Chapter Text
“I’m not going to fall in love with you.”
Fandango turned, hands stilling where they’d been fixing some disarrayed strands of hair. He snorted, rather unattractively if he had to admit, because that wasn’t quite the opening line he’d been expecting. And he had expected this conversation.
“Oh?”
The door was pushed shut with an agile foot, then used for some suave leaning. Tyler Breeze’s face showed contempt, mixed with a hint of uncertainty. For such a vain, confident man it must have been a novel thing to feel.
“If that’s your aim with this whole white knight bullshit you can forget about it.”
Blond hair was pushed derisively behind an ear and Fandango smiled at the fire in the man’s eyes. Oh, he sure wasn’t having any of this imagined romancing. How hilarious.
“I have a difficult enough time with my immense love for myself,” Tyler continued. Fandango watched, entranced. “I don’t need some dancer getting ideas.”
“This dancer has no such ideas, don’t worry.” He grinned, then scratched absently at his stomach. Tyler’s eyes followed momentarily and Fandango didn’t miss that they swooped down to glance over his abs. Tyler Breeze could recognize beauty other than himself, it seemed.
“Also -” Tyler clearly wasn’t done yet. “I won’t date you. I don’t date. So don’t expect walks on the beach and dancing at moonlight.”
“You have made way too many assumptions about why I did what I did. I promise you walks on the beach did not enter the picture at any point whatsoever.” He paused. “Watching you dance, maybe, but not quite in the way you’re imagining.”
Tyler’s eyes glittered and his grin turned smug. As if he’d been waiting for this. For some kind of confirmation. Something that affirmed what he’d been thinking. His voice had a harshness to it Fandango hadn’t heard before when the blond spoke next.
“Sex, then. That’s what you want.”
He sighed. “You’re making assumptions again.”
“Well, it sure isn’t because of my in-ring results.”
They stared at each other and Fandango could see something like pain behind the stark blue eyes. Something like defeat.
“I’d watch you because I like watching beautiful people move, you know. A partner like that wouldn’t be a chore,” he admitted. It wasn’t quite why he’d betrayed his partner, but it would do. And the verbal sparring was quite a turn on. “That doesn’t mean I’m asking for sexual favours.”
“Eh, you wouldn’t be the first.”
It was said in such a casual, off-hand tone that Fandango was struck dumb. Sure, he knew their business was a questionable one, but Tyler Breeze was downright gorgeous and seemed to vibrate with several shades of ‘do not approach’. That people would be so brazen came as a surprise, even though it probably shouldn’t.
“What,” came the incredulous response to Fandango’s silence. “they don’t suggest you’d look good on your knees? Guess you’re not in my league.”
Fandango scowled, more at the casual way Breeze was talking than anything else, and he watched carefully, eyeing the way he’d moved towards him. All graceful movement and confidence, where his voice had shook and his eyes had died the moment he mentioned how he was sometimes treated. A shell. A shield. A mask hiding things Fandango hadn’t expected. He probably should have.
The blond man stopped right next to him, peering at him curiously and pushing an errand stray of hair behind Fandango’s ear. It made him shiver, then scowl even more. This wasn’t a game.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist just because I’m better looking than you,” Tyler groused playfully, probably misunderstanding his look. His lips were dangerously close now, breath hot against his neck. A hand delicately sloped down his neck, then chest, just grazing his stomach before dropping away. Lights danced in the blond’s eyes, but Fandango wasn’t sure they weren’t manufactured and they looked oh so fake. Created by a man who knew how to sell himself and that in a business such as theirs 'pretty’ got you far. Also into dangerous situations, but Fandango dared not mention that.
So instead he smirked, pushing back the urge to touch in return. “That’s debatable.”
He wasn’t going to be one of them. Even if he could. Considering he knew what he looked like too, he’d say he had a good shot at talking anyone into his bed. Even this vain creature who tempted and teased and based his self-worth on just that. But it’d be a hollow victory because Tyler was all too willing to give and yet not giving anything willingly at all. Like a dog who’d been taught bad habits and now bit the hand that fed it.
“I don’t want anything from you,” he once again assured. “I have enough baggage without adding yours.”
Tyler smirked. “Literal or metaphorical?”
“Both. Definitely both.”
“I’d be interested to see what that baggage entails. High heels and lots of lube, I’d wager?”
“My kinks are mine alone, pretty boy.” Fandango tried desperately to ignore the way Breeze was leering at him. As if he had a wicked imagination and wasn’t afraid to use it. Again it looked fake, though. As if he were going through the motions and was stuck forever on the decision whether to be flirty or disinterested. The default seemed to be flirty, though, if the swing of his hips and suggestive glance down Fandango’s body was anything to go by.
“I’d be happy to rate them for you. It’s probably nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“I’m sure you’re an expert. Still not interested. In dates, kinks, or otherwise.”
“You sure?” Tyler asked, mouth tilting in amusement and hand dropping down to grip Fandango’s burgeoning erection through sheer pants. When had that happened? “Your dick doesn’t seem to agree.”
“My dick,” he spoke calmly, removing the hand before he enjoyed it a bit too much, “finds you beautiful too. Doesn’t mean it wants to date you.”
A quick nod. “Probably for the best.”
Then a sigh.
“I suppose you’re not bad. For someone so…” Fandango tilted his head, waiting for the response. He bristled when it came.
“For someone so common.”
The way Tyler was looking him over said very little other than display his mild approval, but it made Fandango’s hands sweat nonetheless. He didn’t often find himself faced with someone who rivalled him and this man was certainly prettier than he’d ever claim to be. Someone whose words were as sharp as his expressions were cool. It made his pulse race in unfamiliar patterns.
Tyler looked him in the eye once more, then waved his hand dismissively. “Just don’t get any ideas. Remember, I don’t date. And people certainly don’t date guys like me. This isn’t going anywhere. Some casual sex at best.”
“Okay.”
If the other man considered his quick agreement an insult, he couldn’t tell, but they did stare at each other for just a second before Tyler shrugged his shoulders and casually dropped his pants before heading for the showers. Fandango shamelessly watched him go, because if they’d established anything it was that he did love watching beautiful things. Even if his dick was rock hard and the show wasn’t even halfway done yet.
He sighed, thinking of less pleasant things. Not hot mouths and the words that fell from them. Not a hand touching him, leaving fingerprints of need. Not the fleeting way in which Tyler Breeze seemed to address his own self-worth. Not any of it, because they were not for him. This wasn’t going anywhere. Except for, maybe, cold showers.
“Hurry the fuck up so I can deal with this boner,” he yelled at the running shower. Above its thunderous roar he could just hear laughter and the sound was, strangely enough, music to his ears.