Luke

Copyright and Disclaimer: 1. This is a fictional story with fictional characters. 2. No one is to steal this story under any circumstances. 3. This story deals with relationships and not sex, so if you're looking for a story with a lot of sex in it, this isn't the story for you.

Again, hello to everyone and I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Things are going to get a lot juicier and a war between Ford and Benji will soon begin. Here's part 15 entitled, `Competition.'

`COMPETITION'

Two weeks after Thanksgiving the guys have been doing their best to move on, Luke has been talking to Michael, Shane found an apartment and began moving into it and at work he has been flirting with Jackson, Ford has been looking for a house to buy and Benji has been looking at some places in San Diego as well since he's decided to move back to San Diego.

It was a Friday morning and Luke went and met Michael for coffee at the same coffee house that they met. The two of them have been talking on the phone for the past week and seemed to have made a real connection. It's been a long time since Luke got that feeling in his stomach when his phone rang and he saw Michael's name on the caller-ID. He smiled just at the simple thought of him. At first Luke felt guilty for having feelings for someone so soon after his break-up with Shane, but he found out that Shane was starting something up with Jackson. He figured if Shane could start up something then he was allowed to as well.

"So it sounds like you had a pretty dramatic Thanksgiving," Michael noted after Luke told him about his holiday.

"Dramatic is putting it lightly," Luke replied. "So how was your Thanksgiving?"

"It was low key," Michael answered. "I didn't do too much."

"You have family down here?" Luke asked.

"Not really," Michael replied vaguely. He then quickly changed the subject. "So how long have you lived in San Diego?"

"I've been here about eight years," Luke replied. "I used to live in Los Angeles."

"I love it there," Michael commented. "So what brought you to San Diego?"

"Work," Luke replied. "How about you? Have you always been in San Diego?"

"No," Michael said. Before Luke could ask him any more, Michael again changed the subject. "I'm going to get some more coffee. Can I get you another cup?"

"Please," Luke smiled. Michael got up and left the table. Luke smiled as he watched him go. He really enjoyed spending time with Michael and was excited at the prospect of where things could go.

Meanwhile, across town things were heating up between Shane and Jackson. While neither one has exactly made a move to pursue anything, they both have entered the major leagues of flirting with one another.

"Jackson, can you bring your latest piece into my office so we can go over it?" Shane said stepping out of his office and calling out to Jackson who was sitting at his desk writing.

"No problem boss," Jackson smiled giving Shane a little wink. Shane smiled as he walked back into his office. Once Shane sat down in his chair, Jackson walked in and closed the door behind him.

"So how are you doing?" Shane asked.

"I'm really good," Jackson replied. "Can I be completely honest about something?"

"By all means," Shane replied.

"I'm really glad that things are good between us again," Jackson said. "I hated when you hardly spoke to me."

"I know. I hated it too," Shane replied. "I thought that if I could ignore you and my attraction towards you then I could fix things with my ex. But I realized that it doesn't work like that."

"So you're admitting that you are attracted to me?" Jackson asked with a smirk.

"Only because you are obviously attracted to me," Shane replied.

"Fine. I'll admit that I like you if you admit you like me," Jackson said.

"Nope," Shane teased with a smile. "Now let me see your piece."

"You'll have to take me out on a couple dates before you can see that," Jackson joked.

"Very funny," Shane replied. Jackson and him both laughed a little before Jackson handed him his piece for the next day's newspaper.

While Shane and Luke were both opening up to new relationships, Ford was opening himself up to something new as well. He was looking for a house to buy. He's finally gotten himself to a place where he is financially secure enough to buy a house and he was going to find the best one he could get.

"This is a three bedroom, two bath house," Lynette, his real estate agent said as they walked into a beautiful home on a nice quiet street in the suburbs. "It has a pool in the backyard and a tennis court."

"Wow," Ford said as he walked through the beautiful home. He fell in love instantly. It was an open house so other people were in the house viewing it as well.

"I've heard that there is at least one other buyer who is interested," Lynette warned Ford. "So if you want it, we'll have to move fast."

"I really love this place," Ford said as he walked around. "And it's within my price range?"

"Yup. It's amazing, isn't it?" Lynette asked.

"This place is fabulous!" Ford cringed as he heard the all too familiar voice say.

"No fucking way," Ford said under his breath as he turned towards the direction the voice came from. He then saw Benji emerge from the backyard into the living room.

"I want this one," Benji said to his real estate agent.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ford asked walking up to Benji.

"It's nice to see you too," Benji said ignoring Ford's attitude. "I'm looking for a home. Didn't Luke and Shane tell you? I'm moving back."

"Excuse me?" Ford asked. He was praying that he heard Benji wrong.

"I know you're excited, but we can talk about it more later. I have a home to buy," Benji said.

"No you don't. This place is mine," Ford said.

"You're interested in it too?" Benji asked. "Well you can come visit me sometime."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ford asked pissed. "You have no right to give me that attitude. You're the one who stabbed me in the back."

"And I've tried apologizing," Benji said. "I realized over the past week that if you won't accept my apology then it's become your problem, not mine. You want a war then you've got it."

"Well then I hope you bring you're A-game because I will not let you ruin this for me. This place is mine," Ford said.

"Not if I make a better offer," Benji said. He then headed towards the owners of the house to make an offer, but before he could get there Ford rushed behind him and tripped him.

"Oops! Sorry about that," Ford smirked as he made his way to talk to the owner of the house as Benji began to get up from the floor.

"I can't believe that son-of-a-bitch is moving back here," Ford said to Luke when he went over to his condo that evening for dinner.

"Sorry. I guess Shane or I should have told you," Luke said.

"You think?" Ford asked sarcastically. "Why didn't you guys say anything?"

"I didn't know how to tell you," Luke replied. "I knew you wouldn't be happy about it."

"And to make things worse, he's trying to buy the house that I want," Ford said.

"You found a house?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, but apparently Benji wants it too," Ford replied. "And you should have seen him. He was giving me so much attitude. He has no right to be a little bitch to me."

"Well, you are dishing it back to him," Luke pointed out.

"I have a right to," Ford said.

"Are you going to finally tell me what it is he did?" Luke asked.

"You know, I wasn't going to tell you or Shane because I didn't want to make you guys bias or anything, but I don't care anymore," Ford said. "He slept with Patrick while we were dating."

"What?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, that slut had the audacity to sleep with my boyfriend at the time," Ford said taking a sip of his wine.

"I can't believe he would do something like that," Luke said. "It doesn't seem like him."

"Why not? He's a slut," Ford retorted. "Did I tell you that-"

"Enough with the Benji-bashing," Luke said, he then changes the subject, "Can I talk about my news?"

"I'm sorry, I was rambling again, huh?" Ford realized. "Sorry, what's your news?"

"I met Michael for drinks," Luke replied.

"That's awesome," Ford answered, "But don't you think it's a little fast to be dating someone?"

"We aren't really dating yet," Luke said. "We're just hanging out. It's going really slow. We haven't gone any further than touching hands...unfortunately."

"You two haven't kissed yet?" Ford asked surprised. "I guess you are taking it slow."

"Yeah," Luke answered. "I think he wants to take it slower than I do."

"Why do you think that?" Ford asked.

"Because I've noticed that anytime I try to ask him anything a little personal he changes the subject," Luke replied. "He's resistant."

"Maybe he's hiding something," Ford suggested.

"Don't say that," Luke groaned. "I don't need any more drama in my life."

"But you like him?" Ford asked.

"Yeah, I like him a lot," Luke replied.

"I'm glad," Ford smiled. Even though he doesn't do relationships anymore, he's still a supporter of them.

Luke became curious and coyly asked, "So how are Shane and his work guy doing?"

"They're good I think," Ford shrugged.

Even though a part of him didn't want to know, Luke had to ask, "How far has Shane gone with him?"

"Not far," Ford replied. He was about to talk about something else, but then he zeroed in on what Luke really wanted to know, "Wait a second, are you in some sort of competition with him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke played dumb.

"You are," Ford realized. "You want to be the first to move on."

"Is that so bad?" Luke asked. "It's the break-up rule; the first person to move on first wins."

"I guess you have a point," Ford laughed.

Over at work, Shane was in his office finishing going over some layouts for the following day when Jackson came in.

"I'm going to head home for the night if you don't need anything," Jackson said.

"Is anyone else here?" Shane asked.

"Nope," Jackson replied. "Just you and me."

"Just us?" Shane asked with a mischievous smile.

"Just us," Jackson confirmed.

Shane felt the heat between the two of them rising, but he knew acting on anything now would be inappropriate. "Well, I guess you can go home."

"You don't want me to stay and help you out?" Jackson asked walking up to Shane's desk and resting his hands near his.

"I'm fine. I can finish my work on my own," Shane replied.

"I'm not offering to help you with work," Jackson replied as he inched his hand closer to Shane's until their fingers were barely touching one another.

"Then what are you suggesting?" Shane asked, even though he knew all too well what it was that Jackson wanted.

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it," Jackson said. "We've been having this flirtation with one another that's been building for weeks now."

"It can't go any further than this for right now," Shane clarified.

"Why not?" Jackson asked a little disappointed.

"Because it's all I can handle right now," Shane replied. "Now go home." Shane got up to walk Jackson out of his office.

Jackson leaned in closely to Shane so their lips were only inches from each other. "Well, have a good night."

"You too," Shane replied staring at Jackson's moist lips. They both lingered closely with one another, neither one pulling away from each other. After a few tense beats, Shane couldn't take it any longer. "Screw it." Shane leaned in and pressed his lips against Jackson's. The two began kissing passionately with one another. Jackson helped Shane take off his jacket as they clumsily made their way to his desk. Shane felt hot, to him it felt like some kind of dirty movie as they fell to the floor and finished undressing one another.

"You sure?" Jackson asked.

"Just shut up and kiss me," Shane replied. Jackson returned to kissing him, but then Shane stopped him, "Just to be clear, this isn't the start of a relationship, this is just two people fucking."

"Fine," Jackson answered and the two went back to kissing.

The next morning, Shane and Benji were having breakfast at Shane's new apartment. He still had many boxes to unpack and had a few more things to pick up at Luke's place, but even through all the clutter, Shane saw a place with lots of potential, a place that he could start a new life.

"Is this all the furniture you have?" Benji asked, noting the kitchen table they were eating at and the couch in the living room.

"I have a couple more chairs and an end-table at Luke's that I need to pick up," Shane replied.

"Well if you need help setting the place up just give me a call," Benji said.

"Thanks," Shane replied.

As they continued to eat their breakfast, Benji couldn't help but notice a smirk that kept crawling onto Shane's face and a glow that he seemed to have.

"There's something different about you," Benji pointed out. "I can't put my finger on it. Are you doing something different? You using new moisturizer?"

"No," Shane laughed. "I do have some news though."

"What is it?" Benji asked.

"Last night, I had sex with Jackson," Shane replied.

"Oh my God!" Benji blurted out in surprise.

"We had sex in my office. It was so hot," Shane gushed.

"Wow, that was fast," Benji noted.

"It was just sex," Shane said. "I'm not planning to start a serious thing with Jackson right now."

"Well, you won," Benji said.

"Meaning?" Shane asked.

"You moved on first," Benji said. "Although, from what I've heard, you moved on before you and Luke even broke-up."

"That's not true," Shane defended himself, "I never slept with Jackson while I was with Luke. We just kissed and the only reason we kissed was so I could get some attention from Luke."

"Honey, if attention was all you wanted then you wouldn't have chosen to make-out with someone you're attracted to," Benji said. Shane just looked down and took a bite of his toast, he knew that Benji had a point.

Not wanting to analyze the feelings that Shane has for Jackson, he turned the focus onto Benji, "So how's the house-hunting going?"

"It's interesting," Benji replied. "I ran into Ford yesterday at one of the houses."

"How was that?" Shane asked.

"Intense at first," Benji pointed out. "When he saw that I was looking at the house he made a leap towards the owner of the house to express his interest in the place."

"He thinks you're going to take the house from him?" Shane asked.

"Yeah," Benji replied.

"You wouldn't do that though, would you?" Shane asked.

"I told the owner I was interested too," Benji admitted.

"Benji, don't. Things are bad enough between the two of you," Shane pointed out.

"Don't worry. I have it all worked out," Benji said.

"What are you planning?" Shane asked.

"I'm using this house as a way to get close to Ford again," Benji explained.

"How is taking a house from Ford going to bring you back to him?" Shane asked.

"He loves competitions and games," Benji points out. "We always used to compete with everything. Every week we used to have a game night with each other. I'm going to keep making a counter offer on the place to force Ford to deal with me."

"I don't think competing over a house is the same as competing over buying Boardwalk during a game of Monopoly," Shane said. "This won't end well and besides, isn't it a waste of money with the economy being the way it is?"

"Ford has a trust of millions and I have a successful chain of clothing stores," Benji said. "The money isn't the issue here. Besides, it's all worth it if I can get Ford to talk to me again."

"I think you're asking for trouble," Shane stated his opinion.

"Trust me, he was my best friend for years before our fall out. I know him like the back of my hand. It will be fine," Benji said. "Besides, I think it will be fun. I just have to play the game."

"Well, good luck," Shane said raising his glass of orange juice to wish him well.

Later that day, Ford was in his office working when he gets a call from Lynette.

"So I have some bad news," Lynette started out with. "The owners received a counter offer."

"A counter offer?" Ford asked disappointed. "How much of one?"

"Double your offer," Lynette replied. "But you know what? It's fine because the person who made the counter offer is going to be paying double what the house is worth."

"I want you to make another offer," Ford said ignoring Lynette's last statement. He knew whom the person was that made the counter offer and he wanted to beat Benji at this. He didn't want to let Benji win this.

"Ford, with that much money you can find another house," Lynette pointed out. But logic was lost on Ford at this point.

"I don't want another house, I want that one," Ford replied. "Please make a counter offer of an extra twenty."

"Are you sure? What is it about this place that makes it worth it?" Lynette asked.

"This place is the trophy. I need this," Ford replied.

"Okay," Lynette replied before she hung up.

Ford angrily picked up his phone and called Benji. It was time for a showdown.

"Hello Ford. I was expecting to hear from you," Benji said answering his phone.

"Six o'clock meet me at Arigato Sushi," Ford replied getting right to the point. "It's time we deal with this."

"I have a better idea," Benji replied. "I'm going to be at the house you want so dearly. Meet me there at four."

"If you take this from me, I swear to God that I will take you down," Ford threatened. It irritated him to hear Benji laugh in response.

"Don't start threatening me just yet," Benji said. "We've only just begun. You have to admit this bidding war we have going on over this house is slightly enjoyable."

"The only thing enjoyable about this situation will be the look on your face when I beat you," Ford replied.

"We'll see," Benji replied with a grin. He was crossing his fingers that his plan would work out the way he hoped.

Meanwhile, Shane stopped by Luke's condo to pick up the last of his things.

"Hey," Luke said as he opened the door for Shane.

"Hi," Shane replied. "How are you?"

"Good," Luke replied, "Come on in." Shane entered and the two exchanged an uncomfortable hug with one another.

"I promise that I will be giving you space after I finish getting all my things," Shane said referring to the deal they made at Thanksgiving to stay away from one another for a little while.

"It's fine," Luke shrugged.

After Shane finished loading his things into his car he went back to say goodbye to Luke. As they were talking with one another, Shane wanted to be nice, so he asked, "How are things going with you and Michael?"

"You've heard about Michael?" Luke asked.

"Ford may have mentioned it to me," Shane replied.

"You really want to know?" Luke asked.

"I really do," Shane replied.

"Things are going well," Luke answered. "He's a really nice guy."

"Good to hear," Shane said.

"How are things going with the guy at work?" Luke asked feeling he had to reciprocate the nice gesture.

"They're good," Shane replied. "Are you okay with me seeing Jackson?"

"Does it really matter what I think?" Luke asked.

"I guess not," Shane sighed. "It's just a little weird still. A part of me feels like I owe you an explanation."

"You don't," Luke replied. "You're free to do whatever with whomever you want."

"Okay," Shane said.

"So you're really going to start dating the guy you cheated on me with?" Luke couldn't help but remark.

"I thought you didn't care who I dated," Shane retorted. The two felt a chill start to form between the two of them.

"I don't," Luke said. "But dating the guy you cheated on me with? Classy."

"For the record, we never slept together," Shane pointed out for what felt like the millionth time. He then added, "At least not while we were together."

"Wait a second," Luke said, "Does that mean you've slept with him?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes," Shane replied.

"I see," Luke sighed. He lost and he knew it. "So you've already slept with him. That didn't take very long."

"Look, I'm going to go before we both say things we'll end up regretting," Shane commented as he headed to the door.

"Good idea," Luke replied shaking his head in disappointment.

After Shane left Luke's place, he went and met Ford for lunch at a café near Ford's office. The two barely sat down at their table before Ford began ranting about Benji and the bidding war the two have going on over the house.

"What makes this house so important?" Shane asked.

"It's not the house," Ford said. "It's Benji. I have to beat him at this."

"What is it with you two and this expensive game you're playing?" Shane asked.

"It's not a game," Ford replied.

"It is to him," Shane said under his breath. He didn't mean for it to say it out loud, but Ford heard him.

"What do you mean?" Ford asked.

"Huh?" Shane asked playing dumb.

"Don't play stupid," Ford said. "What are you talking about? What game?"

"Did I say game?" Shane asked. "It was nothing."

"Spill it," Ford pressed him.

Shane didn't want to say anything, but he knew that Ford would keep badgering him about it so he finally admitted what he knew, "Benji doesn't really care about getting the house. He was hoping that with you two competing over this house that it would bring you guys closer together."

"Is he stupid?" Ford asked in disgust. "How could him screwing me out of my dream house bring us closer together?"

"Benji thought the two of you would eventually find it funny and it could thaw the ice between you," Shane said. "He meant well."

"This is so like him," Ford shook his head. "He forced me to dip into my trust fund in order to buy this house. I just thought that for once I could win against him. I thought I could be better than him at something."

"What do you mean?" Shane asked. "What is this really about?"

"Shane, look at my life. I'm in my thirties now and look at where I am. Look at Benji, he's an entrepreneur who has made millions, he's lived in one of the most fascinating cities in the world and then look at me. I'm a food editor at a small circulation newspaper," Ford said.

"I thought you like your job," Shane asked.

"I like it," Ford shrugged. "But I don't love it. Benji loves his life and his career. It's like he's always one step ahead of me and I can never compare to him."

"Ford, if you're not happy in your job then do something about it," Shane suggested. "Quit."

"The thing is, if I did quit, I wouldn't know where to begin. How do you start your life over at our age?" Ford asked.

"You have to do what makes you happy," Shane said.

"For now, what will make me happy is getting this house," Ford said.

"Then best of luck," Shane said.

After they had lunch, Ford was headed back to work when he got a call from Lynette.

"Bad news," Lynette opened with.

"What is it?" Ford asked. "Did my offer get topped again?"

"I wasn't even able to make the offer," Lynette replied. "The owners already agreed to the previous bid."

"You're kidding," Ford said gravely.

"I'm sorry Ford, but don't worry. There are plenty of other great places out there. We'll find you something great," Lynette said.

"Thanks, but I have to go. I'll talk to you later Lynette," Ford said hanging up. He quickly went to his desk and grabbed the pieces he needed to look over for the next day's newspaper and left to head to the house that he just lost.

When Ford got to the house, Benji was already there getting out of his car as well.

"You son-of-a-bitch," Ford said walking up the driveway to go face to face with him.

"Ford, this did not go the way it was supposed to," Benji replied. "I came here to talk to the owners and take back my offer."

"You know what? Don't bother," Ford said stopping in the middle of the driveway. He realized it wasn't even worth fighting over.

"Ford, this wasn't supposed to be this way," Benji said. "It was supposed to be fun."

"Fun? You honestly thought this was fun?" Ford asked.

"Yeah," Benji says, "Come on, you know it was fun. At least it was at first. Going back and forth with one another over this place, it was funny, right?"

"Only reason why you thought it was fun is because you won," Ford snapped. "You took it from me. Just like everything."

"What are you talking about?" Benji asks.

"What am I talking about? Are you kidding me? You have to beat me at everything!" Ford says. "Ever since I've known you it's been one thing after another. You got better grades than me. You have to have a better career than me. You slept with Patrick while him and I were together and somehow you still have a better love life than me! Where is the karmic-justice in that? I just thought once I could come out ahead of you in something. I thought this place could be mine."

"Ford, I didn't know this was so important to you," Benji said. "Let me take back my offer and it can be yours."

"Don't do me any favors," Ford snapped. "I don't want this place anymore."

Ford was about to leave, but Benji stopped him. "Ford, wait. I'm sorry. I honestly thought this was turning into a little game for us, something that would bring us back together."

"At this point in our lives I doubt anything will bring us back to being friends," Ford said. "I don't know what it's going to take, but I will bring you down for what you did to me."

"Ford, come on. This isn't you," Benji said.

"It is now," Ford said. "You want to play this game. We'll play it. Game on."

As Benji watched Ford get into his car and drive off he knew that it was possible that they just might not ever be friends.

To Be Continued...

With any comments, questions or feedback, please e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!