“I’ll call Antonio.”
“I’m going to Zach’s. I didn’t want to be at the house alone….” He left off the rest of his thought. It wasn’t any use going into it now. “It was a good thing, because I don’t know what he’s planning, and….” The truth was he was terrified that Angus’s house was going to be next.
“Okay. When you get there, call Bull. Tell him what’s happening. He can help keep you safe. I’ll call the police and see if they can get someone over to the house. I have to go because we just got back and there’s another call. So we’re doing a fast turnaround.” Angus already sounded tired.
“When can I see you?”
“I should be off duty on Wednesday.”
“Okay,” Kevin said and turned onto the freeway on-ramp, going as fast as he dared. “But call me with what you find out.” Kevin hung up and continued driving. He called Zach back and told him what had happened.
“Bull is on his way to the club. Let me call him so he can swing by Angus’s just in case.” Zach hung up, and Kevin did nothing but worry until he pulled into Zach’s driveway and his friend came out to meet him.
“Bull says everything is fine at Angus’s house. There was no sign of anyone, and he wandered around to make sure it looked okay from the outside. He said that as he was leaving the police showed up, so it’s getting plenty of attention.”
“That’s good. I spoke to Angus, and he said that he was going to call them. He also said that he won’t be off shift until Wednesday.”
“Then you can stay here if you want.”
“Hopefully I can get into my new apartment soon.” He wanted to have his own place and start building his own life once more. He needed some independence again. Maybe then he wouldn’t be so scared and feel so needy all the time. “They said it needed to be cleaned and that they would call me when it was ready. I have the money from the insurance company for what I lost in the fire, so I can get furniture and stuff, but I didn’t want to buy anything until I was settled.”
Zach led Kevin inside the house. “I cleaned up the guest room for you, and Bull will be gone until after the club closes.”
“Are you going to go in?”
“No. Bull says I’m going too much and that he can’t get his work done when I’m there because I’m too distracting.” Zach rolled his eyes. “It seems I’ve still got the power to make him forget himself.” He grinned evilly. “But I try to use it only for good.”
“Yeah. I’ve seen how you wrap that man around your little finger. And he loves you more than life itself.” Kevin sat on the sofa. “Do you know how hard it is to watch that all the time? I thought I’d found my prince, and then Ken goes off and leaves me for some job that was so important that he jumps at the chance to come back and expects everything to be exactly as he left it. Like I’m some toy he can play with and put away until he wants it again.”
“You don’t sound like someone who’s over the guy,” Zach said as he left for the kitchen.
Kevin turned to face that general direction. “I’m so over him I could scream. It just pisses me off, is all.”
“Why?” Zach asked, the refrigerator closing with a rattle and bang. Then Zach came back in with two Cokes and handed one to him. “Why do you care? If Ken is history and you have someone else who is interested and, quite frankly, seems like a much better man than Ken ever was? Even if I give him grief sometimes. He’s a stand-up guy.”
“You thought Ken was too,” Kevin countered. He remembered when all the guys had loved Ken and thought he was the cat’s meow, especially the way he’d helped when Tristan was kidnapped.
“What Ken was or wasn’t isn’t the issue.” Zach sipped from his can. “You need to figure things out. Stop trying to determine what everyone else wants or what their opinion is. It doesn’t matter what I think of Ken or Angus. The four of us will always be friends, and even if you were to date Bozo the Clown, you know it wouldn’t matter. So as far as boyfriends go, choose Ken, Angus, or no one at all. We just want you to be happy.”
“Thanks,” Kevin said, batting his eyelashes. “You make me sound like a distressed princess.”
“Maybe. But think about it. Are you really still in love with Ken? Or is your pride still smarting because he left?”
Kevin swallowed and then opened his soda. He needed something to give him a chance to think. “I’m over him. Even if I wasn’t—and I am—I’m not going to go back to a guy who thinks so little of me and my feelings.” It made Kevin angry just thinking about it. “I’m not interested in him other than to smack him upside the head and tell him to get lost.”
“Then why didn’t you tell Ken that last night? That’s all you would have had to do, and then Angus would have known that Ken isn’t a threat and he wouldn’t be distancing himself. I mean, Angus is hot—not as hot as Bull, but he’s hot—and I might have made a play for him if I didn’t have the best guy on earth.”
“One who scares everyone he sees,” Kevin teased. Bull was the most intimidating guy he knew. He still intimidated Kevin sometimes, especially when he crossed his arms over his chest and gave him that stare that Kevin swore could turn people to stone if Bull wanted.
“Maybe he does, but it’s part of who he is. Doesn’t work on me.” Zach grinned. “Anyway, let’s get back to you. Do you really care about Angus?”
Kevin sighed. “Yes.”
“Then like I told you before: tell him or show him. And don’t be a wiener about it.” Zach jumped up off the sofa and raced back into the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting something to eat,” Zach called. “We’re going to need food if we’re going to plan just how you’re going to win Angus back.”
“I never lost him.”
“Maybe. But this was your first real fight, and let me tell you, make-up sex is the best kind, so you have to get his attention. Show him that you care. Words only go so far. Lord knows Bull uses very few of them. Men like him and Angus are guys of action. It’s what they understand. Sometimes they’re a little dense, but they always understand that. And the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Kevin nodded and then lowered his head. “Mrs. V used to handle that part for me. She baked stuff for me to take to the firehouse after the first fire in the building.” Kevin sighed. “I miss her.”
Zach nodded. “Do you know what happened to her? I mean, after….”
“I understand. She didn’t have any family, so they cremated her. I requested the ashes, and I thought I’d spread them on the river or something to say good-bye. They haven’t released them yet because they have to wait so long after the death announcement for some long-lost relative who might show up.” Kevin wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I hate that she’s gone. Mrs. V was so much fun to talk with, and she’d seen so much. She met Ken once and hated him on sight, said he was too full of himself, and I guess she was right.”
Zach sat still and sipped from his can, listening. It was what Kevin needed so badly right now.
“If she were here, she’d be down in her apartment, whipping up a batch of baklava that she’d say was guaranteed to wrap any man around my finger. But she’s not and it’s my fault.” Kevin managed to set the can on the coffee table before falling to pieces. “Everything is my fault—losing Mrs. V and pushing Angus away. I should have told Ken to fuck off right there, but I was in shock and I think part of me loved that he wanted me back. I mean, he left me, but he was crawling back to me, Kevin Foster, the guy everyone leaves.”
“Sweetheart,” Zach said softly and then hugged him as Kevin began to cough his brains out. “It wasn’t your fault that Mrs. V died. It was a psychotic arsonist.”
“But he’s after me and he got her,” Kevin breathed once the coughing subsided.
“It’s all in his head, and this guilt is all in yours. No one else thinks that but you.” Zach raised his chin so they could see each other. “Have I ever lied to you about anything?”
Kevin shook his head.
“Then why would I lie now?” Zach pulled him into a hug once again. “Part of this whole fight with Angus is that you’ve been through so much already.”
“What do you mean?”
“The fires, the guy hanging around. It’s too much. You need some time to rest and think. Decide what you want,” Zach said.
“Now you sound like Angus. I know what I want, but no one seems to believe me.” Kevin wiped his eyes.
“Okay. Then rest for a while, and after that we’ll do something in Mrs. V’s honor. We’ll make something and take it over to the station. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and the way to get a man’s attention and keep it is to feed everyone he knows. Then not only do you get his attention, but all his friends like you too.”
“Okay.” Kevin sat back on the sofa, and Zach turned on the television. They watched
Storage Wars
for a while, and Kevin finished his soda. “I hate being this tired all the time,” he whispered.
Zach moved to the chair. “Lie down if you want, and I’ll get you a blanket and pillow.” He was back up and out of the room like a shot. When he came back, he got Kevin settled on the sofa, and Kevin had to admit he was comfortable. Soon he was having dreams about buying jet skis inside storage lockers. It was weird and his mind didn’t seem to settle.
When he woke, Zach had left the room and the most heavenly smell drifted in from the kitchen. Kevin pushed back the blanket and followed his nose to where Zach was pulling cake layers out of the oven. “This is Bull’s favorite. His mother gave me the recipe, and it’s amazing. I thought we could let them cool and then tomorrow you could take Angus a cake. Feed the man and he’ll never forget you.”
“I hope you’re right,” Kevin said, pulling out one of the stools. “Do you want my help frosting it?”
“The layers have to cool first, so we’ll frost it tomorrow and then you can take it to him.” Zach set the layers on racks. “Are you feeling better?”
“A little. Every day the urge to cough my lungs out on a constant basis is a little less, and I’m not using the inhaler much.” He leaned on the counter.
“Don’t worry yourself over Angus. He’s working, and he did take your call, right?”
“Yeah. He sounded concerned.”
“See? He does care. So don’t mope about it, just talk to him when you can.” Zach’s phone rang and so did Kevin’s. “Tristan.”
“Jeremy,” Kevin said before answering it.
“We’re going out tomorrow night,” Jeremy said. “I just got really good news. I’m getting a better position and a raise. So we need to celebrate. We don’t have to stay out late because we all have to work, but I feel like dancing.”
“What about Spook? Don’t you want to celebrate with him?” Kevin snickered.
“I plan to do a lot of celebrating with him just as soon as he gets home.”
“Then are you sure you’re going to want to dance?” Kevin teased. More than once after his and Spook’s “celebrations,” Jeremy had difficulty walking straight. Come to think of it, each of his friends had had that problem at one time or another. Everyone except him. “And we’re all going. Tristan is telling Zach right now.”
“I know. I’m with him.” He looked over at Zach, who met his gaze and nodded. Kevin nodded back. He had to take it easy, but he really wanted to go dancing, so he agreed, and Jeremy whooped a little.
“We’re meeting at seven. We’ll have a little dinner and then go dancing. It’s a Tuesday, so the place won’t be super busy, but that’s good. It’ll still be fun. It isn’t like any of us are there to pick up guys or anything.”
“Sure,” Kevin agreed. “Hey, there’s this charity that Angus works with and they were really helpful, so maybe we can plan a benefit at the club or something for them.”
“Fabulous. I’m always up for planning a party.”
The cake was a good idea, but helping an organization that Angus thought highly of was an even better way to show how much he cared.
“Then bring your ideas and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kevin said. Jeremy’s excitement was catching, and by the time Kevin hung up, the last of his doldrums seemed to have passed. When Zach hung up too, Kevin told him about his idea.
“Awesome,” Zach said. “I’ll talk to Bull as soon as he gets home, and we’ll see about a date.” He grinned, and they went back into the living room. Zach got a notepad, and they began tossing around ideas to both attract attention and get people willing to fork over a high cover charge and pack the club for a good cause.
“I heard about a fire company in Carlisle that had a dinner where the firemen served in nothing but their fire pants. Apparently it was a huge success,” Zach said. “We could see if Angus has friends who are willing to do that.”
“I remember. Chicken and Beefcake,” Kevin grinned. “But I don’t think so. It’s been done, and we need something original. I’d ask Angus, but….” Kevin sighed. “I thought all this angsty crap would be over once I left high school. This is ridiculous. He and I are adults, and we should be able to just talk about things.”
“You will once he’s no longer on shift. I bet he wants the same things you do. Just listen to what he has to say this time rather than getting all wound up in all those old feelings that seeing Ken stirred up.” Zach lightly punched him in the arm. “Now, let’s focus on this. Remember this is part of that plan. You’re showing support for something he cares out.”
“I know….” Kevin put his mind back on the task at hand. “I’ve got nothing at all. We could do strippers, but that’s a regular thing and not everyone goes in for that. It has to be special to grab attention.”
“Hmmm.” Zach’s thoughtfulness turned to a slight smile and then morphed into a huge grin. “I got it: a kilt party. I bet Angus has one, and….” Zach put his hand over his face. “We could have a ‘man in kilts’ auction to help raise money. The winners get to see exactly what the guys wear under their kilts.” Zach began to blush. “Privately, of course.”
“You are so bad, and that’s a great idea.” Kevin leaned back. “God, I hate being tired all the damn time.” Not even something as exciting as the image of Angus in a kilt was enough to raise his energy level. His heart beat faster at the idea, most definitely, but that led to quicker breathing and the fear that he was going to start coughing again. How fucking sexy was that? Not.
“Let me heat us up some dinner. I made some ravioli the other day that I can reheat.” Zach bounded up off the sofa as the door from the garage opened and Bull came inside. He greeted Zach as though he hadn’t seen him in days, and Kevin smiled and turned away to give them some privacy. “I’m just heating up dinner,” Zach said to Bull, and then Kevin heard him whisper that he and Angus had had a disagreement.