The Crush Tour, Summer 2000
"Man, what was with you tonight?" David questioned Richie as they headed out of the limousine and into the hotel.
"Nothing, let it be, Lema!" he replied, stalking off toward the elevators and stabbing the up button hard.
He'd been so distracted all night. He couldn't think straight and his body had betrayed him on stage, so much so that at one point in the show he had to have his back turned to the audience for almost a whole song. The cause was Jon's low riding gold pants. Damn him! Even now he could feel the stir of arousal which made him even more furious with himself.
Jon had complimented him on his new haircut yesterday and he hadn't stopped thinking about the look on Jon's face when he said it.
"Jon's so going to have your ass tonight when he gets here!"
"God, I hope so," Richie mumbled to himself or thought he had. The thought had his cock jumping in his pants.
"I've never seen him like he was tonight. He's almost as bad as you!" David had caught up to him just as the elevator doors opened and he pushed his way in before Richie even had a chance to move.
"Hang on, what did you just say Rich?" he stopped and did a double-take.
"Nothing. You're hearing things, just drop it, okay? I just want to get to my room and hit the shower and unwind a bit."
"Come back to my room and have a drink so we can talk it out. I'm not taking no for an answer either. Besides Jon won't chew you out so badly in front of me, especially if he can't find you." David said, throwing his arm around his friend and steering him out of the elevator and in the opposite direction from Richie's room.
Richie groaned as he was being led away by David. His body temperature was hitting an all-time high with the thoughts and visuals running through his head, of Jon's mouth on any of his body parts.
David opened his suite door and pushed his friend inside, determined to get Richie to talk. He and Tico had quickly decided to separate the two in case any fireworks happened after the show. It wasn't like them to be so out of sorts with each other.
"So spill, Rich. What the hell was going on between you and Jon tonight?" David asked, as he cracked open a couple of beers and handed one to the guitarist.
"Aww David, why can't you just let it go?" Richie asked half-heartedly, as he opened the balcony door and stepped out into the warm night air. He shucked out of his sweaty shirt and dumped it on one of the chairs, trying to cool his skin, thankful that David hadn't turned on many lights. He leaned his forearms on the railing and kept his body turned toward the view, hiding his bulging pants until he could stop the thoughts of Jon's golden ass riding through his brain.
"Nope, no can do, my friend! Spill it! What distracted you so much, huh? Was it the brunette in the front row with her nipples almost out of her shirt? Those were some impressive boobs!" David grinned like the Cheshire Cat and took a swallow of beer.
"You could see her from your side?" Richie asked, not really surprised.
"Hell, man, the guys on the space station could see those beauties! So it was her, huh? Why didn't you organise security to bring her back?" he asked.
Richie took a healthy swallow of his drink, almost draining the bottle, while he contemplated his response. "Nah man, it wasn't her, it was a blonde." Richie still had his back to David.
"A blonde, huh? What was she wearing?"
"Jacket, multi-coloured shirt, gold pants..." he trailed off, his stomach-churning.
"Huh. I don't remember any girls wearing gold pants." David stopped talking to think for a bit. "The only gold pants I saw were Jon's!" he said, still oblivious to Richie's predicament.
Richie emptied his beer and looked over his shoulder at David. He watched the realisation spread over David's face.
"Oh... ooohhhh," he said. "Jon had gold pants. Very low, very tight gold pants."
"Lemma, if you breathe a word about this, I'll break your fingers, you got it?" Richie turned, forgetting about the state of his arousal, which was more than obvious in his tight leathers until David's eyes tracked down. Richie grabbed his shirt and wrestled it back on, seeing David's eyes widen to the size of saucers.
"Woah, Richie." David was flummoxed. He stood up and paced the small balcony, rolling this new information around his brain.
"So how long have you loved him?"
"I don't love Jon," Richie said.
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't!" he insisted. "I just think about him all the time and miss him when he's not around."
David's brain exploded. "I wish you could hear yourself."
Richie sighed.
"How long, Rich?" David persisted.
"Fuck man, why can't you just let it go?"
"Because I care about you both and want you to have somebody to love! Now sit down and talk to me, or do you need to take care of that monster first?" He indicated to Richie's groin.
"Always the joker!" he said. "I'll be fine, just give me a minute. Get me another beer, will ya?"
"Sure, but I still got questions," he said, heading inside to the minibar.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay," Richie said, realising he didn't have to live with the secret any longer. If he unburdened himself to David, it might lessen the need somewhat. He sat gingerly in the chair behind him, still staring at the night lights of whatever city they happened to be in tonight. He couldn't remember and he couldn't care less tonight.
"Here ya go." David held a fresh bottle in front of his face, breaking his train of thought.
"Thanks, man."
"Sooooo tell Uncle David when you started getting boners for our fearless leader?" David asked. He sat on the edge of his seat and bounced up and down on the cushion like an excited child.
"Fuck you, Lemma, if you're not going to take this seriously, I'm outta here!" he said standing up, fully prepared to walk out the door.
"Rich! Richie, I'm sorry, man! C'mon, sit down, will ya?" He grabbed at his arm to stop him from leaving.
Richie threw him a sideways glance, huffed out a breath and sat back down.
"My ears and shoulders are all yours tonight, feel free to lay as much as you want on me."
"I- I dunno. I've kept the secret for so long, I don't know where to start," he said with a shrug.
"At the beginning seems like the logical place. So when did you stop going for the chicks and start with the dicks? Hang on, is it all dudes or just Jonny? Do I need to be worried, here?" he quizzed Richie.
"Just Jon, you dick!"
"Good, coz you're not really my type. Too tall, too broody."
Richie sat on one of the outdoor lounge chairs, shirt still undone, his lower extremities no longer betraying him. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, his head lowered, too afraid to see the look in the keyboardist's eyes when he told the truth.
"I guess right from the word go. When I walked into that bar and saw you guys playing, the music spoke to my soul but Jon took my breath away. When I started playing with you, I just needed to be with him. It's like I- I couldn't help myself. I offered to teach him a few guitar tricks just to be close to him for a while longer."
"But you had all those girls; the notches on your guitar neck so to speak?"
"I was still trying to deny what was happening. In my head, I needed to still date women, but it was almost like a compulsion to be within five feet of him. I couldn't stop myself if he was in the room. I kept everything bottled up and dealt with it when I needed to. I'd be in that shower tonight jerking off if it weren't for you, you bossy prick."
"Would it make you feel better though?" David asked, genuinely curious.
"Physically, while the endorphins were still flowing, sure, but the nights I've laid in bed afterwards feeling hollow and lonely are too many to count."
"You love him!" David declared simply.
Richie finally looked up at his friend, surprised that he saw nothing but acceptance in his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, I guess I do," he admitted quietly, both to himself finally, and to David.
"Awesome! We need to do something about this!" David clapped his hands and rubbed them together in glee.
"No! No just leave it be, please, man? Just let me deal with it my way, okay? I- I couldn't stand it if you said something and he sent me away or rejected me." Richie ended sadly.
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything. I'm glad you told me though, Rich. Honestly!" he held up his hands in a show of good faith. "It puts tonight into some perspective. For you anyway, still not sure why Jonny-boy was so worked up though."
"Yeah well, I dunno either." he said, rubbing his hands over his face, "But I do know I'm beat. I'm going back to my room to hit the shower and bed."
"Don't forget we've got the early flight to Paris tomorrow." David reminded him at the door of his suite.
"Yeah, I remember. I'll pack before I hit the sheets."
"Sleep well, my friend. I hope I've helped tonight?" David gave Richie a hug, clapping him on the back as he sent him into the hallway.
"Yeah, yeah you have Lemma, thanks. But if you breathe a word, remember..." he imitated breaking something in his hands as a threat.
"Yeah, yeah, you wouldn't do that coz you love me too much! Get outta here; go to bed!"
Richie turned from the doorway, hearing it click behind him, and started walking sleepily down the hall toward his suite. He'd almost made it when he ran into a body coming out of Tico's suite.
"Oof, Rich, watch where you're going!" Jon said.
He'd grabbed blindly onto Jon's arms, to steady them both, but ended up staring into the blue eyes for a moment too long. He felt as though everything melted around him and was swallowed into a black hole; the only solid reality was standing in front of him: a man, made of flesh and bone with golden hair and golden pants.
"Hey Rich, everything ok? Where have you been tonight?" Tico asked, appearing in the doorway behind Jon.
He slowly dropped his hands from Jon's arms, thinking he was seeing something in Jon's face. Jon's eyes quickly flicked down to Richie's open shirt, his eyebrow shooting skyward in a questioning expression.
"Umm, sorry, sorry, must have been distracted. I was just talking to Lemma. I'm- I'm just about to have a shower, then bed. Yes, Boss, before you even ask, I'll be ready for the early flight." Richie fled the scene before his body betrayed him again. He waved a hand above his head as Tico bade him goodnight.
A moment later, he was safely in his suite, leaning heavily on the door dragging in gulps of air. His erection that he thought he'd wrestled into semi-submission was back with full vengeance. He kicked off his boots at the door, then made his way through to the bathroom, dragging his shirt off. His leathers were a little trickier to peel off over his aching cock and down his legs. He jumped into the shower as soon as the water was at temperature and grabbed the closest bottle of something slippery.
It didn't take long, however, to take himself to the completion of his orgasm, considering he'd been on edge all night. He brought up the memory of tonight where Jon had sidled up to him when he was grinding out a solo. What song? He couldn't remember. He did remember Jon's arm around his neck, his body up close to his left side, his hips fitting so close to him. He groaned at that last image.
"Oh- oooohhhh Jonny, oh fuck," he moaned helplessly as he came quickly and forcefully. Thick streams of cum mixed into the hot water sluicing over his heated skin.
Little did he know that a similar scene was being played out in the suite next door.