THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
Cliff

Written by Lady Poetess
egiggles at moose-mail.com
http://www.asstr.org/~bbp

Please do not reproduce on any website without permission. This
story has no resemblance to anyone dead or alive.


ONE

"You have to help me out here, Cliff."

David Sutcliffe looked up from his newspapers to frown at his
friend Ryan Opray. Ryan, without invitation, seated himself across
the table from Cliff and flashed that cheeky grin that had slain
too many victims. Cliff was, of course, immuned to the effect.
What Ryan had in his arsenal of charms, Cliff had a sibling that
could outcharm and outmatch Ryan in the looks and charms
department. Cliff's clan wasn't dubbed the Magnificent Sutcliffes
by the society observers for nothing. To Cliff, Ryan was a pain in
the ass. A charming pain in the ass, but a pain nonetheless.

"What is it now?" Cliff asked cautiously. He had done several
favors for Ryan in the past and he knew very well how these favors
often led to trouble. Ten years ago, it was Ryan that arranged for
the then twenty-year old virgin Cliff to get laid, and Cliff still
couldn't return to his college frat reunion because of that
incident. He still couldn't believe that the stage curtains parted
and the horrified board of educators saw his pasty white butt
humping away between the hairy legs of the janitor right up there
on the college theatre centerstage.

"My father - " that would be the very sober Hammergin Opray - "had
warned me that I am thirty now and I am too old to be the family
buffoon," Ryan told Cliff. "That's what he said, 'family buffoon'.
He told me to get a job or he would disown me. I think he means it
this time."

"You sure? He always threatens to disinherit you," Cliff ventured
to say.

"I'm sure. He showed me the draft of the revised will," Ryan said.
"You know I love that bastard and he probably doesn't have much
time left on this world, so what the hell, right? I can get
serious and be a mature guy like everyone else."

Cliff deliberately didn't say a word.

"So you'll help me right?"

"Huh?" Did he miss something? Cliff studied Ryan's too pretty and
boyish face suspiciously. "What do you need from me?"

"You're the most serious guy I know," Ryan said.

This was true. He always joked that he and Cliff must have been
switched at birth. Ryan was charming and flighty and too
beautiful, the one shining peacock among the regrettably plain and
sober Oprays, while Cliff was the only plain one among his
flighty, beautiful family. They were both thirty and shared the
same birthday, which was how they bonded when they met each other
in grade school. Both knew what it felt like to be very different
from the rest of the family and when both realized that they liked
guys instead of women, their friendship became even stronger
despite them going to separate high schools and colleges. "Us
against them," Ryan always said with a laughter, and Cliff would
always nod in agreement. Having Ryan as a friend made Cliff's own
confusing teenaged years much easier to bear, and he hoped he was
as important to Ryan as Ryan was to him.

Cliff shrugged off his thoughts and tried to focus on the present.
"I can be fun too," he said defensively.

"But I need you to be serious now," Ryan said. "I need your help.
Can you give me a job? Something like a desk clerk will do.
Actually, you don't even have to pay me. Just give me a position
with a fancy name. How about junior executive? Something to
impress Dad."

"We're talking about your family, not mine," Cliff pointed out.
"They won't be so easily fooled."

"How about I buy some shares in your company and be a joint
owner?"

Cliff found the notion too horrifying to contemplate. He had
worked hard to make LogicVisions a successful advertizing agency
and he could only shudder at what Ryan could do to the company.
Ryan wasn't a lazy or stupid man, he was just enthusiastic about
everything and lost interest in everything just as easily. He had
been a plumber, a handyman, a motorcross racer, technician,
electrician, warehouse supervisor, night watchman, and telephone
repairman. Each job lasted for three months the longest. Unlike
the rest of his family that was famous for producing lawyers,
politicians, and policymakers, Ryan took delight in working in
jobs that his family saw as dreadfully middle-class. If Cliff
didn't know Ryan, he'd assume that Ryan took these jobs just to
irritate his family. But Ryan genuinely liked using his hands and
exerting his body and he wasn't cut out to be a pencil-pushing,
policy-making kind of guy.

"Well, I am looking for someone to help me out," Cliff said
carefully. "Two of the clerks resigned and I'm short-handed at the
office..."

"Great! Make me one. But you'll have to give me a fancy job title
to keep my father off my back." Ryan stood up and slapped Cliff's
back, almost causing Cliff to choke on his coffee. "I'll be the
best thing that ever happened to... uh, what's your company called
again?"

"LogicVisions," Cliff said weakly. He had a sinking feeling that
he had just made a really big mistake.



TWO

Cliff had never seen his mild-mannered employee Billy Campbell
lose his temper before, and it was a spectacular sight. Curses
that rarely passed the man's lips came fast and loose when Billy
realized that the report he had spent six hours the night before
working on had been shredded by Ryan. Even more spectacular was
how Ryan managed to not only calm Billy down but also had the man
laughing to a bad joke two hours after Billy threw a tantrum and
threatened to throw Ryan out the window to the ground sixteen
stories below.

"How did you do that?" Cliff asked as he leaned against the copier
and watched as Ryan worked on fixing the broken machine.

"What? Placate Billy? I told him I'll take all the blame and work
on the report myself using the notes he passed to me."

"Pass them to me," Cliff told him. He would not risk the Biehn
account by letting Ryan work on it. "I'll persuade Billy to take
it back."

"I don't think he'll like it. It is my fault that I placed it
among the pile of old reports instead of passing them to you,"
Ryan said. He straightened and switched on the copier. It worked.
"There, good as new!" Ryan said with satisfaction in his voice.

He spent more time fixing things around the place than working at
the desk. Cliff had seen him fixing everything that needed to be
fixed and when Ryan ran out of things to fix on the second day, he
began painting the doors of the office.

"You don't trust me, do you?" Ryan said, interrupting Cliff's
thoughts.

Cliff swallowed. "You don't know the ropes of the business," he
told Ryan.

"Then teach me," Ryan told him. "I'll pay you to teach me, if
that's what you want."

"I..." Cliff sighed. "To be honest, Ryan, you are doing more
damage to the company these last few days than helping. You
destroyed Billy's report by accident, but it's a report for an
important account. We can lose this customer if we don't present
our campaign to him this Friday. You also misplaced three months'
worth of financial statements, you flirted with the mailman and
accidentally sent documents out to the wrong customer while you're
at it... I hate to say this, Ryan, but I can't trust you, not when
you can't seem able to pay attention to the job and be serious
even for a minute."

Ryan had been silent all this while. Cliff watched the man
standing there, tensed with anger probably, Ryan's hands clenched
into fists with the knuckles pressing hard on the top of the
copier.

"Ryan, I didn't want to say this," Cliff tried to say.

"I know," Ryan cut in roughly. "I know," he repeated. He ran his
fingers wearily through his short straight hair as he stared at
the top of the copier, his jaw tight as he took a deep steadying
breath. "I'm sorry, Cliff. I'm really sorry. I'll clear the desk
and leave right now."

"Ryan - "

"No, you're right," Ryan said as he walked away. "I have no right
to do this to you. I'm really sorry, Cliff."

Cliff cursed softly and raked his own fingers through his hair.
Damn, damn, damn!



THREE

"Hey," Cliff said as he tapped on Ryan's window. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ryan said, jumping off his bed and pushing open the
window. "What are you doing here?"

"You refused to answer my calls and I have been knocking on the
door for ten minutes straight. Your mother called me, by the way,"
Cliff said as he swung his leg over the window ledge. "She's
getting hysterical because you never called her or dropped by the
house. I told her you've ran off with a Mexican drug lord."

Ryan didn't smile. He just sat back on his bed and stared moodily
at the TV screen where one of Ryan's huge collection of anime
tapes were playing. It had, of course, fast bikes and fast cars.

"Are you okay?" Cliff asked again as he sat on the bed and watched
the TV. He didn't really care for the show, but he didn't know
what else to do.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm gonna get cut off from Dad, but I'm okay."

"He won't cut you off," Cliff told him. "Don't be silly. He's just
trying to scare you into getting a job that he agrees with."

"Yeah, like becoming an office rat."

"You shouldn't sound so disgruntled. We're lucky our families are
rich and we don't have to worry about paying the rent. Other
people will love to be where you are right now, getting the jobs
you get bored off easily because they are no longer fun."

"Gosh, you're sexy when you're preaching. You sound just like my
Dad."

"Thanks a lot," Cliff grumbled. "You'll never get serious."

"If I am serious, Cliff, I'd have killed myself long ago," Ryan
said.

Shocked, Cliff turned to search Ryan's face for any confirmation
that the man was again joking. "Why?" he asked finally.

"Because I'm a useless family buffoon? My family can't stand me,
except for my parents but they are my parents and they have to
love me," Ryan said, turning to look at Cliff. "Do you remember
those times when my brothers refused to let me join them on their
nights out because they didn't want me stealing all those chicks'
attention? Or my sisters begging me to take them to their prom,
because having a cute brother helped them get noticed by the guys
that would ask them to dance because these guys wanted to be my
friend? My family doesn't want me, Cliff. I know how they feel
that I'm just too pretty and stupid at the same time - I don't
know if they're jealous of me, but I fucking well know that they
don't want me to even talk to them." He threw himself heavily back
onto the bed and sighed. "It's as if I don't even have a family
sometimes and I hated it. I don't even know what I did wrong.
That's why you're my buddy, Cliff. You know how it's like."

Cliff lay down beside Ryan and smiled in reassurance as he
awkwardly tapped his fist on Ryan's unmoving hand. "Tell me about
it. I'm not pretty like the rest of my family and they find me too
serious to be interesting. You remember how my brothers and
sisters tried to tell everyone that I wasn't their boring loser
brother?"

"Yeah," Ryan said with a chuckle. "I used to sneak into your room
and drag you to my kind of parties because there was no way you
would go out otherwise."

"You corrupted me totally."

Ryan joined Cliff in laughter. "Don't bull, Cliff. You did your
share of stupid shit as well. You got me and the gang drunk and we
mooned the sheriff."

"You supplied the joints," Cliff told him. "How would I know that
trying one would drive me crazy like that?"

Ryan cleared his throat after his laughter sputtered to a soft
chuckle. "Those were great times," he said.

"Yeah."

"We're still friends, right?" Ryan asked. "You're not mad that I
screwed up at VisionLogic, right?"

"LogicVisions," Cliff couldn't help but to correct him. "Of course
we're still friends," he said.

Ryan was silent for a short moment. "We don't do things together
anymore," he said.

"You have your own friends and I have mine," Cliff said. "We are
different people, after all. Perhaps it's normal that we will
drift apart eventually. But we can always see each other when our
lives happen to intersect, like now."

Ryan sat up and looked down on his friend. "I want us to do things
together again. How about you come cheer me as I hit the
motorcross circuit? You can clap and yell my name and wipe
victorious old me's forehead with a towel afterwards."

"And what's in it for me? Will you let me kiss you on the lips
after?"

Ryan grinned. "Why not? Why didn't we fuck each other anyway?
You're a cute guy and I'm one helluva sexy hunk."

"I'm cute?" Cliff shook off his momentary pleasure at being called
cute. "Nah, we won't sleep together. We remind each other of our
parents."

"True," Ryan conceded. "You sound just like my nagging mother
sometimes."

He gave a mock shudder and Cliff playfully whacked him with a
pillow. Ryan gave a playful roar and pounced on Cliff, tickling
the man until Cliff roared with laughter. Until today, they both
weren't sure how it happened, but the next thing they knew, Ryan
was lying on top of Cliff and they were both kissing. It wasn't
the tentative kiss Cliff gave Ryan when they were both fourteen
and Cliff wanted to know how kissing felt like - Ryan was kissing
him the way a lusty lover would kiss the object of his desire, his
tongue coaxing Cliff to succumb and when Cliff parted his lips in
surrender, Ryan plundered Cliff with his tongue in a hunger that
surprised them both. And Cliff surprised them both by putting his
arms around Ryan's head and kissed Ryan back hard.

It lasted for only a few seconds before they both pushed away.
Cliff's face was heated with surprise as well as desire as he sat
up and pushed himself away from Ryan, and Ryan did the same.

"Shit," Ryan muttered.

"Shit is right," Cliff said, daring to turn to look at Ryan. "Why
did you do that for?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ryan confessed. "Are you getting a hard-on? My
cock right now is as hard as rock."

"Ryan!"

"Hey, I can't help it, okay," Ryan said with a weak chuckle. "Want
me to jerk you off? You can return the favor."

"I don't think it's a good idea. Sex can ruin our friendship."
Cliff felt his desire slowly ebb as he raked his fingers through
his hair in exasperation. "God, how did we go from comparing
ourselves to our parents to doing that stupid fucking kiss? God!"

"Hey, I'm sure it was a great kiss," Ryan said, slightly offended
now. "Nobody has complains before."

"I do! You're my friend, not... not... God!" Cliff jumped to his
feet. "I can't believe we did that?"

"Aren't you overreacting a little to a simple kiss?" Ryan said
mildly, raising his brows in question.

"No! I don't want you getting funny ideas about seducing me or
something like that," Cliff said.

"Is this where I say 'don't flatter yourself'?"

"I think I better go," Cliff said.

"No, please, don't go," Ryan said quietly, surprisingly Cliff.
"No, not for sex," Ryan clarified. "It's been a tough few days,
buddy. I tried applying for a few jobs that I thought my father
would approve and damn, it's disappointing to realize that I'm not
good enough for any of them. It's tough to realize that you're all
right and I'm the idiot here. I'm really a buffoon that has wasted
his life playing around, yeah?"

"No," Cliff said. "Don't think that, Ryan." He sat back down on
the bed, this time careful to keep a distance between them both.
"You could start an interior decorating business," he suggested.
"You're good at fixing and making things."

"Want me to make us some popcorns? We can watch TV or listen to my
new CDs."

It had been a while since they spent time together. Despite their
kiss, Cliff missed Ryan's mischievous twinkle in his eye too much
to say no. "What CDs have you gotten recently?" he asked,
following Ryan out of the bedroom. Outside the bedroom, at least,
they could try and forget about the kiss.





FOUR

"What do you think of me hooking up with Cliff?" Ryan asked
casually as he poured ketchup liberally over his hot dog.

"A terrible idea," Freddie Prinze, Jr said, staring at the ketchup
dripping off the hot dog in Ryan's hand in reluctant fascination.
"Are you really going to eat... that?"

"Why not?" Ryan took a big bite and made a happy sound of
appreciation. "Why is it a terrible idea?" he asked, a little
cross at the notion. He'd been giving the possibility of hooking
up with Cliff a lot of serious thought since that night when Cliff
cheered him up and they kissed. Or rather, Kissed with a capital
K, in Ryan's opinion, because damn, he had no idea that his friend
would end up keeping him awake at night, hard with lust and horny
enough to poke a hole right through his bed.

"It's like marrying into your own family. I thought you can't
stand your family."

"Cliff is better than most of my family. He's supportive of me and
he likes me too, I think." Ryan waved the hand holding the hot dog
around. "I'm still trying to figure out whether I should wait
until I get a job and then make a move, or maybe I should start
making a move right now. What do you think?"

"It's a terrible idea," Freddie declared, stepping out of a way of
a falling drop of ketchup.

"Then again, I'm starting to have this humongous hard-on whenever
I think of him. It's best I fuck him as soon as possible, so I
should make a move now. What do you think?"

"I think I don't want to hear any more about your hard-on,"
Freddie said. "I help you invest your money but I draw the line at
listening to the details of your sex life."

"So you think it's a terrible idea."

"Absolutely."

"I think I'll ignore your advice."

"Good idea," Freddie said pleasantly. "I love telling people I
told them so when they come crying to me later."



Cliff decided that he had to cut down on spending time with Ryan.
That blasted kiss had opened a can of worms where he was concerned
and now he found himself thinking of Ryan naked and Ryan fucking
the hell out of Cliff. Playing tennis with Ryan was a really bad
idea. He didn't need to suppress his drooling at the sight of
Ryan's muscular thighs tensing and relaxing as the man ran across
the court. He didn't need to sigh quietly over the tantalizing
sight of the bulge in Ryan's tennis shorts, and he definitely did
not need the erection in his pants. Ryan was all wrong for him -
he was fickle and irresponsible like the rest of Cliff's family
members. Why couldn't his treacherous hormones behave?

Was Ryan flirting with him? Asking for a kiss when he trounced
Cliff bad at the game - was that a joke? Cliff hated being this
confused.

The warm waters of the shower offered a little comfort from his
thoughts. He sighed pleasurably at the water washing off the sweat
from his activities and reached for the package of soap when he
heard the shower stall door being pushed open. He turned and
gasped when Ryan moved into the same stall as he and shut the door
behind him. In the steam rising from the warm waters and without
his contact lens, Cliff couldn't make out clearly the other man
but he knew the man was nude. His own body instinctively screamed
hallelujah in response to the mere proximity of Ryan alone.

"Here, let me," Ryan said, taking the soap from Cliff. He lathered
his hands and Cliff couldn't protest a word when Ryan came up
behind Cliff and began soaping Cliff's chest. "That feels good?"
he asked, purred actually, and the low, sexy timbre of his voice
sent chills up Cliff's spine. This was what a seductive Ryan was
like, and Cliff realized he was as weak as Ryan's many lovers.
This thought should have sobered him up and made him fight off his
attraction to Ryan, but Ryan's slow and sensual kneading of
Cliff's pectoral muscles weakened Cliff with desire. Ryan rested
his chin on Cliff's shoulder as his fingers expertly played with
Cliff's nipples.

"Please don't do this," Cliff protested.

"Are you sure?" Ryan teased, deliberately letting the tip of his
rock-hard cock graze along the sensitive cleft of Cliff's
buttocks.

Cliff gasped at the sheer size of that cock and his legs
instinctively parted.

"Oh yeah," Ryan groaned as his cock slowly pushed its way deep up
Cliff's anus. "Jesus, Cliff, you're fucking tight."

"It's been a while," Cliff confessed as he steadied himself by
pressing his palms against the cubicle wall at each side of him.
"I hate you," he whispered. "You've ruined everything, Ryan."

"And I'll fix everything again," Ryan promised him. He reached
down and gently took hold of Cliff's cock. He squeezed the thick
and throbbing shaft gently, coaxing a groan from Cliff, and then
he began moving his hand up and down that cock, kneading and
squeezing it expertly in sync with the rhythm of the thrust of his
hips. It wasn't long before they both climaxed in a violent rush
of pleasure.



"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing. I'm just looking at you. And thinking." Cliff looked at
Ryan as they lay beside each other on the bed. "We're still
friends, right?"

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "Absolutely."

"Mmm-hmm," Cliff said. "I guess then it's okay that we do it one
more time?"

Ryan grinned. "It'll be my pleasure, buddy."




FIVE

As a friend, Ryan was perfect for Cliff, probably too perfect. Now
that Ryan spent his nights at Cliff's place, Cliff was finding it
very difficult to keep in mind that he and Ryan were still
friends, friends that happened to sleep together but friends
nonetheless. Now that Ryan was slowly carving himself a more
prominent position in Cliff's life, Cliff wondered how he would
resume living his old life when Ryan found someone new and moved
on.

Unlike Ryan, he couldn't move on so easily. Sometimes, when Ryan
was out late planning his DIY store business and overseeing the
renovation of the space he'd rented for his new store, Cliff found
himself lying on the bed, feeling the absence of Ryan beside him
like an aching hollow in his soul. Trying to sleep didn't allow a
reprieve, as he only saw Ryan's laughing face in his mind like a
vivid portrait that haunted his dreams. Ryan had almost
unrealistically bright blue eyes, so blue that they seemed to
reflect one's soul from their shimmering surface.

Maybe he should stop this sexual relationship with Ryan right
here, right now before they both crashed and burned.

"What makes you think we'll crash and burn?" Ryan just asked as he
lavished soft yet heated kisses in a trail along Cliff's shoulder.

"Do you think so?" Cliff asked aloud, wonderingly. He wanted to
believe Ryan.

"Yeah. Here, I don't give a damn what people think of me. It's
funny, isn't it, Cliff, but I think you're the only one that I can
depend on for help. You never tell me no, why is that?"

"It's very hard to tell you no," Cliff told him with a smile.

"Yeah? I don't think so," Ryan retorted. "I think you like me. I
mean, you really like me as a real person, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Cliff said. He hesitated, wondering whether he
should reveal his most vulnerable emotions and thoughts. But he
could trust Ryan, he realized. Ryan might break his heart, but
Ryan would never hurt him intentionally. They had known each other
for so long. Surely it was time he trust Ryan? "You helped me a
lot. You don't believe me? You don't care what people think. I
learn to be strong from you. And you always make me laugh. You're
like a superstar, Ryan. How can I not like you? Everyone likes
you."

"Well, I don't care what people think because you think I'm okay
and that's all I need," Ryan said. "I know I don't think about
life much, but these last few days I've been thinking and I
realized that I won't be who I am if I know I cannot call you up
and share my thoughts with you. Who needs Oprah, right, when I
have you?"

"I'm not that wise," Cliff protested gently.

"You're wise where I'm not, just like I'm wise where you aren't,"
Ryan told him. "Ever wonder, Cliff, why we manage to be friends
for so long? I think it's because we need each other. You and me,
we make each other complete."

"You've been thinking about this," Cliff said in wonder. "I
thought you just wanted sex - "

"Of course I want sex. If I'm going to give up my old playboy life
and settle down like a serious guy, you can bet I want to fuck you
to make up for what I'm giving up."

"Can you give those other guys up?" Cliff asked.

"Sure, if that means I'll get my best friend in exchange," Ryan
answered.

Who would have thought that Ryan Opray would say all the correct
things to melt Cliff's defenses? Then again, maybe Cliff shouldn't
be surprised. Ryan always said the right things. And Cliff would
have to trust the man with his heart and hoped that Ryan would do
the right thing with it.

"I think I love you, Cliff. It probably happened slowly over the
years without me realizing it, but... I don't know, Cliff.
Something happened when we kissed, it's like a light getting
switched on in my head. I know now that I've been waiting for you
all along."

"You're making me cry, you son of a bitch," Cliff said. "Oh Ryan,
damn you, this is the most romantic thing I've ever heard."

"Well, then I guess you'll say yes if I ask you to take old me as
your forever after?"

"Yes, damn you!"

Ryan laughed, sobbed a little, and embraced Cliff hard as Cliff
laughed-cried and called him names. Then, Cliff broke the embrace
to study Ryan's face. He scowled and then kissed Ryan fiercely.
"Yes, Ryan," Cliff whispered in between kisses. Ryan gave a whoop
of delight and kissed him back hard.



Ryan's DIY store had taken off in a success that startled
everyone, Ryan most of all. Except for Cliff who had always
maintained that Ryan would make it. He'd seen that wretch in
action and he couldn't imagine how anyone could resist the
charming and witty guy that owned and managed Nuts & Bolts, not
when Ryan could drive his audience to stitches during a simple
demonstration on how to repair a fence. Magazines and TV shows
soon started to feature Ryan, whom they called the real funny
handyman, and Hollywood even beckoned should Ryan decide to start
a TV show about DIY demonstrations.

He turned down all offers of TV appearences and starring roles on
informercials, allowing a few interviews that he figured would
give his store some publicity. He also resisted Freddie's
suggestion to expand the store. He had everything he wanted in
life, he told Freddie that day, he had money, he had found
something he liked to do for the foreseeable future, and he had
his best friend that he shared his life with.

"My life can't get any better than this," Ryan said. Then he
paused as he reconsidered. "Okay," he told Freddie, "maybe it can
get better, but right now, I love it as it is."

"You sound like a greeting card," Freddie said in disgust.

"If you haven't helped me double my invested money this year, I'd
have fired your rude ass."

"You still sound like a greeting card."

"Shut up."

"Greeting card."

"Shut the fuck up!" Ryan laughed. "You're a fake, Freddie, you
know that? So, where do you suggest me and Cliff go for our first
year anniversary?"

Freddie made a show of rolling up his eyes. "I am always partial
to Venice," he said. "Doug loves the ballets and operas of Europe,
so a trip to Europe is always a sure bet."

Ryan nudged Freddie aside playfully. "See, you're a fake!"

Freddie nudged him back. "Shut up, Ryan."

"So, do you have matching china patterns with Doug?" Ryan asked.

"Shut up!"
