Chapter 4
Chapter four
Johnny
Johnny sat at his desk, staring at his computer and letting the numbers all blur together.
He didn’t want to work. He couldn’t stop thinking about Gavin Peri.
Their night together had been full of new things for him, and he wanted to try all of it with Gavin.
All the kinky things—things that totally intrigued him.
He didn’t know when they’d meet up again, though Gavin invited him to go to some races. He wanted to meet up with Gavin for sure. The races? Not so much. Of course, he was willing and eager to explore. What would it hurt?
He leaned back in his chair, content to daydream, rather than crunch numbers. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting there when Bryce came marching in. He slid into the chair in front of Johnny’s desk and propped his feet up on the surface in front of him.
Johnny raised an eyebrow at him, but Bryce didn’t notice. He was reading a Motomags magazine, totally engrossed in it. “Bryce? What’cha readin’?”
“An article about Tate and speculation about the next season. This dude, Gibbons, has been writing more articles lately. I like his style and what he has to say. He interviewed me last season, too. It went well.”
“Oh? What’s he say?”
“The points could shake out many ways. With Davey retired, Tate has a chance at it, but the championship could easily go to either Regal or Cole Lindt, but with the new triple crown format, who knows?”
“Huh? I don’t think I followed half of that, except that Tate has a shot at winning overall, right?”
“Yeah. You know, there are so many factors and Regal’s running a new KTM this year, and he has some new people on his team. They’re hoping for an edge.”
“A new what?”
Bryce looked at him like he was crazy, but Johnny could have sworn Bryce has spoken some foreign language.
“Bryce, you guys are family now, so I’m trying to get it.” He shook his head. “But maybe go slower?”
The kid smiled brightly. He looked very young, and the purple bangs he shoved out of his face didn’t help make him look any older, but he was sweet and cute.
Johnny didn’t get the attraction, necessarily, but he didn’t have to either.
Bryce shoved his hair out of his face again and tossed the magazine onto Johnny’s desk.
“KTM is the bike, like Honda or Kawasaki.”
“Okay. He has a bunch of new people and a new bike, so that might not be too good for Tate.”
“Something like that.”
“Hey! What’s not good for me?” Tate asked as he came through the door.
Bryce gazed up at him with love practically shining out of his eyes like cartoon hearts.
Tate leaned over and kissed him. It pissed Johnny off.
He wanted to try and get along with them.
He certainly didn’t want to cause Pilot to pull out of his life any more than he already had.
Watching these guys get all lovey-dovey, though?
It made his stomach turn. He swallowed hard and willed himself not to think about it.
“Bryce told me about Regal’s new team stuff—”
“Yeah, whatever. I can outride him, new bike or not. My setup is sweet. No worries.” Tate flipped his blond hair with a toss of his head.
Johnny had no clue what setup would be better. Or what a setup actually was. That stuff was out of his league, but if confidence won races, Tate would be first. “So, where’s Pilot?”
Tate scoffed. “Still at the gym. He actually works out more than we do, and I swear that’s all we do—work out and ride.”
“We do other things.” Bryce wiggled his eyebrows and leered at Tate.
Johnny grabbed a pen off his desk and threw it at Bryce. “Hey, I don’t wanna hear about that.”
Both Bryce and Tate laughed, and Johnny smiled for them.
“I’m so over all this work today. Want to go to my place and swim?
The clubhouse has an indoor, heated pool.
” He didn’t know what possessed him to utter those words, but he liked the idea of hijacking Pilot’s boyfriends while Pilot was distracted at the gym.
Bryce looked at him with big eyes. “You can leave? Without like, uh, asking anyone?”
Johnny smiled for real that time. “Of course. I’m sorta the boss, right?
The deal's not done yet, but since things have worked out, Uncle G is thinking about retiring soon.” Johnny had already cut his hours back to part-time at the CPA firm he worked with.
Things would be moving quickly. “Oh, wait. What’s wrong? ”
They both looked at Johnny like he’d lost his mind. Didn’t they know anything about the deal with Trident?
“For real?” Tate asked. “You’re buying Trident out completely? I thought you only wanted a piece of it, like a third.”
Why had Pilot not talked about it with them?
Uncle Gary had changed the deal from buying thirds to halves.
It was a big jump, but Gary was ready to walk away.
It had taken Pilot and Johnny too long to come up with the funding.
That change meant a lot of the buyout would depend on Pilot’s relationship with Tate and Bryce and them being able to help Pilot financially.
Not that he’d need much help, since the income from Trident would be pretty good, but that’s normally how partnerships went.
Business was risky, and even owning Trident couldn’t guarantee everything.
Apex didn’t want to pay full price for Bryce's protection because of Pilot’s relationship with him.
That could factor into things since Pilot insisted on it.
Davey backed him up, though, which was good, but so much of it was still up in the air.
Pilot should have talked to Bryce and Tate.
Johnny felt shitty being the one to bring it up first. “Hey, uh, nothing’s for sure, except that I can take off when I want. Let’s call Pilot and tell him to meet us there.”
The guys quickly agreed, and Tate left Pilot a message on their way out.
Twenty minutes later, they splashed into the pool.
Bryce cannonballed into the deep end, and Tate dove in and swam the length.
Johnny walked in from the stairs at the shallow end.
He didn’t spend a lot of time at the pool, but looking around, he vowed to change that.
The community where he lived had a great clubhouse with amenities, complete with the indoor heated pool.
It was a standard rectangle that stretched across the large open room.
On one side, windows lined the wall on either side of a solarium that jutted out like it was meant to soak up the sun.
On the other side of the pool, a big round hot tub with jacuzzi jets sent steam into the air.
The best part was the place was empty, since it was the middle of a weekday.
Bryce and Tate splashed at each other, playing around.
Johnny stretched out and swam toward them.
When he swam in close enough, he turned and kicked his feet, splashing them even more.
They ganged up on him after that. Johnny had to admit Pilot’s boyfriends could be fun.
They laughed and played and swam for a while.
It felt like a good effort on Johnny’s part, at least on the surface, but Pilot didn’t mean merely spending time playing around with them.
He meant talking to them on a deeper level.
Johnny wasn’t ready for that. He floated on his back, thinking about it while Bryce and Tate raced across the pool—of course.
When Pilot showed up, the splashing started up all over again. He jumped in and dunked Bryce. Tate splashed him, but Pilot caught his foot and pulled him over. Once he had Tate close, he kissed him. That’s when Johnny splashed them.
“Hey!” Tate hollered and immediately retaliated.
Bryce got out of the pool, so he could cannonball them again. It didn’t take Pilot long to get his hands on Bryce after that. When he kissed Bryce, both Tate and Johnny splashed them.
A loud ringtone interrupted their playing. “That’s me!” Tate called, jumping up to the side of the pool and pulling out with strong arms and chest. Johnny admired the definition of his back muscles as he flexed.
“Stop ogling my boyfriend,” Pilot said mere seconds before he dunked Johnny under the water. He came up sputtering and laughing.
“Hey, guys!” Tate called out, getting their attention. “Davey’s on the phone. He’s inviting us all to The Ranch. Bryce and I can train with him for a day or two. Season starts next week, and it’d help to actually hit the track in some warm weather. We can bring whoever we want.”
“I’m in!” Bryce shouted.
Snow packed along the top window of the solarium with more flakes building up by the second. It’d be great to escape the cold for a bit. “How long?” Johnny asked.
“Until race day or however long we need. He’s going to throw a party New Year’s Eve. That’s like what? Two days from now? Three?”
“Three,” Pilot confirmed. “Let’s go. Johnny?”
“What?”
“You want to come with us?”
He glanced out the windows again and shivered. “Yeah. I’m totally in. Let’s see if Uncle Gary will come too.”
They made plans and booked flights to New Mexico, but once he got home to pack, Johnny became frustrated.
He didn’t want to be the single guy hanging around, especially during the party.
He didn’t have anyone to bring who would hang out with him.
He couldn’t help think about Gavin Peri and their two nights together, though.
A part of him jumped around inside, begging to invite the man, but it would be horrible to bring him, knowing he'd been after Bryce to go to his team. That Christmas gift he’d sent Tyler to try to weasel his way in would make it awkward.
Whatever had possessed Gavin to send that extravagant toolset to Tyler was beyond Johnny.
It made Gavin seem desperate, which was totally out of character for the Gavin he knew.
Maybe the other guys needed to get to know Gavin better too. Then they’d get over it.
Johnny closed his suitcase and dragged it out to the front room. Pilot waited there to grab it for him. “What are you pouting about, J-man?”
“Don’t call me that, Sean.”
“Fine, Johnny. Why the long face?” Pilot pulled a face, making an exaggerated pout.
Johnny wanted to throw something at him.
“Nothing. I mean...” He sighed hard. Pilot would badger him all the way to The Ranch if he didn’t give in and fess up.
“Everyone’s paired up. I’m going to be the sole single guy there.
I, uh, hoped Uncle Gary would come, so I could at least hang out with him. ”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s true.” His bottom lip popped out. He was actually pouting. Damn.
“Why don’t you get a boyfriend already? You’re a cute dude...come on!”
“Like it’s that easy. What? You think I can wiggle my ass and the guys will all come running?”
“Shake that moneymaker!”
“You’re nuts.” Johnny smiled and tried to reassure Pilot that he’d be fine, but he didn’t think he would.
His anger and frustration threatened to crawl up from the depths and strangle him.
To hell with all these Supercross assholes.
Or maybe he needed to get a Supercross boyfriend also.
He decided to invite Gavin. If he came along, it might be awkward, but less so with his company.
Johnny couldn’t stand the idea of spending the entire time watching Pilot and his boyfriends, Davey and Tyler, and Angel and Stewart all being lovey-dovey and kissy-face while he stood there watching. Alone.
Nope. He pulled his phone out and scrolled through the contacts. He sent a quick text to Gavin before he changed his mind.