Magic Mansion by Jordan Price (best fiction books to read .txt) 📕

Holy crap. Kevin Kazan?

“I dunno.” And Amazing Faye? What the heck? “Where’s a good spot?” she said. “Here?”

“Okay. Get yo’ fine self over here, then. Let’s get busy.”

No one else, right? Ricardo hadn’t even heard Kazan coming. His gym shoes barely made a squeak on the parquet floor. He hoped there would only be the two of them.

But, no. There would only be two people present for what they began doing. Rustling sounds ensued. And then wet sounds: mouth on mouth sounds. And breathing.

Ricardo almost laughed—not because the situation was even remotely funny, but as release for the anxiety that had been building all day. His erection seemed like it would be happy to keep on going with what he and John were in the midst of—he was that close—but after a minute or two, it grudgingly began to flag.

Eventually, Ricardo attempted to distract himself by counting. He was somewhere around the three-hundred mark when finally the deep-kissing sounds stopped, and Faye said, “How’s my hair?”

“It’s good.”

“Okay. We should go back.”

John held Ricardo still for a long moment after the sound of her heels receded on the ballroom floor.

“I hope that’s not the standard Red Team greeting,” Ricardo whispered.

John sniffed out a small laugh. “Don’t worry about Kevin. He’s very much not my type. And the feeling is mutual.” He brushed his lips against Ricardo’s forehead and then pushed himself into a seated position. “I’m sorry. This was too risky.”

Ricardo sat up and pressed his chest to John’s side. “No, don’t say that.”

John hesitated, then said, “I haven’t felt like this about anyone in a long time.”

Really? Ricardo’s heart pounded wildly, and before he could check himself, he said, “Me too.”

“Come with me to Vegas. I want you there, at the MGM Grand.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

And the silence that hung between them once they had both said their piece was awkward, but profoundly wonderful in a way that Ricardo would cherish forever.

“John,” Ricardo said finally, because he’d had a roller coaster of a day, and it seemed that he couldn’t just let it slide, “when I thought I was going up against you, head-to-head, I nearly choked.”

John sighed.

“The chances of that happening are getting pretty good,” Ricardo added. “The longer both of us stay here, and the more players get voted off.”

John found Ricardo’s hand, took it between both of his, and squeezed it. (And it felt nothing like holding hands with Sue.) “Promise me something,” John said.

“Not until I hear what it is.”

“Promise me that when that time comes, you won’t pull your punches.”

“Do you even realize what you’re asking? I can’t try to take you down.” And then the laughter Ricardo had needed to swallow down just moments before threatened to turn to tears, and his voice went wobbly. “You’re my hero.”

John raised Ricardo’s hand and brushed his lips across the knuckles. “Then give me the respect of your full effort. If I should happen to earn the title of Grandmaster Magician…I would hate to think it was because you’d gone easy on me.”

___

“I haven’t felt like this about anyone in a long time.”

“Me too.”

The trailer door slammed, and Marlene hit the digital marker to take the footage back to the point where Faye and Kevin entered the storage room, before Iain could fling himself down in front of the monitor. “Well,” he said. “How’d my lovebirds do?”

“See for yourself.”

In the greenish night-vision glow, Kevin and Faye kissed and grappled. She kept her hands planted firmly on his shoulders. He looked as if he couldn’t tell if he was supposed to cop a feel. Despite their stiffness—which wouldn’t be too noticeable in a two-second clip—they both managed to kiss with lots and lots of tongue in a decent semblance of enthusiasm.

“Not too bad,” Iain said. “And how about that ‘I’m so Chinese’ speech from Jia?”

“That was actually pretty impressive,” Marlene said. “I think we can use the whole thing. Did the writers come up with that?”

“Nope. I told her that if she wouldn’t go make out with Kevin, then she’d need to find some way to endear herself to the audience, or else pretty soon the mansion door would be hitting her in the ass.”

Marlene might not be fond of Iain’s tactics, but he did know how to motivate a contestant. That much was true. “And what about Muriel and Bev?”

“What about them?”

“Any particular footage where they had their moment in the spotlight?”

“Oh, who cares? All those old farts should’ve been gone by now. Nobody wants to see someone their grandma’s age in a bathing suit.”

Marlene ignored him. “Bev’s enthusiasm made the Wand Pond pretty lively. I’ll recommend that.”

Through the speaker, the Professor’s voice said, “I’m sorry. This was too risky,” and Ricardo answered, “No, don’t say that.”

“What the…?” Iain sat up straighter, and clapped his hand over the control pad before Marlene could stop the playback.

“I haven’t felt like this about anyone in a long time.”

“Me too.”

“Oh my God. The Professor is kissing Ricardo’s hand.”

“Iain….”

“Hot damn, look at ’em. Now that’s what I wanted to see from Kevin and Faye.” Iain watched with rapt fascination as the Professor lovingly stroked Ricardo’s cheek, and Ricardo clasped his hand there for a moment, then turned it to kiss the palm.

“We should go,” Ricardo said.

“Holy crap—now they’re frenching each other.”

“Honestly, Iain, like you’ve never seen two men kiss.” While Iain flailed his hands in an “icky” motion, Marlene reached over and stopped the playback.

Iain treated Marlene to a bratty smirk. It was the most alert she’d ever seen him after 10 p.m. “So Topaz has been a fag all along?”

“Don’t use the word fag, you’ll get sued. And, yes, don’t you know anything? John Topaz and Casey Cornish were a big item.”

“Professor Topaz has been your favorite since day one. Maybe you should recommend these two homos as Magic Mansion’s big romantic couple.”

Marlene sighed. “You know that’s never gonna happen.”

“Why not?” Iain put on a mocking voice. “It’s not as if the viewers have