| YOU DON’T OWN ME - ONE SHOT (RHETT&ISSAC)
Rhett, his head still reeling after the conversation he'd had with Chase, had intended to go up to his room and take some time to himself to get his head back in the game. He'd never admit it outloud but Chase had bruised his ego with only words, telling him he felt sorry for the fact that Rhett would forever be alone, but he couldn't understand why those words hurt him so much. He liked being alone, it suited him, but there was just something about the way that Chase said it...
Rhett was on his way out when he noticed the lonely body at the bar nursing a drink. He thought back to his conversation with Chase, how he'd forced him to pick only one to be kept safe, and that man had been Joshua Blackwell himself. Could it have been fate that Isaac sat there alone, his body hunched over as he looked desperate for company? Could this be the gods calling to him to make his move? Stir the pot a little in retaliation of Chase bruising his ego. Surely he could do the same to Isaac in a moment of weakness.
"I don't think i've ever seen you wearing a frown," Rhett spoke softly as he sat beside him at the bar, flagging the bartender down to get himself a drink. "Why the long face?"
Isaac, having not been paying any attention to the sights and sounds around him, had been so lost in his thoughts - his encounter with Beau still fresh on his mind, not to mention being stood up by the staff member that requested him. Tonight should have been nothing but happy for him, Steven had made them official and everything, and yet you'd never know it from the look on his face. He picked his head up and sighed, looking back to his drink, "Rhett." He greeted the other with a nod.
"Come on," Rhett patted the kid on the shoulder to try to cheer him up, "your date can't already be over can it?"
Isaac simply nodded, "over before it even began."
Rhett looked at him confused, "what, found out the staff requesting you was a total dud and you got out before it was too late?"
Isaac looked over at the other as he thought about his friends warnings. They told him that he couldn't trust Rhett, to avoid letting him in too much, and yet Isaac couldn't see the bad in him. He had this calm aura about him that Isaac fed off of, and he found himself oversharing without even thinking about it. "He stood me up."
Rhett's eyes widened, a grin plastering across his face, oh this was fucking perfect - Steven's boyfriend getting stood up by a staff member? He couldn't have asked for anything better, "who was it? I might have to have a talk with him. He obviously doesn't know what a catch you are."
Isaac could only smile, always a fan of such nice words said about him, "I-" fuck, what the hell was the staff members name, "Jordan, or something, I think?"
"Jordan Bryce?" Rhett laughed, oh this just kept getting fucking better didn't it, "you know who that is right?"
"No, should I?" He'd never heard of the name before in his life.
"Oh," Rhett's smile fell from his lips as he looked over at the other, concern plastered across his features. "I would have thought Steven would have introduced you two."
"Why would he even care?"
"You really don't know do you?" Rhett once again patted the others shoulder, keeping his hand there in a sympathetic manner, "you'd think he'd take a minute to introduce his best friend to his boyfriend. I mean, sure he gets busy and all, but i've seen them together, surely an introduction wouldn't have taken all that long."
"Best friend?" Bullshit, that had to be a joke, "why would his best friend be working as a staff here?"
"I've already said too much, Steven would have my head if he knew I was telling you this," Rhett played innocent as he took a drink from his glass. "I just thought given how close the two of you are he would have at least introduced the two of you..."
"Maybe he was waiting for the right time?" He had to give Steven the benefit of the doubt, but now he wondered why there hadn't been an introduction, was he ashamed of him, or was there something more to that friendship that he wanted to hide from him? He still wondered why Steven's friend would be here as a staff instead of a client, but obviously Rhett wasn't going to be telling him tonight.
"You're totally right, i'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Rhett began to chuckle, shaking his head as Isaac looked at him with a look of puzzlement.
"No, no, it's nothing, I shouldn't even be thinking this..."
"I want to know, just tell me."
"Seriously, it's nothing," Rhett trying to give him a reassuring smile but Isaac wasn't having any of that shit. He wanted to know what was so funny, "I just think it's funny that out of everyone in the Haus to snatch you up it happens to be someone you don't even know? Someone that's best friends with your boyfriend? You seeing the humor behind this?" Isaac shook his head no and Rhett continued, "we both know how possessive Steven can be..." Still nothing, Isaac looked just as puzzled as ever. Was this kid a fucking idiot or something? "Take a look around, the staff didn't just throw random names in for the event, they picked men they already knew, men they wanted to share more time with, and yet you end up with Steven's best friend? What do you want to bet..."
"He wouldn't rig the event like that."
"Are you sure about that?" Rhett questioned giving the other a smirk, "we both know the type of man that Steven is. He'll play around with everyone else's toys but god forbid someone tries to play with one of his," Rhett could see the wheels turning in Isaac's brain and he could only smirk. This was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
"He's not like that, he wouldn't-"
"-want you all to himself? Rig the event so that his best friend, someone he knows will keep his hands off, ends up with you instead of one of the friskier staff?" He looked around, men making out around them as he took another drink from his glass. "We are talking about the same Blackwell right now, aren't we?"
Isaac sighed, finishing his drink and immediately ordering a refill. "So why isn't he here then, making sure I behave? Why'd he stand me up?"
"Do you like being forced to hang out with someone you don't know?"
"No," he let out a groan as he felt his heart sink. Could Steven actually force his staff member best friend to waste his date for the night just to keep Isaac away from others?
"Where is Steven anyway? Who did he end up paired with?" He looked around trying to find the other, questioning Isaac to see if he knew who Blackwell had ended up with.
Again Rhett could only laugh when the pair finally came into sight, "I should have known his Big Pup would come out on top...not that this whole event is rigged or anything, not at all..."
Rhett glanced over at Isaac completely dumbfounded, "how much has he even told you?" Was Isaac completely clueless. "You didn't know that Constant's his prized pet? Has been for as long as he's been coming around the Haus," of course he could see the confusion on Isaac's face and had to elaborate. "Constant's been hot for your boy there for as long as he's been coming around. Steven fucks him, shows him the time of his life, and buys him all sorts of presents to keep him happy. Had him collared for a while," he let out a groan remembering that, how fucking stupid Constant looked parading the damn jewelry around. "You seriously didn't know that they are a thing?"
Fuck, "it doesn't matter to me."
"You're stronger than I am then," he gave the other a coy smile as he looked back towards Steven in the crowd, "I guess i'd get jealous if I were his boyfriend and knew he was fucking other men and buying them presents all the time. Hell, i've even gotten a few of those presents."
Rhett burst out laughing, "please, I have more self respect than that. Steven finds the weakest men in here, parades them around like they matter, buys them things, and the sex is fantastic...but i'm sure what you and him have is so much more than that right?"
Steven did parade him around, buy him presents, and their sex was on fire - but fuck, there was more, feelings were involved, he told him he loved him and had meant it. "I have nothing to be jealous about..." Yet there was hesitation in his voice.
Rhett picked up on that hesitation and could only nod in agreement, "let me guess...you're relationship started with presents? Sex?" Isaac remained silent as he stared at his glass, Rhett standing up from his stool as he had planted enough seeds in the others mind - now all he had to do was water them and watch them grow, torturing Isaac from the inside. "Sounds to me you started out as a pet, just like the other ones..."
"Other ones? How many are there?"
"Like I said Isaac, I have already said too much, i'm sure you and him are solid," Rhett leaned in to give the other a quick brush of his lips against his cheek. "Just do me a favor and be careful alright?"
Careful, Isaac was confused, what in the world did he have to be careful about? "I don't-"
"Understand? You will..."
With that Rhett took his leave, knowing if he spent too much time with Isaac at the bar Steven would come over. This was just a quick visit but it was effective, and as he walked away Rhett started feeling so much better about everything. He'd won that round and fuck if it wouldn't be fun to watch Steven trying to scramble to fix all that Rhett had just threatened.
