Taylor wrinkled his nose, because he could already hear Amil’s sarcastic little voice.That’s an insult to Hinduism, you prick.
“Iloveit,” Taylor said, tucking it away in his pocket.
The rest of the kids were lined up behind the bar, nursing their usual milk and apple slices. Taylor flicked the end of Clementine’s braid before settling himself on a stool between her and William.
Taylor eyed William. “It’s meant to reach your belly button, dude,” he said, tugging on the end of William’s ridiculously short school tie.
William scowled, running his fingers over it. “Shut up. Gabby kept grabbing it.”
Gabriella laughed, her afro bobbing as she snatched at it. “Only because you never take it off!”
William blushed at that, and it made something in Taylor’s chest ache. According to Kat, William had never been to school consistently. Never worn a uniform, never had a fresh pair ofshoes, or his own pencil case stuffed full of gel pens—which was the biggest crime of all.
Like Taylor, he’d always been different from the other kids, but now he had something thatwashis,even if it was just the scratchy grey trousers and awful salmon and navy tie of West Newton Secondary School.
“Hi, by the way,” Johnny said, unclipping the hatch and stepping out from behind the bar. He had an apron slung low around his hips, andactuallythose fitted black dress trousers looked pretty fucking illegal too.
He smiled and kissed Taylor square on the mouth, earning them a round of groaning and retching noises from the kids.
Little bastards.
Taylor ran his eyes over Johnny’s face, over the tired but contented smile that lifted the sides of his mouth these days. He looked good. Like,reallygood. His hair had grown out over the autumn and Maman had put cornrows in to protect it from the heat of the kitchen.
Taylor reached up and ran his fingers between the braids, tugging on the dangly ends at the back.
“Good day?” Johnny asked, retying his apron and dipping back behind the bar. He poured Taylor a beer, and Taylor would haveabsolutelybeen lying if he said the image of Johnny as a sexy househusband didn’t turn him on just the tiniest bit.
Taylor nicked an apple slice from Marty’s dish and crunched it loudly. “Oh, you know. Same old people, different day. I rescued a badger from Keith’s basement earlier. Got its leg stuck in some old fishing line. Bitey little bastard.”
Johnny grinned, pouring himself a glass of water. “They are wild animals.”
Taylor smirked. “I meant Keith. Anyway, where’re Maman and Papa?”
Johnny sighed, downing the rest of his drink. “Gone out dancing. Allegedly. Although Papa lookedwaytoo giddy about it.”
Taylor pressed his tongue between his teeth, wiggling his eyebrows. “Good for them. Keep it up and you’ll have another sibling running around.”
“Ew, gross!” Gabriella groaned, burying her face in her hands. Clementine only grimaced and pushed up her glasses.
Johnny pressed his lips together, hiding a smirk. “They’ve started sex ed in school.” He leant across the bar and whispered, “It isn’t going well, as you can see.”
The evening drifted on, and as much as Taylor hadhatedschool, he did agree to help the kids with their homework. Well, that had been a mistake, because after trying and failing to understand long division he had never felt so fucking dumb. He stayed quiet after that, choosing instead to watch Johnny as he ran the bar and ordered the waitstaff around.
Damn,the man was bossy as hell when in his element, but did Taylor like that?
Yes.
Yes, he did.
They waited for the final few customers to pay up and filter out, and as soon as Johnny pulled down the shutters for the night, the obnoxiously loud music ofDance Dance Revolutionblasted into the restaurant.
Johnny grinned, shaking his head as he slung an arm around Taylor’s neck and perched on his knee. “How did it go today?” he asked, leaning against the bar so the stool didn’t topple over with their combined weight. “Are they giving you your guns back?”
Taylor sighed, resting his cheek on Johnny’s shoulder. He’d been called into a meeting with the inspector after Isla had sung his praises to the higher-ups.
“They offered,” he replied, taking a long swig of beer. “Even kept my old Glock for me. But I said no thanks.” He smiled, watching as confusion pulled across Johnny’s dark features.
Johnny pressed a thumb under his chin, looking him in the eyes. “Why? I thought you wanted them back.”
