by KC Burn
Hot tears leaked from Riley’s eyes, soaking the pancake of a pillow beneath his head as he listened to the squeak of Tad’s shoes recede.
ALTHOUGH RILEY could have cried all day, he just didn’t have that much moisture left in him, and he was already feeling achy and his head was throbbing. The curtain jangled, and he sniffed before daring a look.
Floriana and Aaron stood together, carrying a teddy bear holding a box of chocolates. Riley blinked at them. They were literally the last people on earth he’d expected to see, and he was including Elvis and the queen on his list.
Floriana smiled, more warmth in her gaze than Riley had ever seen. “I’m so sorry, Riley.”
Aaron set the bear down on the table by Riley’s head.
“Sorry for what?”
Floriana flapped her hands. “For François, mostly.”
“Not your fault.”
Aaron murmured agreement.
“I know, I know. Aaron keeps trying to tell me. I just wanted…. I’m also sorry for how I treated you.”
“Um. Okay.” Was this some sort of misguided attempt to get him to come back and work at Gautier? Because Hell would have to reach absolute zero—none of that sissy freezing bullshit—before Riley would step back in that place.
“No, really.” She sat in the chair Tad had so recently occupied, and took his hand in hers. Her hands were too small, too chilly, to provide the same comfort Tad could. It struck him that he should probably be nervous, but the drugs kept him from freaking out too badly.
Floriana’s smile wobbled as though she was going to start crying again.
“Aaron and I have been seeing each other for a while. Mother absolutely hated that. Thought I was lowering myself. She did everything she could within the letter of the law to convince Aaron to quit, and it got so stressful he needed to take some time off, at the advice of his physician. When she hired you, and I kept hearing about how much she liked you and how she wanted to keep you on…. She never said, but I knew she meant she wanted to get rid of Aaron. I hated you for taking his place, for being someone my mother liked. It wasn’t your fault at all, and I shouldn’t have taken out my problems with my mother on you.”
That explained why people were careful not to talk too much about Floriana’s love life and why no one really mentioned Aaron.
“Thank you. So what happens now? For you and the company.”
Floriana shrugged. “Cody said he’d keep Aaron on, and we’re going to do our best to work together. It’s… the hate… it’s not good.”
Uh, no. Too bad it took her brother killing her mother to figure that out.
“Best of luck to you.”
“Get better soon.” Aaron clapped his shoulder gently, and they left, Aaron’s arm around Floriana’s waist.
Chapter TWELVE
“SO WHAT did you guys want to play?” Riley didn’t want to talk about the murder anymore. Mostly he wanted to forget, and it had been fucking hard while sitting alone in his condo all week recuperating from his injuries. He had a new contract coming up, but with his bruising still visible, he’d asked the agency if it could be postponed another week. As much as he’d like to start work again on Monday, he’d be verbally biting and stabbing if he had to explain the still-obvious finger marks around his throat.
“I think our resident hero ought to choose.” Shaun cuffed his shoulder while Riley rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know. Something good for five.”
“I hate to break this to you, sweetie, but I think maybe that concussion isn’t better. There’s only four of us today.” Shaun smirked at him. It was nice to get back to something resembling normalcy.
“Yes, but I invited someone.”
Just like that, Shaun’s expression turned disapproving. “Not Tad, for fuck’s sake.” Riley had kept his silence about his involvement with Tad, but in the hospital it hadn’t been hard for Shaun and Alisha to see something was wrong, that Riley had been devastated all out of proportion after Tad had left that last time. They’d come to mostly the right conclusion, but Riley didn’t confirm. Talking about it would only make it harder to get over.
Riley rolled his eyes. “Of course not Tad. I told you, nothing’s happening on that front. What about Betrayal at House on the Hill? That’s a good one to get beginners started.” Riley redirected. If they were going to offer him the choice, then he was going to take it. He’d already pulled it from the wall of games, just in case.
“Oh. You invited a newbie, did you?”
“Yes, I….” Riley glanced up. “There she is now.”
Alisha blew through the door of the café, wearing jeans and a low-cut T-shirt. Across the table, Ozzy craned his neck to see who Riley was talking about. As he twisted back to stare fixedly at the table, he made a strangled sound that might have been meep.
She saw Riley immediately and gave him a hug and kiss, and hugged Shaun before moving a chair beside Ozzy.
Riley introduced her to Raj and Ozzy, although Ozzy had a hard time looking her in the face.
“So, lay it on me, kids. What are we playing?”
Ozzy glanced at her, face flushed, before looking back at the table. “Betrayal at House on the Hill.” There was a throaty, gravelly sound to Ozzy’s voice that Riley had never heard. He stared at his friend, but Ozzy resolutely wasn’t catching anyone’s gaze as he reached over to grab the box.
Alisha clearly saw something that no one else did. She shifted just enough so that her breasts brushed Ozzy’s arm. “Can you help me out, teach me what I need to do?” Alisha was almost purring, and Riley shifted in his seat, just a little uncomfortable at the display. A glance at Raj and Shaun confirmed they were as confused as he was.
He expected Ozzy to move away, or hand her the instructions, or something. Instead, his ears turned almost purple as he replied, “Of course, Alisha.”
The way Ozzy said her name told Riley everything. Something had clicked between them, right here in front of the gaming group. Love at first sight. Maybe this was what it looked like.
Riley smiled, even as it hurt inside. He wanted that for himself. If Riley was going to find a happy ever after, he’d need to work through his feelings for Tad, but it wasn’t going to be any time soon.
One day.
AMAZINGLY, ALISHA and Ozzy stayed to game, despite some incredibly heated looks. Ozzy even went so far as to help her when she’d randomly been chosen as the traitor. Normally Ozzy was a stickler for rules, but almost like he was a different person, he helped her well enough that she managed to beat the rest of them.
They were partway through the second game when Shaun poked Riley in the side.
“What?”
Shaun gestured at the door, and Riley looked up.
And nearly melted into his chair. Tad stood just inside the café, smiling hesitantly. He had chosen to wear jeans and a tight T-shirt, and although Riley could objectively admit Alisha looked great, seeing Tad in similar casual clothes turned him on and made him squirm.
“Well, go talk to him,” Shaun whispered.
“You owe me a nice dinner,” Alisha added.
Shaun hadn’t been too impressed with Tad’s actions up to now—Riley hadn’t been able to keep all of that pain inside, and he’d told Shaun almost everything. In light of that, Riley wasn’t sure why Shaun was encouraging him to talk to Tad. Hell, he wasn’t even sure his legs would hold him.
The rest of the group had glanced to where he and Shaun were staring, and Alisha spoke up. “I told you that man was hot. And I know he’s not here for me, so get your ass over there and see what he wants.”
Tad had already ripped his heart to shreds far too many times, and Riley was afraid. If Tad was here to tell him François had escaped or something, he was going to lose his mind.
But there wasn’t any possibility that Riley could ignore Tad standing there, looking sheepish and oddly awkward.
He got up and walked slowly to the door.
“Hey.”
Tad was going to have t
o do better than that. “What’s up?”
“Can we talk?”
Riley sighed. Admittedly, he’d learned he was an emotional masochist, and the only way to keep his sanity would be to refuse. Tad’s no-contact rule needed to be enforced. After today. Riley needed one more day, one more moment to wallow in what might have been.
The only thing was, he knew how much it sucked to have a game interrupted, and he was worried whatever Tad needed to talk about would upset him enough that he wouldn’t want to continue.
“We’re halfway through a game. Can it wait until we’re done?”
Tad shrugged. “Sure. Can I hang out and watch?”
Shaun was going to kick his ass—if Riley didn’t beat him to it. This was the ultimate stupid idea in the history of stupid ideas. But it was easier to be strong when Tad wasn’t standing right in front of him, smelling so fucking good and looking like an underwear model.
“C’mon, pull up a chair.”
Tad followed him to the table. He greeted Alisha and Shaun, who both said hello with some suspicion. Riley introduced Tad to Raj and Ozzy as a guy he went to high school with who he’d recently crossed paths with. Alisha and Shaun rolled their eyes.
Ozzy and Alisha were especially anxious to finish the game. Riley might have teased them about it, but he was a little anxious to be done with the game too and make his excuses to leave. The sooner he found out what Tad wanted, the sooner he could hide in his condo and try to knit his shredded heart back together.
THE SECOND half of the game was possibly the most fun Riley had had in a long time. Tad picked up the game mechanics quickly, but Riley didn’t mind answering his questions. And whenever Riley picked up a spooky event card, Tad gleefully read it aloud in an appropriately spooky voice. This time Riley ended up the traitor, and he had his own backup this time, Tad’s ability to strategize making him a natural at the game.
Every so often, Tad would stroke Riley’s back, making him shiver. He wanted to turn his nose into Tad’s neck, drink in that spicy scent that drove him wild, and then lick and bite at that strong neck to his heart’s content. But he had no right, and he suspected Tad’s touch might be more absentminded than intentional.
When they finally won after whittling down the opposition, Riley was laughing along with Tad. All too soon, he remembered that Tad wasn’t part of his life, and he probably had some sort of bad news for Riley.
They called it a night, and after saying his goodbyes, Riley followed Tad outside.
He was going to kill Tad for giving him a taste of what they could have together. None of his previous boyfriends had had any interest in getting to know his gaming group, never mind interest in the games themselves.
“Can I drive you home?”
Great. They were going to have this talk on Riley’s turf. That wasn’t going to suck one bit. Oh wait….
“Sure.” At least on his home turf he could kick Tad out and have a mini breakdown immediately, rather than trying to hold it together on public transit before he got home.
The car ride covered banal pleasantries, and the elevator ride up to his place was spent in silence.
Inside, Riley turned to Tad. “Did you want a drink? Coffee or tea?” He had a lot of bad memories to deal with after his experience at Gautier Cosmetics, but he’d also come away with tea and Alisha, so he couldn’t regret it.
“Water’s fine, thanks.”
Riley could have used some soothing, but he’d make a pot of tea after Tad left and find some sappy romcom to sob over while he drank it. He got a couple of bottles out of the fridge and handed one to Tad.
“What’s up?”
Tad bit his lip. “I don’t know if you’ll think this is good news or not.”
Riley rolled his eyes. “Just tell me. Imagining things is going to make me lose my shit.”
“François pleaded guilty.”
Riley waited, wondering if there was more, but Tad just stared at him, gaze hot and intense. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means he’s forgoing a trial. Going to jail. Admitted to killing his mother and trying to kill both you and Cody.”
That made no sense. François was an arrogant son of a bitch. “Why would he do that?”
Tad smiled at Riley like he was proud of him. “Those events you told us to look at? Yeah, he was definitely embezzling from the company to pay gambling debts. He had nothing—his place was mortgaged to the hilt. His wife, Bethany? She comes from money—more money than the Gautiers, if you can believe it. Anyway, they had a prenup covering a number of situations, one of which was François getting arrested. She filed for divorce within an hour after his arrest, and that divorce would leave him with nothing but debt, and a lot of it.”
“Okay, that’s sad, I guess, that Bethany wouldn’t even wait to see how things went, but why are you telling me this?”
“Because the highbrow lawyer François called when he got arrested didn’t stick around very long once it became clear there was no way for François to even cover his retainer, and his sister wasn’t going to front him any money, not after he tried to frame her. I guess François didn’t think he’d fare too well with a public defender, and he’d have nothing to return to even if he did win.”
Riley downed half his water in one gulp. “I appreciate you telling me this.”
They stood there, staring at each other. Then Riley realized that buried in all that information was possibly the most important, pertinent nugget. “No trial?”
Tad smiled wide. “No trial.”
Then that might mean…. “I’m not a witness.”
That smile stretched even wider. “You’re not a witness.” Tad took a couple of steps closer, and Riley mimicked him until there were mere inches between them.
Tad stared into his eyes. “No contacts?”
“No. I got Lasik after high school. I only wore the contacts for the color.” Riley’s breath hitched. “But someone told me they liked the real color of my eyes.”
A rumble shook Tad’s chest, and he cupped Riley’s cheeks in his hands. “Can we try and make a go of this? Please say I didn’t fuck up my only chance with you.”
Riley stared into the warm depths of Tad’s brown eyes. “You didn’t.”
A tremble shook Tad before he leaned in that last bit to press their lips together. For a few seconds, Riley savored the gentle sweetness of lips he’d missed kissing more than he’d missed anything else in his life. Seconds later, the kiss went from virginal to voracious. Tad slid his hands down Riley’s body and brought him tight against Tad’s chest.
Breath coming fast and hard, Riley pulled away. “Not that I’m not loving this, but… I’d been thinking I might never see you again, you know? This is a little much to wrap my head around here.”
“I know. It was shitty the way I left things, and I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me, but Riley….” Tad buried his head in Riley’s neck. “I love you.”
The words were muffled, but Riley heard them loud and clear. And they shook him to his core. “Did you… just….”
Tad took a deep breath and stared him straight in the face. “I don’t deserve another chance, but please take pity on me. I’m lost without you. I want to watch TV with you in your sweet little condo. I want to hang out with your friends, learn how to play games.”
Riley cupped his cheeks. “I want to brighten your day when you’ve endured the worst humanity can offer. I want to brush my teeth side by side with you. I want to meet your family. Spend weekends in bed together.”
A tear slipped down Tad’s cheek. “So you’ll give me another chance?”
“How could I not? I love you too, and missing you has been painful.”
Another tear spilled over Tad’s cheek, making Riley’s eyes burn in sympathy, but they were both grinning like fools.
Tad kissed his nose. “Want to watch a movie? Did you eat dinner?”
“Actually, no.” The guys had ordered food shortly before Tad had shown up, but Riley
hadn’t been too interested in eating at that point. “I could order pizza?”
“Sounds good.” Tad stroked his face gently, lovingly, before stepping back, then followed Riley to his couch, hopefully for the rest of his life.
More from KC Burn
Sometimes Stratford Dale feels like Doctor Chicken consumes his life. It’s his pen name for a series of wildly popular children’s books. They were his brainchild; he meant for them to be a way to pay his many bills while he pursued his dream of publishing graphic novels. But the Doctor Chicken contract was a raw deal. Instead, he churns out book after book for a pittance, leaving him broke and no closer to his dreams.
Stratford’s dreams of love have fared no better, but he’s still trying. After yet another disastrous date, he’s intrigued by a man going into a cooking class—so he takes the class too. Vinnie Giani is a successful, self-made man who is charmed by Stratford’s bow ties, sharp humor, and clumsiness—which leads to an opportunity to take Stratford in for stitches. Vinnie is, above all, responsible, having taken on the care of his mother and sisters from a young age. Perhaps it’s natural when he begins to treat Stratford more as a child who needs a parent than as an equal partner. But when Vinnie tries to “fix” Stratford’s career woes—including the Doctor Chicken problem—and ends up making the situation worse, their fledgling relationship may not withstand the strain created by blame and lies.
Having come out late in life, forty-three-year-old Luke Jordan is at a loss about how to conduct himself as a gay man. As a construction manager, he’s not interested in being out at work, but he’d like to find a boyfriend or at least some gay friends. Two years after his wife got all their friends in the divorce, he’s no closer to the life he wants.
Zach, Luke’s adult son, takes charge and signs him up for the Rainbow Blues, a social group for gay blue-collar workers. At an event, he not only finds friends but meets Jimmy Alexander, part-time stage actor and full-time high school biology teacher. Jimmy loves the stage but wishes potential boyfriends weren’t so jealous of the time he devotes to it. When he meets Luke and finds him accepting of his many facets, he thinks it’s a dream come true.