heart in million pieces, stamping all over your feelings, leaving you with nothing but an empty hollow so big that you’ll never be able to recover…ever…”

I felt his own tears falling down unrestrained and it was then when I realized that Max wasn’t talking about me anymore, but about himself; he was sharing his own experience with me. Someone had hurt him so badly that had left him unable to feel anymore.

I knew that Max really did love me and wanted nothing more than good things to happen to me, but…I was not him and something told me that, deep down, Vin wasn’t like that bastard who had broken Max’s heart either.

Don’t ask me why because I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I did know that I wouldn’t be just a fuck for Vin, and that was what scared me the most. To be a fuck I could deal with. A casual lover? I had had many of those, but I had never had a relationship, ever. All I knew about was fuck’em and forget’em, moving on. But I also knew that I was falling hard and fast for Vin and that I had already reached a point of no return.

I already said this before. I was naïve, but I wasn’t stupid. People liked to fool me and most of the times they succeeded, but not always. Eventually, I had always been able to get the whole picture, only thing was that it took me more time than most people to figure shit out.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Max sniffed, stroking my hair and then released me. “Bruno and Derrick will love for you to join us.”

“I’m not going, Max.” I met his shocked, teary eyes, blinking my own tears away and smiled. “I’m gonna go to his party.”

Max opened his mouth to argue back but maybe the fierce determination in my voice and the steel expression on my face made him change his mind. Then he nodded, wiping away my tears. “Okay, then promise me something.”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes a little.

Max took my hands in his, squeezing them softly and looked at me square in the eyes. “Promise me that no matter what you won’t let anyone undermine you. Just promise me that.” His voice sounded deadly serious.

I smiled, relieved that we were done fighting. I hated to argue with Max; we were like brothers and it was painful. “I promise you that I will not let anyone treat me like shit. How about that? It’s that okay with you?”

“Yeah, that works for me.” He hugged me again, kissing my lips softly and smiled. “Call me if you need me or whatever.”

I knit a brow, recalling how he had told me not to go looking for him if I ended up getting my heart broken. “You sure you want me to call you?”

“You bet your pretty ass, sweetheart.” Max smiled widely, caressing my cheek.

I sighed. “But you said-”

He didn’t let me finish. “I said a lot of shit. But you better come looking for me if you need a shoulder to cry on,” his smile turned mischievous and he plunged, “or a blowjob.” Max waggled his eyebrows and I grinned.

Lately we had been fighting a lot and saying things that hurt, but we loved each other. “Love you.” I pulled him to me and he hugged me tightly.

“Me too, sweetheart, me too.” He stroked my back and then released me, grinning. “Don’t forget the lube.” Max teased me and I laughed softly.

“And the condoms.” I added, picking my backpack.

I always thought that gay men’s best friends were lube and condoms, but Max’s main motto seemed to be ‘live fast, die young and leave a good looking corpse’.

Max chuckled, waved at me and was gone in seconds. I remember that I wondered how many times Max had fucked or had been fucked by someone without using protection, and then wondered if his insane, foolish behavior would end up taking its toll on him. Sadly enough, it wouldn’t be much longer until I got the answer to that question.

Ch 9