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LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS ~ Chapter 7 ~
From the Narrative of Harrison Ridgeway IV:
It was just past five in the evening when I parked my car on Marina Drive. I looked across the street, to where the Surf `n' Sand Cafe stood. It looked like a rather new establishment. I couldn't help smiling to myself - Josh was the last person I would expect to be running a cafe.
I walked into the cafe. There seemed to be a Hawaiian theme to the interior. Josh was busy wiping some glasses at the bar. He didn't seem to notice as I entered the cafe.
"Hi there," I said, sitting down on the stool across the counter from him.
He looked startled. Then he seemed to recognize me and smiled. "Hi!"
"Nice place you've got here," I said, nodding towards the cafe.
"What? Oh, yeah. Reid helped me pick out the design."
"So what did you want me to stop by for?"
"Huh?" He seemed distracted.
"Okay, what's going on?" I asked.
"Nah, it's nothing," he said evasively, pretending to concentrate on cleaning the glass he was holding.
"Alright, in that case, there is something. Spill the beans."
"You don't need to worry about it. I'll get you a Surfer's Special, okay? On the house." He turned to go.
I caught his hand. "Josh, is it something to do with me?"
He sighed. "No. It's Reid. He's been acting really strangely since this morning."
This sounded worrying. Did Reid know that I'd been with Josh last night? I asked, "What do you mean, acting weirdly?"
Josh shrugged. "I don't know, just different from usual. I mean, normally in the mornings he'd, um, well, you know, want a little attention. But this morning he wasn't even in the house. Then he came in after breakfast, told me he'd be going out and to wait for him to come by the cafe in the evening."
"Come by the cafe in the evening?" I practically jumped off the stool. "Why?"
Josh eyed me curiously. "Well, he does work here, you know."
Gulp. "I didn't know that."
"Of course he does. I mean, he helped me start the place. It's in the cafe's name - Surf `n' Sand - The two capitals "S" can also stand for our surnames, Spencer and Scott."
Talk about walking into the lion's den. "What time did he say he'd come by?"
Josh looked at his watch. "That's the thing; usually he'd be here by now. But today . . . Oh, speak of the devil, there he is."
A cold fear gripped my heart. Devil was right. What was Reid going to say when he saw me here with Josh, after he'd warned me not to see him again? I turned around slowly.
Despite my well-placed uneasiness towards him, I couldn't help noticing how well he filled out the tight sleeveless t- shirt he was hearing. Josh might be attractive, but Reid was definitely hot. A hot son of bitch, but hot nonetheless.
"Hi," I managed to say to him. He didn't seem surprised at my presence.
Josh said, "Hi, Reid. We were just wondering where you were. I'll just get Harrison his latte, okay?"
Reid nodded. I wanted to scream to Josh, don't leave me alone with him, but I couldn't. Reid bent down next to me and said, "Can I see you in the backroom?"
I didn't move. I wasn't stupid enough to fall for that.
Then he added, "Please?"
I looked at his face. I couldn't see any malicious intent on his face, but then there was no telling what he was capable of. Only yesterday he'd tried to throttle me. Yet for some strange reason, I got up from my stool and followed him. Even as I did so, I was thinking, what the hell am I doing? Crazy thoughts went through my mind, like whether the backroom led to a basement where Reid planned to bury my body.
I looked over to Josh, who was at the other end of the counter, filling a coffee cup. Well, he'd come looking for me within a few minutes, right? Surely Reid couldn't do anything within that time.
Reid pushed aside the bead curtain to a narrow corridor and went into the room on the left. I hesitated for a moment, before following him into the room. The `backroom' as he'd called it, was more of a place for the staff to relax than a closet as I'd thought it would be. It wasn't a very large room, but then I guess the cafe didn't have that many staff. A couch took up the whole of one wall. Reid gestured towards it, indicating that I should sit down.
"If you don't mind, I prefer to stand," I told him.
"Oh for fuck's sake, I'm not going to do anything to you," he snapped.
He seemed to be truthful . . . I hoped. Nervously I sat down. No sooner had I done so, Josh appeared in the doorway, the cup in his hand.
"I was wondering where you two disappeared to. Harry, if you wanted a tour of the cafe, you could've asked me." He looked from me to Reid and deduced something was going on.
"Is something wrong?"
Reid plucked the cup out of Josh's hand and put it on the small table by the door. He said, "I think you need to sit down."
Josh looked at both of us again. "What's going on?"
"Sit," was the only reply he got from Reid. Reid stuck his head back out through the door and yelled out, "Liz, can you watch the counter for a while? Thanks!" before shutting the door behind him.
I gulped. I was shut into the backroom with Josh and his handsome but psychopathic lover. Josh must have noticed the uncertainty on my face, because he told Reid, "Reid, what's with all the drama? You're alarming Harry."
Reid paid no attention to him and looked at me instead. "Yesterday, I warned you to stay away from Josh."
"You what?" exclaimed Josh.
Reid continued, ignoring him. "I put you in a chokehold and I made you spill boiling coffee on yourself, yet you're still here." He shook his head in amazement.
Josh was staring at him. "You did what?" he repeated.
For the first time, Reid glanced towards him. "He didn't tell you, huh?" He looked back towards me. "You deserve more credit than I gave you. I'd probably have blurted it out at the first chance."
My throat was dry. "I - I didn't want to -"
I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence. Josh grabbed hold of Reid by his shirt and yelled at him.
"Why the hell did you do that for? He's just out of prison, you bastard, and you put him through that?"
Reid didn't try to fight him. "I did it for us."
Now Josh looked confused and let go of Reid's shirt.
Reid looked Josh in the eyes. "I did it because I loved you, and didn't want to lose you to him."
Josh stepped back, stunned.
Reid smiled bitterly. "I guess I'm the only idiot, huh? To have thought that you could love me? Even after Harrison here came back?"
Josh sat down suddenly on the couch next to me. "Are you -" His voice cracked, and he started again. "Are you serious?"
But Reid had decided to ignore him again. He stared off into the distance and said, "But you can't forget him that easily, can you? I thought you would, if you were never going to see him again. I thought, if I gave you what you needed, you'd forget him. I let you fuck my brains out last night, yet the whole time you kept mumbling his name."
Josh looked shocked. I couldn't believe it myself, that Josh hadn't realized Reid was in love with him. I'd been able to tell it, even though I'd only met Reid once.
Reid continued, "And then in the middle of the night, I awoke to find you weren't in bed. I knew you'd be at your favorite spot, so I went to the cliff. And found the two of you together, asleep in each other's arms."
I found my voice. "That . . . that wasn't supposed to happen. It just -" My voice trailed off. "It just did."
Reid looked at me and smiled that bitter smile again. "The two of you looked so peaceful, so . . . perfect together. And I realized I was the `third person', not you, Harrison. The two of you were always meant to be together. And I won't stand in your way any longer."
Josh finally spoke up. "But . . . you agreed to our relationship being non-exclusive! Hell, you used to bring home other guys."
"And how long ago was that, Josh? In the first couple of months, yes, but then I realized it wasn't the same as having you. I used to have one-night stands for every other night, but you managed to turn me into a single-lover man."
Josh looked upset. "I - I didn't realize."
"Didn't realize or didn't care?" asked Reid bitterly.
Josh protested, "Reid, no, I do care about you, I really ."
Reid interrupted. "Save it. Don't expect me home tonight." He turned to leave.
"No, wait!"
Reid turned back briefly. "For what? There's nothing here for me. At least the two of you love each other; for me it was a one-sided thing. So tell me why I should stay?"
Josh was at a loss for words.
Reid smiled sadly and said, "Didn't think so." He looked towards me. "I hope you make him happy, Harrison, because God knows I've tried." He went out, shutting the door behind him.
I didn't know what to say. Until then, I'd hated Reid, but now I realized what a huge sacrifice he was making.
"You should go after him," I told Josh softly.
He didn't seem to hear me. "I do care about him, I really did. I just didn't love him as much . . . I couldn't feel the same way I did about you." His eyes filled with tears. "Am I a callous bastard, Harry?"
"No, you're not. You just didn't know." I wrapped my arms around him.
Josh smiled sadly. "I was just thinking . . . last night I was the one holding you in my arms. Remember how I asked you what was wrong; and you didn't want to tell me - it was Reid, wasn't it?"
I nodded. "I'm sorry about Reid."
"It's not your fault." Josh looked at me as he said that. Then, impulsively, he planted a kiss on my lips. I returned it fervently, before I realized we were making out just a few steps away from a crowded cafe.
"Are you sure we should do this? I mean, here and now?"
"I can't stand another moment without having you. And I need to take my mind off Reid. No one will come in here. Please?" He asked, looking at me pleadingly.
I smiled. "Okay, but maybe you'd better lock the door first."
He scooted off the couch to do as I said. When he sat back down, he looked at me, long and hard.
I self-consciously asked, "What? Have I got something on my face?"
"No, you're perfect, have I told you how beautiful you are?"
"Only last night. But just for the record, I prefer the term handsome."
Josh shook his head. "It doesn't suit you. You're just too . . . well, beautiful."
"Do you always say such stupid things?"
Josh grinned. "Only when I'm around you." He leaned forward to kiss me again.
This time we gave in to our passion. I lay back on the couch as he straddled me, pulling off his t-shirt. I ran my hand through the curly hair on his chest as we resumed our kiss.
"Mmm . I love the hair on your chest."
"Makes up for you not having any, huh?"
"Hey!"
He grinned. "Don't sweat it, the lack of hair makes it easier to do this." He pushed my shirt up and ran his tongue along my chest, making swirls around my nipples. I let out a gasp.
"You like that, do you?" he asked, grinning mischievously. I realized that I'd gone through this before.
"I dreamt about this yesterday," I told him.
He raised his eyebrows. "Having wet dreams about me?" I blushed.
"Did I do this?" He gently nibbled at one of my nipples.
I gasped again. "No, but it feels damn good."
"What's this?" he asked, indicating my left nipple.
"Oh, that - I used to have a nipple ring."
Josh looked amused. "A nipple ring?"
"Yeah." My face clouded over. "Melissa - my ex-girlfriend - talked me into getting one."
Josh looked concerned. "Hey, don't think about that bitch now. She was a fool not to realize what you were worth. If it were me, I'd have put a leash through that nipple ring and kept you close to me always."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Being with you makes everything else seem insignificant. I can't live without you, Harry. And I'll prove it to you."
He unzipped my jeans and pulled my boxers down as well in one fluid motion. Josh grinned to see my cock already semi- erect.
"Already getting hard, I see. And we haven't even got to the fun part yet. When we do, I promise you it'll blow your mind."
With that, he gently touched the head of my cock with his tongue. The sensation was electrifying. He licked the drop of precum gathered at the slit, and then rolled his tongue around the head. I moaned uncontrollably.
As I leaned my head back against the couch, I could hear the sounds of people in the cafe just beyond the wall.
"Shit, Josh, I can hear what's going on in the cafe."
He stopped for a moment to grin at me and say, "It adds to the excitement, don't you think?" before returning to his ministrations.
I poked him with my foot. "Josh! If I can hear them, they could hear me too."
"You'll just have to keep it down then."
"Keep it down?!" I hissed. "I can't control myself when I cum."
"Okay, I'll work something out," was all he said before continuing to give me a blowjob. I glared at his casualness about the whole thing, but I soon forgot about the people outside. Josh was right; the blowjob was amazing. I could scarcely control myself. But just before I could reach my climax, he stopped.
"Damn Josh, you can't stop there."
He grinned cheekily and grasped hold of my cock with his hand. Then he started to jerk me off.
"That feels so good," I moaned. "But I'm going to cum."
"This should keep you quiet," he said, as he bent over and kissed me.
He was right. I couldn't yell out with his tongue in my mouth. His expert hand pumped away at my cock, and it wasn't long before I exploded, showering both out bodies with my cum. My moans were muffled by his mouth, and even after I'd finished cumming, he didn't stop kissing me.
When he finally let me go, I was panting, which amused him to no end.
"Damn Harry, I only just got started. We could go at this all night."
"Yeah well, isn't the staff going to wonder where you are?"
"Oh shit, I forgot about that."
"Well, I don't know how you managed to. I was scared the whole time."
He got up from the couch. "I promise we'll resume this later, okay?"
"Don't you want me to return the favor?" I asked.
He smiled. "We've got the rest of our lives for that, Harry. Now I'm going to clean up and I suggest you do the same."
I nodded and reached for the box of tissues, when Josh grabbed my hand. "No, actually, I have a better idea." He demonstrated by licking the cum off my chest.
I sighed and lay back against the couch. I could already picture the wonderful days ahead: kissing on the beach, making love to each other. In that blissful moment I forgot all about Dad and Reid. But it wouldn't be long before reality reared its ugly head.
To be continued . . .
I hope you're enjoying the story thus far. Let me know what you think by emailing me at justinr_88@yahoo.com. All feedback is greatly valued. The next chapter should follow soon.