Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:36:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: justinr_88@yahoo.com
Subject: Love is All that Matters chapter 7

Do not read further if you are not of legal age to do so in
your country. All the usual disclaimers and copyright laws
apply. Feel free to keep a copy of this story for personal,
non-commercial reasons, with appropriate credit to the
Author. (See the first installment for a more complete
version of this message.)


LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
~ Chapter 7 ~

From the Narrative of Harrison Ridgeway IV:

It was just past five in the evening when I parked my car on
Marina Drive. I looked across the street, to where the Surf
`n' Sand Cafe stood. It looked like a rather new
establishment. I couldn't help smiling to myself - Josh was
the last person I would expect to be running a cafe.

I walked into the cafe. There seemed to be a Hawaiian theme
to the interior. Josh was busy wiping some glasses at the
bar. He didn't seem to notice as I entered the cafe.

"Hi there," I said, sitting down on the stool across the
counter from him.

He looked startled. Then he seemed to recognize me and
smiled. "Hi!"

"Nice place you've got here," I said, nodding towards the
cafe.

"What? Oh, yeah. Reid helped me pick out the design."

"So what did you want me to stop by for?"

"Huh?" He seemed distracted.

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked.

"Nah, it's nothing," he said evasively, pretending to
concentrate on cleaning the glass he was holding.

"Alright, in that case, there is something. Spill the
beans."

"You don't need to worry about it. I'll get you a Surfer's
Special, okay? On the house." He turned to go.

I caught his hand. "Josh, is it something to do with me?"

He sighed. "No. It's Reid. He's been acting really strangely
since this morning."

This sounded worrying. Did Reid know that I'd been with Josh
last night? I asked, "What do you mean, acting weirdly?"

Josh shrugged. "I don't know, just different from usual. I
mean, normally in the mornings he'd, um, well, you know,
want a little attention. But this morning he wasn't even in
the house. Then he came in after breakfast, told me he'd be
going out and to wait for him to come by the cafe in the
evening."

"Come by the cafe in the evening?" I practically jumped off
the stool. "Why?"

Josh eyed me curiously. "Well, he does work here, you know."

Gulp. "I didn't know that."

"Of course he does. I mean, he helped me start the place.
It's in the cafe's name - Surf `n' Sand - The two capitals
"S" can also stand for our surnames, Spencer and Scott."

Talk about walking into the lion's den. "What time did he
say he'd come by?"

Josh looked at his watch. "That's the thing; usually he'd be
here by now. But today . . . Oh, speak of the devil, there
he is."

A cold fear gripped my heart. Devil was right. What was Reid
going to say when he saw me here with Josh, after he'd
warned me not to see him again? I turned around slowly.

Despite my well-placed uneasiness towards him, I couldn't
help noticing how well he filled out the tight sleeveless t-
shirt he was hearing. Josh might be attractive, but Reid was
definitely hot. A hot son of bitch, but hot nonetheless.

"Hi," I managed to say to him. He didn't seem surprised at
my presence.

Josh said, "Hi, Reid. We were just wondering where you were.
I'll just get Harrison his latte, okay?"

Reid nodded. I wanted to scream to Josh, don't leave me
alone with him, but I couldn't. Reid bent down next to me
and said, "Can I see you in the backroom?"

I didn't move. I wasn't stupid enough to fall for that.

Then he added, "Please?"

I looked at his face. I couldn't see any malicious intent on
his face, but then there was no telling what he was capable
of. Only yesterday he'd tried to throttle me. Yet for some
strange reason, I got up from my stool and followed him.
Even as I did so, I was thinking, what the hell am I doing?
Crazy thoughts went through my mind, like whether the
backroom led to a basement where Reid planned to bury my
body.

I looked over to Josh, who was at the other end of the
counter, filling a coffee cup. Well, he'd come looking for
me within a few minutes, right? Surely Reid couldn't do
anything within that time.

Reid pushed aside the bead curtain to a narrow corridor and
went into the room on the left. I hesitated for a moment,
before following him into the room. The `backroom' as he'd
called it, was more of a place for the staff to relax than a
closet as I'd thought it would be. It wasn't a very large
room, but then I guess the cafe didn't have that many staff.
A couch took up the whole of one wall. Reid gestured towards
it, indicating that I should sit down.

"If you don't mind, I prefer to stand," I told him.

"Oh for fuck's sake, I'm not going to do anything to you,"
he snapped.

He seemed to be truthful . . . I hoped. Nervously I sat
down. No sooner had I done so, Josh appeared in the doorway,
the cup in his hand.

"I was wondering where you two disappeared to. Harry, if you
wanted a tour of the cafe, you could've asked me." He looked
from me to Reid and deduced something was going on.

"Is something wrong?"

Reid plucked the cup out of Josh's hand and put it on the
small table by the door. He said, "I think you need to sit
down."

Josh looked at both of us again. "What's going on?"

"Sit," was the only reply he got from Reid. Reid stuck his
head back out through the door and yelled out, "Liz, can you
watch the counter for a while? Thanks!" before shutting the
door behind him.

I gulped. I was shut into the backroom with Josh and his
handsome but psychopathic lover. Josh must have noticed the
uncertainty on my face, because he told Reid, "Reid, what's
with all the drama? You're alarming Harry."

Reid paid no attention to him and looked at me instead.
"Yesterday, I warned you to stay away from Josh."

"You what?" exclaimed Josh.

Reid continued, ignoring him. "I put you in a chokehold and
I made you spill boiling coffee on yourself, yet you're
still here." He shook his head in amazement.

Josh was staring at him. "You did what?" he repeated.

For the first time, Reid glanced towards him. "He didn't
tell you, huh?" He looked back towards me. "You deserve more
credit than I gave you. I'd probably have blurted it out at
the first chance."

My throat was dry. "I - I didn't want to -"

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence. Josh grabbed
hold of Reid by his shirt and yelled at him.

"Why the hell did you do that for? He's just out of prison,
you bastard, and you put him through that?"

Reid didn't try to fight him. "I did it for us."

Now Josh looked confused and let go of Reid's shirt.

Reid looked Josh in the eyes. "I did it because I loved you,
and didn't want to lose you to him."

Josh stepped back, stunned.

Reid smiled bitterly. "I guess I'm the only idiot, huh? To
have thought that you could love me? Even after Harrison
here came back?"

Josh sat down suddenly on the couch next to me. "Are you -"
His voice cracked, and he started again. "Are you serious?"

But Reid had decided to ignore him again. He stared off into
the distance and said, "But you can't forget him that
easily, can you? I thought you would, if you were never
going to see him again. I thought, if I gave you what you
needed, you'd forget him. I let you fuck my brains out last
night, yet the whole time you kept mumbling his name."

Josh looked shocked. I couldn't believe it myself, that Josh
hadn't realized Reid was in love with him. I'd been able to
tell it, even though I'd only met Reid once.

Reid continued, "And then in the middle of the night, I
awoke to find you weren't in bed. I knew you'd be at your
favorite spot, so I went to the cliff. And found the two of
you together, asleep in each other's arms."

I found my voice. "That . . . that wasn't supposed to
happen. It just -" My voice trailed off. "It just did."

Reid looked at me and smiled that bitter smile again. "The
two of you looked so peaceful, so . . . perfect together.
And I realized I was the `third person', not you, Harrison.
The two of you were always meant to be together. And I won't
stand in your way any longer."

Josh finally spoke up. "But . . . you agreed to our
relationship being non-exclusive! Hell, you used to bring
home other guys."

"And how long ago was that, Josh? In the first couple of
months, yes, but then I realized it wasn't the same as
having you. I used to have one-night stands for every other
night, but you managed to turn me into a single-lover man."

Josh looked upset. "I - I didn't realize."

"Didn't realize or didn't care?" asked Reid bitterly.

Josh protested, "Reid, no, I do care about you, I really ."

Reid interrupted. "Save it. Don't expect me home tonight."
He turned to leave.

"No, wait!"

Reid turned back briefly. "For what? There's nothing here
for me. At least the two of you love each other; for me it
was a one-sided thing. So tell me why I should stay?"

Josh was at a loss for words.

Reid smiled sadly and said, "Didn't think so." He looked
towards me. "I hope you make him happy, Harrison, because
God knows I've tried." He went out, shutting the door behind
him.

I didn't know what to say. Until then, I'd hated Reid, but
now I realized what a huge sacrifice he was making.

"You should go after him," I told Josh softly.

He didn't seem to hear me. "I do care about him, I really
did. I just didn't love him as much . . . I couldn't feel
the same way I did about you." His eyes filled with tears.
"Am I a callous bastard, Harry?"

"No, you're not. You just didn't know." I wrapped my arms
around him.

Josh smiled sadly. "I was just thinking . . . last night I
was the one holding you in my arms. Remember how I asked you
what was wrong; and you didn't want to tell me - it was
Reid, wasn't it?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry about Reid."

"It's not your fault." Josh looked at me as he said that.
Then, impulsively, he planted a kiss on my lips. I returned
it fervently, before I realized we were making out just a
few steps away from a crowded cafe.

"Are you sure we should do this? I mean, here and now?"

"I can't stand another moment without having you. And I need
to take my mind off Reid. No one will come in here. Please?"
He asked, looking at me pleadingly.

I smiled. "Okay, but maybe you'd better lock the door
first."

He scooted off the couch to do as I said. When he sat back
down, he looked at me, long and hard.

I self-consciously asked, "What? Have I got something on my
face?"

"No, you're perfect, have I told you how beautiful you are?"

"Only last night. But just for the record, I prefer the term
handsome."

Josh shook his head. "It doesn't suit you. You're just too .
. . well, beautiful."

"Do you always say such stupid things?"

Josh grinned. "Only when I'm around you." He leaned forward
to kiss me again.

This time we gave in to our passion. I lay back on the couch
as he straddled me, pulling off his t-shirt. I ran my hand
through the curly hair on his chest as we resumed our kiss.

"Mmm . I love the hair on your chest."

"Makes up for you not having any, huh?"

"Hey!"

He grinned. "Don't sweat it, the lack of hair makes it
easier to do this." He pushed my shirt up and ran his tongue
along my chest, making swirls around my nipples. I let out a
gasp.

"You like that, do you?" he asked, grinning mischievously. I
realized that I'd gone through this before.

"I dreamt about this yesterday," I told him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Having wet dreams about me?" I
blushed.

"Did I do this?" He gently nibbled at one of my nipples.

I gasped again. "No, but it feels damn good."

"What's this?" he asked, indicating my left nipple.

"Oh, that - I used to have a nipple ring."

Josh looked amused. "A nipple ring?"

"Yeah." My face clouded over. "Melissa - my ex-girlfriend -
talked me into getting one."

Josh looked concerned. "Hey, don't think about that bitch
now. She was a fool not to realize what you were worth. If
it were me, I'd have put a leash through that nipple ring
and kept you close to me always."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Being with you makes everything else seem
insignificant. I can't live without you, Harry. And I'll
prove it to you."

He unzipped my jeans and pulled my boxers down as well in
one fluid motion. Josh grinned to see my cock already semi-
erect.

"Already getting hard, I see. And we haven't even got to the
fun part yet. When we do, I promise you it'll blow your
mind."

With that, he gently touched the head of my cock with his
tongue. The sensation was electrifying. He licked the drop
of precum gathered at the slit, and then rolled his tongue
around the head. I moaned uncontrollably.

As I leaned my head back against the couch, I could hear the
sounds of people in the cafe just beyond the wall.

"Shit, Josh, I can hear what's going on in the cafe."

He stopped for a moment to grin at me and say, "It adds to
the excitement, don't you think?" before returning to his
ministrations.

I poked him with my foot. "Josh! If I can hear them, they
could hear me too."

"You'll just have to keep it down then."

"Keep it down?!" I hissed. "I can't control myself when I
cum."

"Okay, I'll work something out," was all he said before
continuing to give me a blowjob. I glared at his casualness
about the whole thing, but I soon forgot about the people
outside. Josh was right; the blowjob was amazing. I could
scarcely control myself. But just before I could reach my
climax, he stopped.

"Damn Josh, you can't stop there."

He grinned cheekily and grasped hold of my cock with his
hand. Then he started to jerk me off.

"That feels so good," I moaned. "But I'm going to cum."

"This should keep you quiet," he said, as he bent over and
kissed me.

He was right. I couldn't yell out with his tongue in my
mouth. His expert hand pumped away at my cock, and it wasn't
long before I exploded, showering both out bodies with my
cum. My moans were muffled by his mouth, and even after I'd
finished cumming, he didn't stop kissing me.

When he finally let me go, I was panting, which amused him
to no end.

"Damn Harry, I only just got started. We could go at this
all night."

"Yeah well, isn't the staff going to wonder where you are?"

"Oh shit, I forgot about that."

"Well, I don't know how you managed to. I was scared the
whole time."

He got up from the couch. "I promise we'll resume this
later, okay?"

"Don't you want me to return the favor?" I asked.

He smiled. "We've got the rest of our lives for that, Harry.
Now I'm going to clean up and I suggest you do the same."

I nodded and reached for the box of tissues, when Josh
grabbed my hand. "No, actually, I have a better idea." He
demonstrated by licking the cum off my chest.

I sighed and lay back against the couch. I could already
picture the wonderful days ahead: kissing on the beach,
making love to each other. In that blissful moment I forgot
all about Dad and Reid. But it wouldn't be long before
reality reared its ugly head.

                    To be continued . . .

I hope you're enjoying the story thus far. Let me know what
you think by emailing me at justinr_88@yahoo.com. All
feedback is greatly valued. The next chapter should follow
soon.