Cage Match (13 page)

Andreas didn‟t bother with a denial since it would only confirm Timon‟s

suspicions. He steeled himself for some merciless teasing by practicing Jabez‟s turtle

impersonation. He sat on the chair across from Rabi and sipped his drink.

Rabi smoothed his silk shirt over his rounded stomach. “If this is the new chic

trend, I‟m in. Daddy, I want a stud under my tree for Christmas.”

“Do you have him wearing a choke chain or a bow around his neck?” Timon

asked with glittering eyes and a gleaming smile. Andreas had never before noticed how

much he did look like a shark.

“Aw, come on, lighten up,” Rabi added. “You look like someone pooped on your

parade.”

“I‟m not amused,” Andreas drawled with a jaded tone to match his friends‟.

“Might find you funny if I was twelve.”

Timon and Rabi laughed, and Simeon saluted Andreas with his glass.

Why did he hang out with these people? He couldn‟t remember when or why

they‟d become his friends.

“We‟re going out tonight, and you‟re going with. Bring your new friend, but we

won‟t take no for an answer. We miss you.” Timon fluffed a hand through his

chartreuse locks and fingered the silver hoop in his ear. “Not all of us have hot sex

slaves at home. We have to go out and find someone if we‟re going to get laid. Maybe

having your boy along will bait the hook.”

“Speak for yourself. I don‟t need any more bait than this.” As Rabi indicated his

big body, rings sparkled on his fingers and bracelets jangled around his thick wrists.

Rabi tended to overaccessorize.

Simeon wandered over from the bar, working on his third drink, and nudged

Andreas‟s shoulder. “Come on. These assholes are right. We miss hanging with you,

and we‟d like to meet your new…whatever he is. Besides, Timon told us you‟ve turned

your studio into a gym. I want to see that.”

Realizing that getting them out of his house would require a crowbar, and

diverting Timon from a path once he‟d chosen it was nearly impossible, Andreas rose to

his feet. “Fine. I‟ll show you my gym and introduce you to Jabez.”

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Rabi heaved to his feet and clapped his hands together. “And show us your new

fight moves? I‟d pay to see that, especially if you‟re both naked.”

Andreas felt like a weight was hanging over his head as he led his friends upstairs.

An inner voice warned him that exposing Jabez to their brand of vicious teasing was a

terrible idea, but he didn‟t see any way around it. Better to acknowledge that he and

Jabez were a couple—
were they?
—and force his friends to accept the idea.

He showed them into the gym, bathed in the golden glow of late-afternoon

sunlight, and left them trying on the boxing gloves while he went to find Jabez.

Jabez was in his room, sitting on his bed cross-legged and looking at a book, a

picture book with real paper, that Andreas had given him. It had been one he‟d enjoyed

as a child, and despite Jabez‟s initial refusal, he had been learning to read under

Andreas‟s tutoring.

Wearing an unbuttoned, white Oxford shirt and a pair of gray pajama pants, Jabez

looked as mouthwateringly sexy as Andreas had ever seen him. But then he always

looked hot no matter what he wore or didn‟t wear. A perverse part of Andreas felt like

showing him off exactly as he was with the open shirt exhibiting his chiseled torso, but

he wouldn‟t treat him like a piece of meat for his friends to inspect.

“Hi. You remember Timon? Well, he‟s here along with a couple of other friends.

They‟d like to meet you, then take us out for the evening,” Andreas blurted and

received the expected response. Jabez‟s face, which had been open and nearly smiling at

the sight of him, closed down faster than a Florida town in hurricane season.

“I feel bad about this,” Andreas continued. “You probably won‟t find their

company pleasant, but I can‟t send them away without meeting you. Hell, I want them

to meet you, to know who I‟m spending all my time with. I‟ll get rid of them as soon as

I can, I promise.”

He paused to draw breath and gauge Jabez‟s expression again. It was like trying to

read a compass in a cave.

He rose from the bed. “All right. Let me put something else on.”

“Okay. I‟ll wait outside for you.” Andreas paused before leaving the room. “And,

Jabez, don‟t let anything they say get to you. What they might think doesn‟t have

anything to do with how I feel about—with my opinions.”

He stepped into the hallway, and the door slid closed behind him. He‟d wanted to

give Jabez time alone in the room to collect himself, but now he felt fidgety and

impatient waiting in the hall. Keep it short and send them on their way, he coached

himself. Everything will be fine.

Jabez emerged from his room still wearing the long-sleeved white shirt, buttoned,

with a pair of charcoal gray slacks. Except for his build, still apparent despite the

covering of a shirt, he looked like any uptown office worker dressed for a casual

evening out. Impulsively, Andreas grabbed his arm and pulled him close. He lifted his

face and pressed a quick kiss against nonresponsive lips.

“Don‟t worry. This will be okay. Don‟t feel uncomfortable.”

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61

Jabez gazed back into his eyes, and the sapphire had turned to cobalt. “I‟m not. I

think you are, though. I‟ll keep my mouth shut and try not to embarrass you.”

Andreas scrambled to catch up both mentally and physically as Jabez strode

ahead of him down the corridor. He‟d never imagined Jabez might think he was

ashamed to introduce him to his old friends. In Andreas‟s mind, it was totally the other

way around. He was nervous about the impression his shallow, self-involved,

patronizing friends would make on a man whose opinion he valued.

When they entered the room, the light had changed from gold to orange as the sun

was setting on the horizon. Rabi and Timon were in the ring, jabbing at each other with

the boxing gloves. Simeon lounged against the ropes, a bottle hanging negligently from

one hand.

At the sight of Andreas and Jabez, Rabi raised a gloved hand. “Time out.”

Timon took advantage and threw a punch that caught him in his expansive gut.

Rabi expelled a sharp breath and clutched his stomach. “Fuck!”

As Timon ambled over to the ropes, Andreas quickly made introductions.

“Simeon, Timon, and Rabi.” He pointed each of them out. “This is my new friend and

employee, Jabez.”
Please, God, don’t let them say anything demeaning.

His prayer was fruitless as Rabi joined Timon at the edge of the ring.

“Damn, look at that body!” Rabi exclaimed. “Tell me again why we‟re going

barhopping tonight when we can stop by a fight club and pick up one of those to keep.”

Andreas cringed inside. Had Rabi always been this crude and cruel? Why had he

never heard it before? He cut a glance at Jabez, but his face was like stone, not a flicker

of emotion showed in his eyes.

“Quiet, Rabi. This is a new friend, not a boy toy.” Timon elbowed him. “Show him

some respect.”

It was a toss-up whether Rabi‟s blunt teasing or Timon‟s barely veiled sarcasm

was more annoying.

“It‟s going to be a long night.” Simeon shook his head and drank from the bottle.

“Not that long,” Andreas said. “I appreciate you stopping by, but Jabez and I have

other plans for this evening, so I‟m going to have to ask you to leave soon.”

Timon climbed between the ropes and tossed the gloves on the ground. “Nope.

Change your plans. You‟re going with us. We insist. If Jabez is going to be your new

bestest friend, we need to get to know him, and there‟s no better way to do that than to

get drunk together.” He slung an arm around Andreas‟s shoulders and another around

Jabez‟s back. “You‟ll get used to our ways, Jay. We tease a lot, but it‟s all in fun.”

“Lots of fun,” Simeon echoed, slurring the
S
. He extended the whiskey bottle to

Jabez. “Have a drink?”

To Andreas‟s surprise, Jabez accepted the bottle and took a swig. Other than

having wine with dinner or an occasional beer, he‟d shown no interest in drinking until

now. He swallowed deeply, and when he pulled the bottle away from his lips, he didn‟t

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cough or gasp, as if the liquid were no stronger than a beer. He handed the bottle back

to Simeon, who gave a ponderous nod and accepted it.

“To friends.”

“Absolutely.” Rabi heaved his bulk between the ropes, then carefully rearranged

his clothes. “To good friends who share their bounty.” He reached for the bottle,

snapping his fingers at Simeon, but stared at Jabez with a lascivious look that gave

another message about what he‟d like to share.

Andreas‟s skin crawled at Rabi‟s look and the thought of anyone besides himself

touching Jabez. He shouldn‟t be so disgusted. It wasn‟t as if the four of them hadn‟t

swapped partners or shared lovers in the past. Sex in all its combinations and

configurations was simply another form of recreation for them. He shouldn‟t be so

horrified that Rabi considered Jabez fair game, but things were different now.
He
was

different now.

Andreas stepped away from Timon‟s arm around his shoulders and resisted the

impulse to pull Jabez away from him. “Jabez is working for me, and we have a

friendship. There won‟t be any sharing. We‟ll go out with you tonight, but try to act

civilized.”

* * * * *

Angelico‟s, which lasted several hours. Jabez sat quietly by Andreas‟s side like a rock in

the swirling stream of their conversation. He‟d answer questions when asked, but so

succinctly it felt like he hadn‟t spoken at all.

“How did you end up cage fighting?”

“Serving a prison sentence for armed robbery.”

“You get fucked a lot in prison?”

“Some.”

“Who taught you to fight?”

“A guy.”

“How many men have you killed?”

“I don‟t know.”

“What does it feel like?”

“All right, that‟s enough,” Andreas intervened and turned the conversation

toward other topics. Had he been that invasive with his questions when he first met

Jabez? He hadn‟t meant to be, but was there much difference between his honest

curiosity and their bloodthirsty inquisition?

After dinner, he tried to bid good night to his friends, but they weren‟t ready to

relinquish him yet.

“The evening‟s just started,” Rabi declared. “We‟re going dancing.”

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63

They stopped by Seamy, the latest trendy club, and strolled to the front of the line,

where the doorman immediately admitted them. The noise level inside was deafening

and the packed bodies made it difficult to move. Colored strobe lights and electro-funk

fusion filled the room. Seamy was billed as “not just a club, an experience” and

everyone received a pill on entry to help glide them along the psychedelic journey.

Andreas gripped Jabez‟s hand as he‟d done underneath the table at the restaurant

and in the vehicle on the ride here. He leaned close and rose on his toes to yell in his

ear. “You okay? If you hate it, we can go.”

He shook his head, and Andreas noticed his stubble had grown nearly a half inch.

His hair was turning out to be a medium brown color, but right now it was purple,

gold, red, black, and blue as the lights played over his scalp.

Andreas felt the pill he‟d popped kicking in fast, enhancing his vision and all his

senses. His body automatically swayed to the music, and he wanted nothing more than

to grab Jabez, pull him onto the dance floor, and grind against him. He had the

primitive desire to let everyone in the crowded club know that the hottest man there

was all his.

There were no tables at Seamy, just a ledge along the wall for people to set their

drinks and stand by. The rest of the place was dance floor and rooms in back where

couples could go for privacy. Most of the clientele were men, and most were shirtless.

One expected to literally lose his shirt by the end of an evening at Seamy, but the chance

of going home with something better packed the club every night.

With no waitstaff, everyone had to crowd the bar for service, and getting through

could take an hour, but people danced, flirted, or made out while they waited, so no

time was wasted.

“Let your friend buy the drinks,” Timon shouted over the pounding beat. “I‟m

sure he can get through.”

So Jabez, with Andreas following in his wake, pushed through the crowd and had

a tray of drinks for them in record time. By the time they located the rest of the group,

all three men were half-naked and each was displaying his own unique dance style.