by Alexa Land
“I had to try.”
I sat back and picked up my coffee again. “I have a counteroffer for you: let’s be friends, Trevor. You’re someone I’d really like to get to know.”
He grinned at me. “I’d love that.”
“So, judging by the fact that you just asked me out, I take it you and Cole are no longer an item.”
“We never were. We just had that one date, and after he blew up at you in front of me…well, I guess he felt embarrassed. It was really awkward between us after that, and he never asked me out again.”
“You should ask him out. Cole’s a really good person, and you shouldn’t judge him by that one incident. He’s just really angry at me, and rightfully so.”
“No,” a voice nearby said. “Not rightfully so.” I looked up at Cole, who stood a few feet away.
“I didn’t think you’d be here,” I told him.
“I’m not scheduled to work, but it’s payday,” he said, holding up the envelope in his hand. “Just came by for my check.”
“This isn’t what it looks like,” I said, pointing back and forth between Trevor and me.
“I know. I overheard some of that. Sorry about eavesdropping.” Cole took a couple steps forward, then stopped again, adjusting and readjusting his glasses. I knew that gesture so well. “Hunter,” he asked, “are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Because a police officer came to talk to me a few days ago, the same one that’s back there talking to Jamie right now, actually. He said you have a stalker, and wanted to know if I had an alibi for when your apartment was broken into.”
“I’m so sorry about that, Cole. I told him you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“I can see why you’d suspect me. I’ve been angry for far too long,” he said, fidgeting with the envelope in his hands.
“I really didn’t suspect you. Kieran just wanted to be thorough,” I said. “He’s Jamie’s cousin, by the way, and my best friend’s fiancé, and he just wanted to talk to you informally. I’m so sorry he put you on the spot.”
“It’s okay. Really. I’m just…I’m sorry about what you’re going through. It sounds scary.”
“It is, but my friends are helping me through it.”
“This person, he’s threatened you?”
“Yeah. He says he’s coming for me,” I said.
“Oh God,” Trevor murmured.
“I really am sorry. I would never wish that on anyone,” Cole said.
“Not even your worst enemy?” I asked with a little half-smile.
“You’re not my worst enemy, Hunter. You’re just….”
“The guy who broke your heart,” I said softly, sliding out of the booth and coming to stand right in front of my ex-boyfriend. “I know the words don’t make it better or excuse what I did, but I am so sorry, Cole. I know I hurt you terribly, and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
His dark brown eyes were bright with unshed tears as he glanced at me, then quickly looked away. “Okay,” he said quietly.
“Okay?”
“I accept your apology. And I’m sorry too, for all the horrible things I’ve thought about you over the last two years.” He still couldn’t look at me.
“I deserved it,” I said.
“No you didn’t.”
“Sure I did.”
He grinned, just a little. “Okay, you deserved some of it.”
“Why the change of heart?” I asked him. “Why are you suddenly willing to forgive me?”
“It’s not sudden, it’s been two years in the making. Frankly, carrying all this hurt and anger around hasn’t been doing me any favors.”
“Still, though, just a few days ago, you were ready to beat me up.”
“Well, here’s the thing. After that cop came and spoke to me…okay, at first I was pissed. I was really insulted that you’d sent a police officer to question me, that you thought so little of me that you’d suspect me of something like that,” he said. “But then, once I calmed down, I was just worried that you were in danger, and that’s when I realized I still care about you. I mean, yeah, I’m still angry and hurt, too. But I care about what happens to you, Hunter.”
“I care about you, too, Cole. I always have.”
He grinned a little. “See, now my first impulse was to snap at you, to say you have a weird way of showing it.”
“You know why I ended it though, right? I couldn’t go on fighting with you about absolutely everything.”
“That’s where we’re different,” Cole said. “I would have gladly kept fighting with you until we were two little old men in a nursing home, throwing our false teeth at each other.” I chuckled at that, and he gave me a half-grin.
He grew serious and added, “The thing is, I grew up watching my mom and dad fight. They’d have these epic confrontations. We used to buy all our dishes at the thrift shop, because they never lasted more than a month, they’d just get all smashed up and then we’d buy new ones. But despite all of that constant fighting, my parents loved each other more than anything. When my dad died in a car accident, my mom was devastated, she never fully recovered. So, I don’t know. Maybe to me, that’s what love is. It’s screaming and yelling and breaking things, getting everything off your chest every day, and then curling up together every night and saying you’re sorry, and knowing that no matter what, you still love each other.”
“You never mentioned your dad,” I said quietly. “Not in all the time you and I were together.”
“I know. It’s taken me a long time to come to grips with my relationship with him. He died suddenly, when I was twelve, and there was so much left unresolved. Anyway, I guess it’s kind of a work in progress, like letting go of you.”
We stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then I smiled at him and said, “Brace yourself. I’m going in for a hug.”
Cole stiffened when I put my arms around him, but after a few moments he relaxed a bit, his hands coming up to my waist. I said, “I know I’ll always just be the asshole who dumped you, and I really don’t deserve your friendship. But if you ever think to yourself, ‘hey, I need more assholes in my social circle,’ I’d love it if we could be friends.”
He smiled a little as he let go of me and stepped back. “Baby steps, Hunter. This is the first time I’ve been able to be in the same room as you without wanting to throttle you.”
I flung my arms out to the sides and said, “If it’ll make you feel better, go ahead. I don’t know what throttling involves, exactly, but I’m sure I have it coming.”
Cole chuckled and lightly slapped my stomach with the back of his hand, which made me quickly retract my arms. Then he smiled at me, but I could tell he was withdrawing, closing himself off. He’d said a lot, more than he’d probably intended, and I could practically see him pulling his usual protective armor back into place.
He tried to sound cheerful as he said, “Still such a drama queen. So, look, I’m gonna go, before you and I find something to fight about. I’ll see you around, Hunter.” To Trevor he said, “See you at work tomorrow.” Then he turned and left the dining room.
I called after him, “Don’t forget: 1-800-A-S-S-H-O-L-E. No social circle is complete without one!” He gave a little wave as he disappeared through the kitchen door.
When I dropped back into the booth across from Trevor, I said, “That went well. But I’m sorry that we keep having these big, dramatic encounters with you as our audience.”
“That’s fine. It was nice to see you two doing something other than screaming at each other.”
“This was pretty unprecedented. Screaming is much more our style.”
“And that’s why you broke up with him?”
“Yeah. Even though we loved each other, we were like gasoline and matches. All that constant fighting just really took its toll on me.”
“I get it,” Trevor said.
Just then, Kieran poked his head in the dining room. “You about ready to head out, Hunter? I wan
t to get back and make sure Christopher’s not completely running himself ragged.”
I nodded at him, and he ducked back out the swinging door. To Trevor I said, “So, my best friend is having a grand opening celebration tonight at his art gallery.” I pulled one of Christopher’s new business cards from my pocket and slid it across the table. “Here’s the address, you should come by. There’ll be a buffet. Lots of cookies.” I flashed him a huge smile, and he burst out laughing.
“Thanks, both for the invitation and for making light of that. I was pretty mortified, but you’ve made me feel better about it.” We slid out of the booth, and Trevor walked with me to the back of the building.
“Life’s too short to be embarrassed. So, tell me you’ll come tonight.”
“I’ll be there. I just have to run by the market first and pick up some zip-top bags.” He grinned at me happily. His whole demeanor had changed over the course of this conversation as he became more comfortable with me, his body realigning as he stood a little straighter. I loved seeing him come out of his shell a bit.
I chuckled and said, “That’s the spirit.”
Chapter Twelve
The next several hours were total chaos, due in part to the impromptu demolition, installation and reconstruction brought about by the new and improved alarm system. I spent much of the afternoon on a ladder, pointing a blow dryer at wet plaster, so that Christopher could then come along and paint it. Meanwhile, Brian was upstairs in the kitchen assisting River, the surfer-turned-caterer who was in way, way over his head.
When Brian and I finally had a moment alone, I dropped onto his lap and said, “Hi stranger,” then kissed him deeply.
“Hi baby.” He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me like we hadn’t seen each other in weeks. “So how did your meeting with Trevor go?”
“Good. I invited him to come to the grand opening tonight. Still feeling needlessly jealous?”
“Nah. I’ve come to the realization that if I get bent out of shape every time someone’s attracted to you, I’m going to be spending a hell of a lot of time that way. For example, that Vincent guy has a huge crush on you, but I’m not getting jealous. Instead, I’m thinking, well, who can blame him?”
“How do you know that Vincent has a crush on me?”
“It’s so obvious. For one thing, just look at all he’s doing with this security system. That’s not for Christopher, it’s for you because you’re staying here. He put a bunch of other security measures in place, too, stuff I never would have thought of, all in the interest of keeping you safe.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll give you the run-down tonight, after this shindig. It’s quite a list, all fueled by some kind of deep, unrequited desire.”
I kissed him again and said, “Unrequited being the key word. You know he’s not what I want. You are.”
Brian smiled at me. “I’ll try to keep my gloating to a minimum.”
“Come on,” I said with a smile, sliding off his lap. “Break time’s over. Let’s rejoin the frenzy.”
“Okay, as long as you promise me one thing,” he said, holding on to my hand.
“Anything.”
“I’m dying for some one-on-one time with you. Can we go away this weekend? I don’t care where. Any old hotel will do, just as long as it has room service and excellent sound-proofing.”
I laughed at that and took his face in my hands. “It sounds like you’re planning to make me scream again.”
“Oh, I hope so.” Brian grinned. “This time, without worrying about my brother the cop breaking the door down and trying to come to our rescue.”
I chuckled at that. “I think Kieran knows better.”
“He does. But you know what I mean. I just want to spend forty-eight hours in bed with you with no interruptions, no worries, nothing but the two of us.”
“That sounds heavenly. Let’s leave first thing in the morning,” I said.
“I was thinking we should leave tonight, after the grand opening.”
“Okay. But only after we help with clean-up.”
Brian grinned at that. “You’re a good friend. I hope Christopher appreciates you.”
“Oh, I do,” Christopher chimed in, cutting through the little hallway we were in, boxes in hand. On the way by, he planted a kiss on my cheek, then said, “And you don’t have to help with clean-up. You’ve already done so much, and I’m really grateful to both of you.”
“We’re helping anyway,” I called after him as he continued down the hallway. To Brian I said, “This wraps up at ten, we can probably be on the road by eleven. It’s not like we need to pack much. Just our toothbrushes and some handcuffs.” I flashed him a big smile.
“And a really big box of condoms,” Brian added, a mischievous sparkle in his eye.
My smile got even bigger. “Oh? You think we might be doing something that involves those, do you?”
“I think,” Brian said, taking both my hands, “that I need to be inside you about as much as I need to breathe. I know I said I wanted to take this slowly, but I feel so incredibly comfortable with you that I’m revising that opinion. I don’t need more time to get used to this, and us. I just need to be with you, in every sense of the word.”
“Why wait? We can sneak upstairs right now.”
But he shook his head. “I don’t want our first time to be rushed.”
“Alright. Forty-eight hour sex it is, then.”
“Come on,” he said, turning and heading for the gallery, still holding one of my hands. “Let’s go join your friends before I change my mind and take you right here in this hallway.”
I followed him with a huge smile on my face.
The grand opening was wildly successful. Christopher’s debut art show several weeks ago had been a smash-hit, generating a huge amount of buzz and publicity, and hundreds of people turned out for the gallery opening, even though he himself only had a couple paintings on display. Most of the wall space was taken up with the work of promising up-and-coming local artists and students from his art college. That was so like him, making sure the spotlight that had landed on him spilled over onto others as well.
The security team that Vincent had brought along was efficient and professional, setting up an organized line, allowing only so many people into the little gallery at once. Their strict and careful crowd control all went to hell though, when a white stretch limo pulled up out front and Nana and her entourage stormed the building. The huge, meaty guy at the door must not have been a Dombruso, because he didn’t recognize Nana and tried to direct her to the back of the line. Big mistake. She whacked him in the nuts with her giant black purse, and then she and her friends marched into the building while he dropped to his knees.
“Christopher Robin!” she exclaimed, elbowing her way through the crowd. She stepped right in front of a reporter from the Chronicle, and grabbed my friend in a crushing hug. “There’s my favorite artist! Christopher, meet the girls. Girls, this is Christopher Robin Andrews. Remember that name. He’s gonna be real famous, and you’ll get to say you knew him back at the beginning.” The ‘girls’ were six tiny Nana clones, all with white hair, lots of jewelry, and giant designer handbags.
“And that,” she said, pointing, “is his gorgeous hunk of a fiancé, Kieran. He’s a cop, but we won’t hold that against him. These two are getting married, but they refuse to set a date.”
“I told you, Nana,” Christopher said. “We wanted to wait until after the gallery was up and running before we focused on the wedding.”
“So, now it’s up and running, and I’m thinking the Fourth of July! Just imagine the fireworks! I got connections in Hong Kong, I can get the kind that ain’t exactly legal, but they put on one humdinger of a show, lemme tell you.” To her friends she said, “I already helped plan one gay homosexual wedding for my grandson Dante and his lovely husband Charlie. It was a winter theme. Just think what I can do with summer!”
“Actually,” Kieran said, turning to loo
k at Christopher, “a Fourth of July wedding might be fun. What do you think?”
“I’ve always loved fireworks,” Christopher replied with a smile, and Kieran drew him into a big hug.
“No illegal ones, though,” Kieran told Nana over the top of his fiancé’s head.
“See what I mean about him being a cop?” Nana told her friends. “Sucks the fun out of everything. I can forgive him a lot though, because he makes my sweet Christopher so happy.”
“The Fourth of July is in just over two months, though, Nana,” Christopher said. “Won’t it be tough to pull a wedding together that fast?”
“It would be for some people,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But not for me.” She spotted me then. I was a few feet away, working the bar for River, the novice caterer. “Hunter!” she yelled across the room. “What the hell you doing behind the bar?” To her friends she said, “Girls, that’s Hunter Storm. He’s famous. He makes that, you know, adult entertainment. Real racy stuff, from what I hear. Isn’t he a handsome one?”
Then she yelled to me, “I hope you and that sexy brunet made good use of them rubber thingies I gave you, Hunter! I bought my grandson Mikey Senior a new box of rubbers and dropped it off at his house on the way here. Not XXL ones, because come on, who’s he trying to impress? I just got him the regular kind, because I figure, you don’t go from tootsie rolls to grande salami. Am I right?”
“You’re right, Nana,” I called with a smile.
“So what you got to drink?” she yelled. “I’m parched over here!”
“There’s beer, wine, and champagne,” I called back.
“You should have said champagne first. I mean, who gives a shit about beer and wine when you got the bubbly?”
“Good point,” I said as I began to fill glasses for Nana and her friends.
River reappeared beside me then, looking completely flustered and carrying a big tray of stuffed mushrooms. I pulled an empty tray off the table so he had someplace to set them down, and asked him as I went back to pouring champagne, “How are you holding up?”
“Dude, I’m minutes from a total nervous breakdown. Why did I think I could be a caterer? I’m not cut out for this.” River’s speech was an odd combination of southern drawl and California surfer. His appearance was disjointed, too. He was really tan, with long, sun-streaked brown hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and he was a wearing a stiff new chef’s jacket along with board shorts and really beat-up Birkenstocks.