Thomas frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“When we left Brixton.” Scott despised the hurt leaking through into his voice. “You got in that car without a word, didn’t even look back.”
“I did look back.”
“You didn’t stop, though. You left me at Brixton. You left me behind.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because we never would’ve worked as friends on the outside, you would’ve…you would’ve left eventually.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” Thomas snapped. “We’re too different. Even now, as soon as you’ve earned your money and your apartment is given the all clear, you’ll vanish from my life.”
“I won’t.”
“Scott…”
“I won’t, Thomas.” He gripped Thomas’s knee. “I promise, I won’t.”
Thomas stiffened beneath Scott’s hand, but Scott didn’t remove it; he kept it there until Thomas relaxed.
They sat in silence for a long time, watching the carp in the pond, then Thomas whispered, “So…how about it?"
“How about what?”
Thomas turned to him, his blue eye shimmering. He scrunched his eyelid over his fake eye, so it was only the blue. “Will you be my friend, Scott?”
Scott smiled. “Yes. You need one other than your snakes, and your staff, and you know what…”
“What?”
“I need one too.”
Chapter twenty-one
ThomasgrippedScott’swristas he led him towards The Frog & Toad.
From the outside, it looked like a row of old townhouses with white walls and exposed black beams. The windows were small, cloudy, hinting at the masses of people inside, but giving them no distinct features. A repetitive screeching had Scott looking up at the sign sticking out from the wall. Battered and worn, it showed a frog being eaten by a huge warty toad.
“Ready?” Thomas asked.
“Always.”
Thomas had to duck to get inside the door, and once they were inside, the ceiling skimmed the top of Thomas’s head as they made their way through the entrance hall.
The low ceilings, the array of mismatched wooden and upholstered furniture made the place feel cramped and claustrophobic. Thomas had explained to Scott that rather than one big room, there were lots of smaller rooms with their own bars, and the place was somewhat of a maze.
The men and women around them were heavily tattooed and pierced with brightly coloured hair and wearing statement pieces of clothing. Fishnet, leather, and sheer fabric seemed to be the most popular choices as Thomas led Scott from room to room.
Scott had gone for the classic black trousers and white shirt route. He had the top buttons undone, and rather than show off his glowing, flawless skin beneath, it gave a glimpse of the pearls Thomas had bought for him.
He’d asked for Thomas’s permission to wear them, and he’d scrunched up his face and told Scott they were a gift, he could do whatever he liked with him.
Scott bit his tongue, holding back the obvious reply that they were a gift for theshoot, not everyday use.
