Rocking Hard: Volume 1 Read online

  Jim kept his head down and edged towards the exit, keeping one eye on Marty, who was handling the fans with ease. He would sign someone's paper and pose in a picture with thosewho requested. He was patient for about fifteen minutes before he gave a smile and a wave and started to go. Jim had never noticed before how much of Marty's "voice" was in his gestures and expressions. It was fun to watch him like this, fascinating and vaguely illicit.

  He felt a surge of warmth go through him as he watched his friend, seeing him like a stranger might. Marty was tall and skinny and had won the nickname of "Ichabod" when they were in high school for his almost stork like appearance. He'd worn this strange air of wild surprise for a while, though that had smoothed away after about a year after graduation. And sometime since then, his face had filled out some and he'd finally grown into those cheekbones. While he might not have been conventionally handsome, he was very striking and the more time Jim spent looking at his face, the better looking Marty became.

  It was as though his image of Marty had stayed the same for years, and it was only in this moment that he saw all that Marty had become.

  Jim blinked and had to look away. "Huh." He shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched his way toward the door, trying to look as unobtrusive as possible, not wanting to be recognized. That happened and they'd be here all day.

  He left the mall and made it into the parking garage and wandered around until he found the car. He couldn't get in since Marty had the keys though so he just stood around with his hands in his pockets, sometimes leaning against the support column near the front of the car.

  Finally he spotted Marty coming and waved his hand quickly. There was a blik-blik sound and the door was unlocked. He quickly climbed in, slamming the door behind him. He could finally relax.

  Marty was striding toward the car but there were still some people trailing after him. He seemed to be ignoring them as he got to the driver side door and climbed in. He slammed it behind him, hitting the lock button immediately.

  "What's up with those guys?" Jim asked, peeking around Marty's shoulder. "I thought you gave them autographs already."

  "Yeah," Marty said, shaking his head. "They weren't even asking me anything, but they were taking pictures of me. I asked them to stop, but they just ignored me like I wasn't there. Though, I think I heard one of them mention Highlander."

  "What?" Jim raised his brows.

  Marty turned his head to flash him a smile as he started the car. "They're the Watchers from Highlander and we're the Immortals. They're only to watch us, never to get involved."

  "Why is everything coming around to Highlander lately?"

  "Because it's coming around," Marty said. "When shows like Venture Brothers and Robot Chicken mention it so many times, people start looking things up. The new hot topic is Highlander."

  Jim rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

  "Dude, it's like Betty White. She got popular doing bit parts in movies that you wouldn't usually see Betty White in. And people started talking about it and she got a whole new level of fame. Well, Highlander's making a return. I'm expecting a reboot at any moment."

  "If that happens, I'm never talking to you ever again," Jim stated seriously.

  Marty expertly reversed the car from the parking spot and started them down the spiral ramp safely enough, though Jim felt like asking him to slow down. "What are you talking about?"

  "Because they don't need to ruin a perfect series like that. If they want to have a Highlander movie or series, it should be set in a different time period." He took off the hat and put the sunglasses in it and tossed it onto the backseat. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to clear away that itchy-scratchy feeling on his scalp.

  "Okay, I see where you're coming from," Marty said. "It would be just like if they were going to redo Forever Knight."

  "I have no idea what you're talking about," Jim said, shaking his head. "I don't think I know Forever Knight."

  Marty's face lit up from the inside as he paid the attendant and took them out of the parking garage. "You are so lucky. I have the whole series on DVD. We can watch them."

  Jim looked at Marty and couldn't help smiling. There was something about such pure enthusiasm that he couldn't deny. He had no real desire to watch Forever Knight, but he still said, "Okay."

  And he basked in the glow of a happy and chatty Marty all the way back to his house.

  *~*~*

  Marty was a little disappointed that their day had been ruined, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Though he was kind of regretful of the pretzel, since he'd suddenly been starving the minute Jim mentioned food.

  "I'm hungry," he announced.

  Jim looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Geez, we're barely even through the door, but you're already asking for food."

  Marty shrugged. "Sorry, but I really am. Do you want me to run out and get us something to eat? I can be back in just a couple of minutes."

  "Forget that," Jim said. "I've got food."

  "Really?" Marty couldn't help his surprise. Jim was the stereotypical obsessive genius and he actually did things like forgetting to eat unless he was reminded.

  "Yes." Jim went into the kitchen and Marty trailed after him. He opened up the refrigerator and the freezer, his head moving back and forth. Finally he slammed the fridge shut and took a bag of frozen burritos out of the freezer. "My food delivery doesn't come until tomorrow. I could order some now, but I don't want to wait."

  "It's all good." Marty had no idea why Jim was stressing.

  Jim opened the burrito bag and tossed four on a plate and stuck it in the microwave. Marty watched him for a minute, then turned his head and couldn't help grinning when he spotted the cheese crackers hiding in one of the frosted glass fronted cabinets. He sidled over and pulled the box out, happily munching on crackers.

  "What's that?" Jim turned and looked at him, then almost immediately started laughing. "Squirrel."

  "What?" Marty asked.

  "Nothing." Jim held out his hand and Marty shook a few crackers into it.

  They stood and ate crackers for a minute until the microwave dinged and Jim took out the burritos and grabbed another plate for two of them to go on. He reached in the fridge and got out the jar of salsa, popping the lid and adding a healthy amount to both plates.

  "Here you go," he said, carrying the plate to the table. He gestured with his head for Marty to sit down and set the better looking plate in front of him.

  "Wow, positively gourmet," Marty said, grinning up at him.

  Jim shrugged uncomfortably. "I have my food delivered so the only things I keep here are quick-cook meals." He walked over to his chair and sat down, pulling his napkin over his lap.

  "Quit stressing," Marty said. "I was just messing with you. I like burritos." To prove his burrito love, he lifted it and took a big bite. He immediately took a hurried drink of water. "Hot."

  Jim smiled and shook his head. "I don't think you're ever going to change."

  They started eating and for a long while that was all there was. Suddenly, Marty hurriedly put down his fork mid-bite. "I nearly forgot. I have something for you."

  "What?"

  Marty waved a hand at him, then leaped up and fled the dining room. He came back in carrying a small black bag.

  "Here you go." Marty plonked the bag on the table next to Jim's plate and sat back down to eat.

  Jim reached out slowly and picked it up. He looked surprised by the lightness of the bag, but Marty just watched him and didn't say anything. Jim opened the bag and peeked in, then started laughing. He looked up at Marty with bright eyes, his cheeks creasing. "Really?"

  Marty shrugged. "Hey, I saw it and thought of you."

  Smiling widely, Jim reached into the bag and pulled out the purple plushie unicorn. "You're kind of a dick."

  "I know," Marty said.

  Jim jokingly held the unicorn to his cheek and fluttered his eyelashes. "Thank you."

  Marty grinned at h
im. "You're welcome."

  They went back to eating their burritos and Marty couldn't help but be happy when he saw the way Jim had set the plushie next to his plate. It just seemed like something Jim would do. He was so funny.

  *~*~*

  Jim found himself glancing at Marty all through the rest of dinner. When they sat down to watch a movie, his brain kept insisting that he could feel the heat of Marty's body all down his left side. It was an idea that he just couldn't get rid of, yet it didn't bother him either.

  It was strange to admit, but he was probably the most comfortable when he was just hanging out with Marty. He never had to worry that he was losing touch with reality and that someday he would simply disappear.

  Because there was no way Marty would ever let him go.

  He met Leonard at a photo shoot with a bunch of other stars. It was an ad campaign of celebrities against bullying and there were all kinds of people hanging around. The production assistants offered to move their shoot up, but Jim looked at Leonard and said they'd wait their turn. He sat down next to Leonard on the brown leather couch, taking in his jiggling leg and the barely suppressed energy vibrating through him.

  "So, what's up with you?" he asked.

  Leonard shrugged. "Nothing much. I think I'm going to get married soon."

  "What, really?" Jim was shocked, but not that shocked. Leonard had been dating Holly for close to two years and it was pretty obvious that they were in love.

  "Yeah. It's a pretty big commitment, but I think we're ready for it."

  "Wow, that's awesome." Jim bumped their shoulders together companionably. "She's a great girl."

  Leonard ducked his head, a little smile tugging at his lips. He always looked so tough, yet here he was being almost cute. It made Jim want to take a picture, though he refrained.

  "So how have you and your girlfriend been?" Leonard teased.

  "What?" Jim asked.

  Leonard gave him a disgusted look. "Are you really going to play it like that?" He smiled. "I'm talking about Marty."

  Jim gave him a confused look, though for some reason his pulse was fluttering so fast that he could feel it on his neck. "What are you saying?"

  Leonard rolled his eyes. "Come on, you guys can do whatever you want. It's no big deal and I'm not going to go yelling it around."

  Jim tried to think of some way to respond, all the words drying up on his tongue unspoken. He couldn't speak and the moment spread out too long and awkward.

  "Mr. Sheppard, Mr. King, they're ready for you now," a sweet-faced assistant said. She had smooth dark skin, coral pink lipstick, and her eyes were like black stars. He couldn't resist giving her a smile which made her drop her chin in embarrassment, before giving him a flirting glance.

  He gave her a smile, but didn't ask for her phone number. He had stuff to do and he wasn't in the mood to mess around. He was supposed to meet Marty later tonight. They were going to eat at some restaurant Marty had found while out with Jane and was going crazy over.

  Jim walked with Leonard into the photo shoot and he did everything he was asked, but most of his brain was thinking about what Leonard had said. Because it had sounded a lot as though Leonard thought he was dating Marty, which was weird.

  He should have just been able to push the idea away, but it kept popping into his brain for the rest of the afternoon. And the idea of him dating Marty made him feel strange, yet kind of excited.

  It got so bad that at nearly seven o'clock he called Marty and told him he couldn't go out, that something had come up.

  He felt kind of bad when Marty replied in a sad tone, "I understand. We can go some other time."

  "Yeah. I'm really sorry about tonight." Jim was pacing back and forth while he talked on the phone, just random circuits around the room that kind of crisscrossed each other and he was making patterns in the carpet with his constant walking.

  "Naw, it's cool. Call me?"

  "Yeah. Bye." Jim shoved his phone in his pocket and stopped where he was for a long moment, just staring into space. He went back to his erratic pacing. It really did help him think.

  He didn't know why Leonard had been able to freak him out so much with just a few words, but it was something to think about. Because now that it had been pointed out, he did kind of have an unusually strong connection with Marty, one that went beyond the bounds of just friendship.

  He wasn't sure if he had sexual feelings for Marty, though there had been some times when his body's reaction to Marty's closeness had surprised him. He'd just shoved those feelings away as odd notions. But what if it was more than that? What if he wanted to be with Marty?

  It wasn't the first time he'd had a homo-erotic impulse.

  He was never going to forget the time he made out with Eddie Hale. It had been during the Three Eyes Blond tour; they had been totally wasted and it had just kind of happened. One minute it was just the two of them—everyone else had gone to bed—and the next, he was being pressed flat on his back across a messy hotel bed and Eddie was on top of him. It had kind of freaked him out for a minute, but he had rolled with the situation, letting Eddie run his hands up under his shirt.

  But it had kind of fizzled not long after. Mostly just some heavy kissing and then he had gotten up and gone back to his own room to pass out for nearly thirteen hours. The two of them hadn't spoken of it since. Not that they met up that often.

  That was the limit of his experiments with his own sex, but the thought of doing more didn't exactly freak him out. There were just no dudes that he felt like doing it with. Every person he contemplated made him curl his lip, so he didn't think he was really all that gay.

  It was more as though he was gay for certain people.

  Like the reason behind his attraction to Eddie Hale was pretty obvious when he thought about it. The guy was ridiculously good looking: so much so that people on the tour had taken to calling him "that guy from Twilight." He was also funny and smart and Jim looked up to him like a mentor in the biz. So there was probably a good bit of hero-worship in with the mix.

  The feelings he had for Marty were deeper though, because it was like he'd fallen for his personality, and then the physical attraction had appeared. It seemed sudden, but maybe it had been happening for years. He just didn't know. And he really didn't want to screw up his friendship with Marty, especially if it was for nothing.

  He was just getting used to how nice it was to have Marty in his day-to-day life. He felt happier than he'd been in a long time. He didn't want to give him up.

  *~*~*

  The second Jim hung up, Marty clicked the phone off and dropped it down near his thigh. It slid across the smooth coverlet to touch his leg, a tiny brush of coldness against his bare skin. He'd just stepped out of the shower a few minutes ago and had come out to change when the phone had rung. He'd dropped onto his back when he saw Jim's name, squirming up the bed to put his head against the pillow.

  Except now Jim had canceled on him and he had nothing to do.

  He closed his eyes and rested his hand on his chest, at that point where his ribs connected. It always felt so weird beneath his fingertips. He didn't press down too hard; he was just feeling the shape of the bones beneath his skin, counting his ribs one by one as he tried to pretend that he wasn't disappointed Jim had canceled on him.

  He traced his fingers up and down his skin, tiny ghost-like touches. He imagined that it was someone else touching him with careful, curious fingers. Just brushes against the taut skin of his stomach, feather caresses against his legs that trailed against his inner thighs to tease him and roll his balls.

  Marty tried to keep his fantasy man faceless, but against his will he couldn't help picturing Jim's face hanging over him, sweat gleaming on his brow. It was Jim's hand that circled his dick in a firm grasp and began to jerk him off. It was Jim who gave him a smirk and twisted his nipples. It was Jim who ground down against him, pressing him into the mattress.

  His mouth fell open a little as he panted for breath and he c
ould feel himself almost there, just a little more, just a few more …

  He stopped, clenching his dick almost painfully in his fist, before releasing his hand and letting it fall away, his knuckles flopping against the blankets. He lay there on his back—his eyes still squeezed shut—and fought to get his breath back under control.

  He had no idea what he was trying to do, but he knew it was wrong. Jim was his friend, just his friend. He'd decided long ago that he wasn't going to try anything with him, yet here he was jerking off and pretending that it was Jim doing it.

  It was hard to control his feelings when he let himself fantasize with someone he could never have.

  He made a wordless growling sound and rolled onto his side, curling his legs up against his body. He ignored his still-hard dick bobbing against his belly and kept his eyes shut. Hoping that he would wake up from his nap with a clear head and no more fantasies about Jim, he wrapped his arms around himself and forced himself to go to sleep.

  It was the same hopeless promise he'd made since he was seventeen, yet still Jim was always there when he closed his eyes.

  Pulling his jacket close around him, Jim jogged across the street toward the outside cafe he was supposed to meet Marty at. They were going to have lunch then see a movie. He was only a little worried that it was going to be some independent film and not something he really wanted to see. He would probably end up enjoying it—Marty had never steered him wrong—but there were some days when all he wanted was to be entertained and Marty always wanted to get him thinking.

  His sneakers slapped the pavement and he couldn't help grinning when he spotted Marty sitting at one of the small white tables; he'd be able to recognize that back anywhere, could almost see the line of his spine through his black hoodie and the white shirt beneath. There were some times when he just wanted to feed Marty until he popped, but Marty never seemed to put on any weight no matter how much he ate so it probably wouldn't do much good.

  Jim figured there would come a point when Marty's metabolism wouldn't be quite so fast and Marty would suddenly blow up like a balloon.