Nash

“Hey, man,” Adam greets me as I walk into Heathens Ink. Adam owns Heathens Ink and, aside from Royal, is one of my favorite people alive.

When Royal and I were eighteen we came in here together. He wanted a sonic tattoo, and I got Tails. I know, our bromance is adorable. We got to talking to Adam, who had opened the shop about a year prior and was already getting more business than he and his best friend, Gage, could handle. Royal and I told Adam how we’d both always wanted to be tattoo artists, and he offered us apprenticeships on the spot.

Going on five years later and Heathens Ink is our second home.

“Hey,” I grunt at Adam as I pass.

“What’s up?” He asks, no doubt picking up on my asstastic mood.

“Nothing,” I bristle.

Fuck if I know, anyway. I woke up feeling...off. It’s that nagging in the back of your mind that something you dreamt fucked with your head, but you have no memory of what it was.

I’ve been feeling strange since the almost kiss two weeks ago. But, then Royal mentioned some new guy last night and I felt sick to my stomach.

“Did you meet Madden’s friend yesterday?”

Adam frowns and strokes his bushy beard as he considers my question. When he doesn’t answer after a few seconds I let out an exasperated sigh.

“Zane or something? Royal gave him a tat,” I clarify.

“Oh yeah, I met him for a minute when he was settling up. Why?”

“Just curious. Royal’s got a date with him tonight. Hoping someone checked that he’s not a serial killer,” I gripe.

Adam cocks an eyebrow at me and squints his eyes.

“Since when do you care who Royal dates?”

“I don’t. Excuse me for not wanting my best friend to be made into a skin suit by some deranged ex-Marine,” I snap.

Adam holds his hands up in mock surrender.

“Chill, dude. I’m sure Thane wouldn’t let a murderer stay under the same roof as Madden.”

I grumble a non-committal response and shuffle to my work area. I’ve got an appointment scheduled at noon so I need to get set up.

At ten to noon Dani pops her head back to let me know that my appointment is waiting up front. I pull up my favorite Spotify playlist- ninety’s grunge, don’t judge me- and head up front to grab my client.

In the lobby I find a slim blonde, paging through the photo album of my work.

“You must be Stacy.” She stands and looks me up and down with a predatory smile.

“You’re even more gorgeous in person than you are on the website.”

I feel a blush creep into my cheeks. This is why I’ve always liked having threesome’s with Royal. I’m shy around girls. I know I’m attractive, and I know I’m good in bed. But for some reason I only seem to feel comfortable when Royal’s around.

“Why don’t you come on back and we can get started,” I suggest before turning and leading her toward my workspace.

She emailed me the design she was looking to get a few days before so I’ve already got it drawn out for her to take a look at. It wasn’t anything terribly original, just a Celtic knot shamrock.

“Where are we putting this?” I ask, pulling my gloves on.

“On my hip,” she answers before tugging her pants almost all the way off. It’s obvious she’s not wearing any panties, and it’s equally as obvious that she is clean shaven in her nether regions. My cock perks up in interest before I avert my gaze and start to prep the skin on her hip.

“Is this going to hurt?” Stacy asks with a nervous giggle.

“Depends on the person. I think it feels like cat scratches, sort of a burning sting. And as it heals it’ll feel like a bad sunburn, and then it’ll itch like hell,” I explain.

Stacy takes a deep breath and then lets it out slowly.

“Ready?” I ask.

She nods with determination and I get to work.

Stacy is a trooper, I only notice her wince a few times as I fill in color over a bony area. She attempts to flirt throughout the hour long process, but for some reason I’m not feeling it today. I feel weird even admitting it to myself mentally, but knowing that if I took Stacy out- or just brought her home- without Royal there it wouldn’t be half as much fun.

I can’t even take the time to explore what that means. I’m straight, so why do I enjoy sex with a woman a thousand times more if my very male best friend is there?

“Can I get your number, in case I have a question or a problem?” Stacy asks as I lead her up to the front to pay. She reaches out and trails a hand up my bicep. My dick, once again, is interested, but not enough for me to do anything about it.

“Here’s my card, the shop number is on here if you have any problems.”

Stacy pushes her bottom lip out in a pout but doesn’t push it. Dani gives me a knowing smile before getting Stacy checked out and on her way.

“Poor Stacy, I think she’s going to go home and cry herself to sleep,” Dani teases once we’re alone.

“Somehow I think she’ll find the strength to move on.” I roll my eyes and Dani laughs.

Dani is a sweet girl. She’s the only woman who works at Heathens Ink and she never shies away from being one of the boys. I’m sure it helps that three out of the five guys who work here are into men. She loves checking out hot guys with them, organizing nights out to see things like the Thunder from Down Under, and begging for details about their sex lives. I had no idea before I met Dani that some women find man on man action such a turn-on.

“What are you up to after work tonight?” I ask her, suddenly not all that into the idea of going home to an empty place with Royal on his date.

“I’ve got a date with a stupidly gorgeous EMT.”

“Cool.” I give her a kiss on the cheek and then head back to clean up before my next appointment is due in.

The rest of my afternoon is fairly steady. I find time to ask both Gage and Adam what their plans are for the night as well. Adam says he’s seeing Kira tonight, his off and on fuck buddy, who we all refer to as The Wicked Witch. She’s hot, I’ll give him that, but she’s all kinds of fucking crazy. Gage, Adam’s roommate and best friend, never dates so I thought he’d be a sure thing to hang out tonight. But he says he’s planning to spend some time at Rainbow House.

About six years ago Adam’s younger brother, Johnny, committed suicide after being bullied at school for being gay. I didn’t know them at the time, but from what I understand they both took it really hard. Adam was determined to help any way he could in the LGBT community after that. When he discovered Rainbow House he said it was like a sign from his brother Johnny. Rainbow House is a halfway house for homeless teens who’ve been kicked out of their homes or abused for being LGBT.

When Adam told us about it Royal and I started volunteering there as well. Now we all go a few times a week, teach art classes, hang out with the kids. I’m about to tell Gage that I’m going to tag along with him tonight, when I get a text from my mom inviting Royal and me to dinner at home.

 

Me: Royal has a date but I’ll be there

Mom: looking forward to it, love you

 

Then my next appointment comes in and it’s back to the grind.

 

I step into my childhood home and am assaulted with the smell of meatloaf. My stomach growls as I pull off my shoes and set them on the mat next to the door.

There’s something so comforting about coming home. No matter how much other things in life my change, this place is still the same. It is weird to be here without Royal, though.

He grew up two houses down from here. Our moms were good friends, so we started having playdates the moment we were born. Or, I should say the moment Royal was born, since he’s three months younger than I am.

Royal and I have been inseparable our whole lives. When we were fourteen and Royal told me he liked guys, my first worry was that he’d want to ditch me to find friends who were also gay. I’m embarrassed to admit, that my second thought was whether people would think that Royal and I were gay together since we spent so much time with each other. It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t care what people thought, and that Royal needed my protection. He was a lot smaller than I was during our teen years. I was on the wrestling team and had a good five inches on everyone else in our class. So, when other guys made derogatory comments behind Royal’s back, I set them straight real fucking fast.

When his mom died we were all devastated. She was like a second mother to me, like a sister to my mom. It wasn’t difficult to convince my mom to foster Royal so he wouldn’t go into the system. She offered to adopt him, but Royal didn’t want that.

I make my way down the hallway to the kitchen and find my mom at the stove and my dad sitting at the table reading the newspaper.

“Hey, guys.” I walk over and give my mom a kiss on the cheek and then go give my dad a hug.

“It’s a shame Royal couldn’t make it,” my mom says as she points at the cupboard to indicate that I should set the table.

“Yeah, he had a date tonight with some guy Madden introduced him to.”

“Oh.” Mom’s voice enters false cheery territory.

My parents were very supportive when Royal came out. They didn’t understand it, but they weren’t dicks about it or anything. When they got a little weird was when he later admitted that he was bi rather than gay. Then my mom started pushing for Royal to find the right girl to settle down with. Ignoring Royal’s insistence that yes he is bi, but he prefers guys. When we had a human sexuality section in our high school psychology class, and learned about the Kinsey Scale, Royal told me he was a four or five on the scale. He’s attracted to both men and women, but he’s more attracted to men.

Some guys have thought it’s weird that I’m a straight guy with a not-so-straight best friend. To those guys I say fuck off. I don’t understand why people are so weird about it. Sex is sex is sex, who cares who someone else is fucking?

Once the table is set my mom brings out the meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

“Remind me to send you home with some for Royal,” she says.

I nod and shove a forkful of meat into my mouth.

After dinner I load the dishwasher, wipe down the counter, and ask my parents if they want to watch a movie.

Dad looks at me like I’ve grown an extra head. Mom pats me on the shoulder and ushers me into the living room.

I drop down onto the couch while my parents cuddle together on the loveseat. When I was younger I thought it was gross that my parents were so physically affectionate with each other. Most other parents I saw couldn’t stand each other. Now that I’m an adult and I know how damn impossible it is to make a relationship work, it’s kind of nice to see my parents still so in love after thirty years of marriage.

Mom loves to remind me that when she was my age they were already married and expecting me. I want a family someday, and kids would be nice. The problem is I’ve never been able to picture it with any girl I’ve known. When I’d confided this to Dani she told me it was because I’d never dated anyone for more than a week or two. I don’t think that’s the problem though. I’ve never stuck with anyone because I have yet to meet a girl who I’d rather spend time with instead of spending time with Royal.

It seems like an important part of a serious relationship is to want to be around the person. With the girls I’ve dated I spend our time together wondering what Royal is up to, or count down how long it’ll be before I can go home and play videogames with my best friend. If I can find a girl I like more than that, I’ll marry her on the spot. 

When the movie ends I check the time and see that it’s almost ten o’clock at night. Is Royal back from his date yet? Did he have a good time? What if he doesn’t come home tonight? These questions flit through my mind leaving me with an inexplicable irritation.

Mom fills a Tupperware container with leftovers and attaches a note to Royal telling him she loves him, and then sends me on my way.

It only takes me about twenty minutes to get home, and when I do I find Royal’s car in the driveway. A knot I hadn’t noticed in my gut loosens.

I grab the food for Royal and head inside. I stop in my tracks when I notice the state of the living room.

“What the hell?”