We were interrupted by the arrival of Ryan and Isaiah. Greg greeted them and then got back to his preparations.
We all took seats around the piano and ordered our drinks. I noticed that Greg looked really nervous, and it suddenly occurred to me that he was about to play piano in front of a world-renowned concert pianist. He was probably shitting bricks.
“Poor guy,” I muttered.
Jeremy leaned over and asked, “Who?”
I tilted my head toward Greg. “Him. He’s got to play in front of you.”
“Oh.” He got very quiet, and I worried I’d made him feel self-conscious. He chewed on his bottom lip for a while, then got up and said, “I’ll be right back.”
He went over to Greg, who looked absolutely shocked, and leaned in close to speak to him. I saw Greg’s cheeks turn pink, and then he laughed at something Jeremy said. I got distracted watching Jeremy’s ass in his snug, dark-wash jeans and missed something Isaiah said.
“Huh?” I asked, still staring at my man’s sweet backside.
Isaiah laughed. “I asked, how long have you two been together?”
I paused for a minute because it felt like Jeremy and I had been together for a while, not just a week. I tore my gaze away so I could look at Isaiah. “It’s pretty new,” I replied.
Isaiah looked surprised. “It seems like longer.”
“Yeah,” I said thoughtfully, “Yeah, it does.” I saw Jeremy put his hand on Greg’s shoulder and give it a light squeeze. Then he turned back and saw me staring at him. A shy smile touched his lips and a blush rose to his cheeks. His eyes met mine, and yeah, I really hoped this thing between us worked out because I could drown in those eyes.
When he returned to his seat, I pulled him down for a quick kiss. “What was that about?” I asked.
He glanced back over to Greg. “I was just giving him some tips for playing under pressure. And I told him about the time someone told me to picture my mentor naked, and I almost barfed.”
I threw back my head and laughed. “That would be like someone asking me to picture Mr. Whitaker naked.” I shuddered. “No thanks.”
“I hope it helps,” Jeremy said.
Greg opened his set with Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n Roll,” and it wasn’t long before all of us were singing along. He followed up with a full set of songs from the seventies. It was a blast. I kept looking over at Jeremy to make sure he was still comfortable.
The bar was getting more crowded. Luckily, we were sitting on the side of the piano nearest the wall, so people couldn’t crowd behind us. Jeremy seemed to be enjoying himself. I leaned over and placed a kiss behind his ear before asking, “How are you doing?”
He hummed quietly and leaned his weight against me. “I’m good. Greg is quite accomplished. It’s a shame he had to leave school early.”
I put my arm around Jeremy and pulled him closer. “I’ll bet he’d love to hear you say that.”
“I’ll tell him when he takes his break,” Jeremy assured me. He slid closer until he was practically on my lap, which probably wouldn’t go over well with the locals. This wasn’t a gay bar, and I had already noticed a few glares from a couple of guys at the bar.
New Jersey might be a liberal state, but there was a strong conservative element in my county, and things still got ugly from time to time. Lucky for me, my father insisted that Liam and I take up Tae Kwon Do when we were little. Liam left it behind once he got into high school, but I kept it up. I had my second-degree black belt and was working on my third. I was quite able to defend myself and anyone with me.
Greg was playing something I didn’t know, so I was just enjoying Jeremy’s company when I felt him stiffen in my arms and say, “What is he doing here?”
I sat up straight and scanned the bar, worried that Pierce had shown up—not that I knew what he looked like. “Who?”
Jeremy pointed toward a big muscular guy coming toward us. He wore faded blue jeans, a black V-neck T-shirt that stretched tight over his muscular chest, and a black leather jacket. I’m not a small guy, and he looked like he could break me in half. “Tony is here,” Jeremy said.
I think my eyebrows went all the way up into my hairline. “That’sTony? Holy shit. He’s huge.”
Jeremy laughed. “He’s a bodyguard. Of course he’s huge.”
Now that I looked more closely, I saw his resemblance to Michael, except for that whole “I could squish you like a bug” thing that Tony had going.
Jeremy waved at Tony, who gave him a smile and a quick up-nod. Tony then leaned against one of the high-top tables near the piano, hooked his thumbs in his belt loops, and crossed one ankle over the other.
His gaze swept the room, and damned if he didn’t home right in on the two assholes who’d been giving Jeremy and me the stink-eye. They saw Tony giving them attention and suddenly found their drinks very interesting.
