There was a moment of silence. “What’s his name?”
“Excuse me?” Damn his mom’s intuition.
“You heard me, Mike Scott. What’s the name of the guy that’s keepin’ you away from your momma?” She chuckled. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“I will neither confirm nor deny your suspicions,” Mike said with a grin.Let her chew on that.
“I knew it.” She sounded insufferably pleased with herself. “Okay, you’re forgiven. Only, mind you bring him along to meet me if it gets serious, y’hear?”
“Bring who? Did I say there was someone? Well, did I?” Mike was trying hard not to laugh.
His mom breezed on like she hadn’t heard a single word he’d said. “Now I’ve got the yellin’ out of the way, s’pose you tell me what’s goin’ on in your life? That’s if you have thetime, of course.”
Mike sighed. Mom always knew how to twist the knife.
“How’s the schedule looking for the next month or so?” Kevin asked Mike as they cleaned up, the last of the customers having just left. “You gonna be away filming at all? We’re drawing up the new roster.”
Mike got out his phone and pulled up his calendar. “Far as I can tell, unless anything changes, I got a shoot in Palm Springs at the end of February that’ll be three days, going over a weekend.” He wasn’t looking forward to that one. The last shoot for TopMen had not gone well. There had been five or six guys staying in a house out in Palm Springs, and tempers had gotten a little frayed, to say the least. Two of the actors had complained that the company hadn’t provided enough food for the shoot, and shopping for more hadn’t been an option, given that the location was a tad remote. It had been bad enough that Ryan Prentice had already told Mike privately he wouldn’t be filming for TopMen anymore, unless they got their act together and put on the shoots in more hospitable locations.
Mike couldn’t blame him. What he couldn’t get over, however, was Alex Travis. Unlike Ryan’s low-key reaction, Alex had gone onto Twitter and very publicly lambasted their director. It had been downright ugly. Pete Harden, the director, had retaliated, declaring that if that was how Alex felt, then Pete wouldn’t be happy about working with him in the future. It all left a sour taste in Mike’s mouth. He could only hope that the situation had improved by the next shoot. He didn’t have a clue who his costars would be, but then he hadn’t known the last time either.
He put his phone away and got on with wiping down the bar. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and he glanced up tofind Kevin staring at him. “What’s up with you?” Mike asked, not slowing in his task. He was tired, and he wanted to get home to his bed. If he was real lucky, it would still smell of Tommy.
The thought was both comforting and torturous.
Kevin studied him for a moment. “Yep, he’s good for ya.” He gave a smug little smile and carried on putting away the cleaned glasses behind the bar.
Mike waited, but when nothing else was forthcoming, he growled. “That’s it? That’s all I get?”
Kevin chuckled. “Don’t give me that. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Tommy. Patrick and me, we’ve noticed, okay? You’ve been different since he showed up.”
“Is that so?” Mike threw down his cleaning rag and folded his arms across his chest. “You’re full of shit, y’know that?”
Kevin shook his head and laughed. Mike couldn’t let it go.
“Different how?”
Kevin straightened and faced him. “You’re more relaxed. You smile more. Laugh more. Stuff like that.” He winked. “’Course, if it was me banging that gorgeous ass, I’d be smiling too.” Kevin grinned.
“Ah, so you think it’s just the sex.” Mike shook his head and went back to his wiping.
“You mean it’s not?” That brought Kevin to a standstill. “Mike?”
Mike sighed and gave up on his cleaning. He leaned against the bar. “I like him, okay? I like talking with him. He’s… he’s smart, Kev, like really smart. We laugh. And yeah, the sex is good, but it’s not like we’re tearing each other’s clothes off the minute we get through my front door. Some weekends we don’t even fuck, we just… cuddle.” Mike laughed when Kevin’s eyes widened. “Yeah, really.”
A slow smile crept across Kevin’s face. “Well, day-um.” He lunged at Mike and hugged him, those thick tattooed armssqueezing him tight. “Hallelujah ’n’ praise Jesus, Mikey’s got himself a guy.” He released him and stepped back, eyes shining.
Mike snorted. “Don’t go getting ahead of yourself, now. We’re not a couple, okay?”
Kevin gave him a knowing look. “Give it time, Mike. Just give it time.”
Mike gazed at him intently. “You arenotto go making out there’s more to this than there is, especially when Tommy’s here. You’ve seen what he’s like. Kid’ll probably die of sheer embarrassment.” He glared. “I mean it, Kev.”
Kevin held up his hands. “Okay, okay, I hear ya.” His eyes gleamed. “But you can’t blame a guy for thinkin’.” He tilted his head to one side. “So when you’re off filming in a few weeks’ time, you’re telling me you’re not gonna miss him?” He waggled his eyebrows and walked off around the bar, whistling.
Mike stared after him. His protestations sounded hollow, even to his ears. And Kevin had made a valid point, damn him. Never mind missing Tommy when he’d be away filming—it was getting so that he missed him from one weekend to the next.
The “we’re not a couple” argument was looking flimsier by the minute.
