Brian
. Loud, annoying, infuriating... a typical run-of-the-mill extrovert that Quinten preferred to avoid like the plague. But, to be fair to his brother, Brian could also be sensitive and kind, as he'd shown last night, and he possessed enough charm to entice others into overlooking his flaws. It was easy to fall under his spell, and unluckily for Quinten, his lizard brain decided that it quite enjoyed the sight of his dear brother admiring himself in a snug pair of jeans that left nothing to the imagination, smiling in a way that took him from boy-next-door to devilish hunk.
And yet wanting to fuck his brother wasn't the worst part. No the worst part was that Quinten had had plenty of time after being with Brian to go be with Cal. He was dressed, 'warmed up', and full of confidence. The planets had lined up and everything! And instead of going to his boyfriend and clearing his consciousness of his sins, he chose to hide in his room like a scared child and literally cover his head with his pillow as his phone vibrated well into the night.
Quinten wished he hadn't been such a shortsighted moron. Why couldn't he have just gone to his lover's side like a good little boy? Why did he have to develop an inappropriate crush on his goddamn brother? Why couldn't he stop himself? While it was nice that he and Brian were back on equal ground, Quinten wasn't so sure it'd been worth his relationship. They hadn't been dating for long, for starters. Compound that with Quinten's earlier reluctance to let Cal fuck his throat, and it would be a miracle if Cal actually forgave him.
His thoughts immediately went to the message Cal had sent about them being over. He shuddered, his arms dropping to hang lifelessly at his sides. Reading it for the first time had made his heart skip, and when he read it again immediately after in sheer disbelief, his entire body went numb, starting from the tips of his ears and ending at the point of his toes. Quinten wasn't naïve. The possibility had always been there, and he couldn't pretend that it hadn't crossed his mind; he had whined to Brian about it two nights ago, in fact. Sure, Cal had reassured him that he'd been drunk and upset, but Quinten knew there was some sincerity in his words. It was, sadly enough, the wakeup call he needed to get his ass in line.
Quinten sat up straight from his pitiful slouch and picked up his phone. Much to his chagrin, his hands shook as he unlocked the screen (thankfully uncracked) and pushed a call through. It rang a total of two times, barely giving him any time to mentally psych himself up for the imminent tongue lashing. Conversely, it also didn't give him a chance to become a fucking coward. Again.
"Hello?"
Cal's rambling voice pulsed in his ear, sending a familiar shiver racing up his spine. God, he could cum from that voice alone... it wasn't fair how some men could have such dark, sensual voices while Quinten had to force his vocal chords to go deeper on purpose, just so he wouldn't sound like a pimply-faced teenager.
"Quinten?"
"H-hey..." Quinten paused, his mouth suddenly dry. He swallowed then tried again, his pulse a wild beat in his veins. Why was this so terrifying? "I'm sorry." Despite his best effort, his voice came out small, tinny. Utterly pathetic. There was no way Cal would look at him the same way again after this.
"There you are, sweetie. What happened?"
Cal asked, and by some miracle, he didn't sound like he wanted to reach through the phone and punish him for his colossal mistake. In fact, he sounded quite relaxed.
"I was beginning to think you got kidnapped."
Ha! If only! "Oh, no, nothing like that!" Quinten forced out a laugh that sounded uncomfortably fake. "Last night, um... something came up... a... family emergency." He cringed after he said it and had half a mind to hang up and become a hermit for the rest of his stupid life. It was pretty much the lamest excuse in the book, but at least he could take confidence from the fact that it really was family related.
On the other end of the line, Cal clicked his tongue, then in a tone that didn't really convey concern, asked,
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Quinten was glad they weren't on a video call because there was no hiding the guilt on his face. Cal wasn't stupid, he knew he was lying through his teeth and for some unfathomable reason, was playing along like they were two actors fulfilling a script. Quinten squirmed, wishing he had taken the time to come up with a better excuse.
"Er, no I... I don't want to go into too much detail, but it's... it's my brother. He's uh..."
"It's fine, I understand,"
Cal muttered.
"As long as you're okay."
"I am," Quinten assured stiffly.
"Good... hey so, my evening's free. You should come over and make it up to me... I know he's your brother and all, but I was really hurt last night. You could have sent me a text."
Quinten hunched down, his ears hot at being chastised like a little kid. He deserved it, but at the same time, it really made him feel worse than shit. When they first met, Cal had wasted no time in praising him for being mature for his age. No one had ever said that to his face before, and to get that sort of compliment from a stud like Calvin had put Quinten on top of the world. When Cal asked him out on their second time meeting, Quinten knew that he'd be an idiot to turn him down, never mind the fact that he hadn't graduated high school yet and Calvin was thirty-eight years old with a teenage daughter who lived halfway across the country with his ex-wife. The rational part of his brain questioned why Cal wanted anything to do with a snotty-nosed brat like him, but the larger, admittedly hornier part had swiftly shut that line of thought down. What did it matter? Cal was interested in him and he was interested in Cal. Case closed.
"You're right... I was overwhelmed with everything going on and... and yeah, I can come over. What time works for you?"
"No later than six. I can't wait to see you, baby,"
Cal said, a smirk more than evident in his voice.
"Wear something pretty for me, okay? I gotta go. Bye for now."
Quinten nodded as the call ended, his attention elsewhere. It was far from the first time that Cal had called him 'baby', but for some weird reason, hearing it today made him want to crawl out of his own skin.
He really, really hoped it had nothing to do with Brian calling him that during their practices and everything to do with the trepidation of keeping up appearances while fabricating a fake illness or injury to justify his radio silence.
**
Brian was annoyingly perceptive when he wanted to be.
Ever since Quinten came downstairs to join the family for a late lunch, Brian had been staring at him like he expected Quinten to suddenly sprout wings out of his ass and do a magic trick. He ignored him, of course, but the constant vigilance was starting to creep him out. Just what the fuck was Brian's problem? Sure he was being quieter than normal, but so what? It was gray and melancholy outside, he was allowed to be pouty.
Their parents, blissfully oblivious of all the drama happening right under their noses, flicked their eyes between the two of them in between spooning soup into their mouths and nibbling at grilled cheese sandwiches. Other than that they didn't give any indication that they noticed tension brewing between the siblings and opted to keep up a cordial conversation that sounded way too forced. Compared to yesterday, however, lunch was a pleasant jaunt through paradise.
Wanting to escape the bizarre atmosphere pronto, Quinten finished his meal in record time and, paying no mind to Brian's ever watchful eye, excused himself from the table and made a hasty retreat to his room. It was only half past two, way too early to go see Cal, and with his nerves all a mess, sitting around or catching a nap wasn't an option. While eating, Quinten had had the smart idea to take his bubbling energy out on a walk, so he quickly pulled on toastier clothes including a scratchy scarf and knitted arm warmers and jogged down the stairs to slip into his shoes laying haphazardly next to the entryway.
He had the laces done up on one when quiet footsteps sounded behind him. Quinten closed his eyes and counted to five before glancing over his shoulder. Sure enough, Brian was standing there, his wideset eyes questioning and earnest. It was a wild contrast to last night, Quinten couldn't help but note. Brian's eyes had been earnest then, too, smoldering and unhinged with desire while he watched his younger brother worship his cock, his irises dark and wanting more, more, and more. Quinten had to look away, his face burning at the memory.
"Are you going out?"
