Better than Sex (San Francisco Sex Gods #1)

Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

Spencer

Spencer scanned the street outside the front window of Heyday, restlessly drumming his fingers on the table. “Where the fuck is Blake?” he barked. It wasn’t like Blake to be late for Sunday brunch.

“What’s the matter? He’s not even ten minutes late,” Henry said, checking his expensive watch. Quinn’s husband dressed in conservative, nondescript clothing, but his watch was his one prized status symbol as a wealthy lawyer.

Xander glanced up from his phone and slapped his hand over Spencer’s to still his anxious fidgeting. “Dude. Chill.”

“I want to talk to everyone before…” Spencer began, when movement caught his eye outside. “Finally.”

Blake stepped into the diner, pulling the brim of his baseball cap lower over his eyes. He zipped up his hoodie, hiding the fact that his rumpled T-shirt looked like it had been balled up on his bedroom floor. After mumbling an apology for being late, he slid into the booth next to Henry and Quinn. The overpowering scent of body spray hinted at his lack of a shower.

“Rough night?” Quinn asked. “Were you dancing?”

Blake shushed Quinn and shook his head vigorously. He glanced over his shoulder, and apparently satisfied that no one in the diner heard Quinn’s question, he mumbled, “It wasn’t my night at the club.” After lifting his cap and running his hand through his messy hair, he settled back against the booth’s vinyl cushion.

“Hopefully you got laid,” Xander said. “Otherwise there’s no excuse for showing up looking like a frat boy on his way to the airport after spring break.”

Blake glared at Xander. “Yes. I was with someone last night.” He broke eye contact and batted a jelly packet between his hands. “I slept through my alarm.”

Xander narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but Spencer cut him off. “Guys, we have more important things to discuss this morning. I’ve invited someone to join our group. His name is Mickey.”

Quinn looked surprised. “Mickey? You mean the guy…”

Spencer held up an index finger and shook his head. “Look, he’ll be here in a few minutes. Please, no one mention my fuck-it list. I want to ease him into being a sex god. He doesn’t have a lot of experience, and we can, um…” Spencer gave Xander a sidelong glance. “We can come on a little strong.”

Quinn leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table. “So don’t mention you’re trying to have sex with a virgin?” His tone was snarky, a surprise coming from the usually easygoing Quinn.

“No.” Spencer met Quinn’s icy stare. “No mention of my list, and definitely no mention of virgins.” He held his hand, palm down, over the middle of the table. “I’m serious, guys. Just try to keep it low-key, okay? Hands in?” Henry and Xander placed their hands over Spencer’s, followed by Blake. “Quinn?”

Quinn huffed and shook his head. “Fine.” He placed his hand on the stack. “No list. No virgins.”

Henry craned his neck to look past Xander into the diner’s small, enclosed entryway. “Is that him?’

Everyone pulled their hands back as the door to the diner swung open. Mickey stepped inside, unbuttoning his new trucker jacket and scanning the booths and tables. A mint green T-shirt clung to the curvature of his pecs, while the jeans he was wearing hugged his ample bulge.

“ Damn ,” Blake muttered under his breath.

Mickey bit his lower lip and waved, making his way to their booth when Spencer invited him over with a nod of his chin. He slipped into the booth next to Spencer.

“These are the other sex gods,” Spencer said, pointing to each man in turn. “You’ve met Xander. This is Blake, Quinn, and Quinn’s husband Henry.”

“Not a sex god,” Xander was quick to point out, to Henry’s obvious chagrin.

Blake pulled the lid off the jelly packet he’d been playing with and spooned out its contents. Around a mouthful of jelly, he pointed his spoon in Mickey’s direction. “You should go by Mick.”

“You mean, like a nickname?” Mickey beamed. “I’ve never had a nickname.”

“Yeah, it sounds cool…” Blake’s voice trailed off when their server arrived to take their order. It was Ethan, their server from the week before and the guy Blake had hung out with the night of speed dating. Blake peered out from under the brim of his hat and flashed a coy smile. “Hey,” he said under his breath.

Ethan smiled and poured everyone a cup of coffee. Once he’d taken their orders, he winked at Blake before checking in on the next booth over.

Xander tossed a balled-up napkin at Blake’s chest. “What’s that all about?”

Mickey asked Quinn to pass him the sugar, and Blake jumped at the chance to dodge Xander’s question. “I got it, Q,” Blake said, reaching over Quinn’s coffee mug and sliding the glass pourer to Mickey. “So Mick, are you coming to Spencer’s birthday party?”

“Oh.” Mickey poured a teaspoon of sugar into his coffee and stirred it with a tight circular sweep of his spoon. “I don’t know. Your birthday’s coming up?” He pressed his lips into a hard line. “I guess I haven’t been invited?”

Spencer cringed internally. He meant to tell Mickey about his party on their shopping trip. Having Mickey attend his party was an instrumental part of his plan, after all. But he’d been having such a good time it slipped his mind. Time for damage control. “Of course, you’re invited. It’s still two weeks away. It just hasn’t come up yet.”

Mickey tapped his spoon on the brim of his mug. He knitted his brow, speaking softly while keeping his eyes fixed on his coffee. “We spent all day together yesterday.”

A pang of guilt roughened Spencer’s voice. “Well, um, consider this your formal invitation. I’d love to have you at my party. It’s Saturday the twenty-ninth.”

“You’ll want to clear your calendar for that day,” Xander said. “And maybe the next day, too. Some of Spencer’s birthday parties have been legendary.”

“Legendary?” Mickey looked between Spencer and Xander. “Why?”

An impish smile slowly crept over Xander’s face. He leaned forward, a glint in his eye, like a cat who’d cornered a mouse and could take its time with the kill. “For the sexual exploits, of course. Once we played naked Twister. You can guess how that ended up.”

“Okay, that was one year…” Spencer said.

“And then the next year we played no-holds-barred Truth or Dare, and you dared Cameron to eat your ass.”

Mickey chewed on his lip. “In front of everyone?”

“Yeah.” Xander shrugged and sat back in the booth. “After some E and Jell-O shots you’d be amazed what people are up for.”

Visibly uncomfortable, Mickey stared at the table and tapped his pinky fingernail against his mug. Spencer recognized that as an SOS, a clear indicator of too much, too soon. “That’s enough for now…” He kicked what he hoped was Xander’s leg, but Henry yelped and shot him a confused look.

“But my favorite by far was the year we played Strip Pong.”

Spencer buried his face in his hands. “God damn it, Xander.”

“Strip Pong?” Mickey forced a nervous chuckle, gripping his mug with both hands. “You mean, like, um, naked ping-pong?”

Xander laughed. “No, but that would be fun. Strip Pong is like Beer Pong, but instead of drinking when someone makes a shot, you strip.”

Blake chimed in. “I have to say, Spence, Strip Pong was one of my favorite things from that list of yours.” Quinn and Henry spun to face him, and Quinn must have pinched him under the table because Blake flinched and tried to cover his mistake. “Your list of ideas, I mean. For the party. Your list of party ideas. Not your—”

“The food is here,” Spencer interrupted, sparing Blake the humiliation of spilling the beans minutes after he’d promised he wouldn’t.

Ethan passed out their plates and gave Blake another wink and smile before leaving their table.

Mickey picked at his eggs. “So it’s…” His voice caught. He cleared his throat and continued, his tone resigned. “It’s going to be a sex party.”

“No,” Spencer assured him. “Not this year. Just a get-together with friends. No sex games.”

Xander booed.

Mickey nodded and quietly chewed a forkful of eggs. So far, brunch had been a disaster. Spencer had hoped it would make Mickey feel welcome, but Xander was being his typical self, pushing boundaries too far and too fast. Henry was still glowering after the misdirected kick to his shin. Quinn was scowling and sawing aggressively at his breakfast burrito. And Blake almost ruined his plan by blabbing about his fuck-it list.

Time to regroup. Spencer had to redirect this shitshow before Mickey ran for the hills.

“Excuse me,” Spencer said, placing his napkin on the table. “I need to hit the restroom.” Mickey let him out of the booth, and he hightailed it to the back of the diner.

Once the restroom door closed behind him, Spencer rubbed his temples. He ambled over to the urinal and unzipped his fly.

The door opened again, and Spencer sensed Quinn’s disapproving glare boring into the back of his head. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking a piss. Or is your dick so neglected you’ve forgotten all the marvelous things it can do?”

“Ha ha.” Quinn stood by the sink with his arms crossed. His jaw twitched the way it always did when he was gearing up for a self-righteous tirade. “Funny thing. Henry and I met Xander for lunch yesterday. He said, and I quote, ‘Faced! Spencer and I found a virgin first. Suck it, Henry.’ Was he talking about Mickey?”

Spencer shrugged.

“He’s the guy from last week, right? The one you gave the doll back to? Quite the change, then to now.”

Spencer zipped up and flushed the urinal. He raised his eyebrows until Quinn stepped away from the sink so he could wash his hands. “Do you have a point?”

“Are you using that poor guy?”

“No.”

“You aren’t planning on sleeping with him to finish your fuck-it list, then.”

Spencer huffed and tore off a piece of paper towel with an angry flick of his wrist. “Sleeping with Mickey is a win-win proposition. He gets to lose his virginity; I get to finish my list. Just sex, and then we go on as friends. No one’s getting used.”

“And he’s aware of your intentions?”

“Have I said, ‘Hey Mickey, we’re going to have casual sex on or before July twenty-ninth’? Not in so many words.”

“In any words?”

“Look, we’ve been getting to know each other. We haven’t launched into any deep conversations yet.”

“And the makeover?”

Spencer gritted his teeth. “I’m just helping him find a little confidence.”

“Confidence,” Quinn repeated with sarcasm.

Spencer stood up straighter to bring himself closer to Quinn’s height. “It’s what me and Xander do, Quinn. Do you remember who you were when we found you?” He poked his finger at Quinn’s chest. “A lonely little nerd with Coke bottle glasses who thought wearing novelty bow ties was cool. We made you into a god. Do you think the old Quinn would have ever turned Henry’s head?”

Quinn flinched and shook his head.

“That’s right. So maybe give me the fucking benefit of the doubt when I say I’ve got this under control and no one’s getting used.”

Quinn held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. I just hope you know what you’re doing. What if he finds out about your list?”

“He’s not going to find out.” Spencer wilted, the rush of anger depleted. “Does Blake know? About Mickey being a virgin?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Please don’t tell him. I don’t want Mickey to be self-conscious.”

Quinn turned to leave but paused at the door. “He seems like a nice guy. Try not to hurt him.” With that, he walked out of the bathroom, leaving Spencer alone with his thoughts.

Quinn’s concern weighed on him. Hurting Mickey was the last thing Spencer wanted. Of course he planned on sleeping with him. He’d been attracted to him since the first day they met. But that wouldn’t have to be the end of their friendship. Spencer had hooked up with friends before, including Xander and Blake. It was no big deal.

Fooling around with Mickey wasn’t using him. If anything, Mickey benefitted from their arrangement more than he did. He could help Mickey find his footing, get over his insecurities and reservations. They’d have sex, and Mickey would be better for the experience. He’d be able to start his dating life with a boost of confidence.

It was a solid plan.

Spencer pushed away from the sink. First things first. If this was going to work, Mickey would have to feel like he was a member of the group. They needed a night where they could make memories together. Where they could bond.

He hurried back to the booth, formulating his plan. He was pleased to see Mickey chatting and laughing with Blake, Quinn, and Henry. Not surprisingly, Xander was scrolling through galleries of erotic photos, probably moments away from asking Mickey about his taste in men.

Whenever someone joined the group, Xander liked coming in hot and bragging about sex in an over-the-top way to break down the new guy’s inhibitions as quickly as possible. He saw it as liberating a fledgling sex god. Although his zealous approach had worked for Quinn and Blake, it wasn’t right for Mickey.

As he slid back into the booth, Spencer biffed Xander on the back of the head. “Take it down a notch.” Xander punched his bicep in return.

“I know what we need,” Spencer said, addressing his friends. “A night out to welcome our newest member.”

“Great idea.” Xander locked his phone and set it on the table. “We should go to the Manhole.”

Spencer sighed and ran both his hands through his hair.

“What’s the Manhole?” Mickey asked.

Xander smiled sweetly. “It’s a dance club.”

“It’s more of a sex club,” Blake corrected.

Mickey spun to face Spencer, his eyes wide. “A sex club?”

Spencer threw up his hands in exasperation. “Jesus. We’re not going to the Manhole for Mickey’s night out. How about the Rumpus Room?”

Xander groaned. “The place with the old man music?”

“It’s not old man music. It’s 80s music. It’s cool again.” Spencer turned slightly in the booth so he could face Mickey. “It’s a smaller bar, with a dance floor and some arcade games. It’s fun. You’ll like it.”

“I love the Rumpus Room,” Henry said.

Xander clicked his tongue. “Shocker.”

Spencer ignored Xander’s sniping. “Can you do Friday night?”

Mickey nodded. “Yeah. Greg is home, so as soon as I put Logan to bed I’m free.”

“Okay, it’s settled. Friday night, nine o’clock, Rumpus Room. Sex god bonding night.”

All of them pulled out their phones to add it to their calendars.

“Nine?” Xander whined. “What are we, sixty?”

Spencer met Xander’s eyes with a warning glare. “The place will be less crowded.”

Xander mouthed “ Fine ,” and rolled his eyes. His thumbs moved over his keypad, and he held up his phone to show Spencer that he’d added the notification to his calendar.

Satisfied, Spencer returned to eating his now-cold breakfast. He rubbed Mickey’s back, eliciting a bashful smile from his new friend.

Xander threw another napkin at Blake, which bounced off his chest and landed in the whipped cream on his Belgian waffle. “Spill it, Larsen. Who’d you fuck last night?”

Spencer hung his head with a sigh. So much for keeping things low-key.