Chapter Fourteen
Wes
Another day, another morning TV show
appearance.
Wes loved traveling, but he vowed that this
would be the last tour for a good couple of years. He needed time
to work on his new project and to unwind.
Good Morning Atlanta was a receptive
audience, filled with lots of aspiring writers who were looking for
advice to help launch or pivot their creative career. Wes gave a
summary of his top five tips for getting published to end off the
segment and taping was finalized. Then the lineup for the
book-signing part of the event began. Two hours later, he was
done.
Wes glanced at the schedule Luca had updated
early this morning. After this segment, he had to go to G145 FM for
a radio interview, then a break, then a luncheon at the Southern
Writers Association. His afternoon was free, with a massage booked
at the hotel, and then over to an LGBTQ2S+ benefit at seven PM,
where he would sign copies of his latest book and give a brief
speech. Hotel overnight and then a flight at nine forty-five AM to
Miami. Miami for two days, then fly to New Orleans, etc…
Wes was tired just reading his itinerary.
Tired and getting cranky as the morning wore on. He checked his
phone, but he still hadn’t received a text from Ryker yet, and it
was making him fucking antsy. Is he
okay? Pissed off? And why do I care? He couldn’t take waiting
any longer.
Wes: Did you get my note?
Ryker: Yup, thanks for taking Spock out.
I was able to sleep in for once. And congrats on Rudy. He’ll be a
great addition to your family.
Wes: Thanks, I hope Peanut will be ok
with a new brother. Will have to feed them bagels to keep the peace
LOL.
Ryker: Your bagel wish is my
command.
Wes: Only bagel wishes?
What am I doing? Stop it.
Ryker: Bagels are all I can offer. Have
fun in Atlanta.
Wes: Will do, take care.
Ryker: You too, chat soon.
Wes shouldn’t be disappointed by Ryker’s
response, but admittedly it stung a bit. What, did he expect Ryker
to say one night wasn’t enough and they should do it again? Yes,
because it was that good. And not just the sex. I haven’t talked
and joked with anyone like that in a long time. Maybe it wasn’t
the same for Ryker. Wes wasn’t normally hung up on what his lovers
thought since he usually didn’t see them twice. And now I know
why. This line of thinking is pointless. Let it go.
He texted Grey to see how he was doing. Grey
had flown back to Toronto to deal with an
office emergency and would guide Wes with any PR stuff as needed
via video conference for the rest of his tour. Wes hoped he was
going to take some time to rest and reminded himself to ask about
the mystery man leaving Grey’s hotel room in New York City. Grey
had been too quiet the morning he left, and Wes prayed that
everything was okay.
Finally, he called Luca.
“Hey, bossman. How’s it going?” Luca asked,
upbeat as usual.
“Good. The TV segment this morning went
well, and there were lots of great audience questions. I’m just
about to head off for the radio interview, so thought I’d call and
catch up.”
There was a silent pause until Luca spoke
again. “Mac Duran is the most uptight pain in the ass I’ve had the
displeasure of working with. He sent a draft agreement in the hopes
that you and Ryker will make it official. Then he called me twice
to make sure I got it even though I sent a receipt e-mail to
confirm. And he e-mailed me again. Then he called me again. That
man needs a vacation and a good fuck, and not necessarily in that
order.”
Wes couldn’t help but laugh at Luca’s
observation. “Please tell me you didn’t give him that advice?”
“No, but I hinted that all work and no play
makes for a very grumpy and stressed-out gay. He hung up on
me.”
Wes laughed, heading outside and glancing
around for his car service. “Man, I wish I had been there to see
Mac’s face. You really push his buttons.”
A black Mercedes pulled up to the curb, and
the front window rolled down. “Mr. Stewart?” the young driver said.
Wes nodded. “Good day to you, sir. I’m Hayden and I’ll be your
driver for the remainder of the day.” He leapt out of the car and
opened the back door for Wes.
“I don’t want to go anywhere near Big Mac’s
buttons. He irks me with that icy attitude of his,” Luca said.
“Anyway, enough talk about that man. Did you read the notes
I sent for the benefit tonight? You’ll be at the head table with
the mayor and Ashton Langley, the founder and CEO of PrideAtlanta.
I sent you his bio and pic. Short dark hair, green eyes, dimples.”
Luca sighed. “You are one lucky man, Wes Stewart.”
“Thanks, Luca. I’ll text if I have
last-minute questions. Later.”
“Good luck!”
And with that, Wes ended the call. He nodded
at the driver and slid into the backseat.
While the car whizzed through the busy
streets of Atlanta, Wes opened the e-mail Luca had sent and reread
it, familiarizing himself with the names and faces registered to
attend. Besides the mayor and his wife, there would be some bigwig
from the media and a few local celebrities at the head table.
He clicked on Ashton Langley’s photo and
read his bio. Forty-five years old. Widower. His husband had passed
away six years ago from cancer. One adopted son, age eleven. A
venture capitalist and successful business owner, he’d started the
charity in memory of his husband, and it was now his primary focus.
Ashton was a strong advocate in a region that still struggled with
acceptance of the LQBTQ2S+ community. Wes was impressed and looked
forward to meeting him.
He glanced at the photo again. Luca was
right—Ashton was a very good-looking man.
Too bad he wasn’t a cranky New Yorker.
****
Ryker
Revisions, revisions, and more revisions.
After four hours at his laptop, Ryker finally took a break and went
for a walk with Spock, the warm spring air and sunny skies lifting
his mood. He tried not to think about Wes, but that was futile.
They were testing their writing partnership and would be
corresponding a lot, especially if they signed an agreement, so
naturally, Ryker would be thinking about him. Them. Together.
No, not them together. Working together.
Work only.
Ryker just needed to avoid flirting with
Wes, though that could be a tall order. Wes was a natural tease, so
it was bound to happen occasionally. Unless Wes had other
distractions to keep him happy. Ryker winced at that thought. He
did not want to think about Wes fucking other men.
Shit. I never do this with any of my other
hook-ups. What the hell is wrong with me?
Searching for a distraction, Ryker decided
to check out Grindr to see if there was anyone nearby looking for a
little playtime this week. He needed a release with a new man. Then
he could get back to his usual self.
Ryker headed back home, wrote for another
two hours, then searched the kitchen cupboards for something to
snack on. He texted Javier, and they agreed to meet at the Gambit
pub in a few days to discuss the benefit for the shelter. Ryker was
still determined to make a donation in place of attending, but he
didn’t want to offend Javier and preferred to tell him in person.
Plus, Ryker decided to meet a guy later that night at the same pub.
Life was back to normal.
He checked his phone again, but there were
no further texts from Wes. Rationally, Ryker knew it was a good
thing, but his chest still tightened a bit in disappointment. He
shook it off. Wes’s schedule for the next few weeks was insane, so
Ryker would let him reach out when he had time.
Ryker made his daily call to Cal to see if
he’d had any further texts from his anonymous creeper.
“Hey, bud, how are you? Any more messages
this week?” Ryker asked, grabbing a cracker to munch.
“Nope, all quiet, thank God! Hopefully,
that’s the end of it. Now on to some good news. Mac told me you and
Wes are working together. Congrats, man.”
“It’s not a done deal yet,” Ryker mumbled
and shoved another cracker in his mouth.
“That’s not what Mac seems to think. Anyway,
I think working with someone else will be good for you, you know,
shake up your creative juices. Though you might have a hard time
concentrating since Wes is quite the distraction. Funny,
good-looking, and that deep voice, hmmm, fuck me,” Cal said with a
chuckle.
Ryker inhaled too quickly, and he coughed as
cracker crumbs hit his throat. He exhaled, then took another deep
breath to gather himself. A vision of Wes from last night flashed
through his mind. Fuck me, indeed. Funny how talking about
Wes made him nervous now instead of irritated.
“Yeah.” He coughed. “We’ll see. He’s
actually a pretty decent guy so far. We chatted Monday night over
wine at my place, and we’re going to see how the next few weeks
unfold. A test period before we sign. Did I mention he came over to
my place before he left? Yeah, he met my mom and then came with me
to the shelter and adopted Rudy, you know, the dog we rescued a
month ago? My cats love him, too, which is odd. And then he took
Spock for a walk Tuesday before he left, and…” Ryker’s babbling
came to an abrupt stop when he realized his mistake.
“Wait. Rewind, my friend. He was over on
Monday night and then he was there Tuesday morning? Well, well,
well, you naughty boy. Did you two fuck? You did, didn’t you?” he
teased Ryker.
Ryker’s face heated at the thought of Wes,
memories of their night together resurfacing despite his best
attempts to forget.
“Yes, okay? We fucked. We spent hours in
various sexual positions. It was fucking awesome sex and now it’s
over. Neither of us are into relationships, so it all works out.
With that out of our systems, we can focus on writing. We’re on
good terms. We understand each other. No worries.” Christ, he was
babbling again.
“Mmm, yeah, I don’t know if I buy that, Ry.
I think there’s more going on here than a quick roll in the sheets.
You met him at Mac’s and gave him the evil eye. Then he charmed
you. Twenty-four hours later, you’re introducing him to your
mother. He adopts one of the dogs you rescued, and you celebrate
your ‘soon-to-be partnership’ with wine, music, and a night of
fucking? You know what? I smell a Hallmark movie! Ooooooh, Ry’s in
looove,” Cal sang out.
Ryker rolled his eyes and ran a hand through
his tangled hair.
“Gimme a break, Callum. Mom came by
to interrogate him, and the dog adoption was just the right place,
the right time. Wes and I fucked. That’s it. Now he’s on his tour,
probably off having sex with a different man every night of the
week.” Ryker’s stomach clenched. “And I’ll hook up with someone
else when I have time, and that’s that. I feel nothing. No feelings
of any kind. No feelings. Except nice ones—friendly, good feelings.
But not that kind of good. More like warm, but not
that kind of warm. Nope.” Ryker shut up as he flushed and
paced the floor. Shit. Incoherent much?
Cal was silent for a moment. “You know, I’ve
never heard you talk so much on one phone call. Like, ever. You’re
normally ‘hi, how are you, bye.’ Something is up with you and your
reaction to Wes. You know, it’s okay to have feelings.”
Ryker laughed out loud. “This from a man who
has never had an intimate relationship that lasted longer than an
hour. What do you know about love, Cal?”
“I said feelings. You said love.”
Ryker paused his pacing and suddenly felt
lightheaded, like he was going to pass out. It’s just hunger.
Eat another cracker.
“And I don’t know any more about feelings
than you do, my friend, but I know you’re behaving differently and
it’s all to do with Wes. Anyway, I’m glad you had a good time. And
that you two are okay to test out your work partnership now that
you’ve seen each other’s naked bits.” Cal cackled.
Ryker took a deep breath and pressed his
fingers to his eyes. “Don’t say naked bits. Jesus! And what about
you? Didn’t you go home with someone, or several someones, after
you left the club on Saturday night?”
“Who told you that? There was no one.
Nothing happened!” Cal said vehemently. “Hey, someone’s at the
door. Gotta go!”
And with that, Ryker was left staring at his
phone in confusion. Spock let out a whine and ducked his tiny head
into the sofa cushions.
“What?” he asked his dog, as Spock continued
to hide.
Ryker was glad he wasn’t the only one acting
weird today.