On the Road

It had been almost three weeks since the US leg of the tour had started. It was pretty hectic and busy from sunset to sunrise for the past four days. Yet, I still managed to be the first one awake, hours and hours before the rest of the crew, let alone the band. I didn't mind it. It gave me a nice little break, devoid of small talks and loud drunk yelling from co-workers demanding to go to yet another strip club. I walked through the quiet corridors of the four star hotel and made my way downstairs to the main lobby. I waved hello to the night shift clerk at the front desk and walked into the dining room.

To my delight, I seemed to be the only person under the age of ninety here for the 6 o'clock continental breakfast. I took a plate, and went to town, digging into the fresh meats and cakes of the first serving of the morning. I poured myself a coffee and found a place near the door. Despite the two couples and older man sitting around, it was the type of quiet I welcomed on a Sunday morning, right before a double show. I whipped out my phone and checked my schedules, my to-do list of the day and some things I could get out of the way before anybody started their shift. I had a knack for rolling wires and took pride in it. If anything small like that needed doing, I was more than happy to help out and spare my colleagues the dredge or cable rolling. I was still pretty new to the tour, even though I knew a lot of the guys I worked with from previous tours.

After taking some mental notes of what to start with when 2PM came around, I put my phone down and concentrated on my food, even standing for another helping of french toast. I didn't know what the hell was in that egg batter, but I couldn't get enough of it. The maple syrup also seemed genuine, which made sense for a four star hotel right next to the Canadian border.

"Alex, what the actual fuck." I heard a voice behind me. I turned to face a fucked up Mason walking towards me. I was genuinely surprised he was walking so straight.

"The breakfast better be god tier for you to be up this fucking early, man."

"And a good morning to you sunshine," I smiled back as Mason sat in the chair across from me, stealing a piece of bacon from my plate.

"Haven't gone to bed yet... just came back," he replied, rubbing his temples. I wasn't surprised.

"Then why are you here instead of passed out in bed?" I joked.

"I saw you as I came in and really needed a smoke. You smoke right?"

I took out my pack and placed it on the table.

"Help yourself."

Mason took one out and placed it between his lips.

"Come and have a smoke with me."

Mid bite, I stared at him, then at my half eaten breakfast.

"But I'm still eating..."

"You'd prefer to be held responsible for the poor singer passing out in the parking lot and getting eaten by wolves?"

"We're in Vermont," I grinned.

"...Dude," he replied, seemingly his toughest comeback with the braincells he had left.

I took one last bite of my toast plus a sip of my coffee and followed him outside.

We walked to the side of the building to avoid the wind and lit up, helping Mason with his. Once in the shade, Mason lifted his sunglasses, exposing his blood shot eyes. He was still gorgeous.

"So early bird, huh?" Mason winced.

"Some of us need to be," I snapped jokingly. He didn't object.

"Touché, roadie."

"Besides, I like it in the morning. It gives me quiet alone time before the hustle of the day begins."

"Did I burst your quiet bubble?"

"It's all good. Saving you from wolves seemed to be a good way to go."

Mason scoffed, apparently proud of his bullshit storytelling.

"Happy you joined us for a second year?" Mason took a drag of his smoke.

"Yeah, I'm glad it's an actual overseas tour this time. I've never been to Europe," I replied. He smiled in approval.

"Plus they have some of the most depraved groupies over there," he exclaimed, seeming to be lingering on a few hazy memories. I didn't push it. I wasn't interested. But he kept going.

"Have you ever had three chicks suck your dick at the same time?"

"Can't say that I have."

"One of the best feelings, haha."

I looked at him with a sly smile. Lucky bitches.

"That's cool, man."

He then gave me a look before dragging again.

"I've been meaning to ask," Mason started.

I looked up at him nonchalantly, waiting for the rest of it

"Why do you stick around? With us, I mean?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you've had way better offers from other bands, bigger bands, yet you still chose to join the team for half a year. Why?"

"I... I just enjoy the team I work with here. I like you guys. Plus, you know, crazy European groupies."

He smiled. "Is that it?" There was a strange silence. It made me uneasy.

"I feel you want to ask me something, Mase" I said, my tone wavering on impatience..

He took a moment, looked around as he took a drag of his cigarette and looked back at me.

"Is it really because you like the crew? Because rumor has it...you're here for me," said Mason, nonchalantly.

"What?" I scoffed, faking a laugh.

"Is that true?" he pressed, his eyes expressionless. A ball formed in my throat.

"What are you implying? I'm here to do my job and get paid...," I explained, trying to seem as normal as possible.

"Don't play dumb, Alex." His tone was unreadable. I just stared at him. I took a moment...

"You're still fucked on E or some shit and it's a dumb question," I retorted, feeling my defenses rising. I wasn't sure how this would play out. My palms were getting clammy.

He took a drag and got intimidatingly close to me, exhaling his smoke barely avoiding my face, his face uncomfortably close to mine. My heart was racing.

"Then answer me." His voice was dangerously soft, just above a whisper, the kind that made your skin tingle -- unsure if it was from fear or something else. I had trouble believing this talk was even happening and I took a more aloof, sarcastic way out of it.

"Do you wanna kiss me or punch me, right now Mase?" I snickered, throwing that same stare back at him.

"Find out." His face got even closer to mine. This wasn't funny anymore.

"Don't... fucking tempt me, Mason." My fist clenched.

My pulse quickened as I tried to read him. I legit could not tell if he was taunting me or if he was testing the gay guy, warning him to keep his distance. I hadn't been this uneasy in a while. The feeling brought me back to my high school days of being bullied, shoved in a locker for looking at a jock the wrong way in the changing rooms. The black eye and bruised ribs I had to explain to my mom because I had tried flirting for the first time and the guy beat the shit out of me. I was stuck. The last thing I wanted was to look like some dumb simp in front of Mason and then be labeled as such for the rest of the tour...

I gulped. Part of me wanted to just put my head down, yielding to whatever macho vibe he was trying to send my way. The other part wanted to tell him off, punch him even, before he punched me. Defending who I was had given me thicker skin over the years and I wanted to feel proud I could at least face my bullies now. I was at that point where my mind calculated if I could actually take him if it came to a fight, my flight response feeling overwhelming at this point. Until I felt his finger between my jeans and the skin of my stomach, pulling me towards him...

I looked down slightly to confirm what I felt. I gulped... I didn't quite get what was happening. My heart felt heavy. I looked back up and gave myself away in just one swift look. It's all I needed.

My tongue found its way to his in a matter of seconds, expecting him to have this dominant demeanor but my advance was instead greeted with eagerness and compliance... Something I didn't know Mason's tongue could express so elegantly. Who was this man? Certainly not the explicitly dominant alpha screaming his lungs out every night to then end up snorting coke off a groupie's ass. Behind my lids, my eyes raced to the back of my head as I felt him moan into my mouth. In that moment, choosing between air and Mason's lips, it was the latter. It was the latter every fucking day of the week. How was he doing this to me? His tongue kept enticing me, making me sink deeper and deeper into this delusion. My unshakable need to just grab and take him right on this wall was excruciating, not to mention impossible given how much bigger he was than me, but I tried keeping it under control. The keyword was tried. It took every fiber of my being to break away, begging he had just seen a surprised man getting what he wanted and not a completely unapologetic depraved needy pervert who'd sell his soul for him at that moment. I breathed out as our lips parted, my head dizzy. I looked down for a few seconds. I couldn't even look at him, I needed to collect my dissolved self off the floor. He didn't seem to mind the short silence. I looked up again.

"Didn't think you'd... reciprocate that," I whispered.

"You don't know me that well then," Mason whispered back. I swallowed hard as my heartrate wildly went off.

"Is that the E talking?"

Mason pulled back and smiled, taking another drag of his cigarette, looking around as if doing a safe check to be sure no one had witnessed his little reckless abandon. I was a blend of straight up confused and horny beyond repair, my heart beating out of my chest.

"So you do like me," he started. After that kiss, I was in utter shock. There was no getting out of it on a whim or a lie. I just yielded, feeling the situation lighten a bit. I breathed out quietly.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not at all." He leaned in.

"But you are to me," he whispered in my ear. I could tell my face was red. He was that observant? How he could be on tour, doing shows night after night, banging any and every groupie in sight and notice the subtle stares of some random roadie in the background was beyond me. I was speechless.

He snickered.

"I'm flattered, though," he replied, sending yet more alerting goosebumps through my body. My mind was racing. Was this real? Was he just too drunk or high to even know what was happening?

"Why... why'd you kiss me back?"

"Been thinking about it for weeks, to be honest. I don't get to have these alone moments on tour either. Like ever. Kinda had to go for it. I felt like testing myself, despite the pounding headache."

He was fucking with me... right?

"And?"

Mason brought his smoke between his lips and placed his hand on mine, guiding it under his hoodie and on top of his crotch. My eyes widened.

"You're hard."

"You got me hard," he confirmed.

A short silence passed among us, my brain still scrambled, he aloof as ever.

I got him hard, I repeated to myself. I got Mason hard...

I wasn't there. Feeling my fingers trail the outline of his erection was the only thing my body could focus on..

"You don't mind me using you as a test subject?" Mase replied. I then stared at his deep brown eyes, my hand still on his crotch. I wasn't going to blurt out that he could use me however the fuck he wanted.

Without a second thought, I grabbed his hoodie with one hand and grabbed the back of his neck with the other, pulling him in, however bigger he was than me, and crushed my lips on his. He gasped, but didn't pull away. I felt that cigarette coated tongue graze mine once more and thought I'd die, since this couldn't possibly really be happening again. I was back in total bliss, brain short circuiting as it should when a guy like Mason kisses you back with such fervor.

As his body pressed mine more onto the wall, my hand hit something in his front pocket. Pack of smokes? Something clicked. That was smooth, I thought to myself, feeling him reap the rewards of his little ruse.

Our lips parted. I smiled: "Sorry," I started, taking a deep breath, realizing I may have lunged at him with a bit more eagerness that I let on.

"Guess that means no."

I smiled, shaking my head lightly. "I just don't know when I'll ever get a moment like this again"

"True," he simply responded, taking one last drag before dropping the butt and crushing it under his foot.

"I better go. I feel like I'm gonna crash at any second. What little blood I had in my brain just went MIA," he winked.

I couldn't stop thinking of the pack of smokes in his hoodie pocket... and smiled to myself.

He made me smile. I looked down. As he took a step back, I held onto his hoodie.

"You know... just to be certain it wasn't a fluke hardon, you should kiss me again"

"A fluke... hardon?" he repeated, amused.

I shrugged. I found myself biting my lip in front of him, despite my best effort not to simp.

He pressed his body on mine, pinning me to the wall even harder than before and kissed me again, his tongue thrusting further into my mouth. My body involuntarily arched towards him. I felt his hand creeping under my hoodie, feeling the small of my back. He had surprisingly soft fingertips, which sent shivers across my body. I took him in. All of it. Just like that, I grew addicted to his hands on me. I was screwed. His moans resonating through my tongue and down my throat was getting me so hard it hurt.

"K I really gotta go," he said as he broke the kiss, unwillingly stepping away from me. I could tell he too was flustered, the blush on his face betrayed him. It made me grin. I didn't want this to end. It pained me to all of a sudden lose that closeness to him. It had all gone too fast.

"Not hating that tongue ring, by the way," his eyes lingered on my mouth.

"Wanna see how well I use it?" I dared ask, playing with my barbell, my mind fogging up with images of us in bed. My erection was starting to hurt. I caught him losing face for a second.

"You wanna kill me right now?"

"Five minutes," I answered, giving him a look I'm sure he understood was pure depraved lust at this point.

"That confident huh?"

"You have no idea," I lustfully glared at him. He looked up, avoiding eye contact, then chuckled as he desperately tried to readjust.

"See ya later, Alex," he said in his low voice, almost giving me hope. He started to walk away.

"417." I spoke loudly to be sure he had heard me, despite the wind.

He turned and considered me for a second, his mind working hard to move those gears. But he smiled and repeated "417?" and nodded, as if making a mental note. He disappeared towards the front of the hotel. All that was left to see now was if he'd take the bait. I finished my smoke and went back to my room, forsaking my breakfast. I wasn't working for another few hours, which gave me plenty of time to get rid of the hardon he left me with and start praying to whichever god that was gonna get me to see him again. And again.

About an hour later, I heard a knock on my door. Nothing short of a cocky grin stretched across my face. I walked over and opened the door.

"Five minutes, huh?" He looked straight at me, mirroring my grin.

Gotcha.