Chapter 6 Liam
SIX
LIAM
“Milo!” shouted Liam from behind the counter. “Sit down. I’ll be over in a minute.”
He wasn’t sure why Milo was here, but knew he was going through some shit. Liam missed seeing his best friend every day. They’d lived together for the best part of a decade in some form, ever since they’d had a room next door to each other in the uni halls for their first year.
Liam grabbed one of the breakfast rolls and put it in the heater while he made coffee. The place wasn’t excessively busy. Normally, he’d have left by now for work, but Chloe was ill.
“Here you go,” said Liam, putting a coffee and breakfast roll in front of him. “I assume you didn’t have breakfast?”
“That’s very presumptuous of you.”
“When Milo is stressed, he doesn’t eat. Probably why you’re a skinny bitch. You’re always stressed.”
“Piss off. I’m not skinny.”
“Compared to me you are,” said Liam, flexing his biceps and squeezing his muscular chest.
He had started going back to the gym. There was a private one nearby, owned by a Brazilian guy called Rodrigo.
He had a large clientele of old ladies who mostly went just to watch him work out rather than do their own exercise.
The guy was huge and hot, but not for Liam.
Rodrigo was a bit too well groomed for Liam.
He liked his men more rugged and country.
“Good morning, Liam,” said Austin, as if his imagination had just conjured him.
He was looking hot as fuck in one of his plaid shirts. It was the red and black one, which was Liam’s favourite. Not that he should know Austin’s different shirts, but he did.
“Oh . . . hello . . . good morning . . . hello . . . um . . . hi, Austin.” Why was he so tongue-tied today?
He caught Milo out of the corner of his eye, looking like he was holding back a smirk.
“Do you have Maisie’s cupcakes?”
“Of course. Let me get them for you. I’ll just be a minute. Will you be okay, Milo?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll keep Austin company for you.”
A flare of jealousy hit Liam, so he glared at Milo.
His bestie was into older men as well, but for quite different reasons.
He heard Austin chuckle, but didn’t look at him, as he wanted to make it clear to Milo that he needed to back off.
He knew Austin wasn’t his to stake a claim on, but your gay friends could not flirt with the straight guy you were crushing on.
It was in the gay handbook of etiquette.
Liam rushed into the kitchen, where he already had the cupcakes boxed up.
He’d made unicorn ones for her again, with her favourite flavours.
Chloe had suggested they sell them as well, as they’d be popular, but he liked that they were just for Maisie.
He’d also added a couple for Austin as a surprise.
He grabbed the box and made his way back to Milo before his friend did anything to embarrass him.
“Here you go. I hope she likes them.”
“Did you make them?”
Liam nodded.
“Then they’ll be perfect.” Austin beamed.
Liam felt his face heat, and noticed Milo smirking again, but this time he wasn’t trying to hide it.
“I’ll see you soon, Liam. Nice to meet you, Milo.”
Milo snorted, and Austin left without looking back. He usually gave Liam a little wave from the door, but he hadn’t done that today. He missed it, but decided not to unpack that. First, he had to talk to his friend.
“What was that about?” asked Liam.
“What?”
“You were laughing.”
“Oh, nothing. I don’t think Austin liked me, that’s all.”
“What? Austin’s one of the loveliest people you’ll ever meet. He’s such a kind and caring guy, and he likes everyone.”
“So, when’s the wedding?”
“Yeah, right, I wish.”
“You mean you haven’t pinned him down yet? Or, well, had him pin you down. He gives off toppy vibes.”
“He’s straight.”
Milo spluttered his coffee and started coughing, so Liam passed some napkins. He didn’t understand what Milo found so funny.
“He’s definitely not straight. He wants you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s got Maisie.”
“Oh, is that his wife?”
“No, his daughter. His wife died, and he’s raising her on his own.
That’s why he moved back here, to give them a fresh start.
Austin grew up here, but moved away when he was eighteen.
He owns a landscaping business, and he’s building his client base here, but he also does web design work, so he can do that remotely.
He wants to give his daughter a good life. ”
“Not spoken much, then?”
“Piss off. This is just chit-chat at the counter when he orders his coffee.”
Milo didn’t need to know about the night he’d cried in Austin’s arms, or that he’d brought his daughter in again the next Saturday and they’d been chatting for two hours. No, Milo wasn’t getting told any of that.
“I see.”
“He’s straight.”
“Oh, honey. That man wants you under him, begging for it.”
“Sshhh,” said Liam, looking around as his face heated.
“I thought this was an open and inclusive town.”
“It is, but it’s also full of gossips. I don’t want people going around saying I’ve been hitting on the single dad. Besides, a few of the women have their eyes on him.”
Liam was thankful that Giselle and Henrietta weren’t here. Those two had supersonic hearing.
“Well, I think he has his eye on someone else,” said Milo, nodding at Liam.
“He was married to a woman.”
“Ever heard of a bisexual?”
“What? No, you think? Nah, he can’t be. I mean, look at him. There’s no way he’s into cock.”
Milo chuckled. “He’s probably more of an arse man.”
“Milo. Stop shit-stirring.”
“Okay, I’ll let it go, but I’ll say one last thing. Don’t make assumptions. That guy is into you, so if he asks you out, don’t brush it off with your usual ‘I’m not good enough’ crap you like to do.”
Could Austin be bisexual? His close group of friends were all queer.
Well, Tony was a man whore from what he’d heard, and as long as they were breathing he was interested.
Those were Giselle’s words, not something Liam would ever say.
Thankfully, their paths had never crossed on the London scene.
Michael was married to the town, but openly gay.
Nathan had dated no one as far as he knew, but had spoken to Liam when he’d first come out.
Nathan had shared that he was gay and offered to be a friendly ear if he needed one.
Someone who wouldn’t push an opinion on him, like many people in this village did, even if it was well intentioned.
Then there were Gerard and Kevin, the gay uncles of the village.
His head was spinning, and he wasn’t sure what to think, but he didn’t need Milo using his mind-reading powers today.
“Fine. Now, you want to tell me why you schlepped all the way here? If you’d wanted to check in, you could have done that on the phone.”
“How are you doing?” asked Milo, a smile on his face.
He relaxed. It was nice for someone to ask him that, and not do the head tilt and sad smile, which he got a hundred times a day.
“Just taking it a day at a time. I’m worried about Dad. He can’t come back in here yet. One of the staff called out sick today, so I had to come in and cover for them.”
“He might just need some more time. It’s only been a couple of months.”
“It’s bizarre, you know. Sometimes it feels like it just happened, and other times it’s like she’s already been gone for years.”
Milo reached across the table and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What’s going on with you then, Milo?”
“We can’t talk here.”
Well, that sounded intriguing. Liam loved a bit of gossip when he wasn’t at the centre of it.
“Okay, well, I have to cover the lunch shift, and then we can go back to my place.”
He wasn’t logging into work today. They’d had so much from him lately, and in a moment of weakness, he’d allowed his boss to take even more from him.
It was something he hadn’t mentioned to his dad yet, or to Austin.
Why he was worried about telling Austin he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that frowny, unhappy look.
He wondered if that was his “dad” look, then decided against letting his thoughts wander there.
“How are things at the flat?” asked Liam. Nothing like a quick subject change to stop your thoughts from wandering to dirty places.
“Shit. Kieran still thinks I’m a home wrecker, and Hassan wants to move to a smaller place so we don’t need to have anyone new move in.”
“Yeah, he called me about that. Asked me to cover my share of the rent until the lease was up.”
“He did what?”
“It’s fine. Besides, it gives me a place to crash if I have to be in London for anything before my job finishes. Do you think you can live with those two on your own?”
“No, but I have little choice right now. There’s too much else going on.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll tell you later. Anyway, enough about me. How are you running this place and working out your notice at the same time?”
“No idea, but it’s working. The team here is brilliant, but at least from June I’ll be able to be here full time.”
“I thought you were done at the end of March?”
“They asked me to stay on longer, working remotely to help on a couple of massive deals, and I’ll still get my bonus. Plus, they’ll give me good leaver status, so I’ll keep my shares.”
“That was good of them. Do you think they’re hoping things will settle down so you don’t need to stay here permanently?”
“Probably, knowing my boss. I thought he was gonna cry when I quit.”
“That must be a nice feeling.”
“Are you saying Daddy Patrick wouldn’t be begging you to stay if you quit?”
That was Milo’s boss, who was the editor of the top newspaper in the UK. Milo had found out that he was into the daddy kink in a big way. His late husband had been his boy, and Milo had caught them in a compromising position at the office once. Liam had loved hearing about all the drama.
“Speaking of Daddy Patrick, he’s got a new boy. It’s Jason. You know the one who’s friends with Langdon, Charlie, and all that crowd?”