A/N: I wrote that lovely sex scene for Pike's Peak, and only two reviews? :( Well, this chapter is for Sarah, my newest fan, at her request. Hope you enjoy it. And please review, guys. -DL
Chapter 10
The party was finally over. James ushered his guests out the door, kissing his niece and nephew on the face and shaking his brother-in-law's hand. Beth leaned over to buss her brother on the cheek. "Great day, bro," she said. "Thanks for inviting us."
"You're welcome. While the weather's nice like this, I'll have at least one more barbeque. Will you guys come?"
"Of course. Just let me know the day and time. Call me soon, James," she smiled at him, and carried her sleepy daughter away toward the car where her husband was settling their small son into his car seat.
Ricky hesitated in the hallway behind James, wondering if he should leave too. But he didn't want to leave James alone to have to clean up the mess from the party all by himself, not with his side still not totally healed. Suddenly he jumped as a hand seized his arm, and turned his head to look into Freddy's face. "Here you are, Ricky!" he called out. "Come and help us clean up." he dragged Ricky away, and he didn't protest because that's what he'd wanted to do, anyway.
Freddy took him out into the backyard, where he found the rest of James' gay friends busily clearing away the tables and throwing away a mountain of trash, all the while busily chattering away at each other. They greeted his appearance at Freddy's side with cheerful smiles and invitations to join them, and he found himself smiling as well as he walked over to where Daniel and Nathan were putting plastic wrap over the depleted bowls of food and putting the serving utensils into a tub to be taken into the house and washed.
James returned to the backyard a bit later, finding Ricky helping his other friends to clean up the yard. They'd finally pushed the tables out of the way, and were busily picking up any trash left in the neatly-mown grass. James paused in the doorway, seeing how easily Ricky fit into the group already. He didn't seem nervous at all as he talked to Daniel about something; and he laughed outright when Nathan made a comment and pinched his boyfriend on his derriere. The indignant expression on Daniel's face WAS quite funny. James found his own lips twitching a bit as well.
He felt great satisfaction as he watched Ricky. It seemed his campaign to help a homophobe reform was going pretty well. That was mostly Ricky; he'd come a long way in a very short time, proving that at heart he wasn't a bad person at all. All he'd needed was to actually meet some real gay people in person, and to really think about the way he'd been acting and the things he'd been saying. It was easy to continue patterns of behavior that you'd learned and seen all of your life; it was much more difficult to step away from them, but Ricky was making great progress on that front. He was looking forward to seeing what kind of man that Ricky became once he was fully reformed.
Ricky was smiling widely as he watched Daniel fake-pursue his boyfriend across the grass, in retaliation for the ass pinching. He really had a great smile, James thought to himself. Sunny, charming, full of life. It was the kind of smile that could make people melt just at the sight of it. Someone could get lost in that smile, if they weren't careful. Someone like him...
He started at this thought, a frown flashing over his face. What the hell?! Oh, shit. He wasn't starting to feel attraction for Ricky, was he? He wanted to groan aloud. This was not good. Ricky was a straight man, and worse a straight man who was just learning to trust and like gay men. He couldn't derail that by hitting on Ricky, even if he'd actually been a closeted gay. And James didn't think that he was; while Ricky did come off a bit sideways on his gaydar, it wasn't giving him the signal that he normally got from one of his 'own kind'.
He rubbed at the side of his face. This situation could get tricky, if he really was starting to be attracted to Ricky. The other man wanted to spend a lot of time with him, which James could understand since Ricky really needed a friend to help him while he was struggling with his whole life turning upside-down. But it would be difficult to just be a friend and sounding board, when all he'd want to do was kiss Ricky and touch him instead. Still, he could control himself. He wasn't a hormonally-charged teenager with his first crush; he was grown man. Even if he felt twinges of attraction toward Ricky, he'd push them away. He wasn't going to mess up Ricky's 'homophobe recovery' for his own selfish whims. Not that it would come to anything anyway, since Ricky was straight...
Unaware of the thoughts running through James' head, Ricky giggled as he watched Daniel pretend-hit Nathan on the arm, then squeal as his boyfriend grabbed him and pulled him in close to kiss him. Ricky felt his face turn a little red, and looked away from an intense kiss. He still wasn't quite ready to look at that kind of thing yet.
His eyes ended up at the sliding glass doors leading into the house, and he saw James standing there watching them. His heart jumped in his chest, beating wildly. His breathing came short, and he felt a fluttering in his chest and abdomen as he looked at the cop. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to walk across the grass and kiss James just like Nathan was kissing Daniel. He shuddered faintly. Why? Why was he so overwhelmingly attracted to another MAN?!
James turned his head, and Ricky hurriedly looked away lest their eyes meet. He stood there recovering his equilibrium, and as he did so he realized that it wasn't that he was attracted to another man, it was that he was immensely attracted to JAMES. To James, and only James. Here he was surrounded by attractive gay men, and he felt nothing toward any of them. Nor had he ever felt anything about another man before James. Something about the cop called to him in a way he'd never experienced before, with either man or woman.
He heard James call out: "Hey, guys. Thanks for helping to clean up. I appreciate it."
"Hey, you know we'd do anything for you, James," Freddy replied. "Besides, you shouldn't have to strain yourself cleaning up after your guests, not when you're just out of the hospital."
Ricky looked back at James, seeing him walking slowly across the grass toward the party of his friends. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked Freddy.
His friend made a "Tssk," noise, and waved a red fingernail at him. "Absolutely not," he replied sternly. "We're almost finished. Why don't you go into the house, sit down, and watch some TV?"
James shook his head. "I'm not a total invalid," he pointed out dryly.
"Well you might be, if you don't take good enough care of yourself. So shoo-shoo," he made motions with his hands, and James gave up.
"All right. Thanks again, guys," he said gratefully, before he made his way indoors again.
Freddy nodded his head in satisfaction, putting his hands on his hips. "I swear, that man! Such a typical guy," he remarked. "Never wants to admit to any weakness. Are we almost finished out here?"
"Yep," another man said. Ricky thought his name was Colin. "We'll take the trash out, and Mark and Peter will clean the grill, if you want to get started on the dishes, Freddy."
"Of course. Come on, Ricky; you can help me," the blonde said gaily, seizing his arm once again. Ricky let himself be towed inside the house, carrying the plastic tub with the dirty serving utensils in it. He didn't fight against that grip; he was kind of scared of Freddy. He worried what the man might do to him if he protested.
In the kitchen, Freddy began to run a sink full of hot water. He added some dish detergent from the bottle standing by the sink ,then turned to Ricky. "Give me that," he said, taking the plastic tub.
Ricky hesitated in the doorway, wondering what to do. It only took one person to wash dishes, after all. Freddy spoke up without turning around, as he emptied the tub into the soapy water. "I'm curious about you, Ricky," he commented.
"About me? "Ricky said in perplexity. "Why?"
Freddy stopped what he was doing, and turned around. He leaned back against the counter as he directed a keen stare at Ricky. "I'm just wondering," he began, something indefinable in his voice, "What Ragin' Ricky Raynes is doing hanging around a gay cop."
Ricky froze, cold enveloping him. Freddy KNEW?! Knew who he was? Or at least, who he had been up until a few weeks ago. He gulped, heavily. "I...how do you know...who I am?" he squeaked.
Freddy shook his head. "I thought your voice sounded familiar at the hospital, but at first I couldn’t place it," he replied. "Then, a few days ago, I happened to turn to the station where you're an afternoon DJ. I thought that's where I knew you from, but as I listened to you talk I suddenly placed where ELSE I’d heard you speaking on the radio before this. The last time, you were screaming about how 'fags' were going to destroy the world as we know it, and how we should all be herded into concentration camps for perverts."
Ricky felt sick. He dropped his eyes, shame swamping him. "That was me, yes," he admitted miserably. "Up until the bank robbery that put James in the hospital. Because...a gay cop had saved my life. Had taken a bullet for me. That made me think about what I'd been doing, and the things I’d been saying. It made me reevaluate my whole life. And when I went to see James in the hospital, he offered to help me change my ways. He knows who I was too, you see. He said it was wroth it to reform a homophobe if he could. He's really been a big help to me," he added. "He's listened when I wanted to talk, and given me some good advice. I can’t thank him enough for doing all of that for me, even after I was so horrible about gay people for so long on my radio program."
"I see," Freddy said softly. "That’s just like him. James is an amazing man. And you're very lucky, Ricky. It seems that James has managed to save more than just your life."
"Yeah," Ricky agreed, feeling a lump in his throat. "I know how lucky I am. I'll try not to take that for granted."
“See that you don't," Freddy remarked tartly. "Now, come and dry these utensils. There are towels in that drawer," he pointed at the drawer in question, then returned to washing the utensils. Ricky walked over to retrieve a towel, relieved that everything was out in the open now. At least where Freddy was concerned, anyway. He wondered if he should tell the others. But even the thought of the way that Daniel and the others would look at him if he confessed that he'd been a horrible, homophobic shock jock who'd said terrible things about people like them on a regular basis...he wasn't sure he could do it. Not now. Maybe later, when they'd gotten to know him better and had seen that he wasn't like that anymore...
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Chapter 10
The party was finally over. James ushered his guests out the door, kissing his niece and nephew on the face and shaking his brother-in-law's hand. Beth leaned over to buss her brother on the cheek. "Great day, bro," she said. "Thanks for inviting us."
"You're welcome. While the weather's nice like this, I'll have at least one more barbeque. Will you guys come?"
"Of course. Just let me know the day and time. Call me soon, James," she smiled at him, and carried her sleepy daughter away toward the car where her husband was settling their small son into his car seat.
Ricky hesitated in the hallway behind James, wondering if he should leave too. But he didn't want to leave James alone to have to clean up the mess from the party all by himself, not with his side still not totally healed. Suddenly he jumped as a hand seized his arm, and turned his head to look into Freddy's face. "Here you are, Ricky!" he called out. "Come and help us clean up." he dragged Ricky away, and he didn't protest because that's what he'd wanted to do, anyway.
Freddy took him out into the backyard, where he found the rest of James' gay friends busily clearing away the tables and throwing away a mountain of trash, all the while busily chattering away at each other. They greeted his appearance at Freddy's side with cheerful smiles and invitations to join them, and he found himself smiling as well as he walked over to where Daniel and Nathan were putting plastic wrap over the depleted bowls of food and putting the serving utensils into a tub to be taken into the house and washed.
James returned to the backyard a bit later, finding Ricky helping his other friends to clean up the yard. They'd finally pushed the tables out of the way, and were busily picking up any trash left in the neatly-mown grass. James paused in the doorway, seeing how easily Ricky fit into the group already. He didn't seem nervous at all as he talked to Daniel about something; and he laughed outright when Nathan made a comment and pinched his boyfriend on his derriere. The indignant expression on Daniel's face WAS quite funny. James found his own lips twitching a bit as well.
He felt great satisfaction as he watched Ricky. It seemed his campaign to help a homophobe reform was going pretty well. That was mostly Ricky; he'd come a long way in a very short time, proving that at heart he wasn't a bad person at all. All he'd needed was to actually meet some real gay people in person, and to really think about the way he'd been acting and the things he'd been saying. It was easy to continue patterns of behavior that you'd learned and seen all of your life; it was much more difficult to step away from them, but Ricky was making great progress on that front. He was looking forward to seeing what kind of man that Ricky became once he was fully reformed.
Ricky was smiling widely as he watched Daniel fake-pursue his boyfriend across the grass, in retaliation for the ass pinching. He really had a great smile, James thought to himself. Sunny, charming, full of life. It was the kind of smile that could make people melt just at the sight of it. Someone could get lost in that smile, if they weren't careful. Someone like him...
He started at this thought, a frown flashing over his face. What the hell?! Oh, shit. He wasn't starting to feel attraction for Ricky, was he? He wanted to groan aloud. This was not good. Ricky was a straight man, and worse a straight man who was just learning to trust and like gay men. He couldn't derail that by hitting on Ricky, even if he'd actually been a closeted gay. And James didn't think that he was; while Ricky did come off a bit sideways on his gaydar, it wasn't giving him the signal that he normally got from one of his 'own kind'.
He rubbed at the side of his face. This situation could get tricky, if he really was starting to be attracted to Ricky. The other man wanted to spend a lot of time with him, which James could understand since Ricky really needed a friend to help him while he was struggling with his whole life turning upside-down. But it would be difficult to just be a friend and sounding board, when all he'd want to do was kiss Ricky and touch him instead. Still, he could control himself. He wasn't a hormonally-charged teenager with his first crush; he was grown man. Even if he felt twinges of attraction toward Ricky, he'd push them away. He wasn't going to mess up Ricky's 'homophobe recovery' for his own selfish whims. Not that it would come to anything anyway, since Ricky was straight...
Unaware of the thoughts running through James' head, Ricky giggled as he watched Daniel pretend-hit Nathan on the arm, then squeal as his boyfriend grabbed him and pulled him in close to kiss him. Ricky felt his face turn a little red, and looked away from an intense kiss. He still wasn't quite ready to look at that kind of thing yet.
His eyes ended up at the sliding glass doors leading into the house, and he saw James standing there watching them. His heart jumped in his chest, beating wildly. His breathing came short, and he felt a fluttering in his chest and abdomen as he looked at the cop. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to walk across the grass and kiss James just like Nathan was kissing Daniel. He shuddered faintly. Why? Why was he so overwhelmingly attracted to another MAN?!
James turned his head, and Ricky hurriedly looked away lest their eyes meet. He stood there recovering his equilibrium, and as he did so he realized that it wasn't that he was attracted to another man, it was that he was immensely attracted to JAMES. To James, and only James. Here he was surrounded by attractive gay men, and he felt nothing toward any of them. Nor had he ever felt anything about another man before James. Something about the cop called to him in a way he'd never experienced before, with either man or woman.
He heard James call out: "Hey, guys. Thanks for helping to clean up. I appreciate it."
"Hey, you know we'd do anything for you, James," Freddy replied. "Besides, you shouldn't have to strain yourself cleaning up after your guests, not when you're just out of the hospital."
Ricky looked back at James, seeing him walking slowly across the grass toward the party of his friends. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked Freddy.
His friend made a "Tssk," noise, and waved a red fingernail at him. "Absolutely not," he replied sternly. "We're almost finished. Why don't you go into the house, sit down, and watch some TV?"
James shook his head. "I'm not a total invalid," he pointed out dryly.
"Well you might be, if you don't take good enough care of yourself. So shoo-shoo," he made motions with his hands, and James gave up.
"All right. Thanks again, guys," he said gratefully, before he made his way indoors again.
Freddy nodded his head in satisfaction, putting his hands on his hips. "I swear, that man! Such a typical guy," he remarked. "Never wants to admit to any weakness. Are we almost finished out here?"
"Yep," another man said. Ricky thought his name was Colin. "We'll take the trash out, and Mark and Peter will clean the grill, if you want to get started on the dishes, Freddy."
"Of course. Come on, Ricky; you can help me," the blonde said gaily, seizing his arm once again. Ricky let himself be towed inside the house, carrying the plastic tub with the dirty serving utensils in it. He didn't fight against that grip; he was kind of scared of Freddy. He worried what the man might do to him if he protested.
In the kitchen, Freddy began to run a sink full of hot water. He added some dish detergent from the bottle standing by the sink ,then turned to Ricky. "Give me that," he said, taking the plastic tub.
Ricky hesitated in the doorway, wondering what to do. It only took one person to wash dishes, after all. Freddy spoke up without turning around, as he emptied the tub into the soapy water. "I'm curious about you, Ricky," he commented.
"About me? "Ricky said in perplexity. "Why?"
Freddy stopped what he was doing, and turned around. He leaned back against the counter as he directed a keen stare at Ricky. "I'm just wondering," he began, something indefinable in his voice, "What Ragin' Ricky Raynes is doing hanging around a gay cop."
Ricky froze, cold enveloping him. Freddy KNEW?! Knew who he was? Or at least, who he had been up until a few weeks ago. He gulped, heavily. "I...how do you know...who I am?" he squeaked.
Freddy shook his head. "I thought your voice sounded familiar at the hospital, but at first I couldn’t place it," he replied. "Then, a few days ago, I happened to turn to the station where you're an afternoon DJ. I thought that's where I knew you from, but as I listened to you talk I suddenly placed where ELSE I’d heard you speaking on the radio before this. The last time, you were screaming about how 'fags' were going to destroy the world as we know it, and how we should all be herded into concentration camps for perverts."
Ricky felt sick. He dropped his eyes, shame swamping him. "That was me, yes," he admitted miserably. "Up until the bank robbery that put James in the hospital. Because...a gay cop had saved my life. Had taken a bullet for me. That made me think about what I'd been doing, and the things I’d been saying. It made me reevaluate my whole life. And when I went to see James in the hospital, he offered to help me change my ways. He knows who I was too, you see. He said it was wroth it to reform a homophobe if he could. He's really been a big help to me," he added. "He's listened when I wanted to talk, and given me some good advice. I can’t thank him enough for doing all of that for me, even after I was so horrible about gay people for so long on my radio program."
"I see," Freddy said softly. "That’s just like him. James is an amazing man. And you're very lucky, Ricky. It seems that James has managed to save more than just your life."
"Yeah," Ricky agreed, feeling a lump in his throat. "I know how lucky I am. I'll try not to take that for granted."
“See that you don't," Freddy remarked tartly. "Now, come and dry these utensils. There are towels in that drawer," he pointed at the drawer in question, then returned to washing the utensils. Ricky walked over to retrieve a towel, relieved that everything was out in the open now. At least where Freddy was concerned, anyway. He wondered if he should tell the others. But even the thought of the way that Daniel and the others would look at him if he confessed that he'd been a horrible, homophobic shock jock who'd said terrible things about people like them on a regular basis...he wasn't sure he could do it. Not now. Maybe later, when they'd gotten to know him better and had seen that he wasn't like that anymore...
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