by Andi Lee
HE GAVE a quick tap on Dane’s front door and let himself in. “Thank you for the save,” he called out. Dane was lounging in a large comfortable chair in the corner of his living room, scrolling through his phone.
He grunted in reply and then said, “No wonder your Liam’s always so busy. He’s busier than me, and I’m a vet on call 24/7.”
Liam’s voice started to play through the phone, too much like déjà vu for Jamie to be comfortable with. He didn’t mind Liam’s vlog anymore, but he didn’t want any part of it.
He still found himself sitting on the arm of the chair next to Dane, getting sucked up in Liam’s antics. He looked good on camera. Jamie could understand why he was popular.
“Are you getting turned on?” Dane asked, wrinkling his nose as they watched Liam bend over to change a tire. “That’s gross. If you want to get off to his videos, do it when I’m not here.” Dane gave Jamie a shove, and he went sprawling off the side of the chair and landed in an undignified heap.
“Hey! I wasn’t getting turned on, thank you very much. I don’t need his videos for that. I have the real thing.” He didn’t even have to pretend to be smug about that.
“God, I hate new relationship fever,” Dane scoffed. “He’s really popular, did you know that? Even after he stopped those stupid dating videos. Ninety thousand followers. You’re dating a celebrity. Well, a minor celeb. B-list at best.”
“Gee, thanks. We do like B-films, so I suppose it’s fitting. He’s at some vloggers’ bash in London. Hey, are you busy this weekend? We could have a jamming session at my house.”
Dane shrugged his shoulder. “I could be persuaded. Let me check if Markus is free.”
“Great.” Jamie was relieved not to be spending the weekend alone.
“Aww, that’s just too cute for words,” Dane said, looking back at one of Liam’s videos. “Jesus Christ, is he really washing a car like that, or have I stumbled onto his porn channel?” Dane’s eyes were glued to the tiny screen on his phone, and from the laughter and screaming coming from it, it really could be something X-rated.
“Give me that.” Jamie snatched the phone out of his hands and saw the glorious image of Liam—his boyfriend—in surfer shorts, flip-flops, that damned L of a Ride T-shirt, completely sopping wet. It was so wet it left nothing to the imagination. Shit, he looked hot.
Jamie whimpered a little as Liam leaned forward in the video, showing off his tight arse as he washed his car. It was indecent. Jamie found himself start to get hard and shuffled uncomfortably.
“It is porn, isn’t it?” Dane bounced, a grin on his face.
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Of course not. It wouldn’t be on YouTube if it was.” He forced himself to stop watching and scrolled to the description. “It’s some kind of challenge for charity. You know, like that Ice Bucket Challenge a while back? Wash your car…. Looks like he had a Just Giving page, and not only did he meet his target of five hundred pounds, he tripled it. In fact, I think it’s still up.” Jamie clicked on the link, and sure enough, his page was still there and people were still donating, though not as often as before.
“It’s to raise money for something called Waardenburg Syndrome.” Jamie donated £20 and put little heart emojis in the comment box. “I donated. You should too.”
Dane cackled and took his phone back. “He’s so gonna know you were stalking his page.”
Jamie blushed at the thought but didn’t think Liam would mind or think it was strange. He had a business that sounded more like a porn video, for Christ’s sake. “Shut up. He’ll be happy because it means I’ve been using social media, and he’s trying to persuade me it isn’t as evil as I think it is.” It was sort of working.
“Terrible comeback, my dear, terrible. Anyway, now I’ve saved you from your dear, well-meaning mother, you should leave. I’ve got enough material here to fund my fantasies for at least three weeks.” Dane sounded entirely too pleased with himself.
“Please don’t masturbate while watching innocent videos of my boyfriend.”
“See you later, darling,” Dane said, curling into his chair.
“You, Daniel Vincent, are a terrible human being.” Jamie pointed his finger at him, let himself out, and bumped into Ben as he did.
“Ben? Hi?” Jamie was confused to see his work colleague at Dane’s. He didn’t even think they were that close.
Ben blushed and looked into the house. “Er, hi, Jamie. I’m just…. Dane?”
Dane padded barefoot to the front door and smiled when he saw Ben. “Ben, darling. Come on in. Jamie was just leaving.” He kissed Ben on the cheek and pulled him over the threshold. Ben looked back over his shoulder at Jamie, a small frown on his face.
Well, that was interesting. Jamie looked back at Dane’s house one more time and then went home to give it a bit of a clean before they guys came around and trashed it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
IT WAS strange to be with all these people who knew him mostly as the playboy who used every opportunity to try to get someone into bed, and then vlogged about it. Things were different this time.
He missed Jamie and the rats. He was having fun catching up, but he knew he’d be having more fun at home. Jamie promised he could have one of Agatha’s kittens, so he was ecstatic about that. And there was no one here he could talk to about the rats. It was odd to feel so alone with a group of people he considered his friends. He wanted to be on the sofa watching the rest of Lexx and the Dark Zone stories. He wanted to start watching the original Beauty and the Beast TV series.
Nearly everyone was talking into their cameras for their own vlogs, but he just couldn’t find the energy for it. Some were doing it in tandem, and Liam felt a bit out of the loop.
“It’s not completely different,” Tabitha said to him. She was a lifestyle vlogger who concentrated mostly on vintage clothing and upcycling. “You’re going back to where you started. Your vlog is part lifestyle, part informative. People like that…. Some people. You’ll find your groove.” He wished he was as sure as she was. She wandered off to speak to someone else, and Liam thankfully had a second of quiet.
There were a few more people there he didn’t recognise, but he pasted on his smile and went to socialise. Someone he didn’t know came up to him.
“Hi,” he said, surprised when she signed it back to him.
My name is Abigail, she said. Then she showed him her nickname.
He signed slowly at first, unsure how fluent she was, but she understood everything, so he relaxed and stared as his hands quickened.
She had her own vlog about her life as a deaf music lover. She signed or added sign to each of her videos, and he loved speaking with her and getting her input. She might have been young, but she was doing something similar to what he wanted to do.
She’d also heard of his favourite singer, Phase, and they geeked out about him like typical fangirls. She loved loud experimental music she could feel the vibrations for, and she also loved how Phase dressed like he didn’t give a shit about what anyone thought. Liam liked that about him too.
Abi had even been sponsored by various online BSL courses, which was a direction he hadn’t even thought of and one that excited him.
“Speak English, I can’t understand!” A makeup vlogger he remembered from last year jumped on his back with a laugh, making Abi flinch. Liam stumbled forward, grabbed the legs at his sides to stop them both falling. He let him slide down his back and stepped away from him quickly.
Sorry, he signed to Abi and then turned around. “That was fucking rude. I was in the middle of a conversation.”
The guy pouted and flicked his long hair over his shoulder. “I haven’t seen you in ages, and I couldn’t understand a word you were saying. You weren’t even signing and talking.”
“Because I didn’t need to. We understood each other perfectly. Maybe you should say sorry for being so rude.”
He glared at them and muttered, “Sorry.”
Liam shook his head. “Not
like that. Like this.” He made a loose fist with his right hand and moved it in a circle over his chest. “It’s easy.”
The man glared at Abigail, who was looking at them through her hair, clearly uncomfortable. But he copied what Liam had done. Abigail nodded and signed thank you, and he flounced off.
Sorry about that.
Don’t worry about it. Some people just love being centre of attention.
They spoke for a few more minutes, exchanged social media details, and then Abi’s friends dragged her away to find food.
Michael Carson, aka MC Glamour Time on YouTube, was one of his closest YouTube friends and was always available for a hookup. He looked as good as he always did. A hairdresser in real life, he always had a new hairdo or colour, and he always dressed brilliantly, with a unique style that reminded Liam of a Punk Hippy. He was a bit too much of a diva for Liam, but they’d always got on well.
Liam was single the last time they met, and he wasn’t sure of his reception now. It was the first time he’d been to a vlogger party while attached, and it was odd—good but odd. He wished Jamie were there. It would make everything so much easier. He found himself wanting to tell everyone about Jamie.
“Liam, sweetie.” Michael waved at him from across the room and danced his way through everyone until he was right in front of him. He pressed a kiss slick with gloss to Liam’s lips, and Liam just wiped it off with the back of his hand with a laugh but otherwise didn’t mention it. Michael greeted everyone the same way.
“MC, how are you?”
“I am good, as you very well know, if you’d been watching my videos as religiously as I watch yours.” He leaned in closer and gripped the sleeve of his T-shirt. “We’re not here to talk about me, you sneaky boy. We’re here to talk about tall, dark, and mysterious. Gossip, please. It must be serious for you to change your whole Tube around.”
Liam’s whole body relaxed, and he couldn’t stop the huge smile that took over his face. It was nice to know Michael wouldn’t be expecting anything more than gossip from him, and Jamie was one of his favourite subjects. “It’s good to know you’re still watching my videos. Jamie is amazing.”
“Young love. It’s delightfully sickening, but I am so pleased for you.” He gave Liam a tight hug that almost cracked his ribs. Then he stared at Liam’s face intently and turned it one way and then the other, as though seeing something he didn’t quite like. “Well, I can tell you’re not watching my videos. Your eyebrows are out of control. You simply must let me tidy them before you go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
PLAYING HIS favourite songs on the uke put Jamie in a good mood. He was by no means an expert—none of them were—but they all had fun and occasionally got to pretend to be rock stars.
They sat in the living room, and Jamie tuned his uke while Markus and Dane argued over what song to play next. He rolled his eyes at them and quickly started to pluck out a tune to get them to pay attention.
It was a song from Liam’s favourite singer and not one they’d played before. It took a second for them to get the rhythm of it, and then they joined in, Dane attempting to sing the lyrics, making them up when he couldn’t remember them.
What started out as a jamming session turned into a small party when Jamie’s sister turned up and Dane casually threw in that Ben might also be stopping by. Jamie didn’t know what was going on between those two, and it was none of his business, so he tried not to pry, even though he desperately wanted to know.
They’d been drinking, and he was lightly buzzed. His fingers were tingling from practicing, and the only thing that made it not perfect was that Liam wasn’t there. He should have demanded to go along with him—not because he didn’t trust Liam, but because he missed him. He was like a lovestruck teenager.
“Why are you frowning?” his sister slurred, pointing at him with an accusing finger. He stopped playing.
“Ooh, I know,” Dane said, seamlessly going from singing to talking. He raised his hand as though he were a kid at school, uke lying across his lap. “He misses Liam.” He said his name in a sing-song voice that Markus cackle.
Jamie couldn’t even argue with him because it was true. “I hate you all.”
“You are so drunk right now. Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you at work.” Ben winked. Any awkwardness dissolved due to the joys of alcohol. Jamie noticed how obvious he and Dane were being about not talking much to each other and found it confusing.
“You boys need to give me all the gossip about Liam. I haven’t even met him yet, and my brother is being very quiet.” Ellen poked him in the ribs and made his uke slip off his lap. He managed to grab it before it hit the floor, but it was a close call. He placed it on the coffee table with the gentleness that only came with having one too many beers.
He didn’t spend a lot of time with his sister. They were both busy with work and trying to avoid their mother, which was a full-time job in itself. “Don’t poke me, woman. Do you want me to throw up on you? Besides, I don’t want to scare Liam away,” he said dryly. “He’s met Mom. We’re both still recovering.”
“Well, I, for one, am happy you’ve taken the heat off me. Carry on what you’re doing. You have the wedding and the babies, and she’ll leave me in peace. So, Dane, is this Liam good enough for our Jamie?”
“He hasn’t cheated on our boy yet, and he seems just as smitten, so I’d say that’s a success,” Dane said as he topped up her glass.
“Definitely what I like to hear. I never really thought Jamie and Paul were a good fit. It was so… on the surface, wouldn’t you say?”
Jamie cleared his throat, and they both looked at him as though they were surprised he was listening to their conversation. “He is here, you know.”
Dane smirked at him and leaned toward Ellen. “I’d say Jamie’s most definitely on the surface with Liam, darling.” He pointed to the sofa. “That surface—” Then to the coffee table. “That surface. I don’t think there’s a lot of surfaces they haven’t been on.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and Jamie groaned in embarrassment and closed his eyes so he couldn’t see them cackle together like naughty schoolchildren.
“Please stop talking about me like I’m not here. I need more alcohol,” Jamie muttered. He went into the kitchen in search of something stronger than wine and beer and to get out of earshot. He didn’t want to listen to them all talk about him. His cheeks burned, but he couldn’t even pretend to protest because it was the truth. He did turn into a lovesick fool around Liam, and they had fucked on and against many surfaces, not that Dane knew that for sure.
The doorbell rang, and Markus hollered that he’d get it, so Jamie was free to break out the vodka. “If it’s the Jehovah’s Witnesses again, ask them in for a threesome,” he called out. Maybe it was Liam and he’d forgotten his key. He’d get a kick out of his lame joke if it was. The bottle of vodka was half-empty, but there would be enough to create a nice little buzz for them all.
He searched for shot glasses and carried them into the living room. It took him much too long to realise that the atmosphere in the living room had changed, and it wasn’t Liam who had been at the door.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jamie glared at Markus for letting him in. He at least had the sense to look guilty and uncomfortable.
Markus shrugged in helplessness. “Sorry, mate. I didn’t know what to do.”
“Maybe tell him to fuck off?”
Paul stood in front of the fireplace, looking completely at home. He touched the ornaments and trinkets lined up on the shelf above, then put them down in the wrong place, which made Jamie want to scream at him. He acted as though he still lived there and had the right to touch what he wanted. Jamie ground his teeth together and slammed the bottle and glasses onto the table.
Paul didn’t even flinch.
Paul rolled his eyes and gave a short high-pitched laugh that made Jamie wince. “Come on. Surely it’s time to put the past in the past and let bygones be bygones?”
> As usual Paul looked perfectly pressed in a neat lemon shirt, black jeans, braces, and a bow tie. His hair was styled into a small quiff with a bit of wax to give it some texture. There was a slight strain around his eyes that told Jamie he wasn’t as comfortable as he wanted them to believe, and that reason, more than anything else, turned his anger down a notch. He was glad Paul was uncomfortable. What ex in their right mind would turn up on the doorstep of the boyfriend they’d dumped and act as if nothing were wrong?
“What are you doing here?” Jamie repeated. “Where’s Tommy?” Jamie glanced toward the door, expecting to see Tommy walk up the driveway after finding somewhere to park.
“He’s at his parents’. I was bored rattling around on my own. Remember when we all used to go out partying? We had fun, didn’t we? We could all have fun again.” There was a hint of desperation in his voice, but Jamie wasn’t going to let that fool him. Paul was used to being the centre of attention.
It was probably why he’d turned up. He was a master manipulator. Jamie could see that now that he wasn’t in the thick of it.
“We’re not friends, Paul. Boyfriends don’t cheat with their boyfriend’s best friend. They don’t cheat at all. We might know the same people, you might be fucking Tommy now, but I’m not your friend, and I’m not his either. So. Why. Are. You. Here?”
Paul’s shoulders drooped, and he frowned and looked to the floor. It all seemed a little too perfect to Jamie, but there was still a part of him that was unsure if it was an act or not. “Tom’s parents don’t like me.” Jamie bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smirking in satisfaction. Tommy’s parents loved him. “I just wanted things to be how they used to be, back when we were all friends and everything was simpler.”
“Go to the village. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of attention there.” Jamie didn’t like having this conversation with an audience, but he didn’t want to speak with Paul alone either. They’d said everything they needed to say when Paul collected all his belongings.