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Let’s go to a gay bar, she said. It’ll be fun, she said. Jason downed his drink to avoid making eye contact with the creepy middle aged guy who’d been talking at him for the past few minutes. He was currently giving him the boring specifics of his boring job that Jason wouldn’t have been able to describe, even non-specifically, if his life depended on it. He was eyeballing Jason in the style of a man who had no idea his target was way out of his league.
“Yeah… cool,” said Jason, cutting through the middle of the man’s sentence. “I just realised that I have somewhere I need to be.” He stood up, pushing his glass away from him on the counter and walked over to the dance floor without looking back to see the man’s pissed off expression.
I’m going to kill Carmella, he thought. It had all been her idea of course. She’d taken to asking half the locker room to come with her every time she went out in a new city. Enzo and Cass were somewhere here too, of course, as well as Bayley and the Vaudevillains. Tyler Breeze had been invited, but had considered it beneath him to accept. Jason was glad. He’d never liked that guy.
Still, he’d been abandoned by everyone else. Even Gable, who’d volunteered them both when Carmella had asked, was nowhere to be found. Sure, he’d stuck by Jason for a while, but when he’d made it clear he had no intentions of dancing, Gable had ended up being pulled away by someone else.
Fucking typical…
Gable was always the more social one. Whenever they got invited to parties, of course Jason realised that he was nothing more than a tag-along. Chad told him he was being ridiculous, but Jason knew that most of the time, people didn’t want him there unless he was with Gable. Even in the ring, it was Chad’s name the crowd was chanting ninety-five percent of the time.
It almost didn’t bother him, because he understood. Chad had the sort of charisma that couldn’t be faked. He’d talked Jason into forming a tag team, which was a feat in itself. Chad just had a way of making people like him. So Jason couldn’t begrudge him that. Being alone wasn’t so bad anyway.
Jason made his way around the edge of the dance floor, searching for someone he recognised. Leaving seemed like the best course of action, but he thought he should probably at least let Carmella know first. He climbed a few steps that lead up to the main stage to get a better vantage point and that was when he saw them.
Gable was in the middle of the dance floor with some guy practically hanging off of him. They were dancing, and then they were kissing and Jason felt his stomach twitch unpleasantly. The guy had his hands in Gable’s hair and was pressed up against him like he was a dog and Chad was a fire hydrant.
Jason felt sick with the revelation that he now knew why Gable was so keen to go the gay bar. Going home seemed like an even better idea now than it had earlier. He could just text Carmella to let her know. He didn’t really feel like seeing anyone anymore.
He tried to walk down the stairs but something stopped him. He couldn’t quite tear his eyes away from where Gable and that guy were practically dry humping. What the hell was wrong with him? He should be just happy that his tag team partner was getting some action. That’s right, happy. Not… whatever the hell this was. But he couldn’t stop the twisting feeling in his gut, and even though he knew that feeling had a name, he’d be damned before he’d admit it, even in his own head. He was not jealous.
One more glance down and he saw that the guy was tugging on Gable’s arm now, pulling him towards the other side of the dance floor. Chad slipped nimbly out of his grip in a way that was so familiar to Jason that his heart took its turn in hurting. Gable was saying something to the guy now, but it didn’t look like the guy was listening. The guy took his arm again, and Chad wrenched it out of his grip a lot less agilely this time. He staggered backwards and would’ve fallen if the guy hadn’t caught him.
He’s drunk, Jason realised. Without a second thought, he bolted down the stairs and into the crowd, shoving people out of his way and not caring how many pissed off couples he left in his wake.
When he found them, the guy had his hands on Gable’s hips, and Chad was pushing him away by the shoulders. Jason felt rage bubbling up his oesophagus until he could taste it in his mouth.
“Hey! What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The guy turned his head to face him. He looked to have a good four or five inches on Gable, but he wasn’t as tall as Jason.
“J.J.,” Gable exhaled, but it was barely audible over the thudding music.
The guy glanced at Chad. “This your boyfriend?” he asked, nodding in Jason’s direction. Gable responded by shoving at the guy’s chest, and this time, at least, he relinquished his hold on him.
“Back off,” said Jason, moving to stand next to Chad, who was breathing shakily.
“He seemed all too up for it ten minutes ago. Did you know your boyfriend was a filthy little slut?”
Jason didn’t hear anything else; he only saw red and felt the pulse run up his arm as his fist collided with the man’s face.
“J.J., J.J. come on. Let’s get out of here.” Chad’s voice broke through the pounding in his ears. He let himself be guided away through the crowd of people who parted like the red sea. It was only when they were past the bouncers and out in the cold night air that he realised that Gable was holding his hand. His heart clenched in a not entirely unpleasant way.
He tried to mask his disappointment when they rounded a corner and Chad dropped his hand.
“Are you okay?”
Suddenly, the whole situation couldn’t have seemed more ridiculous, and Jason let out a choked off laugh. After a moment of Chad staring at him incredulously, he said “I feel like I should be the one asking you that?”
“I’m fine… I could’ve taken that guy down easy… I just didn’t really want to make a scene in the middle of the dance floor.”
Jason laughed again. “I guess I kinda ruined that, huh?” This time, Gable laughed too. It was a short, shaky laugh and Jason didn’t think he could be more in love with this man if he tried. “Besides,” he continued, “You seemed pretty unsteady on your feet back there. I wasn’t sure if you could handle yourself.”
“I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much,” said Gable, giving Jason his most winning smile, and Jason couldn’t help but return it.
“You wanna bet?” He asked playfully.
The next thing he knew, Gable was practically jumping on him and dragging their lips together. Chad’s legs wrapped around his waist and he stumbled back into the wall behind him, bracing himself against it as Gable kissed him fervently. After a moment, he reciprocated, and he could feel the relief in the way Gable cupped his face.
Chad tasted like tequila and something else sour and disgusting, but Jason didn’t care. His heart was racing in his head and Chad’s arms were wrapping themselves around his neck, pulling him closer and the air out of his lungs. His lips were trembling when they finally separated.
“Wow,” said Gable.
“Wow,” Jason was inclined to agree.
Jason leant in to kiss him again but Chad laid a firm hand on the centre of his chest. Jason set him down onto his feet immediately and tried to step back, but Gable grabbed hold of his wrists.
“What d’ya say you walk me home to protect me from all the big bad creeps?” said Chad coyly.
“I thought we’d already established that you could handle yourself?”
“I thought we’d already established that I like you a lot and I want you to come home with me?”
Jason couldn’t argue with that.