Business and Pleasure: Chapter Seven

[saiya-tina.livejournal.com]

Title: Business and Pleasure
Rating: PG-13ish for kissing.
Pairing: Brad/Ryan
Summary for the chapter: In which they prepare, perform, get into a fight, share some tender moments and get an omnious visitor.

Overall Summary: Brad's running his own large business and has everything but what he wants the most: someone to be there for him. After 'purchasing' Ryan from the Utopia group to serve the purpose, he slowly realizes that he's breaking their most important rule: he's falling in love with him.

A/N: PLease leave a comment!







“Wayne!”

 

“Let me do it! It’s too big!”

 

“No it’s not!”

 

“Aw, come on, you let Brad do it!”

 

“I stopped him too!”

 

“Stop squirming around!”

 

Brad let out a chuckle as Wayne tried to get Ryan to sit still long enough for him to style his hair. Ryan was making his debut as an improviser today and Wayne wanted to make sure that he looked his best. Ryan had complied with everything, but he obstinately refused to let Wayne come near him with the hair gel.

 

“I like it like this!”

 

“Your hair’s bigger than you are!”

 

“At least my hair is noticeable!”

 

Brad laughed out loudly this time at Wayne’s offended expression as Ryan glared down at him. Nothing pissed Wayne off more than people thinking he was bald because of how short he normally cut his hair. It was also really funny to watch the two of them fight, especially since they had discovered that as sweet as Ryan acted, he had a tongue on him that was sharper than a sword.

 

“You guys are on in a minute!” Brad pointed out, hoping for peace.

 

Wayne sighed and finally relented to laying off on the gel as long as Ryan combed it enough for his face to be visible. “I don’t want them to think that you’re Cousin It.”

 

Ryan stuck his tongue out at him but agreed, breaking out into a grin as Wayne left the dressing room to check the stage, “I knew I’d win.”

 

“Did you have to fight him that much though? We’ve been here for over a hour!” Brad said.

 

“It’s fun,” Ryan shrugged, “Plus, this might work on stage. Now shoo, I need to focus on this,” he turned to the mirror.

 

Brad smirked and came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and dropping a soft kiss on his neck, “Focus away.”

 

Ryan let out a small ‘mm’ and one hand automatically came up to tangle itself in dark hair, “Wayne’ll be back in a minute.”

 

“Long enough,” Brad whirled him around and kissed him firmly, pushing him down onto the dressing table as Ryan returned the kiss eagerly, moving his hand down to Brad’s chest, feeling his heartbeat through the silk shirt.

 

“Guys- GAH!” Wayne’s yelp shocked them into pulling apart and they turned to see him standing at the door with his hand over his eyes.

 

“Brad, get your hands off him, we need to be on stage!” Wayne exclaimed and hurried out, muttering, “Just what I needed to see....”

 

Brad and Ryan stared at the door for a second, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

 

Dl

 

Dl

 

Brad grinned as he watched Ryan wail dramatically at the sight of his ‘wife’ Wayne in the arms of another man in Change Letter and nearly fell off his seat laughing when he called Wayne a ‘tramp with a side order of Liferace’ and at the sight of Wayne’s offended expression.

 

“That’s not what you said last night!” Wayne cried, grabbing Ryan’s arms.

 

“I said a lot of things last night,” Ryan dead-panned, looking down at him.

 

“I also know who you said it to!” Wayne glanced over at Brad and winked, grinning at the glare he received.

 

“Well, it definitely wasn’t you.”

 

“Are you saying you don’t like me as I am?”

 

“Well, you have a fig ol’ futt.”

 

Wayne’s jaw dropped in mock outrage as the audience roared with laughter and even Ryan had to bite back a grin. That actually hadn’t been what he had planned to say. Brad made a note to mention Wayne’s ‘fig ol’ futt’ the very next time he got an opportunity. He watched as they took a bow and then waved to the audience before descending from the stage, congratulating each other on a job well done.

 

“Fig ol’ futt?” Wayne flopped down on a bar stool and glared at Ryan.

 

“That really wasn’t what I meant to say,” Ryan laughed, sitting down next to Brad.

 

“You were great,” Brad smiled, kissing him lightly.

 

“You really are a natural, just like I said,” Wayne nodded, proud of his protégé. “Maybe we can try singing games sometime.”

 

“Sing?” Ryan looked horrified, “I’ve never sung! I’ll be horrible!”

 

“We’ll give you something easy like a Hoedown.”

 

Ryan winced, “I rather sing Michael Bolton than that. That tune just grates on my nerves for some reason.”

 

Wayne shrugged, “It does that to everyone, but it’s the easiest singing game.”

 

“Well, I need to go to the bathroom, I’ll see you guys in a minute,” Ryan slid off his stool in the direction of the bathrooms.

 

“He’s a talented one,” Wayne nodded, sipping his drink.

 

“He got you real good for a first time,” Brad nodded back.

 

“He could really make it big in this, man. Would you mind if brought him in full time?”

 

“If he agrees,” Brad shrugged, “But I still get him most of the time.”

 

“I wouldn’t dream of interrupting your nights of sleeping in your own room in your own bed alone while he sleeps in his own room in his own bed,” Wayne dead-panned, ignoring Brad’s glare.

 

“You know very well why we’re in different rooms,” he scowled.

 

“I’m just saying. It’s been four months and you’ve barely made it past second base.”

 

“I’d say we’re inching towards third as you saw from that display in the dressing room.”

 

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Wayne grimaced, “I’m sure that if I hadn’t come by then, you would’ve done him on the dressing table.”

 

“No way,” Brad snorted and then paused, “That puny thing would never have broken in one second.”

 

Wayne let out an ‘ew’ but then there was a sudden commotion and he entered his ‘manager-that-no-one-messes-with-mode’ and made his way through the gathering crowd, Brad close at his elbow.

 

“What’s going on here?” he barked, silencing most of the people.

 

“That freak hit me!” a tall, broad man slurred, trying to get to his feet, but the alcohol impairing that ability.

 

“Well, then you shouldn’t have tried that, should you?!” a familiar voice snarled and both friends were astonished to see Ryan shaking his fist, a look of anger that seemed out of place on his normally cheerful face.

 

“You hit him?” Wayne sounded like he had just been told that a goldfish had beaten a shark.

 

“How?” Brad was also gaping in shock.

 

“What do you mean how?” Ryan frowned, unable to understand the confusion. The drunk stumbled back to his feet and glared at Wayne.

 

“He attacked me! Aren’t you going to throw him out?” he said drunkenly.

 

“You’re the one who kissed me in the bathroom!” Ryan yelled back, “I do not appreciate people groping my ass without permission!”

 

Brad suddenly saw red as well and he could tell by Wayne’s expression that the other man was ready to throw the drunk out himself.

 

“I think his reasons for hitting you are valid,” Wayne glared at the poor excuse for a man, “Now get out of here.”

 

The man snarled and lunged at Ryan, “You son of a-”

 

Before he could land the punch, Ryan moved out of the way, grabbing onto his outstretched wrist and using the man’s momentum to flip him down into the ground where he lay unconscious.

 

“Security, take him away,” Wayne announced, his eyes never leaving Ryan and Brad quickly ushered him backstage.

 

“Where did you learn to do that?” Brad hissed when they were alone.

 

“Utopia,” Ryan shrugged, “Everyone is taught self-defense there. Kind of a necessity in our line of work.”

 

“And how good were you?” Wayne asked that one.

 

Ryan frowned and scratched his head, looking upward as though trying to remember something, “I was.....second in my class.”

 

“Whoa...” Brad said weakly, sharing a glance with Wayne.

 

“Why?” Ryan looked even more confused now.

 

“Well, what else did you learn in Utopia that you haven’t told us?” Wayne said, indignantly.

 

“I didn’t think it was that important....” Ryan looked like a puppy being confronted by a rolled up newspaper, “No one actually asks us that kind of stuff cuz as long as we can pleasure them-”

 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Brad waved his hand, not wanting to hear the rest of the sentence. He had long discovered that the mere idea that anyone would even think of Ryan as nothing but a play-toy made his blood boil.

 

But isn’t that why he’s with you in the first place? A nasty voice spoke up in his head, one that he hadn’t heard in months.

 

He’s not just a toy for me, Brad thought, he’s much more.

 

But he won’t be for long. You just have two years, remember? Then he becomes someone else’s.

 

“Let’s get back home,” Brad spoke up, not wanting to even think about Ryan being with someone who wasn’t him.

 

“I’m really sorry,” Ryan looked positively miserable, wringing his hands together and looking down at the ground.

 

“It’s alright,” Wayne laid a hand on his shoulder. Ryan jerked a bit but then quickly covered it with a sneeze.

 

“Ry, could you get my jacket from my dressing room?” Wayne asked and Ryan nodded, heading back into the club. They both stood silently and waited until Ryan’s footsteps faded and then turned to each other.

 

“Did you see what I saw?” Wayne asked.

 

“If you mean the fact that he flinched like you were going to hit him, yes,” Brad nodded, frowning.

 

“And didn’t you tell me that that boss said he had a problem with his last, uh, client?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“You don’t think....”

 

“I don’t know,” Brad stared at the door, “But I hope to God that we’re wrong.”

 

Dl

 

Dl

 

Brad yawned and then scowled at the blinking 7:00am on his clock before accepting the fact that he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep and padded over to his window. He stared out at the pond in his backyard and woods beyond it, taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air. It was unusual for him to wake up so early, but he just felt restless.

 

He decided to visit his gym and padded out, slowing down as he passed Ryan’s door. Feeling a little daring, he opened the door slowly, not wanting to wake him if he was still sleeping. He smiled softly at the sight of the rumpled lump in the covers and before he knew what he was doing, made his way over and bent down next to him.

 

Ryan was still sound asleep, clutching something that looked suspiciously like a stuffed dinosaur in his arms. Brad’s smile widened as his nose twitched and he burrowed more deeply into the covers, holding on tighter to the toy. He sat there quietly for a few minutes, just staring at him, before getting up and heading out, not wanting Ryan to wake up and ask for an explanation to why Brad was staring at him like he was some beautiful art piece.

 

Even my own thoughts are against me, Brad groaned, stripping off his nightshirt as he entered the gym. He loved exercise because it was the one time he didn’t think of anything else. It did wonders for him after a long hard day of work.

 

After an hour of bouncing about the gym, he was finishing off another set of push ups when he heard a rattling sound and looked up to see Ryan standing outside the gym with a tray on which the cup was rattling slightly as he stared at him with his mouth slightly open.

 

Brad nearly grinned at how obviously the other man was staring at him but bit his cheek because he could tell that Ryan would get extremely flustered.....then again, he did think he was cute when he blushed.

 

“Checking me out, Ry?” he asked in a low drawl that normally drove ladies wild. Ryan let out a squeak and quickly looked anywhere except in Brad’s direction.

 

“I-I went to y-your room, b-but you w-weren’t t-there,” Ryan stuttered, blushing furiously, “W-Wayne said you’d b-be here.”

 

“Well you found me,” Brad stood up, making his way to Ryan and plucking the cup of coffee off the tray, taking a sip and noting how Ryan’s eyes kept drifting to his chest and then back to the floor.

 

“Thanks for the breakfast,” Brad took the tray from him and placed it on the floor, taking a seat there as well.

 

“I can take it to the table if you want,” Ryan protested, looking around for something that would make a decent seat.

 

“My butt can handle the floor, come on,” he grabbed his wrist and pulled him down opposite, locking eyes with him as he took another sip of coffee.

 

“It’s really no trouble-”

 

“Then sit with me.”

 

Ryan kept quiet after that, still trying to look everywhere but at Brad. He had just planned to give him his breakfast and leave, thinking that Brad would want to be left alone while working out but now, he didn’t think he’d be able to leave even if told too. After getting a glimpse of that strong bare chest and arms, he had literally just frozen up and of it weren’t for Brad noticing him, he probably would have just stood there.

 

Brad made sure to flex as much as subtly possible, keeping an eye on Ryan’s reactions every time. The poor man hadn’t stopped blushing since he’d entered the room and was desperately trying to hide it. After finishing breakfast, he decided to have mercy on Ryan and stood up, stretching his back until it popped.

 

“Well, thanks for your company and breakfast,” Brad smiled.

 

“A-Anytime,” Ryan stuttered, bending down to pick up the tray, “I-I have to g-go get y-your lunch r-ready.”

 

“Thanks a lot, Ry,” Brad said as he watched Ryan towards the door.

 

Ryan spotted one of the napkins on the tray and suddenly felt a devious idea pop into his head. Two can play that game, he thought with a smirk. He pretended to drop one off the tray with a loud ‘Oopsie!’ and then, when he knew that Brad’s eyes were on him, bent down to pick it up, making sure to give Brad an exceedingly nice view of his ass.

 

Brad suddenly felt a hot flush come over him and couldn’t tear his eyes away. He was still frozen like that when Ryan straightened up and threw a satisfied smile over his shoulder with a ‘See you in a bit!’ as he headed out the door. He slumped against a nearby wall and rubbed his eyes, cursing the fact that he needed a cold shower, “Damn him and his ass.”

 

Dl

 

Dl

 

Brad let out a triumphant yell as he looked over at the signed contract which he had with Chase. Now that those companies had joined his, his profits were through the roof and he had to thank Ryan for all of it. He began to dial home to tell him the good news when his secretary’s voice floated up.

 

“Mr. Sherwood, your cousin is here to see you. Shall I send him up?”

 

“My cousin?” Brad frowned, “What’s his name?”

 

Brad froze at his secretary’s answer and just barely managed to steady his voice enough to utter a ‘Send him in.’ A few seconds later, he heard a knock on his doors and a portly man he hadn’t seen in nearly four months entered.

 

“Mr. Carey....”