What Happens in Vegas?

Chapter 12

The rest of the last day in Las Vegas was blissfully uneventful. Both Ed and Stede showered, ate horrible greasy food, and watched a marathon of Pirates of the Caribbean movies on TV. The furthest they ventured from their hotel room was to go down to the Mandalay Bay complex in search of dinner.

They found a noodle bar and talked in whispers over ramen, with their hair in a mutual state and their clothing barely presentable. Then they returned to the room, talked about nothing at all in the easy way of theirs, and split he piece of rainbow apology cake Ed had bought in a drunken stupor from a vending machine the night before. It wasn't very good, but they finished it anyway.

And then it was to bed at a distressingly early hour, wrapped in each others' arms as hangover fatigue pulled them down again.

Ed had a little bit of time before he fell asleep to roll the moments of the week over in their head. He'd started off as a ball of tension and sexual frustration. He arrived thinking there was no chance he'd ever be with Stede, so being forced into close proximity was a sort of aching torture.

But then the unexpected had happened. Stede turned out to be a talented manipulator of circumstance, only to have the whole thing nearly fell apart due to a lack of communication. If it weren't for Travis and his kind intervention, they might be leaving further apart instead of closer than ever.

The next morning, Ed and Stede packed up the hotel room that had been their home for the past week. Their flight was just before noon, so they were able to sleep off a little more of the fatigue. But they were men in their mid-40s. Both Ed and Stede would be feeling the effects of their Vegas bender for a few days yet.

Before they left, Ed had one more piece of unfinished business to attend to.

"I'll go check us out and wait by the doors," said Stede as he lingered close to Ed. He reached out for the plastic room key he was holding, but grasped his hand instead. He shifted closer.

And there, in the middle of the casino with a cacophony of bells and chirps, with lights flashing all around them, Stede kissed him.

A 70 year old woman silver curls and a lit cigarette stared at them from behind a slot machine.

Ed made deliberate eye contact with her while he hooked a hand around Stede's neck and grabbed a handful of asscheek with his other hand.

"Oh, hey now, hey now..." Stede pushed back gently and turned totally pink. "Don't want to get worked up when a bed is hours away."

"What, you don't want to join the mile high club?" Ed drawled.

"Ed..."

"Relax, I'm not serious. Go get us checked out. I'll be along in a minute."

Stede shook his head, slipped the keys into his pocket, then grabbed both their suitcases and tugged them toward reception.

Ed moved in the other direction, toward a cluster of restaurants. He spotted Travis outside a restaurant called Fleur.

The dancer was wearing cargo shorts and a tank top and a backwards hat. He still looked hot as hell, but this wasn't the Travis who hustled the Linq Promenade for photo tips or worked the stage. It waasn't even the Travis who met an older man at an off-strip casino for sex.

Ed felt like he was seeing the young man for the first time. He smiled sheepishly when they spotted each other. "Hey. Thanks for coming."

"I'm meeting some friends for lunch nearby, otherwise I wouldn't have," said Travis. His voice was tight and his body language was guarded.

Ed couldn't blame him for the chilly reception, even though it stung a bit. "I wanted to thank you for looking out for Stede. And...for me. You didn't have to do that."