Role of a Lifetime II
By: Kenneth Kirk
(© 2023 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

kkirk@tickiestories.us

Chapter 29

On Friday night Brant and I went to Juanita and Hector’s apartment for a few drinks and dinner.  Beforehand, I was a little nervous about how Juanita would react to seeing us after we’d been sucking Hector’s weenie and vice versa.     

Juanita answered the door looking radiant and beautiful in her simple, low-cut tee shirt.  She immediately drew both of us into a warm, tight hug as she kissed each of us on the cheek. 

After all that warmth, she stepped back so we could come inside.  “Welcome, hombres!”

“Ah, mi amiga, como estas?” I said in my best imitation of a wealthy Mexican land-owner.  Although my tone was a little teasing and humorous, I really did want to know how she was doing at this point in our film production.

She smiled widely.  “Oh, muy bien, Sky, muy bien.” 

Noting that her response really didn’t tell me if she was okay with our new relationships with Hector, or not, I simply added, “Esta bien!”

Brant smiled and took Juanita’s hands, kissing them and saying, “Way-ul, ah thank you ore lookin’ s-way-ul, darlin’.”

Juanita dipped into a modified curtsey and said, “Thank you, Mr. Big Daddy.  You are certainly looking fit these days.”

We all dissolved in laughter.  When we had calmed back to a normal state, Juanita leaned in between us and whispered, “Hector is still primping.  He wants to look his best for his new boyfriends.”

You gotta hand it to Juanita, I thought, she never backs down from the truth.  “I love you!” I blurted out a bit incongruously. 

“I love you, too,” she said seriously.  “Come in and fix yourselves a drink.  I have to get back to the kitchen if we’re to have a decent paella.”

“Yummy!” Brant exclaimed as we followed her into the living room.  She gestured at the bar and walked right on into the dining room and kitchen.

Brant and I exchanged a look that said “we’ll have to wait and see how she really feels.”

We turned toward the bar and Brant said, “What are you having?”

Before I could answer, Hector’s voice came from behind us.  “How about sangria?”

We both spun around to inspect the results of Hector’s primping.  He looked spectacular, of course, but not really different from his normal look which is, well, spectacular.

“Hi, babe,” Brant smiled as he and Hector embraced, then parted enough for a kiss that lasted long enough to signify some smoldering desire on the part of each of them.

When it was my turn, Hector pulled me into an immediate kiss.  As I felt his firm but pliant lips on mine, he opened his mouth just enough to slip his tongue out so he could slide the tip across my lips from side to side.  Then I realized his two big hands were cupping my butt cheeks and giving them a gentle squeeze.  Even though we’d already had two sexual encounters before, this was the first time he had actually fondled my ass.  Was he anticipating getting to fuck me?  My mouth opened wider, pulling his open more, too.  I licked his tongue and closed my lips around it when he extended it more deeply within me.

Before Hector and I got too carried away, Brant interrupted us.  “How about that sangria, huh?”

We ended our kiss, Hector released my ass, and we both looked at Brant, who smirked at us and said, “We don’t film again until next week, guys.”

“Fine,” I said to Brant.  To Hector I said, “You hold that thought until the cameras are rolling.  You hear?”

He grinned.  “You bet, Sky.  I won’t forget.”

I smiled at him.  “Something tells me you won’t.”  To illustrate my point, I gently patted the erection I had felt against my leg as he assaulted my mouth.

He went behind the bar to pull a pitcher of sangria out of the bar fridge.  He lined up four hand-blown glasses and filled them about two-thirds full of the beautiful maroon blend of liquor and fruit.  He shoved two glasses across to us then picked up the others. 

“Let’s see if Juanita can join us for a drink,” he said as he started toward the kitchen.  Brant and I held back a bit to watch his muscular glutes contract and release as he walked across the room.  When he realized we were not following, he stopped and half-turned to look at us.  “What are you…”  The moment he realized we were fixated on his ass, he stopped speaking, his face a mash-up of confusion, titillation, and some embarrassment. 

“You have to get used to being a sex symbol, babe,” Brant said with a wide grin, “because you are every gay guy’s fantasy.”

Hector smiled a little wickedly, then swished his ass from side to side.  “Come on!” he commanded and strode into the dining room and then into the kitchen.

Juanita accepted her glass with a whispered, “Thank you, honey.”  Then she turned toward us all and elevated her glass.  “To Living Large.  May it be the best sex romp since, well, Laying Low.”

We all laughed as we brought our glasses together in a series of clunking sounds.  When I sipped my drink, I was quite impressed with the exquisite blending of wine and fruit that gave it such a fresh, full-bodied flavor.

“Oh, sweetie!” I gushed at Juanita.  “This is spectacular!”

Her eyes glistened as she responded, “It is spectacular, but you need to thank your other sweetie.”

Juanita didn’t say this with any snark, but I couldn’t avoid wondering if she had buried a barb in her comment.  I was very concerned about her state of mind regarding our friendship and our building relationship with Hector.  It was all so damned complex.

Within a few minutes, we were seated at their dining room table enjoying paella made with her mother’s recipe complimented by Hector’s sangria.  I had a palpable sense the underlying ingredient of paella and sangria was the same – love.  This oddly psychic sensation gave the whole evening a heightened meaning for me as my husband and I interacted with our new lover and his girlfriend, who was also one of my best friends. 

“This paella is outstanding!” Brant said after his first bite.

“Magnifico!” I agreed.

Between spoonsful of the delicious Spanish stew and sips of the tasty sangria, we talked a lot about Juanita’s newly syndicated Hollywood Weekly television show that was now available on Apple+ as well as most Fox broadcast channels.  We all thought it ironic that a network known for its conservatism would broadcast a notably liberal show like HW, the show that had featured Hollywood hunk Brant Kimble proposing to a man (yours truly!) a couple of years ago.  Juanita shared with us that none other than Rachel Hughes would be on the show a week from Sunday.  Although I knew from Mom that Juanita’s producers were negotiating with her, I hadn’t yet heard they had reached a conclusion.

“You’ll have to ask her about her co-star, Ricardo Ortíz.”

“I don’t know him,” she responded.

“You can’t use what I’m about to tell you except to understand the situation yourself.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Under another name, Ricardo is a gay porn star.”

Juanita’s eyebrows rose, pulling her eyes open to an almost bugged-out state.  “Really!” she said.

“Yep,” I said as Brant nodded.

“He plays her boyfriend?”

“Yes,” I laughed. 

She thought for a moment before adding, “What a hoot!”

“Mom says she’s never seen another actor more comfortable to work nude than to work in clothes.”

Juanita got quite tickled at this tidbit.  “I’ll see if I can pull that out of Rachel.  Maybe I need to get Ricardo on the show, too.”

“You’ll have several new highly visible actors to work with once the movie comes out,” Brant said.

“Yes, including another two guys who are expecting to have a sex scene.”

“Oh, really, Sky?”

“Yes.  And they are hot, right?”  I looked at Brant and Hector.  Both nodded.

Juanita smiled.  “I’ll have a producer check with the studio about other actors in the movie.”

“It will be fun to see some of the others get some publicity, too.”

“People will certainly go to the movie to see the new guy in Bransky’s life,” Juanita said as she looked lovingly at Hector.  She reached out her hand and he took it as he smiled warmly at her.  “In fact,” she continued, “I think it’s time we gave your three-some a name.  It could be Branskytor.”

“Branskyhec?” Brant suggested.

“How about Brantorsky?” I said.

“I don’t know,” Juanita said.  “I kind of like adding to the end of Bransky rather than in the middle.”

“Branskytor sounds like a monster mosquito to me,” Hector said.

We all laughed and agreed. 

“Branskyhec doesn’t roll off the tongue,” Juanita noted.

“Brantorsky does have a good sound to it,” Brant said.

“And it puts Hector in the middle which is like drawing him into the relationship rather than adding him on,” I said.

I looked at Hector to see a quick small smile as he processed my words.

“I agree,” Brant said.

“Hector, what do you think?” I asked.

“I think Brantorsky is the easiest one to say.  And I like the idea of being in the middle.”

“Oooh, baby,” I said as I thought of the sexual implications of Hector in the middle.  Then I remembered Juanita was there and glanced at her. 

If she had thought of the sexual suggestion, she was choosing to ignore the implications as she had a happy smile on her beautiful face.   “Then Brantorsky it is!” she pronounced.  “As soon as they give the go-ahead, I have the exclusive to announce Hector is the third man and I can coin the phrase at that time.  We’ll get the fan name we want.”

After dinner, Hector took Brant back into the living room to make another batch of sangria while I helped Juanita clear the table and put away the left-over paella.  I was pleased she made up a generous portion for Brant and me to take home.  I was glad to have a few minutes alone with my dear girl friend.

I put my hand gently on her arm to bring us face to face.  “So, babe, now that we are actually filming our three-some, how are you feeling about all this?”

She sat down the dirty bowls she was carrying and turned back to me.  Pulling me over to the island in the middle of the kitchen, she perched on a barstool and indicated the one beside her.  I sat down and swiveled the stool so we were facing.

“I guess I have really mixed feelings, Sky.”  She looked very serious.  “I love Hector and I can see that he is enjoying himself in this role.  He seems to be opening up inside, like he’s feeling his life more deeply than before.  It’s like he’s a little surprised at who he is, but he likes what he’s discovering about himself.”  She paused reflectively.  “You’d think he’d be under a lot of stress as he explores who he is sexually, but to me he seems a lot more relaxed.  It’s as if he was stressed out before even though neither of us knew it and now that stress is going away.”

“So, how does that make you feel, Juanita?”

“On the one hand, I’m thrilled to see him growing so much.  Blossoming into a more whole person who seems capable of loving himself more.  And that also means he seems to be loving me more, too.  We’re actually in a really good place right now.”

“But, on the other hand?” I prompted her.

She was quiet for a moment, looking down into her lap as if gathering her courage.

“On the other hand, I see that he is liking his new self.  I see him falling in love with you and Brant.  Both of you.  He doesn’t seem to be afraid to let his heart be vulnerable.  But I’m afraid he will be hurt deeply, disappointed profoundly when this ends.  I’m frightened for him.  How can he deal with losing both of you?”

“Oh, I hadn’t really thought of that.”  I could see naked fear in her eyes.  She wasn’t afraid for herself as much as she was afraid Hector would get hurt.  My heart broke for her.  I felt my eyes mist up and a couple of tears start down my cheeks.  “He’ll always have us for friends, sweetie.  We both love him.”

“But we all know that’s different.  He’ll always have me, too, but I don’t really think that will be enough after he embraces his gay side and experiences the fullness of gay sex with the men he loves.  I don’t think going backwards to his old life will actually work for him.”

“I see what you mean.”  I was a little stunned by her words, by what she was showing me.  Were we playing a dangerous game with Hector’s heart?  I felt horrible that we might hurt him but I now felt that might be inevitable.

“If he was going to stay with you after the movie wraps, then this whole thing would be a lovely fantasy of a love story.  It would be beautiful and Hector would be in a wonderful life.  But to have to grieve losing you both along with the changes in his own desires, that’s going to be hard.”

“Oh, fuck, Juanita, Brant and I will hate ourselves if we cause him a lot of pain.”

She nodded.  “I know.  You’re good people and never would want to hurt someone else, especially someone you love.”

God, this woman is a saint!

“I’ll be here for him, no matter what,” she said, “but I think he will feel bad that he cannot love me exclusively in the future.  We’ll deal with that like adults, but it won’t help him if our relationship has to change right then, too.”

Hector stuck his head into the doorway.  “Are you going to join us?”

Juanita gave him a big smile.  “Of course, darling.  We’ll be out in five minutes.”

We went back to our work and I thanked her for opening my eyes to some serious aspects of the situation.

The four of us managed a very nice evening as we polished off the second batch of sangria amid talk about our career plans and other subjects a little less intense.

I was pretty quiet as Brant drove us home that night.  I wanted to sleep on it before getting into the full conversation with my husband, but I knew we had a lot to talk and think about.

To be continued...

Posted: 08/18/2023