Well,thatcould’ve been handled better.
He dropped down onto the mattress and lay on his back, gazing at the ceiling. He’d had no idea just how much Jack’s decision had affected him. Little by little his anger dissipated, leaving him with an ache in his chest and a heaviness in his limbs.
I overreacted, plain and simple. Jack didn’t deserve that much venom, not after all their years together.What the fuck came over me?Maybe it was a good thing he and Jack weren’t shooting a scene together. Then it occurred to him that he hadn’t exactly been quiet. The others would’ve heard everything.Talk about awkward.
He sat up and picked up the script from beside him. Not that he was in any mood to read it, but it was something to focus on.Anythingto stop seeing Jack’s ashen face in his head. He stared at the script, trying to take it all in, but the words just danced on the page, making no sense at all. When the call came for dinner, he abandoned the sheaf of papers with a sigh and got up from the bed. In the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face and then dried it. He gazed at his reflection in the cool light above the washbasin, not in the least bit hungry.
With a sigh he straightened, flicked off the light, and headed down the hall into the brightly lit kitchen.
Dinner was… uncomfortable. Jack was silent, picking at the lasagna Nico had prepared. The two young men kept glancing at each other, their foreheads furrowed, faces unsmiling. Pete tried to make conversation but gave up after his jokes and funnystories fell on stony ground. It was a relief when the meal ended and everyone disappeared into their rooms for the rest of the evening, with the exception of Jesse and Kyler, who went outside to shoot some hoops, the yard lit by an outdoor light. Nico collected the plates and the leftover lasagna, clearly unhappy.
Mike retreated to his room and spent an hour or so rereading the script. He knew from the last shoot with this studio that the emphasis would be on the reactions of the actors to each other, their emotions and expressions, rather than focusing the camera on what went where. He hardly noticed the passage of time. When he was ready to call it a day, he waited his turn for the bathroom he shared with Nico to be empty, and then Mike slipped in for a wash before bed. His shower would wait until the morning, when he would go through his pre-shoot routines. Once back in the bedroom, he slid under the blankets and switched off the light. Little noise intruded from the outside world. Mike closed his eyes and worked on switching off his brain, but Jack was there, that white-faced stare, the pain in those brown eyes.
Let it go, he told himself.Just… let it go.
He turned his thoughts to Tommy. Damn, but it felt like he was a million miles away right then. Mike comforted himself with the anticipation of seeing his young lover the following night, even if it would only be via Skype. It was better than nothing. He’d hear that lovely Georgian drawl, see that sweet face. It wasn’t long before Mike was drifting off to sleep, warm and cozy….
Only to awaken when the blankets lifted and a smooth, naked male form pressed up against him—an unmistakably horny male.
Chapter Twenty-One
“What the fuck?”Mike shifted across the mattress and had the lamp switched on within seconds. He blinked in the bright light at Kyler, who lay beside him, frozen and wide eyed. Mike expelled his tension in a long push of air. “Kyler, what are you doing?”
The young man gave a nervous laugh. “I-I’d have thought that was obvious.”
Mike sighed. “I get to fuck you tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch and shook his head. “Today,” he corrected. “Is that not enough?” He gave Kyler a hard stare.
Kyler bit his lip. “I just wanted… it’ll be different on set… I thought….”
Mike snorted. “I doubt you were thinking at all, except with your dick.” One look at Kyler’s ashen face reined in his frustration. God, the kid had to be barely legal. Mike let out another patient sigh. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” Kyler was watching him so carefully, his teeth working that full lower lip.
“How many scenes have you filmed so far? Not just with TopMen—what’s your all time total?”
There was a moment’s silence while Kyler stared at him, those eyes still wide. Mike could see the teeth marks in his lip. “This… this is my first,” he admitted at last.
Mike nodded, his suspicions confirmed. He sat up cross-legged under the blankets, forearms resting on his thighs. “Then you need to listen to what I’m about to say, okay? And remember it.”
Kyler gave a quick, nervous nod. Mike indicated Kyler in the bed.
“Thisis unprofessional. I don’t know if you’ve gotten the impression that in the porn industry, everybody sleeps with everybody else, but it’s not true. This is the start of what you probably hope will be a successful career. You’re gonna be filming with the same costars for a lot of the time, and no, it is not professional to be sleeping around.”
Kyler swallowed. “Really?”
Mike nodded. “These are guys who take intimacyoffcamera as seriously as they take itoncamera. And these guys are only human. Here’s a for instance. Say you got your wish and spent the night with me. Next morning, Jesse gets to hear about it. Jesse wonders why you wanted to sleep with me and not him. Jesse wants to know why he wasn’t good enough to get to share your bed. You understanding this, kid? Feelings. Get. Hurt.” He speared Kyler with an intense gaze.
Kyler squirmed. “I got it,” he said quietly.
“Good.” Mike pulled back the blankets to reveal Kyler’s naked form. “Go back to your own bed, Kyler, ’cause nothing’s gonna happen here, okay?”
He watched as the young man climbed off the mattress and padded out of the room without a backward glance.Great, now there’ll be an atmosphere on set. He shuffled down under the blankets and switched off the lamp. He supposed he could have found Kyler’s attentions flattering, but all he could think of wasyetanothertwink who wanted to be fucked by Scott Masters. They didn’t want Mike, they wanted his alter ego.
It took him a while to find that warm, fuzzy state again, but once he’d found it, Mike slipped into it like putting on a comfortable sweater and let it cling to him, distancing him from the tension and frustrations of the day. He was dimly aware of his bedroom door opening and closing, the soft footfall across the floor, the dip of the mattress as someone climbed into his bed again….
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Kyler,” he began wearily, reaching for the lamp switch. “I thought we’d—” The words died in his throat when he saw Jack lying beside him.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Jack said simply. He met Mike’s gaze, his face grave. “We need to talk.”
