21. Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-one
Cade
Cade was walking on air when they picked up Ford at the club to go back to the apartment before the long night started with the bachelorette party. He’d sweated through his shirt at the meeting with Jax’s new agent and lawyer, but it had worked out wonderfully.
After the meeting, Jax had asked him to look at his financial portfolio to see if his money manager was fucking him over. For the first time in the relationship, Cade felt like he had more worth to the man than just a throwaway fuck toy. The realization made him giddy.
They’d stopped at a barbeque shack to grab dinner to bring home, deciding to eat at Cade’s place for a change. Jax had stood from the small table to use the washroom, and Cade glanced at Ford. The man had an odd expression on his face. “What, uh? Is something wrong?”
Ford cleared his throat and sat forward. “You know, it just occurred to me that we’ve never asked you if you’ve had sex. All we’ve done is play around, and you know Jax and I don’t have penetrative sex, but the two of us assumed you’ve already had intercourse. I realize it isn’t great timing to ask in the middle of a run-down barbecue restaurant, but you’ve had anal intercourse before, right?”
Cade had enjoyed anal sex, though much of the time, it had been with him doing the penetrating. He’d topped more than once, though he’d enjoyed having his ass played with and owned a few vibrators he loved playing with.
There was a lot of good porn on the internet where the two guys fucked each other—some bareback—and they’d both appeared to enjoy it to explosive climaxes. One thing Cade had noticed was in the better porn, the tops had been diligent in preparing their sex partners. That hadn’t been Cade’s experience with anal sex the first time.
Marcus had taken him without Cade’s consent, and after that, he had continued to take without asking again. Cade’s hole squeezed hard at remembering those nights.
When he was younger, Cade had always been steadfast about who he’d give his ass to for the first time. He believed such an intimate act should be reserved for someone he cared deeply for—perhaps the man he was planning to spend the rest of his life with—and he’d stuck to that decision when he started his sexploits in high school.
He’d liked Marcus when they initially met, but as time went by, there were a lot of things about the man that Cade saw as red flags. He just didn’t get away fast enough.
He hadn’t wanted his first experience with intercourse to be with Marcus, but that decision had been taken away from him one night when alcohol had been added to an already tense situation.
“What do you mean, you’re not gonna let me have your cherry? You won’t let me fuck you? Am I not good enough?” Marcus had shouted at Cade.
The discussion had started at the table when Marcus had said he couldn’t wait to get Cade home to fuck him, and Cade had laughed and said, “I don’t see that happening tonight.” Things had only gotten worse between them after that.
The next fight was a week later. “No, no, Marcus. It’s just that I thought I’d save it for the man I wanted to make a life with. You know, the guy I fall in love with forever,” Cade explained sheepishly one night outside a bar where they’d gone to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Of course, it was the wrong thing to say to the hotheaded man, as the hand around his throat shoved him against the brick building, slamming his head back. He should have thought through his answer, but the two white Russian drinks he’d had at the party had dulled his radar in dealing with Marcus’ moods.
When Marcus Drury took him with a condom and no lube right there in the alley, he cried. Not because of the pain, though it was as bad as Cade had always suspected it would be without enough prep. He cried because he wanted to wait for his knight or prince or whatever. Instead, a crazy man had taken the only thing Cade had to give to a future lover. It just wasn’t fair.
“Yeah,” he stated, reaching up discreetly to wipe away the tear that slid down his cheek.
“What’s wrong?” Ford’s expression morphed into concern.
“Nothing. It just wasn’t… I’d hoped it would be something I could save for… Wait, which way?”
Jax walked over to the table, having stopped at the fridge to grab three bottles of beer for them. “What are we talking about?”
“I asked Cade if he’d ever had intercourse, and he was about to explain to me what I perceive as an unpleasant experience. I meant as a bottom, but what about as a top?”
“Oh, as a top, I’ve done it a few times, and I enjoyed it. I mean, they weren’t lasting relationships or anything, but the few guys I’ve been with were great about it.” Cade hoped to avoid discussing his bottom issues.
“How about bottoming?” Jax didn’t hesitate to ask.
In Cade’s head, he knew it was the reason they’d first started dating him. Yes, he did desire receiving, especially when it came to the two men he was staring at.
When it was by his own hand or even the vibrators he had stashed in his nightstand, he loved it. It felt incredible, and when he’d found his prostate back in college, he hadn’t left his bedroom at the apartment for an entire weekend because it was the most amazing feeling in the world. Regarding his experience with the real live thing… that hadn’t been so great.
“I’ve bottomed before, but the experiences weren’t good. I won’t go into details, but each time it happened, I thought I’d never walk right again.” He added a nervous chuckle in hopes of breaking the tension.
He saw the disappointment on both of their faces, and he hated to put it there because he knew it was likely a deal-breaker for them. They were both tops looking for a bottom to share, and if it wasn’t him, then they’d want to find someone else, he was sure.
“Okay, so would you consider fucking me?” Jax asked. Cade could see the surprise on Ford’s face, and he was sure it mirrored his own.
“Lucky, I love you, but you’re a top. We both know you wouldn’t enjoy it.” Cade squeezed Jax’s hand. Ford stood from his seat, seeming dumbstruck.
Jax continued. “Hear me out, chère. I’d never ask you to let me do anything to you I wouldn’t let you do to me, okay? You show me by example how you’d like to be made love to. I mean it.” Jax didn’t blink a bit.
Ford was glaring at Jax with disbelief.
Cade grabbed his things to leave. “I, uh, you guys need to talk, so I’m going to the club. I’ll call the car service to take me there. I guess I’ll see one or both of you later.”
Rushing to his closet, Cade grabbed a pair of royal blue skinny jeans and a new neon-pink T-shirt with a dayglow yellow vest he’d purchased at a secondhand shop strictly for the event. He donned red Vans and messed up his hair, putting freeze spray on it to hold it in place. The teal eyeliner he’d bought on a whim came out, and after a little glitter powder, he looked in the mirror, seeing himself about five years younger. He was grateful he didn’t have wrinkles yet. With the day-to-day stress he endured, it was a surprise.
He grabbed an orange scarf and draped it around his neck, and he was set. He paused in front of 2D to hear muffled shouts and then nothing at all.
Deciding not to interrupt, he called the car service and waited in the empty lobby. When the sedan pulled up, Cade hopped into the car, giving the driver, who was a middle-aged woman, the address.
“Off to a party, honey?” she glanced in the rearview mirror and gave him a smile.
“I am. I work at Fairytails, and we’re having this huge bachelorette party tonight. It’s an eighty’s theme. I hope I got it right. It was a little before my time,” he told the woman as he glanced down at his attire.
She checked him out in the mirror again. “All you need is glitter gloss for your lips.”
Trying to rid himself of the horrible mood he’d fallen into, he chatted with the woman. She seemed nice. “Yeah, but I hate that stuff. I bet you used it back in the day, huh?” he asked, admiring the stylish bob she wore.
“Oh, my God. I had the whole thing… lace gloves, bandanas, over-teased frosted hair. It’s a wonder I even have hair, considering all the abuse I used to put it through. Actually, if I might suggest something, having lived through the era and all,” she said.
“Oh, please.” Cade welcomed her advice.
“Cut the T-shirt to a midriff style and open the vest. Weave the scarf through the belt loops and tie it in an enormous bow over your hip. Also, cut the… Let’s pull over.”
She pulled into the parking lot of a drugstore and went inside. When the two of them returned to the car, he looked like a Madonna wannabe right out of 1984.
His T-shirt had been cut up right there in the laundry aisle with a pair of borrowed scissors. It was now off the shoulder and above his belly button. The vest kept it semi-decent, and he liked the way she’d woven the scarf into a bow over his left hip. He’d caught his reflection in the tinted back window before hopping into the car, pleased with the modifications she’d made; he looked damn cute.
Club Cade was back from his days gallivanting around the city, and for her troubles, he gave Judy Fender, the sedan driver, a hundred-buck tip. She had certainly taken his mind off the earlier discussion with Ford and Jax.
Eight o’clock found him at the front door of Fairytails with the bouncers, Tobin and Deon. The two of them were checking IDs and Cade was verifying invitations for the bachelorette party. It was utter chaos.
Chloe had told him there were thirty women invited by invitation only. Cade had already checked in fifty girls with an authentic invitation, and the bride-to-be hadn’t shown up with the bridesmaids.
It was only fair to alert Cleveland and Brady of the underestimate they’d been given because there was the potential to run out of space in the VIP section. They needed more table space, and they were out of pink table toppers, so Cade wasn’t sure what to do.
Cyrus was playing soft music while people chatted, so Cade took a shot at getting some help from Griff and the dancers who were in the dressing room getting ready for the show.
Cade walked backstage and was surprised by the sound of applause. He laughed as he gave a deep bow, unsure of what brought out the honor.
“You look incredible, but you’re missing one thing,” Cesar, a dancer, told him as he pulled out a tiara that read Birthday Girl in purple and green rhinestones. It was magnificent, and after all the hubbub earlier, Cade had forgotten it was his birthday.
After it was in place and his hair had been strategically coifed around it, Cade smiled at the group. “Thank you all so much. Now, I have a crisis. We need more tables for the bridal party because they must have been handing out those damn invitations like condoms at the free clinic. Help me figure out what to do. I have them in a holding pattern over by the bar, but I’ve got to do something before they take over,” Cade begged.
Griff looked around and nodded. All the dancers slipped on kimonos and followed Cade to the linen area, grabbing white tablecloths and black toppers. “What are we doing?” Cade asked the dance captain.
“Mixing it up, Pink Ladies style. Black, white, and pink. Give us five minutes, honey, and we’ll get it together. Just keep them entertained and out of our way by the bar.” Griff and the dancers scampered around, taking the area apart and rearranging everything, Griff conducting like the maestro of an orchestra.
Cade walked over to Cleveland, seeing a harried look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“They all want drinks, but I’m not sure what’s included in the party package they bought since so many more of ’em showed up,” Cleve told him.
Cade leaned forward. “Get about twenty bottles of that cheap pink swill and grab the plastic champagne flutes we have in the back. Until they start bottle service, they use plastic. Once we get this figured out, we’ll give them the top shelf, but this isn’t what we contracted for with them. We can say the pink crap is on the house. I’ll cover it with Ford.”
Cleveland leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Happy birthday and thank you. I’ll get somebody on it right away.”
A large crowd was assembling by the bar. They were all adorned in eighties garb, and it was comical to see what they thought made up the iconic fashions of the period.
Cade hurried over to Deon, who smirked. “Count?”
“Seventy.”
Cade shook his head. He didn’t believe there had ever been that many cisgender women in the club since Ford had opened the place.
“Okay. Don’t let anyone else in. I have a call to make.” Cade hurried to Ford’s office. He pulled the contract out of the stack of papers in Ford’s inbox and double-checked it to ensure there hadn’t been modifications Ford hadn’t mentioned. Once confirmed, he placed a call to the maid of honor, Chloe.
“ Hellooo! ” She sounded drunk, and Cade wasn’t looking forward to the conversation.
“It’s Kincade Hayes from Fairytails. We have a problem, Chloe.”
“I know we’re late, but Alex keeps changing her mind about her outfit. We’ll be there. Just start serving the girls.”
“Oh, I’d like to, really I would, but since there are twice as many guests as your contract covers, with a lot more of them waiting to get in, I’m afraid we’re going to cancel your party and send your guests home.” He was bluffing, but…
“The rate we quoted you for appetizers, drinks, entertainment, and space is only about a quarter of what I’d have to charge you for a party this one’s shaping up to be, Chloe. I’m voiding our contract and refunding your money after deducting the amount for appetizers and the deposit you paid. You can swing by to pick up the food, your cake, and your decorations. I’m disassembling the VIP area and opening it up to our regular clientele. If you want to come in, the cover’s ten bucks a head, and the drinks are full price.”
Of course, Cade knew they had a signed contract, but it was poorly worded and would need to be rewritten because it included no limitations on the number of guests in the fine print. That was something he’d have to rectify with a lawyer as soon as possible.
When Ford showed up, Cade intended to have a serious discussion with him regarding the pitiful paperwork because there was a potential lawsuit waiting to happen. For the moment, however, Cade was certain if the bride was as much of a bitch as the girls had stated, her friends would do anything to please her.
Chloe relayed the information and there was a squeal or two which pierced his ear, but he was holding steadfast. After a minute of talking over each other, he heard a more mature voice take the phone.
“Hello? This is Cassandra Anastos. Here’s my credit card number to start a tab. We can discuss this issue at the club. I’m not sure what happened, but I won’t have my daughter’s bachelorette party ruined. I’m sure one of these girls is an idiot and paid no attention to the limitations, but I’ll take it up with you when I get there.” The woman definitely wasn’t playing around if her tone was any indication.
“Certainly, Mrs. Anastos. Mr. Thomas looks forward to meeting with you,” Cade told her.
Based on the way he was dressed, the woman wouldn’t take him seriously, but it was Ford’s club, so he’d leave it to Ford—if the man ever showed up.
An hour later, half of the club had been taken up by the bachelorette group, totaling one hundred twenty-five in all. Ford had finally arrived and had Mrs. Anastos in his office, obviously renegotiating the contract.
Cade was holding up bottle service until his boss gave him the all clear, so the cheap, pink sparkling wine was flowing like water and the girls were getting hammered, which might serve well if they didn’t have to open all the liquor. The party was paying for each bottle, whether it was opened or not.
Brady found Cade in the DJ booth with Cyrus, making suggestions for music so the girls could dance with the people who were in the club that night. It was wild to see gay boys and straight girls grinding on each other. Cade wished he had pictures.
“What’s up? Where’s Owen?” Cade asked as he and Cyrus went through the eighties songbook. Everyone seemed to love the music, so Cade wanted to be sure it played until the show started, which wasn’t going to happen until there was a signed contract.
“He’ll be here shortly. I told him to come in through the back so he didn’t get mobbed. The boss wants to see you upstairs.” Brady’s serious expression gave Cade pause.
“Is the bride’s mother still up there?”
“Yep. He called down, so please get a move on. I like my job here, dude.” Brady cocked an eyebrow, which filled Cade with dread.
Cade climbed the stairs and knocked on the door, feeling like he was being sent to the principal’s office. When Ford called him in, he put on a big grin and opened the door, closing it quickly as Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” blared over the speakers.
“Mrs. Anastos, this is my event organizer, assistant, and all-around man Friday, Kincade Hayes. Cade, this is the bride’s mother. I believe the two of you spoke on the phone,” Ford gritted out, which let Cade know he wasn’t exactly happy.
“Oh, yes. How lovely to meet you. I’m not sure if it was a miscommunication with the maid of honor, or if the plans changed and someone forgot to notify us, but we have nearly five times the number of guests down on the floor than we contracted to serve. We’ve done our best to accommodate the change, but at a point it became too much, Mrs. Anastos. We’ve pulled out all the stops to put together this eighties night your daughter was excited to have in her honor, complete with a show designed specifically for the festivities, but it’s costing us more than we quoted when the contract was first negotiated,” Cade said.
“Kincade, I told Mrs. Anastos that we’ll honor our contract.” Ford’s voice was tight, hinting at his level of anger.
“Of course, Mr. Thomas. I’ll go downstairs and remove one hundred of the girls who showed up with an invitation to get to the contracted arrangement, and we’ll get the party underway. Excuse me.” Cade headed toward the door.
When he put his hand on the knob, the woman flinched. “Stop!”
He turned around and smiled. “Yes, ma’am?”
Cade could see Ford was nearly swallowing his tongue in shock, having fallen into his chair, but for Cade, it was a matter of principle. It was a business. It operated as a business. One did not honor a contract when the guest list was increased nearly fivefold. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
“How much will it cost to keep the party as is?” she asked as she pulled out an AmEx black card.
“How many invitations did your daughter’s planners send out? We’re at one twenty-five now, and it’s only ten,” Cade told her as he glanced at the clock over Ford’s head.
“What was the original contract?” the woman asked.
Cade took the folder from in front of Ford and opened it. “Catered appetizers for thirty for two hours… Well, that’s out the window because we can’t find a caterer to bring more food. We could order pizzas from Domino’s or maybe Uno, and that’s whatever they charge. Bottle service for four hours for thirty… That’s about five times that now. Look, I’ll skip the rest of it so I won’t bore you, but I’ll have an itemized list for you before you leave. We ordered special linens, additional tables, and we put up decorations all day today. We’ve been comping champagne for the last hour and a half to keep them satisfied until this mess is straightened out, so let’s cut to a bottom-line number, Mrs. Anastos. What’s it worth to you?”
Ford loosened his collar with his index finger, but Cade glared at him to keep his damn mouth shut. The woman eyed him up and down and finally, finally, cracked a smile. “Fifty-five, tip included,” she stated.
“Deal,” Cade told her as he walked over to her and kissed her hand—before he slipped her black card out of it.
“Let’s go downstairs and get you a drink and a penis necklace. Your drinks are on the house, gorgeous,” he told her as he escorted her out of the office.
He walked her up to the bar and pecked Cleveland on the shoulder. “Mrs. Anastos, this is Cleveland, our bar manager. He’ll take care of your drinks, personally , so you tell him what you’d like, and I guarantee you it’ll be the best drink you’ve ever had.” Cade donned a confident smile as Duran Duran wound up the crowd.
Mrs. Anastos ordered her drink and turned to go back to the rowdy party which had spilled out all over the room. And the costumes were truly something to behold. Cleveland quickly made a dirty martini and put it on a tray. “Should I take it to her?”
Cade laughed. “Run this card for fifty-five thousand, and give them whatever the fuck they want, except the staff. We don’t pimp our staff. My friend, we’ve just made a lot of money. Let’s make it worth their while, okay?”
Cleveland ran the card and gave Cade the slips, card, and the drink along with a shaker full of another drink, iced and ready to go. Cade wound his way through the crowd to deliver the drinks and the card, securing the signature of the generous mother-of- the-bride. He kissed her cheek, which made her smile. “Touché, Mr. Hayes. We should lunch sometime. I like you.”
“Call the club and ask for me, Mrs. Anastos. I want a dance later.”
Mrs. Anastos nodded as the bottles and mixers were delivered to the tables by boys in pink go-go shorts and orange cropped tops. The girls squealed, which was going to get old fast, but the party was going to be a good one.
Cade walked the signed credit card slip up to the office and knocked on the door. Ford opened it and pulled him inside. “What the fuck was that about? My god, it’s turmoil down there. Did you accept fifty-five hundred dollars for that party?”
Cade smiled as he handed him the slip and sat down on the desk. Ford glanced at it before he sat up in his chair and looked at it. “No, I think… See… Cleve rang this wrong.”
“No, he didn’t. Did you look at that damn contract? They’re getting top shelf for hours, Branford. For thirty, the eight grand I quoted would have made a profit, but when you multiply it times five, then it gets out of hand. We’ve spent about five-hundred dollars getting most of them drunk on that crappy pink shit we serve, so the liquor tally won’t be so high. We’re making money, Bix.”
“ Oh. My. God ! You evil genius! How’d you do this?” Ford’s glowing smile was Cade’s reward.
“Under all this glitter and eyeliner is a true businessman, my darling. I’m more than just a piece of ass.”
Concern showed on the handsome blond’s face immediately. “Cade, I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject earlier.”
“No, it’s not that, okay? It’s just that Marcus was the guy who took my ass, and I didn’t want him to. I wanted to wait for the right guy and made the mistake of telling him I didn’t think it was him. He didn’t always use protection, and he wasn’t very gentle about it. I’ve been tested, and thankfully, I have no lingering issues from it.”
Rehashing that night wasn’t what Cade was in the mood for. There was a great party downstairs, and he didn’t want to miss it to discuss his mistakes with Marcus Drury.
“Look, we need to talk with Jax about this because I’m not trying to have secrets between us, okay? I mean, I know you guys are both tops, so don’t be mad at him for trying to… whatever he was trying to do by offering for me to top him.” Cade feared whatever was coming next.
Thankfully, there was a knock on the door. Cade looked out the one-way mirror to see it was the big man himself.
He pulled open the door and saw the immediate smile on Jax’s face. “You look like you’re straight out of a Wham! video, chère. It’s wild down there.” Jax kissed Cade on the lips while closing the door. In that moment, Cade forgot everything that had happened earlier in the day… Ford and Jax were there.