Ricochet Chapter Nine

 

It was like going cold turkey, Rick thought a few days later, gazing at himself glumly in the mirror in his trailer. He felt utterly miserable – it wasn’t so much Petra’s embargo on clubbing, although that didn’t help, but it was that he couldn’t be himself. He had to monitor his behavior all the time, watch what he said, and keep one eye on the clock so he wasn’t late, and it was making him depressed.

 

He couldn’t even ride his bike in the hills, in case he zoned out and was pulled over by the police again. Even apart from Petra firing him, there was a good chance he’d lose his license if that happened.

 

So he was stuck in a nightmare of timekeeping, politeness, no sex, and, worst of all, no spanking.

 

He had been surprised to find that what he missed most of all was not so much the sex as the time he spent with a sub over his knee, gently warming a cute ass. That was something to be relished and savored, something he could lose himself in, and something he knew he was damn good at.

 

He missed making a sub squirm, squeal, giggle, sigh and melt into a ball of relaxed submission over his knees. That was when he was most in touch with his own dominance – when he was spanking a willing sub who loved it as much as he did. That was when he was the master of the universe, flying as high as his sub on the sensation.

 

He didn’t have any energy these days and felt tired all the time. He didn’t like sleeping without a beautiful, naked sub curled up beside him, ready to service him sexually at any point during the night. He needed the distraction of having a sub to explore. Without it, his demons came out and tormented him, keeping him awake at night. Subs were his drug of choice and without that drug he was slowly drowning.

 

He couldn’t go out clubbing to find a willing sexual partner – it was too risky. Besides, the paparazzi were all over him right now after catching Matt staying over.

 

At that moment there was a sudden flurry at the door, and the human whirlwind that was Matt in a bad mood stormed into his trailer without knocking.

 

“Have you seen this?” He threw a magazine across the trailer, and Rick caught it in one hand and glanced at the front cover.

 

Is Rick swimming in Matt’s lake? the headline screamed, over a picture of him and Matt emerging from his house a few days ago, Rick’s hand clamped firmly around Matt’s wrist.

 

“They made a pun out of your last name being ‘Lake’?” Rick shook his head sadly. “That’s crappy writing.”

 

“Really? They’re insinuating that we’re having an affair and your problem is that the writing’s crap?” Matt glared at him.

 

“Well, it is!”

 

“Yes, it is,” Matt conceded. “And this one is even worse.” He flung another magazine at Rick.

 

Rickochet! TV star Matthew Lake takes a walk on the wild side with his handsome co-star!

 

This one had a picture of Rick throwing Matt over his shoulder and striding with him towards his bike.

 

“Rickochet! Hah!” Rick laughed. “Now that one is actually pretty good.”

 

“Yes, yes,” Matt said impatiently. “The first headline is a feeble play on my name, and the second is an even worse pun on yours. Hah, hah, very funny.”

 

“Rick O’Shea… ricochet.” Rick was still laughing at the joke. “I love it.”

 

“Well, I don’t. And I do damn well feel like I’m ricocheting all over the place because of this. My life used to be calm and ordered, just the way I like it, until this happened. Now the paparazzi follow me everywhere, and people think I’m subbing to you and keep asking me what you’re like in bed, and Emily left a very snippy message on my cell phone, and… it’s all totally fucked up!” Matt threw his hands up in the air.

 

“Huh. See, for me it’s the opposite,” Rick said, sitting down on his couch and flicking through one of the magazines. “My life used to be full of fun and chaos and now it’s totally boring. I used to actually have a life, Matty, and now I can’t do anything, or go anywhere, or be myself in case I screw up and get fired.”

 

“It’s like we swapped lives,” Matt lamented, sitting down beside him. “I’m leading your high octane life, and you’re leading my more structured…”

 

“Boring…” Rick interjected.

 

“Ordered,” Matt insisted with a glare. “Life.”

 

“I guess we’re getting a taste of how the other half lives.” Rick found the article about them in the magazine with the Rickochet! headline and began laughing again. “Matthew Lake might play wet-behind-the-ears young agent Ben Harris on the hit TV show Collar Crime, but in real life he’s a sexy sub-about-town who knows what he likes in a dom. And what he likes is his co-star, legendary sub-tease, Rick O’Shea. Sub-tease? Where do they get this shit?” He glanced up at Matt, who was shaking his head furiously.

 

“This one is even worse.” Matt grabbed the other magazine and began reading. “Rick O’Shea’s sexual appetite is legendary – no sub in town is safe from his advances! But it looks like he’s met his match in fiery co-star Matthew Lake. Matthew plays an innocent virgin onscreen, but our pictures show he’s not dom-shy in real life! Has Rick finally found a sub who can cure him of his sub-sexing ways?“

 

“Sub-sexing? Is that even a word?” Rick glanced at the photo of himself strapping on Matt’s motorcycle helmet that accompanied the article. The camera must have caught him at an odd angle, because it looked like he was giving Matt a doting look as he buckled the strap.

 

“No, it’s a walking alliteration and that’s all that counts,” Matt grumbled.

 

“This one goes on,” Rick said, reading aloud. “By all accounts, Rick is a real dom’s dom, the kind who likes to master ’em and move on. Matthew Lake’s friends say they’re worried that he might have gotten in too deep. ‘Matt’s a very sweet natured and sensitive sub,’ one Collar Crime insider told us. ‘Whereas Rick is a total player, a real sub-seducer, and we’re all worried that Matt will get hurt.’“

 

“My friends?” Matt grabbed the magazine off him. “What ‘friends’ did they talk to?”

 

“They didn’t have to – they just make this stuff up. Let me read the rest of your article.” Rick reached for the other magazine and read it out loud.

 

“Rick O’Shea might act like a party-loving dom who is just out for a good time, but insiders say the handsome, easygoing dom is really just looking for the right sub to love – and they doubt that Lake fits the bill. ‘Matt has a really fiery temper,’ one cast member told us. ‘He’s blown up at Rick on more than one occasion, and he can be pretty mean when he gets going. We’re just hoping their affair doesn’t go sour and turn into all-out war. If it does – we’ll be the ones caught in the crossfire!’“

 

“Hah! How come in one of these articles I’m some bad-tempered, manipulative sub, who only wants to snare you in my evil trap, while in the other I’m sweet and sensitive, and you’re about to devastate me by dumping me?”

 

Rick shrugged. “It’s all crap.” He assumed a dramatic pose. “They clearly don’t know either of us, because if they did they’d know I’d never hurt you, Matty!” He fluttered his eyelashes extravagantly.

 

“Oh, you old sub-tease.” Matt winked at him. “As if I’d let you!”

 

“Hey – you’re talking to a dom’s dom, you sexy sub-about-town.”

 

“I’m not dom-shy, so fuck you!” Matt laughed helplessly as Rick tackle-hugged him onto the couch.

 

Rick pinned his arms above his head. “You should be careful – remember there isn’t a sub in town who’s safe from me!” He held Matt down with one hand and tickled him with the other until Matt was a gurgling mess beneath him.

 

Then Rick sat back with a sigh. “Thanks, Matt. I needed the laugh.”

 

Matt sat up. “Still feeling down, huh?”

 

“You have no idea. Look, Matt – I’m sorry about all this shit.” He waved his hand at the magazines.

 

“It’s not your fault, and in some ways I’m kind of flattered. I guess I must have really made it in this town if the magazines are making up shit about me. Now, c’mon.” He stood up. “We’re due on set in a couple of minutes. It’s Karl’s birthday, so there’s going to be cake.” He held out his hands, and Rick took them and allowed Matt to haul him to his feet.

 

He exited the trailer with one arm slung over Matt’s shoulder, but without the usual feeling of exuberance he experienced when about to shoot a scene. Being with Matt in the trailer, goofing off, just made him even more aware of how much of a straitjacket he was in the rest of the time.

 

He felt stifled, and it was making him irritable… and his co-workers weren’t used to an irritable Rick O’Shea.