Stereo Blast Volume 1 [MxM]

Chapter 6.2

Tike was bent over a small sketchbook covered in ink and coffee stains. He’d shown it once to Ryan when he’d first been interested in getting a tattoo and one of the photos—the one Taylor hated—inspired his favorite tattoo. It was a bird breaking from a cage. Taylor had problems with birds and cages. Anything that had to do with Tike.

And he could see it now, in retrospect. Taylor never liked Tike. He’d been blind to it all, pushing the glaring signs away so he could pretend his friend was the person he thought he was. But he’d been so wrong that it was tearing him apart now.

“Hey,” Tike said, but his happy smile disappeared when his eyes met Ryans. He got up from his seat and swung an arm over Ryan’s shoulders. “What’s going on? Is someone hurt?”

“Taylor and I got in a fight. That’s all.” It sounded pathetic. He shrugged. It hurt to move and his movements ended up coming off rigid. “It’s no big deal.”

Tike gave him a look. “Doesn’t seem like no big deal. Seems like a huge deal.”

Ryan shrugged off Tike’s arm. He hated to be rude, but he just didn’t want to be touched right now. Skin, warmth. It was making him sick. “I don’t doubt he’ll be over it by morning.”

Ryan sat at the counter. Tike sat back down beside him. “Are you going to be over it?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“If I can blackout in the next hour.” He held up the blunt. “Hoping this is all I need.”

Tike snorted and plucked the blunt from Ryan’s fingers. “That’s going to do nothing but keep you up for the next week.”

He reached into his own pocket and slipped Ryan two pink pills. “Vampire blood. You’ll be dead to the world.”

“Just what I need.” Ryan opened his mouth—

Tike covered his hand holding the pills. “But save them for later. I’m throwing a party and I want you awake for it.”

“A party?” Ryan raised a brow. “I don’t want to see anyone.”

Tike patted his shoulder. “You’ll be fine. It’ll do you good since you’re a socializer. Not a loner.”

Ryan gave him a flat look.

“Okay. Okay.” Tike raised his hands. “Sounds crazy, but you party the night away, you take the vamp blood, and forget this fight with Taylor. Maybe even have some fun?”

Ryan took the pills, but he didn’t pop them into his mouth like he wanted to. He considered Tike’s words. Even though he wanted to be dead to the world now, Tike might be right about this. He hadn’t had a night out in a couple of months, not since Taylor started running around more for his dad. Since the selling had been upped, he’d been busy hanging with Taylor and hadn’t had the time to do anything else besides crash back at his room. Maybe what he needed was a party to let him loose. He wouldn’t have to worry about Taylor or watching himself by making an unintentional move on his best friend.

Not that he was looking for a distraction for his…urges. But there was only so long he could go with using only his hand.

The thought of hooking up with someone made his cheeks burn and his heart drop. He could only think about Taylor’s hurtful words and how true they were in some ways. If Taylor wanted to call him a w***e, then he might just become one. At least he could enjoy something in his life without Taylor going and ruining it.

He pocketed the pills and smiled at Tike. “When’s the party?”

***

The party happened in the next thirty minutes. It hadn’t taken long for Tike to set the shop up for the large party he was throwing. There were folding tables set up beside the front door and in the center of the open space of the lobby while there were chairs set up outside and inside. But most of the layout was kept spacious so there would be room for dancing and for others to stand and walk around to talk. Beer, drugs, and small snacking items were tossed onto the tables. It was effortless and as the people started coming in, Ryan made himself invisible behind the bar.

Getting back into the party zone was much harder when he was still upset over his and Taylor’s fight. He wanted to get out there and take his mind off him, but there was just something holding him back. Fear, anxiety, or maybe just his unwillingness to let the sadness go away. He was f****d up like that. He would rather keep the pain inside and alive then get rid of it.

Tike, about an hour into the party, came around and handed him a drink. He took it with a loose hand and sniffed it. Whatever it was it made his stomach churn.

“Not having luck?” Tike looked at him with an almost sad smile. Ryan took a swig of the drink, ignoring the look and gazing out into the party.

“Luck?” He didn’t know what to say to that. Luck—whether it was finding someone to f**k or find someone to just talk his ear out—wasn’t exactly what he initially wanted this night. Maybe this was a bad idea. Actually, it was a bad idea and he’d known it the moment Tike had suggested it. He wanted to push through it and go along, but this wasn’t the time for him to party his woes away. All he could think about was Taylor sitting alone in his room thinking Ryan was out somewhere sucking someone’s d**k. He probably thought he went straight to Tike’s to let him f**k him. That’s what he’d assumed before. When all Ryan wanted to do was make sure Taylor didn’t die in the next coming hours, Taylor had his mind in the gutter thinking Ryan just wanted to f**k Tike. “I don’t want luck.”

He downed the last of the drink. He didn’t know what the f**k it was, but it eased his nerves somewhat. The drink was what he needed.