8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
The bus stopped for gas somewhere just outside of Phoenix and Bronx’s timing could not have been worse.
He hurried out of the bedroom and toward the door of the bus at the same damn time as Cavalari tried to make his exit, too.
They’d done a great job, up until now, of avoiding each other but now it was impossible to forget they were sharing space—a very tight space.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” Bronx almost hissed his disapproval.
“Company protocols say the guard goes first,” Cavalari stated as he shouldered past Bronx.
“Are you really going to argue over who leaves this bus first?” Bronx argued. He gave Cavalari a bit of a shove on his back which sent him stumbling down the steps of the bus exit.
Cavalari cursed as he slid and finally managed to grab hold of the railing to stop himself before he fell out of the bus door. He still managed to bump his shoulder against the wall by the stairs but he shook it off and climbed them again to get into Bronx’s face.
“You are such a toddler!” Cavalari yelled at Bronx.
“Takes one to know one!” Bronx shouted.
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Cavalari seethed then he turned away from Bronx and began to stomp his way down the aisle to the front of the bus where the driver was standing.
Bronx ran and tackled Cavalari from behind in an attempted sneak attack.
Arms and fists started to swing wildly but missed making any real contact with the other—on purpose.
Neither of them was putting much effort into this, since it wasn’t meant to be an actual fight.
It was mainly for theatrics and to blow off steam, but to outsiders it probably appeared to be a real altercation.
Bronx used his foot to push at the back of Cavalari’s knee to jostle his balance.
He righted himself and pushed Bronx out of the way, then clomped his way down the bus stairs a second time and out onto the dirt parking lot.
Bronx jumped down to join Cavalari and then it was nothing but their boots kicking up dust and expletives being tossed between them like rocks until Cavalari had Bronx pinned against the side of the bus.
“Knock the shit off!” Cavalari shouted into his face. “We are not doing this here. You behave or I’ll haul you back onto the bus and restrain you until you calm down. Jesus, I have nephews that act more mature than you do!”
“Restraints, like handcuffs, around my wrists?” Bronx asked. “We’ve already done that dance, many times, and frankly, I’m over it.”
“Good, then start acting your age!” Cavalari reprimanded.
The bus full of guards pulled up behind Bronx’s bus and several of them exited the bus to run to Cavalari’s aid.
It took two men to haul Bronx back onto the bus and away from Cavalari.
One guard pushed Bronx into the back bedroom and slammed the door while two others ordered Cavalari to take a seat on a couch in the living room area.
“If you want to keep this job you better leave that guy alone,” a guard who went by the name Nacho informed Cavalari. “No more bullshit or bickering. You do your fucking job and do not exchange so much as an angry scowl with Bronx. Do you hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you,” Cavalari stated. “That wasn’t a fight. We’re both just frustrated and needed to vent. Neither of us landed any punches. I know better than that, but it won’t happen again. I promise.”
“You better keep that promise or get your resume polished up,” Nacho said.
“Are you going to tell Dagger and Fizzbo what happened?” Cavalari asked.
“No, I’m not, but you better hope Mr. Rockstar doesn’t,” Nacho said.
“He won’t say anything,” Cavalari said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“This is serious shit and you need to get it under control,” Nacho scolded “Nothing will happen to him but you’ll lose your job. Is he really worth having that kind of complications in your life?”
“Definitely not.” Not to mention, Bronx had already ruined his first career as a cop. No way would he allow history to repeat itself a second time.
“Then get your focus back on the job,” Nacho said.
The guards hung around in the kitchen area of the bus until several minutes had passed with no sounds coming from Bronx in the bedroom or from Cavalari on the couch.
Once they felt it was safe to leave them alone, they exited the bus and returned to their own.
Less than a minute later the bus began to roll toward the highway and Bronx burst out of the bedroom shouting some made up primal scream.
The sound of the door slamming against the wall made Cavalari flinch where he sat.
His gaze connected with Bronx and Cavalari shivered from the murderous expression twisting Bronx’s face — not out of fear, but because he looked far too sexy when he was fuming mad like this.
He resembled a really pissed off hornet with his mind set on revenge because his nest had been kicked a hundred times.
Cavalari barely had time to react before Bronx hurled himself through the air and crashed down on top of his guard.
They fell onto the coffee table — Cavalari’s shoulder taking the brunt of the impact.
There wasn’t much room in the aisle to do much more than roll around and growl at each other.
It was more of a messy wrestling performance, with them flipping back and forth hitting everything in their way.
Cavalari twisted Bronx onto this back and pinned him to the floor with the bulk of his frame and both of his legs straddled across his hips.
Bronx managed to make himself bleed from nothing more than rug burn on his forehead and cheek.
A pile of magazines stacked up on the table above them spilled over the edge when the bus changed lanes and landed directly on top of Cavalari’s head.
It was laughable from either of their points of view.
Cavalari latched onto Bronx’s shoulders to help him up from the floor but Bronx sprang into action all over again as if he thought Cavalari was about to throw an actual punch to his face.
He zigged when he should have zagged and managed all on his own to hit his head on the metal support beam positioned beneath the dining area table.
Stars exploded behind Bronx’s eyes. His ears momentarily rang but not ringing with bells like you see in cartoons.
It was more like a high-pitched wail of a siren.
Bronx took a moment to catch his breath while he also became acutely aware of a couple of details.
The first thing he realized was how much he loved the solid weight of Cavalari on top of him.
It made him wonder how blissful it might be to have a naked Cavalari stretched out this way with his forearms holding Bronx’s arms to the floor.
“I told you outside, I’m not fighting you,” Cavalari said. He avoided making eye contact with Bronx but he also didn’t move off of Bronx which was an interesting fact. “I don’t want either of us to get hurt—whether it’s intentional or accidental, and if we keep doing this something will happen.”
“So, you’re giving up?” Bronx asked and grinned. “Jesus, I was just getting warmed up!”
“If we continue playing this stupid game, I will no longer be pulling my punches and that’s not something you want to experience,” Cavalari warned.
“Oh, so now you’re going to claim you were going easy on me?” Bronx asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Cavalari said.
“We weren’t really fighting and you know that.
If I had been fighting with everything I had, you would have been knocked out a minute after we started this party.
So, as much as I’d like to knock you off your marble pedestal, I refuse to give you a real fight.
I won’t intentionally hurt you. I’ll walk away first.”
One of Bronx’s ears began to ring again with the same screeching sound.
He shook his head to clear the noise but it didn’t fully work.
He lifted his hips to try and get Cavalari to move off of him but he wouldn’t budge.
Cavalari remained cemented in place—hovering right above his face, watching him far too closely.
“You really tapping out like a little girl?” Bronx asked in a gravelly tone. Something was shifting between them, something that Bronx didn’t want to put a name to.
Cavalari remained in place, silently staring at Bronx.
No comments slipped from his mouth to address Bronx’s last accusation, not even a smirk lifted his lips.
That’s when Bronx felt the subtle twitch of something that was long and very thick nestled in the valley between Bronx’s hips and his own thickening cock.
Bronx’s immediate reaction was to grind up against Cavalari’s very large appendage but then he realized this was Cavalari and not some rando hookup and he’d rather eat glass than touch any part of his guard in an intimate way.
Liar! Bronx quickly got his senses under control and used what little energy he had left to launch Cavalari off of him.
Cavalari ended up leaning against a cushioned bench seat on the opposite side of the bus aisle.
“Holy fucking shit! You were getting hard!” Bronx shouted as if he was offended.
“You were grinding on me! What did you expect would happen?” Cavalari asked. “I guess it makes you a typical gay dude to think my erection had anything to do with you!”
“Again with the reference to gay men as if you’re not one of us!” Bronx scoffed.
Cavalari shook his head. “My sexuality is none of your business.”
“Why didn’t you warn me that I was turning you on?” Bronx asked and then made a gesture like he was going to throw up.
Cavalari laughed like he’d lost his mind. “There was no need to inflate your ego any more than it already is, and I wasn’t hard for you! My reaction was perfectly normal with the amount of friction you were inflicting and. . .”