Carter is afraid of Vinnie what Vinnie could do to him, but he's also afraid that Vinnie would take Ryan away from him. For years, Carter had lived in tense frustration and now he finally had an outlet for his desires . . . nothing was worth losing that. He took a deep breath, puffed himself up, and discreetly snapped his waistband. "Ryan's staying right here," he growled. "You can't have him back."
"I can't," Vinnie said.
"No," said Carter. Then, after a pause, he whispered, "Please?"
Vinnie raised an eyebrow. "You want to keep him with you. You like the feeling of him against your skin."
Carter blushed crimson. "I, uh, yeah." He knew there was no point of lying. Why else would he be wearing his friend like this if he just meant to protect him from Vinnie? In the mental bond he shared with the jockstrap, he felt Ryan's confusion about sharing this strange desire.
There was a long and terrible pause, and then Vinnie sighed. "OK. Whatever. But I wouldn't like to see you get too many jollies from a JOCKSTRAP." With that, he smiled and walked away.
What does THAT mean? Carter wondered. He was too relieved to escape Vinnie's wrath to think too much about it. That is, until something strange started happening.