by R. J. Scott
Max shook his head and concentrated on the toast dripping with butter. “Just the usual emails.”
“Nothing new?”
“No.”
Lucien showed one small moment of concern, then covered it with a shrug of indifference.
“C’mon, we’re late.”
That morning’s practice was more a relaxing session of stretching and long slow swims getting ready for tonight. Max could even keep up with Lucien, which in itself was a feat worthy of praise. He hoped to hell his reserve position tonight was nothing more than that.
Kev caught them as they were leaving. Max instinctively put his arm around Lucien.
“Can I have a word with you?” Kev looked down at his feet.
“Of course,” Lucien said.
“Alone?”
Max tightened his grip, but Lucien looked at him and nodded that it was okay. He backed away enough to be just out of hearing distance, but still close enough if Kev tried anything.
The two of them talked. Lucien at one point looked agitated and there were raised voices with Lucien saying something about personal space. But then Kev pulled him in for hug and Lucien returned it, so the personal space issue had to have been sorted..
When they parted, Kev’s demeanor was awkward and only relaxed when Mickey walked up to stand beside him and Lucien. That was Max’s cue to return to the small group.
“So, Mickey and I are… y’know… and he says that I should…” Kev cleared his throat.
“Go on,” Mickey encouraged. The two weren’t standing closely, but the way Mickey looked at Kev, all encouraging and supportive, made Max suspect the friendship had changed. Was this what Lucien and Kev had been talking about?
“I wanted to apologize to Luke, for using him to try and make Mickey jealous. I know it was shitty.” Kev looked at Lucien the whole time he said this.
“And I said it was fine,” Lucien replied, although he was looking directly at Max.
“I’m wondering if you’d like to double date one night?” Kev asked in a rush.
Max held back the snort of amusement. The last thing he’d expected on this case was to be double dating with Kev and Mickey.
“That would be good,” Lucien answered for them and stared at Max, daring him to say otherwise.
“Great,” Kev said with enthusiasm. “Maybe the weekend after next? Pizza Express are doing a two for one with free wine?”
“Text me the details,” Lucien said.
Kev and Mickey left, and Lucien glanced sideways at Max. “We’re double dating.” He wasn’t smirking, he looked genuinely happy. Then he wrinkled his nose a bit. “I hope the pepperoni volcano is in the special offer.” He walked away, and Max watched him for a moment before jogging to catch up. Something natural had him slipping his hand into Lucien’s. When Lucien frowned, Max leaned in.
“PDA,” he whispered.
Lucien half smiled but punctuated it with a roll of his eyes.
“You want to get a coffee?” Lucien asked as they turned into the high street on the way home. The air was cold with the promise of snow and the idea of stopping and grabbing a dark hot coffee had Max agreeing readily. Coffee and seeing Lucien relax a little were both good things.
Kev had never commented on the lack of PDAs between him and Lucien or the fact that Lucien and Max hardly spoke at the pool past exchanging swimming techniques, but someone would notice if they didn’t step it up.
Besides, if Max’s nebulous idea that the letter writer would see and act on what he saw was going to work, there had to be something for them to see. It didn’t help matters that Max enjoyed these little excuses to touch Lucien. There was a pull there between them and Max had already resolved to contact Lucien after the case, if only for more coffee.
Lucien ordered Max’s coffee and a black forest hot chocolate, and together they chose a table at the back of the shop. Instinctively Max positioned himself where he could see the door to the outside and the other exit to the small kitchen. He did his usual checks, then finally allowed himself the time to consider his coffee.
“When you’re not on a job, do you still watch everything?”
“Yeah, mostly.”
Lucien sipped at his chocolate and licked away the cream that collected on his upper lip. Max swallowed a healthy swig of the black stuff to get his head back in the game. He’d been Lucien’s shadow for a while now, and goddammit the man was playing with him. Walking around the warm house without a shirt, sometimes with a towel the only thing covering his ass. Then there was the whole Lucien-swimming thing.
Max had seen a lot of naked guys in showers over the years; he’d looked, of course he had, but he’d never focused on any one guy. But Lucien had this way of hoisting himself up and out of the pool, water cascading from his body, shimmering on his skin, collecting on hipbones, and sliding down his legs. The tight Speedos left nothing to the imagination, and from the back his ass was tight and muscled and caused Max to lose all thoughts of propriety. His brain was short-circuiting; that had to be the reason.
“What’s wrong?” Lucien asked, snapping Max from his thoughts.
“What?”
“You look miles away. Is there a problem?” Lucien looked over his shoulder at the door, and Max saw the flicker of concern in his expression.
“No.”
Lucien turned to face him again. “Just no?”
Max imagined Lucien wanted him to expand on what he was saying, to include some explanation as to why he was distracted. That was not going to happen.
“Just no. What did Kev talk to you about?”
“He wanted to apologize for being a pushy bastard—his words not mine. He realized he was only doing it to look good in front of Mickey and apparently Mickey called him on it.”
“You looked pretty upset at first.”
“He said some stuff at the start. He was tripping over his words, said I made him nervous.” Lucien concentrated on his chocolate.
“What did he say that upset you?”
“Why do you want to know? So that you can add it to your report on him?” Lucien challenged him with a focused gaze.
“No, like I said, you looked upset.”
“He said I was a challenge because I was icy and closed off, which he immediately apologized for, but he’s right.”
“Self-preservation is not a bad thing,” Max pointed out. He decided to nip this in the bud. There was nothing icy about Lucien, but he needed to move the conversation away from this reveal.
“So tell me about the meet,” Max said.
“Oh God, the meet, I’m so sorry about that, I never expected you’d be added to the reserves.” Lucien pressed his lips in a tight line. “I told them you were just wanting to keep your hand in, not actually be part of the team.”
Max shrugged. He didn’t really care much about being added to the reserves for the uni swim team, he was about seventh on the list so it wasn’t likely he’d be called up to actually participate, and it gave him the perfect excuse to stay close to Lucien.
“What will you do if you’re called up?” Lucien asked. He worried his lower lip with his teeth—he really had the most mobile mouth.
Max gave what he thought was an obvious answer. “Swim.”
That made Lucien laugh, and just the sound made Max happy. Stupid really, but Lucien was a quiet guy who avoided the teasing and joking from the rest of the team at training. And it wasn’t as if Jamie was the most talkative or happy man in Cardiff to encourage Lucien to smile.
“Well, duh,” Lucien deadpanned.
“What about the party after? We need to consider logistics.”
Lucien shook his head quickly. “You don’t need to, I don’t do the parties.”
The words made sense in Max’s bodyguard mind. Lucien at a party was a logistical nightmare, but there was an air about Lucien, like he was sad he wasn’t going, a hint of resignation in his voice.
“Why?” It had to be asked. At the end of the day, if something was m
aking Lucien uncomfortable, then Max wanted to know.
Lucien glanced around him, scraped at the chocolate left in his glass, then sighed. “I can’t trust myself. What if I drink—which I try to avoid—and I say something stupid, or worse, do something stupid? And it’s not like the team are my friends as such, and if I can’t be their friends when I’m Luke and sober, how could I trust them if I was drunk and revealed I was… the real me?”
Max pushed his coffee cup to one side and leaned forward, very aware when Lucien leaned in as well. “The rest of the team like you. Yes, I get that Kev is a bit in your face and his friend Mickey is a bit of a follower, but they actually make a good couple and we might even have fun.”
Lucien lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, right.”
“Lucien, they wouldn’t have invited us to double date if they didn’t want to, and they wouldn’t keep asking you to the swim team socials if they didn’t want you to go. They like Luke as he is. And you can have fun without drinking if that’s what you are really worried about.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
Something snapped inside Max. Lucien really was isolated, that much was clear. Weighed down with his secrets and now adding the threats that hung over him, he was stressed. Max made a quick decision that went against every instinct.
“We’re going to the party,” he announced.
Lucien looked shocked, but then that shock morphed into a smile. “We are?”
“Why not? Seems to me that if you have a bodyguard, now may be a good time to feel safe.”
“You think that having you makes me feel safe?”
Max shrugged. “I hope it does.”
Lucien placed a hand over his. Max didn’t move his hand at all. He’d liked the last PDA too much not to try it again. “Yeah, it kind of does. It’s what I was used to as a kid.”
“So, the meet.” Max pulled out his phone. “Have you competed at this pool a lot of times?”
“Twice, maybe three. USW has pretty much the same setup as us. They’re a good team. We’ll be pushed, but we generally come out on top.”
“Do you know some of the guys in the other team?”
“Only by reputation for some of the new team members, but the rest are old hands and I’ve swum against them before.”
Max began to type a quick note to Ross. He wanted Ross to know all the details. “And you’re in the 800 freestyle and the 4x400?”
“And first reserve on the 400 butterfly.”
With all the relevant information in the phone, Max pressed Send and waited for confirmation that it had been sent. He knew he was being overprotective. Up until this morning, he hadn’t even considered another team being behind this simply because the likelihood of any of them being in Lucien’s country was fairly minimal. But something about this morning’s note had pushed his apprehension until it was impossible to ignore.
Instead of worrying, Max concentrated on the idea of Lucien swimming in the butterfly. He’d seen him swim the butterfly at every swim practice, a complicated physical stroke that had to be part of the reason Lucien had such good muscle definition in his upper arms and chest. In fact, swimming had sculpted something incredibly beautiful, add in the dark inscrutable eyes, and Max was losing himself in fantasies he needed to shelve.
Even allowing himself to think on the good parts of Lucien’s swimming left him feeling a little sick. Someone out there, in Cardiff, maybe at this university, was watching Lucien and it was beginning to get out of hand.
“I need to make a call. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He went outside into the street and closed the door behind him. He hadn’t told Lucien about the latest note, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t taking it very seriously.
Ross answered on the first ring. “Hey.”
“Ross, is there anyone who can do some observation at this meet?”
Ross didn’t ask why, and by the sound of it, he was checking his system. “I could get Ruby out, have her sit in the audience.”
Relief filled Max. He wanted a second set of eyes tonight, and Ruby was a good person to have at his back.
“Thanks, Ross.”
“While I have you, Max, I finally pinned down what was worrying me with Tommy.”
“The boy who left uni?”
“Turns out he didn’t leave of his own volition. He was encouraged to leave, and guess how?”
Ross almost sounded gleeful that he could lay a puzzle at Max’s feet.
“How?” He wasn’t in the mood to play.
“You’re no fun. Tommy said he received a letter saying it was from Lucien’s family, suggesting he should remove himself from Lucien’s vicinity as there was information that could be made public should he not decide to leave voluntarily.”
“What kind of information?”
“That he had a father in prison on embezzling charges. Tommy left, took up another place at York Uni, and in his words, tried not to take the whole shitfest straight to Lucien.”
“Poor guy. You think the family did that?”
“I think the chance is that this might be connected to the case. I’m following it through. I have a tech guy trying to chase down who may have sent it so we know for sure.”
“Thanks, Ross.”
He went back in and he and Lucien ordered another drink each. Sitting here people-watching was a calm interlude and bit by bit Lucien was relaxing.
And there was no way that Max was ruining that by telling him about Tommy.
Chapter 7
Lucien stood in front of the mirror in his underwear with his arms crossed over his chest and his lips pressed in a tight line. Every single shirt he owned was on the bed, and this was just for the post-meet party. What the hell would he be like for this stupid double date shit he had agreed to? He’d only done it to wind Max up, but damn the man, he’d just turned around and said okay. Then he’d held Lucien’s hand as they walked away, then again in the coffee shop.
He was taking this fake boyfriend thing too far with the touching and the smiling and the friendliness. Way too far considering Lucien’s reaction to the wholly innocent touch. With a curse, Lucien relaxed his stance and pulled the dark red T-shirt from the bed. This was the best of a bad lot. At least it fitted nicely, hugging in all the right places, and it didn’t have some stupid logo or slogan on it. He didn’t want to stand out for the wrong reasons, hell, he didn’t want to stand out at all. Finally he hung it on a hanger on the outside of the door. He needed to pack it because they were going straight from the meet, but he would leave it until the last minute. Jeans were easy. He only owned a few pairs and he packed his favorite ones into his bag. Butter soft and worn, they hugged him like a second skin over his ass and he knew he looked good in them. He’d had enough people tell him that, both other men and girls who pinched his ass and told him he was cute.
Finally he packed his expensive shower gel and deodorant and the T-shirt, which he laid as carefully as he could without it creasing.
“Ready?” Max asked from the door. Lucien twisted to face him.
“Jeez, knock,” he snapped.
Max quirked an eyebrow and looked him up and down. “Transport is picking us up at the pool in thirty, you know.”
“It only takes ten to walk there,” Lucien countered.
“I take it you’re going to wear clothes?” Max glanced over at the bed, and Lucien nearly died on the spot. All his clothes were out, strewn this way and that in untidy choice piles: yess, nos, and maybes.
“I’m having a clear out,” he defended. Lying was an easier than facing the potential embarrassment of Max thinking he was worrying about what the hell to wear to a party where everyone was going to be off their faces with alcohol. Well, all except him and Max, he guessed.
“I’ll be downstairs,” Max said. He left, and to Lucien’s relief, he pulled the door closed behind him. Lucien dressed quickly in sweatpants and a sports tee and considered hanging up at least one or two of his shirts before deciding he’d
sort it before bed. A knock sounded on the door, and he yanked it open, ready with a sarcastic reassurance that he was ‘coming the fuck now’. Instead of Max, though, Jamie stood there.
“Hey,” Jamie said.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lucien picked up his clothes bag and swung it over his shoulder, then grasped his swim bag.
“Do you have a fiver I can borrow?”
“Hang on.” Lucien opened his drawer and pulled out a note from his small stash of fives and tens and passed it over. He closed the door behind him, then he and Jamie went downstairs companionably.
“I’ll pay you back tomorrow,” Jamie said, then with the quickest of hugs, he disappeared into the kitchen. Lucien didn’t have time to worry that something seemed a little off with Jamie, and instead he and Max left and walked fairly briskly to the pool and the waiting bus. The meet was only a short ride away but Lucien was going to use the time to relax. He put in his earbuds and the time until they arrived passed in a haze of him focusing on relaxation techniques, none helped by the fact Max was pressed against him in the small seats.
USW was a team they’d gone up against before, but it had been a bad coming together last time, with the CU swim team being beaten in virtually everything. Of course he’d missed that one, sick in bed with flu, and Kev had sprained an ankle, so they were down their two strongest swimmers, and that wasn’t false modesty. If there was one thing that life had taught him, it was that he should be confident in his own abilities. He just hated that this confidence didn’t extend to social situations.
Lucien realized he wasn’t relaxing at all and he cursed inwardly. Sometimes he wished he could turn off his brain.
“Okay, guys, let’s do this thing,” Mickey announced as they left the coach.
There was no time to spend on pep talks anymore as the other team was there and they really needed to get a move on.
The first issue he had was the changing rooms.
“We’re sharing with USW,” Lucien said. He kept his voice low. “There’s no lockers.”
Max leaned in. “Don’t make it obvious. Pack anything you have in one bag and follow my cue.”
Only as Lucien forced everything in one bag did he realize that his dark red tee was getting all wrinkled. He was losing it if life was shitting on him and one wrinkled shirt made him tense up. Great. I’m tense. If this is the way today is going to go, then I am fucked. He followed Max, who took his bag with him and casually left it by the seats near the pool, not hidden, but out in the open. Lucien did the same and hoped that was enough to keep someone from pawing their way through his stuff.