Page 24 of Give Me What You Will

Comin’ into my bar, spinning me like a fuckin’ top and actin’ like you didn’t do anything fucking wrong.

Anger seethed in his chest. Glancing between the two men and feeling reckless and mean for reasons he couldn’t rightly explain, he said, “This ain’t a gay bar, Sammy. Maybe you should take your date somewhere else, yeah?”

Sammy’s expression flickered with hurt, and the second he saw it, regret slammed into him like a knuckle punch to the teeth. He sounded just like his queer-hating father, who had teased and bullied Sammy for years. Frankie opened his mouth to apologize when Sammy suddenly launched himself off the barstool, grabbing him by his collared flamingo shirt and yanking him down with a furious jerk.

“Fuck you,” Sammy growled into his ear, his hot breath brushing against the side of his face, sending shockwaves down his spine.

Frankie held his ground, grabbing the hands on his shirt and squeezing Sammy’s fingers, voice low so only he could hear. “I thought that’s what you wanted?”

Sammy’s hands trembled against him.

He felt Sammy sway toward him. He was undeniably close. Frankie could smell the beer on his breath, see the way the stubble on his cheeks reflected the dim light of the bar, and the brilliant mossy green hues of his eyes. Everything stilled within him and he jerked back, alarmed, buttons ripping from his shirt.

Sammy’s eyes slanted in a dangerous glower and… something else flickered there, too.

Something he’d never seen before.

Raw, unfiltered lust.

Frankie sucked in a gasping breath at the powerful rush between his legs.

“Whoa! What the hell is going on?!” Tina yelled through the noisy bar, shooting a surprised look between them.

Frankie straightened, nostrils flaring, ignoring the demanding tingle at the base of his cock that gripped his balls. He grabbed the Jameson bottle, needing to create space between him and whatever the fuck was whirling around inside his body. Tina was looking at him as if he’d grown another head.

“You got beef with Sammy?” Tina asked, “Since when?”

“It’s none of your business,” he growled.

“He’s family.”

“He ain’t.”

“What’s with you?”

The last crooning notes of the Audioslave song came to a dramatic end, and everything inside him resisted the urge to look back.

The last time he heard this song, he had played it for his dog, his Nona. Emotions gripped his throat as he was suddenly transported back to his last day with her. Her big gray-and-white spotted head resting in his lap, wrapped in Sammy and his Audioslave sweater as he played this song for her. The windows rolled down, sunlight filtering over her, wanting her to enjoy those last few moments of sunshine.

He thought of Papi’s service and how that had been the last day with Sammy, too, in a way. The last day of them being best friends.

Grief and anger washed over him, clogging his throat, and he pushed past Tina and walked back outside, the bottle of whiskey clutched in his hand.

Maybe this was it.

Maybe he had been a fool to believe that he could single-handedly make their friendship work again. Sammy didn’t want it and had made that abundantly clear. But that didn’t mean Frankie couldn’t be torn up about it. He just lost his best friend.

And he wasn’t sure he could handle that fact anymore.

Chapter 5

The evening was getting late, and Sam was feeling pleasantly buzzed and cozy by the fire pit. Mikey Shaw was sitting beside him in a camping lawn chair, his leg brushing against his. Mikey’s voice was a sultry rasp now, an indicator that he wanted to take this party back to his house and finish the evening with Sam in his bed.

And what sweet irony would that be?

Finally giving in to the man that had wanted him for years, whom Sam had no interest in whatsoever, because he couldn’t be with the man he actually wanted. A man who would never want him—never desire him—never fuck him or touch him the way he yearned for.

It took everything in his being not to look at Frankie. After their brief tussle at the bar, Frankie had stayed clear of him, and Sam had done the same. In fact, he wasn’t sure why he had stayed. He could’ve left with Mikey hours ago. But he didn’t.