OffsideChanceFormat2 (20 page)

“Oh
yeah, thank God for small favors.” Will looked toward the stage just as Levi
wrapped his leg around the pole and swiveled around a couple of times. Sliding
down, he lowered his legs to the floor, holding on with his left arm, and then
he leaned all the way back until his other hand was on the floor. He smiled,
and with a kick, he flipped over into a handstand. Will didn’t say a word. He
crushed his water bottle in his hand and went off into the dark leaving Jude
alone once again.

As
midnight came and went most of the revelers had drifted off to other parties or
gone home to their families depending on age and marital status. Last Jude saw
of Will he was grinding against a pretty blond with… well even Jude could spot
a fake rack a mile away. Levi and the male dancers were eventually joined by
the female dancers. And they were all now saying their good byes and wishing
Levi and Tracy congratulations.

“Jude
went to the bar for another drink. ‘Jack and coke,’ he requested, but the
bartender just smiled and pulled out a set of keys. Jude looked quizzically at
them as the bartender explained, “The little one is a master to the liquor
cabinets and the big one is to the front door.” Handing them to Jude, he continued,
“Tell Liv to make sure the place is closed down tight before he locks up. And
tell him I’m happy for him. He deserved this night.” The bartender clapped him
on the shoulder and that was it. Jude was now in charge of the bar and the keys
while the last bunch of drunk jocks waited for cabs or limos to take them on to
their next stop for the night.

Still
wanting another drink Jude found his way to the other side of the bar. The
lights were dim but it was enough for him to find the appropriate cooler for
the makings of the drink he wanted. The cool glass in his hand, he leaned against
the wall to the side and watched as the dancers disappeared to the dressing
rooms behind the stage. Will was amongst the scurrying dancers, and one of the
ladies leaned up to place a kiss on Will’s mouth and then wiped off her
lipstick. Jude caught her pressing a napkin into Will’s hand. He casually
slipped it into his pocket. Jude wondered if this was going to be the night
that the all-night sexual Olympics would restart down the hallway. Or if Will
would just stay out all night like he had before the season ended.

“Enjoying
yourself?” Levi asked, startling Jude with his sudden appearance. He hopped
over the bar to Jude’s side, his pants legs open to his knees revealing gold
buckled black motorcycle boots. He fished in the fridge for a bottle of water and
practically drank it all in one gulp.

“Not
as much as you. How’s your arm after those feats of acrobatics?” Jude asked,
realizing he didn’t have enough liquor in his system. “Your pants snap all the
way up the sides don’t they?”

Levi
turned a huge grin his way, one that had even Jude stunned for a moment. A
mega-watt Livy smile. “All the better to get out of them,” Levi winked.

“You
really were a stripper weren’t you?” Until now he’d pretended that Levi’s
colorful secret past was all just some big joke. “You were too… I don’t know
Levi, that was all too… you really did lead a double life.”

“I
had limits, Jude. Lines I didn’t cross. I never stripped for money. Just for
fun. I never went full frontal. It was just dancing. Just like you saw tonight…
well maybe not quite that tame but—“

“Anything
to thumb your nose at him. I get that. I guess you would have more of a reason
than me to be exactly what he hates.” Jude drained his glass. His head ached.
His stomach rolled.

“Don’t
judge me, Judah, not when you don’t know me.” Levi threw the first water bottle
into the trash under the bar and went for a second.

“You
won’t let me know you. You keep me in the dark and out of your life. You let me
play with your money and your charities. I know your net worth but that’s all I
know about you, Levi.” He needed another drink. The gin bottle sat open on the
bar. He picked it up and poured a glass full, never mind the tonic.

“Oh
and by the way, the bartender said to make sure the place was closed down and
to lock up when you leave.” He handed off the keys. “I’m going to head home and
crash. Maybe I can even get to sleep before Slater drags in some bimbo.”

Levi’s
fingers were warm and startlingly strong as his hand wrapped around Jude’s.
“The limo will be here in a half hour or so. Just hang around for a bit and
I’ll make sure you get home. Will is making sure everyone gets out the back
alright. The cleaning crew will be here in the morning. Bo and Tracy are just
making the rounds for stowaways in the back rooms, and we’re going to head
out.”

“You’re
completely sober aren’t you?” Jude mused and reeled a bit as Levi tugged him
close, Levi’s hand still gripping Jude’s. He smelled sweaty with a hint of
cologne. “Your body glitter is gone.”

“I
don’t drink much anymore. I never really have. The worst was right after I was
released back in July. Before Tracy came into my life and gave me a reason not
to give up.” Levi wouldn’t let his hand go. The keys trapped in his hand began
to bite into tender flesh. “I’m serious. I’m going to marry him. I probably
should have asked if that was okay with you?”

“Why
would it be a problem? It’s not like you need my permission. Hell, I didn’t ask
yours when I asked Tiffany.”

“I
want you to be my best man. You and Slayer. I want you both to stand with me.
You’re my family. My brothers. I want to know that you’re okay with me… I mean…
I’m trying Jude. I want to be a family. I want you in my life. I can’t help but
notice that as soon as I moved back home you moved over here the first chance
you got. It makes me that think you’re avoiding me.”

“I’m
not avoiding you Levi.” Jude searched for an explanation, but couldn’t come up
with one that even halfway rang of truth. Suddenly, Bo and Dylan came into the
stage area from different rooms. Jude could feel the tension all the way over
from behind the bar. Tracy followed, his gaze shifting from the couple who were
so obviously avoiding each other over to Levi and Jude arguing behind the bar.
“I’m just…I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I’m stagnating
and I hate my job. I thought if I went back to school it would all become new
and exciting again. I’m just… I’m tired. I feel old and beat down. That’s all.
It has nothing to do with you.” Except it had everything to do with Levi.
Defending Levi against a rape charge when the entire system seemed out to
destroy his brother had shaken his faith in the legal system.

Levi
pulled him in closer and wrapped his arms around him much like he’d done at the
party a couple weeks back. He moved into a swaying dance and pressed his
forehead to Jude’s. “Maybe you need to take a break. Maybe…and this is radical
advice. Maybe you should retire. You can live on your savings and investments
for years. Go out and travel. Do something besides kill yourself chasing the
all mighty buck. Spend some of those bucks and be happy. Find someone and be
happy. It won’t kill you, Jude.”

Slater
reappeared from behind the black velvet curtain that led to the dressing rooms,
and Levi motioned toward him with his gaze as he said,

“Maybe
you’re looking in the wrong places for something you think you’re supposed to
have.”

“Fuck,
Levi, please don’t be insinuating what you are insinuating.” Jude tried again
to pull away and put some distance between the two of them, but Levi wouldn’t
let him go.

“Avoid
it all you want, but you had sex with him. And, Jude, it’s not just that, I’ve
watched the two of you together. It’s like you’ve already found—”

Jude
threw Levi’s arms off of him and stepped away. “That was… there’s nothing going
on. It’s nothing, Levi. Just forget it. Okay. I’m not gay or bi-curious or
whatever. It’s over and it’s never going to happen again.”

“The
driver called, he’s stuck in traffic on the ten,” Tracy called out from the
back of the stage area where he had already cut the music down to a dull roar.
The lights stopped flashing but the house lights didn’t come up, and if
anything, it was now darker than before. “He wants to know if we want to wait, it’s
probably going to be closer to an hour.”

“I’ll
get a cab,” Jude said. He just wanted to get away from the throbbing music and
go home and nurse his impending hangover.

 
“We’ll wait for the limo,” Levi shouted back
to Tracy. “I’m not ready to go home yet.”

Jude
reached into his pocket for his phone, but Levi stopped him with a pout. “Stay,
Judah. Have another drink. Maybe without liquor in it. Get something to eat so
it doesn’t all go to waste.” He closed his hand around Jude’s phone. “Just
stay, okay?”

Jude
sighed, “Fine. But I’m not cleaning up anything.”

“I
won’t make you if you come dance with me.” Levi didn’t wait for him to answer.
He tugged him out from behind the bar and toward the dance floor. But Levi
didn’t walk, oh no that would be too un-Livy-like, he danced, his smile wide,
and his eyes dared Jude to turn back now. Someone swearing and the sound of
something breaking across the dining room caught their attention. Levi forgot
about Jude and their dance as they both turned toward the commotion just in
time to see Bo tackling Dylan around the waist.

 
“What the fuck is up with you two?” Levi
shouted above the music as he raced across the room toward the two men.

Jude
did not interfere, but instead he found a lounge chair in the dark part of the
room and eased in to watch the show taking place by the stage. At first he
thought Bo and Dylan were… well hell, they looked like they were getting ready
to start fucking in front of everyone.

But with Tracy pulling Bo off the
smaller man and Levi dragging the Marine into a sitting position and holding
him against the seat he changed his mind. Bo and Dylan were trying to kill each
other.

“That’s
been brewing all night.” Slater plopped down next to Jude, the seat sagging
under the man’s weight. “I don’t know what’s got Sunday’s jock in a twist but
it’s bunching up pretty damn tight.”

“Probably
the
question.” He made quote symbols
in the air and laughed when he realized Will couldn’t really see him. “It
started right after Levi proposed.”

“Do
you think he has a thing for Levi? I mean, every gay man here did, so why the
fuck not?” Will leaned in uncomfortably close, his shoulder pressed to Jude’s,
their thighs rubbing. The chair was small but not that small.

“How
would you know? Considering how many strippers were all over you.” Jude moved
closer to the arm to give him more room.

“Aww,
is Judy jealous? Got a little taste of Slayer’s, slayer and now he’s all
possessive.”

“Don’t
flatter yourself.” Jude laughed at the thought. “Did you just call your dick
Slayer? Oh my god. You weren’t that good of a fuck.”

Will
hissed, “
Oooh
burn.” The laugh that followed told
Jude just how thick the man’s skin was. “You know what I love about you, Judy?”

“Keep
calling me Judy and I’ll rip your slayer off?”
 

“You
are all talk. I guess that’s what makes you a good lawyer. You have a fantastic
mouth on you. You can shit talk better than some linebackers.” Will laughed off
his threat and crowded him into the arm of the chair.

“Get
off me, Brody,” Dylan growled from the stage area, dragging Jude’s attention
away from the man leaning against him. And the growing tension inside his boxers.
Fuck, Slater. “Before I hurt you.”

“Not
until you tell me what’s eating you,” Levi straddled the struggling man. Dylan
stopped struggling and sagged against the back of the chair.

“It’s
nothing to do with you.”

“Bullshit,
it has something to do with me. You’ve been an asshole since…” Levi paused, and
it seemed as if a light bulb went off in his head. His eyes lit up, his smile
grew wide.

“I
know that look,” Will proclaimed to Jude. “Levi just figured out his opponent’s
weakness. He gets that look on the field. It’s what made him a great
quarterback. The ability to read people.” Will stretched out in the chair and
hooked another chair to prop up his feet on. “Sunday doesn’t stand a chance
now.”

“My
money is on the Marine, he has this uncanny sense of his surroundings. I’ve
never seen anything like it. He’s quiet and—”

“And
off his game right now. But if you’re willing to place a wager on your Marine
against my QB then let’s deal. Put up or shut up.”

“What’s
the
bet
?” Jude was intrigued, at the moment there
seemed to be a battle of wills going on with Dylan having the better poker
face.

“Levi
plays him for a bit and then breaks his defenses. Dylan will crack under the
pressure. He’s a damn powder keg just waiting to explode.”

“And
what do you want if you win?” Jude’s heart raced as he asked.

Will
leaned over, and hot breath washed over Jude’s neck as he whispered, “If I win,
I get to fuck you. If you win… then I’ll do whatever you want. But I’m not going
to lose.”

“No
deal, Slater. Just because you couldn’t get some bimbo to help you with your
Viagra addiction doesn’t mean I’m going to ever again.” Jude caught his breath
as Will ran his hand along his arm. “And cut that out.”