“I think he looked great.” Nodding, Raul let them go ahead. Balta had forgotten how it felt to speak so little English that a restaurant hostess was intimidating.
Joaquim wasn’t shy at all, bouncing up and waving, chattering happily at the pretty girl who seated them.
Balta put an arm around Raul’s back, patting a little. “You should hang out with Joa some, huh? He’s good at teaching English.”
“Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t have time.” Raul ducked his head, a smile pulling the scar at the corner of his mouth. “But I wouldn’t mind.”
No. No, Balta didn’t imagine Raul would. Those eyes watched every move Joa made.
“I can. You’ll need to, if you want to be on the TV. They like when you interview.” Joaquim ordered coffee, legs bouncing under the table.
“They like to talk to Balta,” Raul agreed, the grin wattage upping a thousand times. It was like the many moods of Raul—always smiling, just the degree telling you what he was feeling.
Joa nodded, chuckled. “He likes to talk to them.” Oh. Little tease.
“Hey, I figure it’s good, you know? Why not let them talk to me instead of Jason or Beau? I like to be in the spotlight.” He’d never denied it. He let his foot rub the side of Joa’s boot.
Joaquim pinked again, nodded. “Me, not so much. I like the fans, though. The signings.”
Raul nodded. “I like that, too, even if sometimes I don’t understand so well…”
Joa chuckled. “If it’s the girls, they’re wanting to go to the hotel with you.”
Laughing out loud, Raul winked. “Sim. That much I can figure out.”
“Don’t do it,” Balta said, pushing his foot against Joa’s again. “They’ll only tattle on you to the webmaster or something.”
“And they’ll want babies and rings. Gerardo told me.” Joaquim sounded so sincere.
Balta watched Raul carefully, just to make sure he hadn’t misjudged the man. Raul just shrugged, drawing a design on the tablecloth with his finger. “My brothers have babies—I don’t need to worry about it now.”
Joaquim nodded, reached for the sugar. “That’s just what I told Balta.”
“Thank God for that.” The waitress came, Joa ordering for Raul when it dissolved into a hopeless case of mangled language. The two of them worked well together, just like they looked good, and Balta knew he was on the right track. He just wasn’t jealous at all. Of course, he would be there to watch no matter what…
Oh, it would be something, to see them both together. Moaning. Touching. Raul pushing into Joaquim’s lips, Joaquim’s ass.
Hisdocehad an ass made for loving, for licking and biting and fucking. Balta licked his lips, glancing up from contemplating his hard-on to find Raul and Joa staring at him, the chatter stopped.
Joaquim vibrated, just a bit, eyes wide, hot.
Oh, his Joaquim always knew. Always. Balta dredged up a bright smile for Raul. “So. What’s your favorite stop on the tour so far, huh?”
“Houston,” Raul said immediately. “I came in third there.” There was something almost fierce in Raul’s eyes, something hot as fire. Maybe someone else knew, too. It was like torture.
“You covered Firefly there. Good ride. That one always spins good.” Joaquim never glanced away from him, not once.
“Uh-huh. You hung on tight.” Balta rubbed his foot up and down Joaquim’s leg, and he was thinking maybe his back wasn’t too stiff to go fuck in the bathroom when their food came.
If he tried, he could smell Joaquim—soap and sex and male, so close. The smell of Raul was different. More leather, maybe a hint of pine from the aftershave… But it was still sex. Thank God for hamburgers and onions. Balta could bury his face in his food and let his cock go down.
They were quiet as they ate, then slowly the tension eased, the chatter beginning again. Raul teased Joa. Joa joked with him. He ended up telling stories of Sao Paolo. By the time they all ordered a huge piece of pie, the laughter was back, Raul smiling, Joa’s eyes lit up, and his own grin stretching his cheeks. Balta liked it, liked how easy it was. “Oh. This is good pie, huh?”
“Sim, sim. I might need another.”
Bottomless pit.
Raul stared at Joa’s belly. “Where do you put it?”
