Chapter 13 #2
Halfway through his second beer and a handful of unanswered texts from Adam later, Grace popped out of the office.
She smiled big at Skylar, and when she saw Walker, her smile got even bigger.
She clearly recognized him. Skylar liked that Grace watched the Stars.
He knew now that it was the way she stayed connected to her dad, and it was nice to always have something to talk to her about.
“One last bev before you leave for your roadie?” she asked, grabbing a paper boat and giving them a scoop of pretzels from the bin behind the bar.
“Something like that,” Skylar said. “And I wanted to show Walker my favorite bar. Is my favorite bartender here today?”
“He has a list of errands a mile long today. Bank, grocery store, dealing with the furnace bullshit.”
“I never got the update on that.”
“Well, the pipes didn’t freeze, and the furnace has been repaired, but the maintenance guy was pretty clear that his repair was a stopgap.
The building will need a new one soon, and they aren’t cheap.
The owner of the building isn’t going to put one in until this one literally does not have one more breath left.
It’ll have to break down to the point where the maintenance company won’t fix it anymore. Which is obnoxious.”
“Fuck,” Skylar said, feeling guilty about it somehow. Like his presence in Adam’s bed the other night was the reason for all the bad things happening. “I guess that’s why I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
Grace pulled a face, like she knew what was going on there. “Adam… You know how hard it was to get to know him. When shit goes south, he can disappear. Give him some time.”
Skylar didn’t have time. He had a roadie the next day.
He couldn’t pretend that his daydreams the last few days hadn’t involved coming home after a long day to an apartment over a bar and getting to cuddle Adam on the couch while they talked about their days.
But realistically, if Adam was his partner, how was he supposed to support him when he couldn’t even be in the same state as him?
“Can you tell him I came in?” Skylar asked. He finished his drink and paid for himself and Walker, leaving his customary large tip.
“Thanks for the soda,” Walker said as they headed out. He looked suspiciously bashful.
“What?”
“I got the bartender’s number.”
“Ooo, which one?”
“Tanner,” he said. Skylar’s sour mood at Adam’s absence evaporated. He always liked to leave the mental space for anyone he knew to potentially be queer, but more often than not they weren’t.
“Walker, I swear to God, we are going to be best friends.”
“Maybe keep it on the down-low,” Walker mumbled. “I’ll give you a ride home.”
“I’m close.”
“It’s freezing out.”
Skylar wouldn’t turn down another three minutes of friendship bonding time.
Skylar didn’t hear from Adam until he was on the bus the next day heading to Wisconsin.
It was a nearly six-hour drive, and normally Skylar would try to nap.
But he was antsy. It felt like Beck was mad at him—from his general distance, but not much else.
Still, Skylar worried. Adam wasn’t talking to him much.
His sisters, in their first year of college, had become extremely, and understandably, busy.
Skylar was trying not to overwhelm Walker with his friendship all at once.
He was annoying himself by scrolling Twitter, hitting “fifteen more minutes” every time the time limit he set for himself ran out again. And just when he thought he would need to rip his eyes out to release himself from his doom scroll, a text came in.
Adam
Hi. I’m not very good at…whatever we’re doing. And I’m sorry.
Skylar scrambled to reply before realizing he didn’t know what to say. Whatever. If he sent Adam a thoughtful, considered response, Adam might worry he’d been body snatched.
Skylar
Nothing to be sorry for. I’m on my way to Milwaukee :(
Adam
Good luck. You’re going to play great.
Skylar
Did Grace tell you I came by?
Adam
She did. I’m sorry I missed you.
Adam was impossible to text. Skylar was getting fucking nothing out of him.
He wished he could FaceTime him. What he settled for instead was sending him a selfie.
Skylar was in a Stars hoodie with a black beanie over his ears, the wisps of his hair curling out from under the band.
He knew Adam liked his eyes, so he pulled the poutiest, most broody model look he could manage before sending it to Adam.
Skylar
I’m missing you too.
Had Adam explicitly said that he missed Skylar in the longing sense, and not just the “leave a voicemail at the beep” sense? No.
The sparse texts slowed, and Skylar felt the creep of anxiety.
Usually, Skylar was in the position of being chased.
He was a hot young athlete. He rarely had to try.
As he calibrated what trying felt like, especially with someone like Adam, who kept his thoughts and feelings close to his chest, there was a lot of doubt.
It didn’t help that sitting in front of him were Nicholaus “Happy” Happaranta and Chance “Connor” Connelly.
Neither of them had ever had to try to get each other’s attention.
They were attached at the hip. If they were cats in a shelter, they would need to be adopted out as a bonded pair.
Through the gap between seats, Skylar could see Connor’s head tucked onto Happy’s shoulder as he slept.
He wondered about the two of them and their natural intimacy with each other.
Just as he was staring longingly at two of his teammates because they were touching, his phone buzzed again.
A mirror selfie of Adam in the bathroom at the bar filled his screen.
The dim lighting was flattering, and his flannel was unbuttoned a couple more buttons than normal.
Skylar could easily imagine this photo taking a while for Adam to perfect.
Could imagine him sending off the photo and immediately buttoning his shirt back up.
Adam had soulful deep brown eyes, with eyelashes that made it look like he had a favorite mascara that he’d liberally applied. Skylar didn’t have many pictures of Adam, and he saved it immediately before reading the follow-up text.
Adam
Not as beautiful as you, but proof I still have a face.
This was why the chase made everything better. Because anyone could look at him and call him beautiful, but he knew Adam meant it. The bus was driving through Illinois somewhere. Adam was back in Iowa. He would be states away from him for the next four days. But still: butterflies.
He promptly set the new photo as his lock screen wallpaper.