Seamus’s Basement (Hope #4)

Chapter 1

“Gentlemen.” Seamus Devlin nodded in greeting as he crossed from one end of his bar to the other, to his left, shelves neatly lined with liquor bottles and a half-dozen beer taps, and to his right, the well-worn wood bar. “What can I get you tonight?”

“Who’re you calling a gentleman?” Lucas Reika, Hope’s resident troublemaker, made a show of slowly turning his perfectly styled head from left to right.

“Not me!” Todd Smitty smiled affably and raised both arms in the air.

“I don’t see any gentlemen here,” Lucas confirmed.

“That’s because you left Jared at home,” Seamus said, chuckling.

“I didn’t leave him. He didn’t want to come out.” He looked around the bar. “Apparently, neither did anyone else. This place is practically empty tonight.”

“The man wakes up at the crack of dawn and works with his body all day, of course he doesn’t have the energy to come into town after ten to have drinks with you two.

” Jared McFarland owned a farm on the outskirts of Hope, and he mostly kept to himself, so despite having lived there for eighteen years and running the neighborhood bar, Seamus didn’t know him well.

But what he knew, he liked. Lucas’s boyfriend was a kind, patient, quiet man.

Theirs was a textbook case of opposites attracting.

“Jared has absolutely no shortcomings when it comes to his body or his”—Lucas tilted his head and licked his lips suggestively—“energy. Trust me. He’ll wake up when I get in bed and then he’ll—”

Seamus coughed. “I’m begging you not to finish that sentence.”

“Lucky,” Todd sighed wistfully. “I miss spending the night with a big, strong man. There’s nothing better than when he holds onto you from behind and you can feel his—”

“I am standing right here! Tell me what you want to drink and then I’ll go to the other end of the bar so you can continue your…” Seamus winced, thinking about all the graphic conversations he had overheard between those two since Lucas had moved to town three years earlier. “…discussion.”

“Right, sorry.” Todd smiled apologetically. “Don’t scare the straights,” he hissed at Lucas.

“Uh huh. Sure,” Lucas said as he looked Seamus up and down, and then he spun to the side and arched his perfectly shaped eyebrows at Todd. “Are you ever going to tell me why you’re no longer going to bed with your big, strong man?”

“Uh.” Todd looked like he’d been caught committing a crime. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He cleared his throat. “Do you still have that cider on tap?”

“The Magners?” Seamus nodded. “Yep. I’m keeping it all summer. Do you want a pint?”

“Yes, please. Thank you, Seamus.”

“Alright, so we’re still pretending that you weren’t with him.” Lucas shook his head. “Whatever. At least that bullshit’s in the past.” He turned back to face Seamus. “I’ll have a dry martini with the Russell Henry gin and the Italicus vermouth.”

“I know how you take your martini, Lucas,” Seamus said with a smile. “You’re the only reason I keep both of those in stock.”

“That’s why yours is my favorite bar in town.”

“Mine is the only bar in town,” he pointed out.

And then he did as he promised and walked away to get their drinks and give them space to have a private conversation.

The privacy mattered more to him than to them.

Todd wasn’t shy and Seamus was pretty certain that Lucas said the things he did just to shock him.

He had just turned thirty-six, giving him a dozen years on Todd and nearly ten on Lucas but he had nowhere near their sexual experience. Not even close.

He moved on autopilot, taking a chilled glass from his cooler, putting the liquor into a shaker with ice, and assembling Lucas’s drink. Then he poured Todd’s pint and walked over to them.

“Here you go,” he said as he set their drinks in front of them. “One Mangers and one very top-shelf dry martini with two olives.”

“Thank you, Seamus.” Todd was a sweet guy, always respectful.

“Cheers.” Lucas raised his glass and then took a sip. “Mmm. Perfect.” He smirked at Seamus. “Happiness is a nice stiff one and you sure know how to deliver.”

Once upon a time, Lucas’s comments had made him uncomfortable, but now that he was used to them, he was mostly amused. “How are the two of you friends? Todd’s so polite and you’re so…”

“Bitchy?” Lucas asked.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Seamus denied.

“I’m pretty sure he was going to say that,” Todd whispered loudly enough for them both to hear.

“We’re friends because the first thing I learned about Todd was that he can stand up for what matters to him.” Lucas stared at Todd meaningfully. “He doesn’t take people’s bullshit, even mine.”

“Leave it, Lucas.”

“He also proved that he knows when to back off from a hopeless cause.”

There was subtext to Lucas’s comments, but it was none of his business, so Seamus nodded along and didn’t ask any questions.

“I made a fool of myself the first time we met, and Lucas was nice enough to overlook it.” Todd ran his fingertip over the rim of his glass. “That’s what he meant.”

“That’s not when you made a fool of yourself. And back then, you did what you did for Jared. He was worth the embarrassing behavior. The one whose name shall not be spoken is not.”

“Please leave it alone.”

Not knowing what precisely they were discussing, but understanding that Todd wanted it to end, he jumped in with a distraction. “Are you trying to convince me that Lucas is the nice one and Todd’s the one who’s…”

“Bitchy?” Lucas said again.

“I walked right into that.” Seamus sighed and scratched his head.

He was due for a trim. His faux hawk gave him flexibility as far as the center portion of his hair because whether it was a little shorter or a little longer didn’t matter, but he liked to keep the sides buzzed.

He’d tried doing it himself once, but he couldn’t manage a straight line.

Thankfully, Curl Up & Dye was located right above his bar so he didn’t have to go far to get it done.

He’d poke his head in the salon the next day and see if Joelle could squeeze him in.

“We’re taking off, Seamus.” A few of his regulars got up from their table and walked over.

Lucas looked over his shoulder at the nearly empty tables behind him. It really was a slow night.

“I’ll check you out.” He went to the register, closed out their tab, and handed them their receipt and credit card. “Have a good night.”

“See you tomorrow.” They waved as they walked out.

“With that ratio change, this place is dangerously close to becoming a gay bar.” Lucas nudged Todd. “Text DJ and see if he can meet us. I want to make that happen before anyone else shows up.”

“I already invited him. He’s working.”

“He works more than Jared, which I didn’t think was possible. Does he have any free time?”

“I don’t know.” Todd shrugged. “Poor guy’s always strapped for cash.”

“That’s weird with how many jobs he has, right?” Lucas asked.

“Yeah, but he’s been doing it forever. Even when we were in school, he worked in the evenings and on weekends.”

“What does he do with his money?” Lucas said. “I know he isn’t spending it on clothes because I dress my dog better than he dresses himself, he lives in a shithole, and this bar is the only type of entertainment we have in Hope but he never comes out with us.”

“Uh, thanks?” Seamus said.

“It was a compliment,” Lucas snapped.

Coming from him, it probably was. “When did you get a dog?”

“I don’t have a dog.”

“Then why did you… Never mind.” He rubbed his hands over his eyes. “I’m too tired to unravel your explanation.”

“It’s only ten thirty. Isn’t this your version of early evening?”

Last call was at two in the morning if he still had customers that late, which meant he didn’t get home until closer to three most days. By the time he ate, showered, unwound, and then went to bed, the sun was close to rising. Seamus woke and started his day after most people were done with lunch.

“Yes.” He dragged his palm across his beard. “I’ve just had a lot going on.”

Another customer waved and walked to the door.

“Have a good night,” Seamus said.

Lucas looked over his shoulder at the tables behind him. “There are only three other people here now. That’s a tie.” He turned back around. “I’m calling it. This is officially a gay bar. Seamus, hang a rainbow flag on the wall.”

“Three is more than two,” Todd pointed out. “Plus there’s Seamus.”

“Exactly,” Lucas said. “Anyway, now that we’ve rebranded this place, let’s get back to the topic of what Seamus has going on.” He looked at Seamus expectantly.

“I’m just dealing with family drama and that’s more draining than being on my feet behind this bar for nine hours.”

“Is everything okay with your family?” Todd asked, his expression sincere.

“Spill the deets,” Lucas said as he leaned onto the bar. “I love other people’s drama, and this town’s had a gossip dry spell for months. I’m desperate for entertainment.”

“He doesn’t mean it like that.” Todd gently pushed Lucas’s shoulder.

“Yes, I do,” Lucas said.

“I’m not sure how scintillating you’ll find it. I’m going to my hometown next week for the Battle of the Boyne parade and my parents are already talking about potential wives they have lined up for me. That’s the drama.”

“What’s a Battle of the Boyne parade?” asked Todd.

“Potential wives?” Lucas shrieked.

“Irish holiday,” Seamus answered. “Pretty much everyone in the town I’m from is Irish so they have a little parade and a bunch of barbeques.

It’s a good time for me to visit because I can knock out a bunch of people in a few days and July is hot as hell here anyway.

It’d actually be nice if my parents would stop trying to arrange a marriage. ”

“Family can be hard,” Todd said, voice sympathetic.

“Before I got together with Jared, my dad used to refer to me as the one we pray for,” Lucas said.

“I didn’t know your family was religious.”

“They’re not,” Lucas said drolly.