It had started with Chris, Joey supposed. Chris, who was apt to be ebullient all day, every day, but who was also prone to bouts of neediness that drove him to seek warm contact. Most often, he went to Joey, who was by far the best cuddler among them, because he was built for it, with strong arms and a solid chest. He used his whole body, spanning his large hands across a person’s back, and leaning into them as much as they curled into him.
Soon, those cuddles turned into frenzied kisses, with Chris licking enthusiastically at the hollow of Joey’s neck, then lapping into the wet cavern of his mouth and beyond. For as slow and steady as Joey could be, Chris was his polar opposite, attempting to do everything and be everywhere all at the same time. Once, in the beginning, Joey caught a rogue elbow in the eye and they’d had to traipse down to the kitchen to get a slab of steak from the freezer, afterward. Chris had been remorseful but couldn’t seem to stop giggling which sort of ruined his sincerity, and though the make up people had practically had a fit the next day, Joey knew he didn’t really harbor any resentment, just a private brand of amusement every time be looked in the mirror and saw the blue black shadows on his skin.
The mutterings and cursings of management and the subsequent demands to know if Joey had gotten in a bar fight or if he’d been rabble rousing during his time off made the others curious. Since Chris had never been very discriminating about his needs and would crawl into Joey’s lap for a cuddle whenever he felt like it, even if it meant doing so in front of everyone else as they watched an action flick in the back of the three man bus, there wasn’t much secrecy or mystery involved. Which is why Lance took to balling himself up at Joey’s side and rubbing his face along Joey’s arm until he took the hint. It didn’t take him long to discover that if he stroked the nape of Lance’s neck rhythmically, the younger man would begin to purr appreciatively, occasionally digging his fingers into Joey’s thigh in time with the hand on his skin.
Justin, who had always enjoyed being coddled, began to lay his head in Joey’s lap, offering himself up to be loved. He’d swing his feet onto Chris’s knees, stretch his body across Lance, and they’d all pet him together, Joey running his thumb along Justin’s forehead, Lance forming little circles with his palm on Justin’s stomach, and Chris alternately tickling and massaging his calves. Strangely, JC tended to remain off to one side, rather inconspicuously, whenever they wrapped around one another. Every so often, Joey wished he would join them, but JC never did, and the only thing that reminded them of his presence, was the intensity that radiated out of his alert, bright eyes.
It wasn’t long before they were all staying at Lance’s house in Mississippi, during their meager vacations, hiding themselves away from the world, venturing forth every few days to make a supply run to the corner grocer in the little knock-about town several miles away. More than once, Joey walked into the kitchen for a late night snack only to find Justin anchored against the counter by Chris, sans clothing because they too had come straight from bed, pawing eagerly at one another while the refrigerator door stood open, light spilling out into the darkened room and the food going warm because they hadn’t been able to wait. Sometimes, the quart of milk he’d just brought back from the store would be crushed on the ground, contents spilling and spreading over the linoleum because Justin had failed to keep his grip once Chris had attacked him so carnally, right there in front of the vegetable drawer.
Sharing Lance’s big four poster bed was tricky. Though it was a larger bed than most, it was still difficult to fit five bodies comfortably, especially since Justin was such a restless sleeper, flailing about during the night and smacking them inadvertently in inconvenient places. Joey tried to tame Justin’s movements by trapping him in the circle of his arms at night, and while this method was marginally successful, every once in a while Justin would head off on an under the covers expedition with Chris, down to the foot of the bed where they tickled Lance’s feet because it made him shriek and gave them an excuse to giggle delightedly. Inevitably, they would fall asleep down there, though, and a rescue mission would have to be launched in order to recover them. This usually resulted in hot rescue sex, which was also nice, considering.
Chris had a penchant for sex in unexpected places. He would come upon his victim stealthily, sneaking up behind them before snaking his arms around their waist, nuzzling the back of their neck and growling in a way that let them know exactly what he wanted. He accosted Joey in the garage, where he was occupied with manly pursuits like attempting to fix the toaster, and they ended up sprawled across the hood of Lance’s red sports car. ruining its wax job as their voices echoed loudly. Chris squirmed and wiggled a lot, though not out of discomfort, which forced Joey to capture both of Chris’s wrists in a vise like grip and hold them above their heads until it was over. In the morning, there were faint gray bruises like bracelets, but all Chris could remember was the sure, certain pressure of Joey.
JC liked to watch. He would sit in the darkest corner of the room, in a wing back chair, and let his smoldering gaze heat their flesh until it practically burned. Joey had thought to kiss him, once. He had wondered what JC tasted like, whether the inside of his mouth was as dark and musky as the interior of his mind must be. But JC had forestalled Joey’s advance with a raised hand, then stepped back quickly with a peculiar little smile and a nearly imperceptible shake of his head.
Among them, Justin was the most responsive, given to arching his back so high Joey sometimes thought he could hear the vertebrae crack and shift, He was vocal, too. It didn’t seem to matter who was pushing into him, Justin made pitiful sounds in the back of his throat, pleas with no words because the vowels and consonants couldn’t squeeze past the whimpers and moans of pleasure building up one right on top of the other. It was when Justin was set adrift on a sea of desire and arousal, so close to climax that he rocked his hips desperately against the body above his own, that Joey looked over at JC. He leaned close to the boy beneath him, mouthing his ear, his exposed throat, his collarbone, all the while never taking his eyes off of JC, never breaking that all important visual link that he knew set JC teetering on the edge. Joey wouldn’t let himself come until he saw JC’s knuckles turn white from gripping the arms of his chair, until a thin sheen of sweat beaded across his brow, until JC’s jaw was clenched so tightly shut that Joey could practically hear the grinding of his teeth.
Justin came, fingers fluttering helplessly at Joey’s back, mouth opening wide and gasping for air, and JC’s death grip on the chair flexed, as if he were the one clawing at Joey’s skin. He never made a sound, but if Joey looked over at just the right moment, he could see JC’s hand resting on his own crotch, rubbing a little, enough to send his body barreling toward orgasm.
It was only after Lance had snuggled up against Joey’s back, after Justin had found a place in the circle of Joey’s arms, after Chris had collapsed at the foot of the bed, that JC came close. Only then did he crawl onto the bed and settle down on the other side of Lance, letting his hand rest gently on the slight swell of the pale boy’s hip as he breathed deeply the heady scent of all of them mixed together so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell where one stopped and the other began.
Sometimes, Joey would pretend to be asleep just so he could feel, and later remember, the touch of JC’s warm lips as they pressed softly against his bare shoulder.