Page 58 of Tumbling Hearts

Stefan chucks the joint over the fence, letting it fall down to the sidewalk twelve stories below.

Ray blinks. He just sits there and simply blinks. He can’t muster up a word. What the hell are you supposed to say after something like that? His brain turns to mush trying to comprehend what just happened.

Though, Gene shakes his head, a frown on his face. He opens up his Altoids tin again, pulling out not one joint, but two. He shuts the tin with a click, then holds one of the joints back out to Stefan.

Stefan raises an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

Gene smirks. “One’s for me, and one’s for you to throw into the street.”

Stefan’s face is still as stone.

A perfect poker face.

Yet Ray and Santiago burst into laughter. Santi throws his head back, almost knocking into another plant again, laughing even harder as he tries to keep it up straight. Ray slaps his knee, unable to control himself. Even Carol starts giggling too, though Ray is pretty sure she wasn’t paying attention to the whole ordeal.

Gene chuckles, putting one of the joints back into the tin when Stefan doesn’t give him a response. Not even a smile—Ray swears he’s never seen his lips turn up even for a second. But Stefan doesn’t stand up or make a move, sitting right where he is. He must be enjoying their company in his own right, even if Ray can’t really understand it.

Gene lights up his joint, taking a hit, then passes it to Ray. Truthfully, Ray doesn’t smoke all that much—cigarettes or weed—but every once in a while is fine. Not like every day, as Gene does. Though Ray sucks in the hit easily enough, then hands it to Santi, passing by Carol since she says she doesn’t want any, and then back to Gene.

They hang like that on the rooftop for a while, passing the joint around, talking about how much fun the tour has been. Maurice pops in for a moment and snaps some photos of them with the flash on, almost blinding Ray in the process. Pat isn’t here; Ray assumes she’s had enough socializing for the day after such a loud show and is relaxing in her room. Though surprisingly, Nicky isn’t here…

“Hey Gene, you know where Nicky went?” Ray decides to just ask.

“Oh, he said he knows some people here in New York and was gonna stay with them for the night,” Gene says after taking a hit, finishing off the joint.

“Really, now?” Ray raises his brows. “He seems to have a lot of connections. He’s coming back though, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Gene chuckles. He puts the roach back into his Altoids tin. “He was, uh, gonna buy some stuff from them.”

“Stuff?”

“Yeah, you know. Stuff.”

Ray doesn’t need to ask more to know what that sort of stuff is.

Carol, however, speaks up. “I hope that means more Quaaludes.”

“Yeah, he always gets that any time he meets up with people,” Gene reassures. “Basically a given.”

“Alright.” She nods, then stands up from her seat. “Well, I’ve got a big day tomorrow with my gig. I haven’t really been doing much up here anyway, so I’m just gonna head back to the room and relax. Did you wanna come, Ray?”

“Oh, uh…” He looks around at the guys, catching Gene’s eyes—a longing in them, asking a question without any words. “No, I was having fun with everyone, so I think I wanna stay up here for a bit longer.”

Faintly, ever so faintly, he hears Gene huff a small chuckle.

“That’s alright.” Carol shrugs. “I guess I’ll just catch you later then, whenever you’re done. I’ll be in the room.”

“Alright. Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

And so, she walks off, toward the stairwell that leads her down to the rooms.

Gene reaches for his bottle of Jack sitting on the floor next to his chair and takes a swig. Ray can’t help but watch—noticing how Gene’s lips wrap around the bottle, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. Something primal erupts inside Ray as Gene lets out a deep sigh when he finishes, popping the rim of the bottle off his lips. Flutters dance around Ray’s insides, making his cock twitch. He crosses his legs and puts his hands on his lap. The last thing he wants is someone to notice that.

But now that Carol has left, Gene is pushing it further, being daring. After he sets the bottle back down, he leans toward Ray, throwing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. Heat bursts within Ray, his cheeks on fire. Well, maybe it’s not only Carol’s absence but the presence of alcohol in Gene’s system that makes him like this, along with the weed. That could do it. But Ray doesn’t mind—in fact, he adores Gene being so close. As long as the others don’t see anything weird about it.

“It’s so nice hanging here with you guys,” Gene says, though more to Ray than anyone else. “As much as I love Michigan, it’s just so damn fun getting to explore new places.”

“Yeah, for sure.” Ray nods. He’s starting to feel a little hazy, the high kicking in.