Quinn’s friends were great. Well, most of them. They were surprisingly down to earth and friendly, like a band of brothers. Spencer had had a great time both weeks, though he was certain Javier’s absence hadn’t hurt any. Tonight Manny had texted Quinn ahead of time to let him know Javier would be coming along. Quinn had insisted they’d get some takeout, but Spencer refused. He wasn’t going to let the guy get to him. When he dropped off the food, he could see how unsettled Quinn was. Quinn confessed to feeling afraid Javier would say something to hurt Spencer, so for Quinn’s sake and ease of mind, Spencer decided to skip dinner. At least until they could talk about what they were going to do about Javier. The guy seemed to have it in for Spencer. Not in a malicious way, but he couldn’t seem to keep his comments to himself.
“You should see it, Danny. It’s like the
Expendables
in there. The prequel.”
“I thought it was going great.” Danny closed the trunk of the Honda before turning to him, his expression sympathetic.
“It was. I mean it is. It’s going fantastic. We’ve been hanging out,”
making out,
but Spencer wasn’t about to mention that part, “getting to know each other. His mom even calls me up to talk to me. I have no idea who she’s talking about most of the time, and occasionally she breaks off into Spanish until she remembers I can’t understand what she’s saying, but I like talking to her. She wants to teach me. Quinn would totally lose his shit if he knew his mom was telling me all about his childhood shenanigans. Like when he and his brother climbed their dad’s avocado tree after school and got stuck. She left them up there for an hour to teach them a lesson. They never went near the thing after that.” He laughed and then remembered what he was up against. “Dude, it’s like he doesn’t know any average people. His whole family consists of doctors, lawyers, architects, and I’m pretty sure his mom mentioned something about one of them being a mayor somewhere.”
“If Quinn’s mom likes you, you’re in, dude. Cuban moms are like the godfather of the family. If she hates you, you are screwed. If she likes you, you’re pretty much family. Besides, they might seem perfect, but believe me, every family has issues. My family’s got subscriptions, and it’s not nearly as big as Quinn’s. Don’t be so quick to brush them off. The fact that they’ve embraced Quinn after coming out says a hell of a lot more than their job titles.”
“Thanks, man.” Spencer had picked up the groceries again when he spotted one of Quinn’s friends coming out for a cigarette. It was Javier. Great.
“Hey, Spencer.” He walked over with that big cocky grin of his. “Can I talk to you a second?”
“Sure.” Spencer turned to Danny, who waved him off.
“Go ahead. I can manage.”
He grabbed his shopping bags and disappeared inside. Spencer waited for Javier to light up, wondering what he wanted to talk about. He doubted the guy had come out here to make peace, but Spencer would give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Listen, we’ve convinced Quinn to have a little get-together for his birthday on Saturday night. He’ll probably text you about it later. His mom will probably throw a big party at her house, but anyway, we wanted to put something together just with the guys from the team and a few friends. I wanted to do something really special for him, ’cause, you know, he’s injured and shit.”
“Okay.” That sounded nice. Sort of.
“I was thinking of hiring a stripper.” He looked around and, seeming content there was no one eavesdropping, continued, his voice lowered. “Don’t tell him I told you, but ever since that movie about those gay strippers came out, it’s been kind of a fantasy of his.”
Spencer pursed his lips in thought. “Um, are you talking about
Magic Mike
?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“They weren’t gay.”
Javier blinked at him. “What?”
“The strippers. Well, one of the actors is gay, but he was playing a straight guy. I’m pretty sure they were all playing straight guys.”
“Okay, sure. Anyway, it’s been kind of a fantasy of Quinn’s to have a stripper for his birthday, but he’s too embarrassed to ask. So I thought I’d surprise him.”
“Is there a question in there or…?” Spencer studied him carefully. There was something the guy wanted to ask. Javier might be Quinn’s friend, but something about the guy bugged Spencer. “I don’t know any male strippers, gay or otherwise, if that’s what you were going to ask.”
“Nah, never mind. You and Quinn are getting close. I couldn’t ask you to do something like that.”
“Do something like what?” What was the guy getting at? Better yet, did he think whatever he was trying to put over on Spencer would work? “Wait, who said we were getting close?”
“He did. Said you were a really sweet, funny guy. Normally he keeps that kind of relationship shit to himself. I think he really likes you. He was fucked off that I called you a nerd.” Javier gave a lazy shrug, like he didn’t know what the big deal was.
Out of curiosity, Spencer asked, “What were you going to ask me to do?”
“I thought, since it’s his fantasy and he really likes you, that maybe you would do it.”
Spencer stared at him. “As in… strip for him? At the party? In front of everyone?”
“It’ll only be a small group. We’ll turn the lights down, cue the music. You do a dance for him, just a few minutes and that’s it. He’ll love it.”
Was the guy serious? Judging by Javier’s expression, he was serious. “You want
me
to strip in front of a bunch of strangers?”
“For Quinn. And we’re all friends there. It’s nothing his cousin hasn’t done before. Not for Quinn, obviously. I can’t ask Miguel. That would be weird. And wrong. And Quinn would kick my ass.”
“You know Miguel?”
Javier peered at him. “Do you?”
“Quinn’s mentioned him.”
“What else has Quinn said?”
“Nothing.”
Spencer studied Javier. That was weird. Javier frowned, his gaze seemingly somewhere else before he shook himself out of it and grinned widely at Spencer.
“So, what do you say?”
“I don’t think so. Sorry.” As much as he’d love to provide Quinn his fantasy, there was no way he could do something like that. “But good luck. I’m sure you could find a few places online.” He’d started for the door when Javier caught up to him and ran in front to stop him.
“Okay, how about before everyone arrives. Just for Quinn. I’ll cue the music for you, you come out, do your thing, and when the music turns off, you know it’s time to go.” He put his hands together. “Please, I really want to make this special for Quinn. I’ve been kind of a dick lately and want to make it up to him. Please, Spencer. I’m begging you.”
“Javier—”
“Please.”
Javier pleaded with big brown eyes, and Spencer couldn’t believe he was even considering such insanity.
“Just me and Quinn?”
Javier held a hand up in promise. “Just the two of you.”
Spencer worried his bottom lip. He couldn’t believe he was saying this. “Okay.”
“Yes! Thanks, man. You are awesome!”
“But
only
if it’s me and Quinn,” he warned. He trusted Javier about as far as he could throw his ass.
“You got it. I’ll take care of everything. You just show up with whatever you’re going to wear, okay? Quinn will probably wonder why you’re not there so I’ll just make something up until you show.” Javier clapped him hard on the shoulder before letting out a whoop. He gave him a wink before disappearing inside.
What the fuck had he just agreed to?
THIS IS
insane
.
Spencer paced his bedroom. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. For the hundredth time, he stopped in front of the long mirror behind his door. He looked like an idiot dressed in a short-sleeved white navy uniform with an officer’s cap and white gloves. It was a tear-away costume from a shop on South Beach.
“What the hell am I doing?” He paced some more, telling himself he was doing this for Quinn. It would only be the two of them. A little dancing—which he wasn’t completely terrible at—followed by a little stripping, a little groping, and then Spencer would make his exit. He could do this. If it would make Quinn happy, surely he could step out of his comfort zone for a little while. “Okay, let’s do this.” He took out his phone and texted Javier that he was ready. Receiving the okay from him, Spencer took a deep fortifying breath and left his apartment.
“Fuck.” His hands were shaking. “Deep breath.” He pulled the brim of his hat low over his eyes, his thumbs in his trouser pockets. The door opened to the rising sounds of electric hip-hop with bass strong enough to shake the house down. Good thing the walls in this building were thick. Spencer walked in and started moving in time to the music, making sure to keep his head lowered. It was easy to move his hips to the pounding drums, and he bent his knees, his hands on his thighs as he moved his ass. There were several catcalls, and Spencer’s heart leaped in his throat. He discreetly looked up. It wasn’t just him and Quinn.
Swallowing hard, Spencer contemplated making a break for it. Until he caught sight of Quinn sitting on the couch, his crutch propped up against the armrest. He was smiling, his face flushed as he punched Manny playfully in the ribs. It was clear Quinn hadn’t recognized him, but that gorgeous smile was enough for Spencer to reach deep down and find what courage he could muster. Javier was probably hoping he’d screw this up. He wasn’t surprised the guy had lied. Everyone had arrived some time ago, judging by the numerous beer bottles littered around.
Asshole
. Spencer grinned. He wasn’t about to give the guy the satisfaction.
Spencer went with the flow and the cheers. He moved his body and thrust his hips before shaking his ass to the cheers of several women. With a smile, he unbuttoned his shirt, throwing it to one side when he was done. He crossed the distance between him and Quinn and, mindful of Quinn’s leg, straddled his lap. Spencer continued to move and dance, but suddenly his hat fell off.
“Spence?” Quinn gaped at him before the corner of his mouth lifted and he let out a soft laugh. “Oh my God.”
The music stopped, and Javier doubled over laughing, the rest of the guys looking uncomfortable and confused, wondering if they were missing something. The atmosphere in the room changed, and a wave of embarrassment slammed into Spencer when he heard the rest of the guests laughing and giggling. He felt the back of his eyes sting, and his throat grow so thick it was hard to swallow.
“Shit. I’m so fucking stupid.” Getting off Quinn, he made straight for the door, ignoring Quinn calling out to him. He calmly headed to his apartment before he could make any more of an ass out of himself. This whole time, he’d really thought Quinn felt something for him, but he’d laughed at Spencer with the rest of those jerks. They were probably all having a fucking ball laughing at him. He slammed the door to his apartment shut and slid down the length of it. Why had he ever thought he could fit into that world? He was such a loser. He folded his arms over his drawn-up knees and let the tears fall.
DAMN IT!
Quinn snatched his crutch and pushed himself onto his feet. The lights came on, and he balled his hand into a fist before walking over to Javier, who was laughing his ass off. He should have known better than to trust Javier. This whole thing had been his idea, and except for the guys on their team, he didn’t know half the people here.
“Did you tell him to do that?” Quinn snapped at Javier, giving him a shove when he reached him.
“I thought you’d enjoy it.”
Quinn could feel his anger rising, the urge to punch the smug bastard in the face growing so fierce he forced himself to grab his crutch with both hands. “So help me, if you fucked this up for me, I am
never
speaking to you again.”
“Oh come on. It was just a joke.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Quinn landed a punch square across Javier’s face, losing his balance in the process. Manny quickly caught him before he could hit the floor. No one bothered trying to catch Javier, who fell to the ground with a painful thud. He cursed up a storm and put a hand to his bloodied nose. Stunned, Javier stared up at Quinn.
“What the hell, bro?”
“It wasn’t a joke to him, you asshole! Do you know how much courage it took to do that? And he did it for
me
.” Quinn shook his head. “You know, Javi, you’re a real prick.” He turned to the rest of the crowd, some of who were still snickering. “I hope you’re fucking pleased with yourselves. You made an amazing guy feel like shit. Congratulations. Get the fuck out of my apartment.” He turned to Manny. “Party’s over. Can you take care of it?”
“Yeah, of course, man.” Manny accompanied him to the door. “We didn’t know about this.”
“I know you didn’t. You wouldn’t have let that dickhead go through with it. God knows what he told Spencer in order to get him to do it.”
“You really like him, don’t you?”
Quinn thought about what Spencer had done for him, all because he wanted to get to know Quinn and maybe get close. The cooking, the baking, the looking after him. Now this. “Yeah, I really do, Manny.”
“Then go make this right. We’ll take care of everything else.”
Quinn gave him a one-armed hug. “Thanks.”
He hobbled out into the hall and knocked on Spencer’s door. “Spence, please let me in. We need to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk to you,” Spencer replied angrily.
Quinn could have sworn he heard a sniff. Damn it. He turned and knocked on Danny’s door. The guy opened it and glared at him.
“What did you do? He called me then hung up before saying anything. Now he won’t answer my calls.”
“I’ll explain later. Right now I need to talk to him. Please. You have to let me into Spencer’s apartment.”
Spencer yelled out from behind his apartment door. “Don’t let him in!”
Danny worried his bottom lip. “I’m conflicted.”
“I have a gun,” Quinn said, arching an eyebrow at him.
Danny put a finger up. “I’m no longer conflicted. Let me get my keys.”