Looking At Forever (The Rock Gods Book 4) (27 page)

“You liked me going bare?” Wheland asked.

“I did, but for the meaning behind it, more so than the sensation,” Rooster said. “I like the level of trust that comes with it.”

“And I blew that trust with the possibility of a Hep exposure the very next week,” Wheland said.

“We’ll have the blood work done and prove this bitch is wrong,” Rooster said.

“Hmmm, I like the way you think, babe.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Wheland wasted no time the next day in tracking down Cooper. He didn’t want to sit on this information and longer than he had to. After showering and slipping in to a comfortable pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt, he went in search for Cooper. No one answered the door to Cooper’s suite, which pushed Wheland further down the hall. A process of elimination brought Wheland to the door to Alex’s suite. Wheland hadn’t planned on finding Cooper in Alex’s suite with everyone else in the band. He had seriously hoped to get Cooper alone to have this conversation. With everyone in attendance like this, it seemed they’d called a band meeting or something and forgot to tell him about it. Wheland did his best not to let that get to him and walked over to Cooper.

“Can I talk to you?” Wheland asked quietly, leaning in toward Cooper’s ear.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Cooper asked.

“Talk privately,” Wheland said. “We can go across the hall and talk in my room.”

“Or, we could stay right here and talk,” Cooper said, and rolled his eyes at Wheland. “We just got here and I don’t feel like leaving.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to open up this can of worms in front everyone,” Wheland said, still trying to keep his voice low and even. He looked at the partially closed door to Alex’s bedroom. “Alex, mind if I talk to Cooper for a few minutes in your room?”

“Not right now,” Alex said. “Danni is in there taking a bath.”

“Whatever is on your mind, you can say it here and get it over with,” Cooper said.

Wheland glanced around him and saw Tony and Jared talking together over by the windows using hushed tones and Jayson had an arm draped around Cooper’s shoulders. Chase was sitting on the couch playing with his phone. Alex was boldly staring at him from his perch leaning against the entrance into the kitchen.

“Okay, fine. If you want everyone to know, suit yourself,” Wheland said. He pushed his fingers through his hair and tried to collect his thoughts, then lifted his eyes to Cooper’s. “Do you remember that chick we called Spider Woman?”

“The one with the creepy tat on her tit?” Cooper asked, and snickered at his play on words.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Wheland said. “Rooster told me she’s been hanging outside my gate for a few days. She finally gave him a note to give to me.”

“And?” Cooper said, waving his hand to signify Wheland needed to pick up the pace of this conversation before he died of boredom.

“Apparently she’s tested positive for Hep B,” Wheland blurted. He waited a moment and watched Cooper’s expression change from confusion to enlightenment as his friend digested the news.

Tony and Jared spun around and inched closer when they heard Hep B mentioned and Alex’s curiosity was piqued, too, and was moving closer. Funny how quickly the word “Hep” could get everyone’s attention.

“We both fucked her,” Cooper said on an exhale. “That means we’ve both been exposed.”

“And you fucked each other,” Jayson added quickly. “Not to mention, I’ve been with you, Cooper, so that means I’ve been exposed, too.”

“Jay, don’t...” Cooper started to say, but Tony jumped in on the discussion, cutting off Cooper’s comment.

“Is Jayson right?” Tony asked, looking directly at Cooper. “You fucked Wheland?”

“What makes you think I didn’t fuck him?” Wheland asked, suddenly sounding defensive.

“You never fucked me, so don’t imply you did!” Cooper barked at Wheland.

“It doesn’t matter who fucked who,” Alex said, raising his voice and stepping further into the living room. “There’s a serious issue here that you douche bags seem to be ignoring.”

Chase got off the couch and stood beside Alex. “Hep B?” he asked Alex.

“Yeah, it’s transferred by sex or bodily fluids, even by something as simple as a kiss,” Alex said. “It’s very contagious and can be serious if it isn’t treated.”

“Why are we always the last to know?” Jared asked Wheland.

“Unless you fucked Spider Woman, you weren’t exposed,” Wheland said. “So, this doesn’t really concern you.”

“I’m talking about you and Coop,” Jared said. “How come we didn’t know you two were together?”

“Just to be clear, Wheland and I were
never
together,” Cooper said.

“We did a few threesomes,” Wheland said with a shrug. “Like you and Tony do every other night.”

“And you also fucked each other,” Jayson said again.

“Jay, please,” Cooper said.

“Jesus, what’s your problem, Jay?” Wheland asked. “Did you think Cooper was a virgin when you came along? I got some news for you, there was a bus load before me and probably a few more fuck buddies after me, all before he met you.”

“Enough, both of you,” Cooper said to Wheland and Jayson.

“You guys are all family, right?” Jayson said. “Aren’t you supposed to share every last detail with each other?”

“No one knew about me and Wheland, except for you,” Cooper said to Jayson.

“I knew,” Alex said. “Well, I strongly suspected it at least.”

“Fine!” Wheland said. “Cooper and I hooked up a few times. Who the fuck cares about that now? It’s old fucking news.” Wheland turned to Cooper. “Look, I’m just passing along the information. You can do what you want; get tested or don’t, I don’t give a shit. Just remember, I wanted to have this conversation privately. Had you gone along with that, all this bullshit could have been avoided.”

“Jay and I tested clean six months ago, so we’re good,” Cooper said.

“Maybe we should all get tested – again, just to be sure?” Alex suggested. “We could get a lab tech to meet us on tour and have the blood work done together.”

“But, we haven’t
all
been exposed,” Tony said.

“Google it, asswipe,” Alex said. “You can catch Hep B simply by sharing a glass with someone infected with it. If one of us has it, chances are we all have it. I say we all get tested and put this behind us.”

“What are we getting tested for?” Danni asked, coming out of the bedroom wearing a thick terry cloth hotel robe and her hair twisted up in bath towel.

“Hep B,” Chase said, pulling her against his side.

“Why? Does one of you have it?” she asked.

“Wheland and Cooper fucked a girl that has it,” Tony said.

“And each other,” Jayson said.

“Damn it, Jay, fucking let that go,” Cooper said. “It was a hundred years ago.”

“I’ll have Jerry make a few calls and get someone in here to draw our blood,” Alex said, and walked into the bedroom to get to his phone.

Tony faced Wheland again. “I can’t believe you were fucking Cooper and no one knew about it.”

Wheland shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. We’ve moved beyond it and I suggest you do, too.”

“I’m shocked I didn’t pick up on it, that’s all,” Tony said.

“Do I ask you who you’re fucking?” Wheland asked. “Maybe I should ask if you’re fucking Jared? That might be an interesting topic to discuss with everyone.”

“Where the hell did that come from?” Jared said, getting in to Wheland’s personal space.

Wheland raised his arms. “Well, every time I turn around you two are snuggled up together like two boyfriends on a goddamned date. Maybe you two are fucking and none of us know about it?”

“We are
not
fucking,” Tony huffed.

“Says you,” Wheland said. “Maybe you’re just discreet... like I was with Cooper.”

“I think everyone needs to take a step back and cool the fuck off,” Cooper said.

“You’re right, Coop,” Wheland said. “I know I could sure use some air.”

Wheland watched Chase and Danni disappear into the bedroom to be with Alex and he started moving toward the door to the suite. He stepped by Tony and Jared and then saw Cooper latch on to Jayson’s wrist.

“Come with me, Jay,” Cooper said. “You and I need to have a talk.”

Wheland smiled at Cooper’s comment. He could just imagine the argument about to play out between Cooper and Jayson because of Jayson’s remarks. Rightly so, it was obvious Jayson still had a sore spot regarding the ancient history he had with Cooper. Wheland had thought they’d moved well beyond that shit, but apparently not. Maybe if the opportunity arose while they were on tour and basically up each other’s asses from the close proximity they were forced to endure, Wheland would talk to Jayson again about it. Maybe then he could get Jayson to relax a bit. There was no way Wheland would ever end up in Cooper’s bed again. He had absolutely no interest in revisiting that. And, there was never any real emotion between them, either. It was sex purely for the sake of the release that came along with it and nothing more.

Wheland left Alex’s suite. Cooper and Jayson walked out right behind him. He walked across the hall to his own room, stepped inside, and locked the door behind him, then flopped onto the kind-sized bed.

“Well, that certainly didn’t go the way you planned it,”
he thought, and ground the heels of his hands into his eyes.

It had all sounded so much better inside his head. But, then he hadn’t planned on Cooper insisting they air their dirty laundry in front of the entire band, either. Nor had he planned on Jayson outing his past relationship with Cooper to everyone.

Relationship?

Where the fuck had that come from? What he had with Cooper was as far from being a relationship as one could possible get, but still occasionally share a bed. What he had now with Rooster was the real deal; a full-blown relationship and he loved the man. Heart and soul, Rooster owned him.

Wheland pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and opened up the text function.

“Christ, I fucking love you,”
Wheland typed and hit the send button.

He rolled his head to look at the clock beside the bed and realized it was a little after eight in the morning West Coast time and Rooster was likely still sleeping. It didn’t matter. When Rooster woke up he’d have that message waiting for him. Wheland closed his eyes and visualized Rooster’s sleeping form beside him; their naked bodies wrapped around each other. His cock was just starting to thicken when he heard a knock at his door. Wheland cursed to himself and rolled off the bed to answer it. He glanced through the peep-hole and saw Alex standing in the hallway and opened the door for him.

“What’s up?” Wheland asked.

“I talked to Jerry about getting tested,” Alex said. “He knows a doctor in the D.C. area that can have a lab tech meet us at the hotel when we get down there. They can do the blood draw right in our rooms and it’s completely confidential.”

“Cool, that sounds perfect,” Wheland said. “I’m sorry for what happened in your room earlier. That’s not how I intended to tell Cooper.”

“I know,” Alex said, and slapped a hand against Wheland’s back. “It’s okay. You gave Cooper the option of privacy and he chose to act like a dick and make it a band issue, so it’s done. Now we’ll deal with it as a band and get it taken care of. No worries.”

Wheland nodded and sat down on the couch in the living room space of his suite. “Jayson didn’t help matters spouting off like he did,” Wheland said.

Alex took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. “True. That part was unnecessary, but think of it this way, at least now it’s all out in the open. No more secrets.”

“Certainly no more secrets about
my
sex life,” Wheland said, and they both laughed. “Now... secrets between Tony and Jared, that’s a whole other story. I’m getting the feeling our token ‘straight arrows’ aren’t so fucking straight after all.”

“I agree, I’ve had my suspicions about them for a while now,” Alex said. “I’m not sure if they’ve acted on it yet, but there definitely seems to be something between them.”

“Maybe the rest of us are rubbing off on them,” Wheland said. He bent a leg and rested the ankle on the opposite knee. “I’m also getting a vibe passing between Ashton and Dante,” Wheland said. “Have you noticed that?”

Alex nodded. “Dante has always danced on both sides of the fence,” Alex said. “Ashton is reasonably new to Dagger’s band, so I don’t know him well enough to know which way he swings. Even still, I’ve seen the way they look at each other when they don’t think anyone else is paying attention.”

“Did you really know about me and Coop?” Wheland asked.

“Just like Ashton and Dante, I could see the way you two talked together and your body language,” Alex said. “There was a...
closeness
between you that you wouldn’t typically see between two male friends. Plus, there were the times we were on tour when no one could find either of you and then you’d end up appearing together looking like you’d just gotten one off.”

Wheland smirked and wiped a hand over his face. “It wasn’t like you’re probably thinking,” Wheland said.

“I get it... believe me, I get it,” Alex said. “It was sex without emotion and it was convenient.”

“Exactly,” Wheland said.

“That’s the only reason I didn’t interfere with what was going on,” Alex said. “If emotions had become involved for one or both of you, I would have had a problem with it because sometimes that’s when the complications tend to enter the equation.”