Luke couldn’t help but feel excited by Mikey’s change of heart.
Just take it slow, see where it goes,he said to himself. Don’t rush into things, but don’t be too harsh, either.
“Maybe you’d like to come up to my cabin for a few days and we can work on the set list together?”
Did I just say that?He thought.What am I doing?
He should’ve known something like this would happen. Mikey cast a spell not even Luke could resist.
“Make it a week and you have a deal,” Mikey said.
Luke just goggled at him for a moment. What was happening? Why was Mikey so interested in spendingmoretime with him, when he’d been an asshole to him since he arrived?
Maybe he just wants to spend time with you. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? He’s giving you the chance to find out just how much he’s changed, or not.
Luke was torn. If they spent a whole week together, they might find out they still had feelings for each other, with all thecomplications such a realization entailed. If they didn’t, then he’d never know, and he’d be left with the question: what if?
It didn’t help that Mikey was also distractingly attractive right then, bathed as he was in the rays of the sun. It caught some of the highlights in his hair and made his hazel eyes flash almost golden. For a split second it was 2005 all over again, and he felt like he was on the edge of a cliff, uncertainty yawning below him. If Mikey made a move while they were together at the cabin–hell, if he told Luke he loved him–he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist him.
Get a grip. Don’t rush into anything. Take it slow. See if he’s really changed. Don’t forget who he is and what he’s done. Don’t forget what happened at Coleman’s Fish a decade ago.
It was hard to forget that particular incident, since the intoxicating smell of their fish sandwiches was wafting out of the nearby restaurant as they spoke, bringing back all those painful memories Luke had worked so hard to forget, to push away so he didn’t have to deal with them anymore. Having Mikey stand here, a living reminder of what they’d had and what they’d lost…it was almost too much.
“Okay, fine,” he said at last. “But I’m goin’ to put you to work while you’re there. You’re not gonna have all of the amenities you’re used to. I live in a cabin, and it’s far enough out in the country there’s no cellphone service, so I have to rely on a landline. There’s also only a few channels I pay for, so you’re not going to have a whole lot to watch. Okay?”
He was pretty sure Mikey was going to tell him to get lost–he knew the looks on Mikey’s face almost as well as he knew his own–but then Mikey smiled and stuck out his hand. It wasn’t a fake smile, either, the one he used with his fans and with people he didn’t take seriously. This was the real smile: it said he was actually happy to be here, happy to be with the person he was talking to.
Damn it,Luke thought.
He would never have said so out loud, but already his heart was starting to beat faster at the thought of Mikey Smiles being in his cabin for a week.
What have I gotten myself into?
Oh well, he couldn’t do anything about it now. He’d come so far. He was going to see it through.
God help me,he thought.
CHAPTER 14
MIKEY—2015
God help me. What was I thinking?
Mikey hadn’t really planned on Luke asking him to spend time in his cabin, and he certainly hadn’t planned on taking him up on the offer. He still couldn’t believe he’d done it, and he also couldn’t believe he’d suggested they spend more time together. At the time, all he could think about was how handsome Luke looked, standing there in front of the place where Mikey had broken his heart all of those years ago, so handsome, in fact, all of his good sense had flown right out of the window.
At the same time, he couldn’t stop smiling.
Oh, sure, there were bound to be complications, but he was sure he wasn’t the only one who sensed the chemistry between the two of them. It had been there from the moment they’d laid eyes on one another after so long spent apart. Yeah, there was some bad blood there, but Mikey Smiles was good at turning enemies into friends.
The smile got even bigger on his face, and he was pretty sure everything was going to turn out alright.
His optimism lasted right up to the point where he got back to his hotel room and told Tricia and Damian what he wasplanning to do. Tricia, of course, was gaga over the idea of him hooking up with Luke–she simply would not stop talking about how hot he was–but Damian looked…well, he almost looked afraid.
How weird,he thought.Why would he be afraid of me getting together with Luke?
The next moment, however, he didn’t look so much afraid as pissed.
“Are you crazy?” he demanded. “Why on earth are you going to spend a weekend with Luke Carter of all people? Didn’t you get enough of him the last time? Besides, do you really want to deal with all of the stories that are going to come out about you two? I mean, look, it’s great you’ve come out as pansexual and all, and I’m sure there are a lot of people who’d swoon to see you two hooking up, but is that really what you want? If you do this, there’s going to be so much attention paid to it, and…”
