****
"God, do they know how cute they would be together?"
"I doubt it. I don't even think they know how they
feel about each other."
"That's weird. *Everybody* knows how they feel.
How can they not?"
"Maybe they just don't want to see it."
"That could be. Hey...you thinking what I'm
thinking?"
"Always. The only question is how to we get them alone
together?"
"Hmm...oh, I know!"
"Tell me."
**
"Hey Wayne, wait up!" Brad Sherwood called, walking
quickly to catch up with his friend.
"What's up, man?"
Wayne shot his old friend a sideways glance and then
shrugged. "Not much," he said quietly.
"You?"
"The same," Brad answered. He shoved his hands
into his pockets and then asked, "You
ready for tonight?"
"Definitely," Wayne replied, grinning. "This
is going to be so much fun."
"No doubt," Brad said with a broad smile of his own.
"I can't wait." As he and Wayne rounded
a corner, they nearly barreled into Ryan and Colin, who were
apparently involved in what
looked like a pretty serious discussion. "Hi,
guys," he said to them.
"Hey," they answered in perfect unison, as always. Ryan
glanced down at Colin with a small
smile and then turned his attention to Brad and Wayne.
"Where are you headed?"
"Wardrobe," Wayne answered.
A look of mock horror appeared on Colin's face.
"Don't! If you value your lives, don't go in
there. Ryan and I just barely escaped."
Brad and Wayne exchanged a puzzled glance. "Why?"
Brad asked.
"Drew is having a temper tantrum in there," Ryan said.
"Apparently he doesn't like anything
they've got, so he's throwing things and acting like an
asshole." He paused. "Which isn't all
that unusual. Anyway, you should probably wait until he's
cooled off."
Brad nodded and then said, "Okay. Well, it's no big
deal. We've got plenty of time."
"Sure," Colin said. "Oh, I've been meaning
to ask you something. Did you guys just want to
meet here after the taping or at the bar?"
"Let's meet here," Brad said. "Man, I am
*so* looking forward to this. We haven't had a
fun night in ages."
Ryan nodded and leaned against the wall. "Tell me
about it. Nothing but work for three solid
months." A sour smile briefly curled up his lips.
"I don't care what anybody says. This isn't
easy."
"No kidding," Wayne agreed. "Three shows a
weekend, plus work on the other shows during
the week? I swear I'm going to drop dead. We *need*
to get out tonight." He smiled at Brad.
"It's going to be fun."
"Sure will," Brad agreed.
"Well," Colin said, throwing Ryan a meaningful look,
"we need to get going. We'll see you in a
bit."
"Bye."
*****
"They were totally clueless."
"Yeah, they sure were. I'm glad, too. It'll make
things a lot more interesting."
"You know what to do?"
"Sure. You?"
"Mm-hmm. God, I can't wait. This is going to be
great. Think they'll hate us?"
"For a minute or two. Maybe."
*****
Brad, Colin, Ryan, and Wayne met in the hallway after the
taping. It had been a run-of-the-
mill type show. Nothing of note happened, although it had been
pretty fun. Most tapings
were. At least this one didn't seem like a chore.
They sometimes did on those long three-
taping weekends. Brad silently thanked God they only had to
do the one tonight.
The four of them decided to take two cars: Brad and Colin in one
and Wayne and Ryan in
the other. Brad didn't mind. He rather enjoyed
spending time with the Canadian.
"So how's your sex life, Col?" he asked casually.
Colin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Not that it's
any business of yours, but it's actually
quite good." He smiled good-naturedly. "*Very*
good. Why?"
"No reason," Brad shrugged. "Just
curious. Mine's been kind of nonexistent lately, so I try
to live through other people. You know how it is."
Nodding, Colin turned his attention to the road.
"Yeah. Comes and goes." Chuckling, he
added, "Pardon the pun."
Brad smiled. "Yeah."
Conversation lagged for most of the rest of the way, but the
silence was pretty comfortable.
It usually was with friends. Brad had found that at times,
more was said in silence than in
words.
Ryan and Wayne had beaten them to the bar, and were waiting
inside when Brad and Colin
got there. The table was out of the way, in a quiet corner
of the otherwise crowded room.
Colin slid into a seat at Ryan's right, while Brad sat down at
Colin's right.
The thing Brad really liked about this place was that it was dark
inside, so it wasn't quite as
easy to see the faces of the people in the room. If no one
saw any of their faces, maybe no
one would recognize them. Not that he really cared--and not
that it happened a lot--but
tonight, he just wanted to relax and spend some time with his
friends.
They talked some, but not a whole lot--they didn't really need
to. Once again, the silence was
just as comfortable as any word could be. The four of them
knew each other so well that it
was practically unnecessary. The things they *did* talk
about weren't important, and nobody
seemed to care. All that mattered was that they were
spending time together. In the past few
years, they really hadn't.
After about four hours, it was starting to get late. The crowd
had thinned out. Brad took one
more look around the room, glanced at Wayne with a small smile,
and then said, "Well, folks,
I think maybe it's time we got on out of here."
"So soon?" Wayne asked, returning the smile. He
was only a little tipsy despite the number of
drinks he'd consumed. "The night's still young."
"Really," Colin said. For a wonder, he looked and
sounded completely sober. "Come on, Brad.
We can stay a little longer."
Ryan nodded. He also seemed sober.
"Really."
"I've got an idea," Wayne spoke up. "Let's
go back to my house. We could sit in the hot tub or
something and finish getting loaded."
Ryan and Colin exchanged a quick glance and shrugged, almost as
if some kind of unspoken
communication was going between them. Then, Ryan smiled and
said, "That's a good idea,
Wayne. My back is getting pretty stiff."
"Poor baby," Brad murmured. "All
right. Let's do it."
This time, Brad and Wayne rode together in one car and Ryan and
Colin took the other.
*****
"You ready for this?"
"You bet. They're still completely clueless."
"They're gonna love this."
"Hopefully. Do you think we're doing the right
thing?"
"I think so. I mean, you know and I know how they feel
about each other. I think they just
need a little help here. Don't you?"
"Yeah, I do."
*****
Brad and Wayne got to Wayne's house first. Colin and Ryan
arrived fifteen minutes later, after
a quick couple of stops to get their swimming trunks and to stock
up on more booze. It was
starting to get a little late. The taping had been finished
by nine, they'd gotten to the bar around
nine-thirty, and it was getting close to two, but Brad certainly
didn't care. Neither, apparently,
did Wayne or Ryan or Colin.
Wayne's hot tub was huge. It could have easily fitted
twelve people, so the four sat comfortable
distances from each other and picked up an earlier thread of
conversation.
"So anyway," Ryan said, "I was starting to tell
you that Dan, Mark, Drew, and I have all been
talking a lot about the show." He wrinkled his
nose. "Well, it's probably better to say that Drew
and Mark and I have been trying to persuade Dan to listen to
us. You know what that's like
sometimes."
"Like butting your head against a brick wall," Colin
muttered.
Brad sipped at his drink and sat back in the tub. "What have
you guys been talking about?"
"Well, I'm getting to the point where I'd like to see a few
changes. Drew and Mark agree. It's
great the way it is, sure, but it would probably be better if we
changed things up every now and
again, you know? Different people playing different games.
More variety. Same old, same old."
Wayne snorted. "You've been pushing that for years,
man. What makes you think he's going
to listen?"
"I think he did this time," Ryan shrugged.
"He had to. I've been thinking a lot about this
lately,
and I don't really want to be there for every single taping
anymore. It's just taking too much out
of me. So I told him that I only want to be there for half
the tapings next season." He smiled.
"He started listening."
There was a moment of surprised silence. Brad glanced at
Wayne and saw surprise in his friend's
eyes, but saw none on Colin's face. Of course. They
must have talked about it earlier. "What'd
he say?" Brad asked.
Ryan shook his head. "Almost begged me not to.
But it's time, you know? Anyway, that'll free
up space for more guests. Drew and Mark really liked the
idea, and I don't mind."
Colin smiled. "We'll finally get to see the
Brad-Greg-Wayne trio all the fans have been clamoring
for."
"You make it sound like a ménage-a-trois," Wayne
remarked.
Brad, who had taken another drink, choked and had to spit it
out. He could feel blood rise to
his face. "Funny," he said, once he was under
control. "You're real funny." The alcohol
was
definitely working.
Ryan glanced at Colin and said, "Well, if nothing else,
you'll get to work together more."
"That's always nice," Brad said. "Won't be
quite as fun without you and Colin together onstage,
though."
Once again there was an exchanged glance. "We'll
survive," Colin said. "We always do."
A
thoughtful look crossed his face. "You know, you and
Wayne are a good duo too, and I'm not
just talking about the singing games."
"Or the show," Ryan added softly.
Brad frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing," Colin said quickly.
"No," Brad persisted. "Tell me. What
did you mean by that?"
Colin climbed up until he was sitting on the edge of the
tub. "Has it escaped your attention that
you're both single?"
Brad glanced at Wayne, who was staring at Colin with a puzzled
frown. "What does that have
to do with anything?" Wayne asked.
"Do we really have to do the math for you?" Ryan asked.
"We've been talking," Colin added. "Just
thinking, really. We've noticed a few things about the
two of you that I don't think you've noticed about
yourselves."
"What are you talking about?" Brad asked suspiciously.
He had a feeling he knew where this
was going.
Ryan took over smoothly. "The way you look at each
other when you don't think anyone else
notices. The way you start to touch hands and then
don't. The things you almost say. The fact
that a lot of people have been getting suspicious lately about
how close you are. Are you starting
to see where I'm going with this?"
"That doesn't mean anything," Wayne protested.
"Christ, you and Colin are worse."
That didn't phase either one of them. "This isn't
about us. And besides, we're not insinuating
that you *are*," Ryan chuckled. "Only that maybe
you *should be*. You can't honestly tell me
that you haven't thought about it."
Brad gaped openly, his gaze flicking back and forth between Ryan
and Colin, who were
watching him with twin satisfied smiles. He couldn't deny
that he hadn't because he had. A lot.
Especially lately. Wayne was a good friend and a confidante
besides. They'd gotten very close
in a short time.
Wayne's eyes narrowed suddenly. "You guys are setting
us up, aren't you?"
"Have been all day," Ryan said nonchalantly.
"Colin and I--and everyone else but you,
apparently--know how you feel about each other. We were
planning to go back to my place,
but this worked out even better."
Colin's smile became a grin as he turned to Ryan. "You know,
it's getting a little late. I think
we should get going."
"Yeah," Ryan agreed, standing and shaking some of the
water off his body. He smiled at Brad
and Wayne. "See you later, boys."
"Bye, guys," Colin said. "Don't have too
much fun without us."
"Bye," Wayne grumbled.
"See you," Brad called. "Be careful."
Both Colin and Ryan paused in the doorway.
"Always," they said in unison. Brad shook his
head. They were so strange that way. It was a wonder
that *they* weren't together. That
reminded him.
He turned to Wayne with an uneasy chuckle. "That
was...weird."
Wayne sighed and rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I don't
know about them. Imagine. You and
me? How weird would *that* be?"
"Yeah," Brad said weakly. Maybe it was the
alcohol, but everything that Ryan and Colin had
said made sense to him. He definitely felt *something* for
Wayne, although what it was
remained to be seen.
"You're way too old, for starters," Wayne said.
"And let's not get started with the whole
interracial thing." He paused, perhaps seeing
something in Brad's eyes. "Not that...that would
be a big deal," he amended hastily. "It's
just...strange."
"I know," Brad said, combing fingers through his wet
hair and sighing deeply. "Of course, you
never know. It could be kind of fun, too."
Wayne stared openly, his dark eyes reflecting his surprise.
"What are you saying?"
"Nothing," Brad said. "Just.never
mind. Let's not talk about this anymore, okay? It's
stupid."
"No, it's not. Are you trying to tell me
something?"
"Yes. No." Frustration crept into his
tone. "I don't know, all right? I think that
they might
have been...right. About me, anyway. 'Cause I...do
sometimes think about...us that way."
There was a long pause, and then a very quiet, "Yeah, me
too."
Relief washed over Brad's mind and he found he could finally
raise his eyes from the water.
"You do?"
"Uh-huh. I just thought you didn't."
"*I* thought *you* didn't. That's why I never said
anything."
Wayne smiled tentatively. "Then...maybe we could...if
you want."
Brad grinned and answered immediately, "Yeah, if you
want."
"I wouldn't mind," Wayne said. "I must admit
that I've been kind of.attracted to you for a
while. Now I'm curious."
"Me too," Brad agreed, surprised, pleased, and happy
all at once. He didn't quite dare to
believe it. But as he looked across the water at his
friend--and hopefully more--he couldn't
help but smile. "I can't believe they set us up like
this."
"Yeah, well, they were right." Wayne paused
thoughtfully. "Maybe *we* should return the
favor, you know? They helped us see what was right under
our noses all along. We should
do the same for them."
Feeling strangely introspective, Brad shook his head. "I
don't think we should," he said quietly.
"Why not?"
"They already know, and I think they've accepted it and are
doing the best they can *not* to
fall into that trap. They've got their own commitments and
their own lives."
"They're not single like us."
Brad grinned. "We're not single anymore, either."
The sound of laughter and splashing water carried for at least
half a block.
*****
[The End]