Chapter 13
Luke almost couldn’t believe his luck. He’d thought it was going to take a lot more to convince Mikey to go along with his idea for the concert. Having him actually say he was wrong…well, it wasn’t what he’d expected, but he’d take it.
As the tour group left the Capitol, he took one last look at it. He was so glad the place had been saved and renovated. It deserved love and appreciation, and he couldn’t help but dream about the day when he’d one day be up on that stage.
“Luke, are you coming?” Katrina asked.
Sending one last longing look at the theater, he turned and joined the rest of the group.
The tour ended up where it began and, as the group dispersed, Katrina gave Luke a meaningful look and a thumbs up.
He stuck his tongue out at her and turned his attention back to Mikey, who was standing there looking off into the distance. When he sensed Luke looking at him, he flashed him a smile.
God, I hate when he smiles, he thought. He didn’t mean it, though.
“So,” Mikey asked, “what now?”
Luke didn’t know what to say. He wanted to yank Mikey in for a kiss and then take him back to his cabin, but he also wanted to tell him to get lost.
He opted for the first. For the moment, at least.
“I guess I’ll go back to my cabin, you’ll go back to your hotel room or wherever you’re stayin’, and that’ll be that.”
He hated how cold he sounded, and the vulnerable, sensitive look on Mikey’s face didn’t help. How was he supposed to resist those puppy-dog eyes?
Damn it.
“You know,” Mikey said. “I meant what I said back at the Capitol. I really do see why you love the Ohio Valley and West Virginia so much and…” He paused for a second before going on. “And I’d really like to make the concert work.”
Luke couldn’t help but feel excited by Mikey’s change of heart.
Just take it slow, see where it goes, he said to himself. Don’t rush into things, but don’t be too harsh, either.
“Maybe you’d like to come up to my cabin for a few days and we can work on the set list together?”
Did I just say that? He thought. What am I doing?
He should’ve known something like this would happen. Mikey cast a spell not even Luke could resist.
“Make it a week and you have a deal,” Mikey said.
Luke just goggled at him for a moment. What was happening? Why was Mikey so interested in spending more time with him, when he’d been an asshole to him since he arrived?
Maybe he just wants to spend time with you. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? He’s giving you the chance to find out just how much he’s changed, or not.
Luke was torn. If they spent a whole week together, they might find out they still had feelings for each other, with all the complications such a realization entailed. If they didn’t, then he’d never know, and he’d be left with the question: what if?
It didn’t help that Mikey was also distractingly attractive right then, bathed as he was in the rays of the sun.
It caught some of the highlights in his hair and made his hazel eyes flash almost golden.
For a split second it was 2005 all over again, and he felt like he was on the edge of a cliff, uncertainty yawning below him.
If Mikey made a move while they were together at the cabin–hell, if he told Luke he loved him–he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist him.
Get a grip. Don’t rush into anything. Take it slow. See if he’s really changed. Don’t forget who he is and what he’s done. Don’t forget what happened at Coleman’s Fish a decade ago.
It was hard to forget that particular incident, since the intoxicating smell of their fish sandwiches was wafting out of the nearby restaurant as they spoke, bringing back all those painful memories Luke had worked so hard to forget, to push away so he didn’t have to deal with them anymore.
Having Mikey stand here, a living reminder of what they’d had and what they’d lost… it was almost too much.
“Okay, fine,” he said at last. “But I’m goin’ to put you to work while you’re there.
You’re not gonna have all of the amenities you’re used to.
I live in a cabin, and it’s far enough out in the country there’s no cellphone service, so I have to rely on a landline.
There’s also only a few channels I pay for, so you’re not going to have a whole lot to watch. Okay?”
He was pretty sure Mikey was going to tell him to get lost–he knew the looks on Mikey’s face almost as well as he knew his own–but then Mikey smiled and stuck out his hand.
It wasn’t a fake smile, either, the one he used with his fans and with people he didn’t take seriously.
This was the real smile: it said he was actually happy to be here, happy to be with the person he was talking to.
Damn it, Luke thought.
He would never have said so out loud, but already his heart was starting to beat faster at the thought of Mikey Smiles being in his cabin for a week.
What have I gotten myself into?
Oh well, he couldn’t do anything about it now. He’d come so far. He was going to see it through.
God help me, he thought.