15. Milo #2
“You mean you haven’t pinned him down yet? Or, well, had him pin you down. He gives off toppy vibes.”
“He’s straight.”
Unfortunately, that was the moment Milo had drunk some of his coffee, and he almost choked. Liam passed him some napkins.
“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, so 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.”
“I see.”
“He’s straight.”
“Oh, honey. That man wants you under him, begging for it.”
“Sshhh,” said Liam, going bright red and looking around.
“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 got their eyes on him.”
“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.”
“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?”
“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 friend’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What’s going on with you then, Milo?”
“We can’t talk here.”
“Okay, well, I have to cover the lunch shift, and then we can go back to my place.”
Liam had his own annexe on his parent’s property, which he still used whenever he visited. He would spend at least one weekend a month visiting them.
“How are things at the flat?” asked Liam.
“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 are 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 a bit 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 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?”
Milo smiled. It was true. Patrick probably would beg him to stay, but it didn’t matter. He had no intention of going anywhere.
“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?”
“You mean that group of super-hot friends who everyone in Soho wants to fuck?”
Milo nodded, laughing. Liam wasn’t wrong. That was a fine-looking group of men.
“Have you had Jason?” asked Liam.
“Not my type. Thank god. That would have been awkward.”
“I think Hassan’s fucked him.”
“Who hasn’t Hassan fucked? Well, apart from us.”
Liam went red and avoided eye contact.
“No! How am I only just hearing about this now?”
“It was a couple of years ago. You and Kieran were away. We got drunk, and it just happened.”
“I have questions, but they can wait until later. Just remember not to let Hassan and Austin meet. I don’t think the hot single dad will be able to hide his jealousy.”
“I hate you!” he said with a scowl, before they both cracked up laughing.
“You’re fucking the deputy prime minister? Oh. My. God. How long for? Is this the closeted guy you mentioned before? I genuinely don’t know what to say.”
“You’re managing just fine at the moment.”
Milo was on Liam’s sofa, whilst his friend paced around with his jaw scraping the floor.
He hadn’t meant to blurt it out as soon as they walked in, but the lunch rush had lasted ages, and Milo was ready to burst by the time Liam was able to leave.
Thankfully, it was only a five-minute walk from the bakery to where Liam lived.
“You met him on a hookup app?”
“Yes.”
“And this is the guy you were fucking in The Back Room?”
“Yes.”
“When did he tell you who he really was?”
“I worked it out just before Christmas.”
“Is that who you were with when nobody could get hold of you?”
“Yeah, we were in Norway.”
“Always wanted to go there, so we’ll come back to that later. What’s the situation now?”
“I love him,” said Milo, his voice cracking.
Liam sat next to him on the sofa and pulled him into a hug.
Milo was determined not to cry. His friend’s mum had just died, and he was the one comforting Milo.
That wasn’t right. What was Milo supposed to do?
Edward had promised to go on the London Pride march in June, together, as boyfriends.
Was this how it was going to be until the summer?
A few stolen moments in a hotel room, or their plans being cancelled at the last minute?
Milo would never want to force someone to come out of the closet, but with Edward, they couldn’t even meet in secret.
He was starting to wonder whether it was all worth it.