Chapter 8
“Mike! Hey. I heard you were in town.”
Steve Faus’s college-age son took a seat at the bar, looking downtrodden. “Hey, Seamus. What’s good?”
“You okay?”
“I’m out of beer and the will to live.” He dropped his forehead onto the bar. Mike was almost always upbeat and jovial so this was unusual.
“I can help with the beer and I’m guessing the other issue is about a woman?”
“Yeah,” he said despondently and then sighed.
“I have a red ale on tap that I think you’ll like.” Seamus set a coaster down. “Want to try it?”
“Yeah,” Mike said, using the same tone. “Give me two.”
“Two?” he asked in confusion.
“Can’t drunk dial your crush if you’ve got a beer in both hands.”
“So we’re going for high drama tonight, got it.” Seamus chuckled and poured the beer. “Want to tell me about her?”
“Five-six, long brown hair, more than a handful up top”— he cupped his own chest —“and out back.” He reached his arms behind his back, presumably doing the same thing to his ass.
“She sounds brilliant and kind.”
Mike raised his head, frowned, and then said, “Yeah, that too. Probably.”
Seamus laughed and put a single beer in front of him.
“Hi, Seamus. Sorry I’m late,” said his bartender, Laura.
He turned around and blinked in surprise to find her in his personal space. She tended to stand too close, which annoyed him, but he understood that they were in tight quarters so he had always ignored it. “Not a problem. Thanks for coming in on such short notice.”
“I never mind keeping you company back here.” She leaned into his chest.
“Cool.” He scooted to the side to get around her and over to his phone so he could check the time. It was almost ten, which meant DJ should be there soon. “I’ll get as much cleanup done as I can in the next little bit and then I’m going to take off.”
“Oh.” She frowned as she walked up to him again. “You’re not staying with me?” she asked as she curled her hand around his bicep.
He shook his head and then noticed a man at the end of the bar raising an empty glass. “Can you get his refill? Thanks.” He wriggled away and returned to Mike. “So what happened with the woman who has you so downtrodden?”
“You tapping that?” he asked.
“What?”
“The hot blonde bartender,” he clarified as he nudged his chin in Laura’s direction. “I’d totally do her.”
“She’s nearly old enough to be your mother!”
“Yeah,” he said as he stared in her direction. “That’s exactly my type.”
“You have issues, man.”
“So many issues,” Mike agreed. “But I’m a good lay so I could probably land her if she wasn’t with you.”
“She is not with me,” Seamus said emphatically. “Why do people keep saying that?”
“I’m going with the ability to see and hear.” Mike gulped down his beer.
“You aren’t making sense. Do I need to cut you off after only one beer?” he joked.
“Wow, you really are fast when it comes to outrunning the obvious.” He slammed the empty glass on the bar. “You’re right. That was good. I’m ready for another one.”
“Pace yourself, Mike,” Seamus said as he cleared the empty glass and went to pour a fresh one. “What if your lady calls and you’re wasted?”
“She’s back in Vegas and she says I’m too young for her. She’s not going to call.”
“Are you too young for her?”
“My tongue skills and my dick say no.”
“I can’t imagine why she doesn’t find you appealing,” Seamus said drolly as he set the new beer in front of him.
“Right? I even looked up intel online for how to land chicks her age and my execution was flawless, but still nope.”
“The sobering truth is that the internet doesn't have all the answers,” Seamus said.
“Truth.” Mike nodded. His phone rang so he picked it up with one hand while still holding his beer with the other.
“I can’t talk right now, I’m busy.” He tipped the glass against his mouth.
“Because you called. What do you mean why did I answer?” He tilted his head back and drained the glass.
“Fine. Fine. I’m coming.” He put the empty glass down and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “Be there in a few.”
“Taking off so soon?”
“One of my friend’s friends wants me to come hang out.” He handed Seamus his credit card. “He’s been bugging me to meet her.”
“That sounds promising,” Seamus said as he closed him out.
“Not as promising as his mom.” Mike stood and signed for his tab. “I’m going to go for it with her. Wish me luck.”
“I’m not sure I feel right doing that to innocent bystanders,” Seamus said.
“Fine, then I’ll wish you luck with the stacked bartender,” Mike said as he turned toward the door.
“We’re not dating.”
“I hear that loud and clear, but she doesn’t. That’s why I’m wishing you luck.”
He frowned at Mike’s back but was almost immediately distracted when his phone rang. He had set up a unique ringtone for DJ so he wouldn’t miss his calls. “Hi. Are you on your way here?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Seamus would have assumed that DJ was avoiding him so they wouldn’t have to talk about the bruises he had seen the previous night and the man who had put them there, but even from only two words, he could tell that wasn’t the issue. DJ sounded completely drained, empty.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ve had a bad day. A really fucking bad day. And it’s not over yet.”
“Where are you?” He flicked his gaze from one side of the bar to the other, confirming there wasn’t anything else that needed his attention that night. “I’m coming.”
“No, no. You’re working. I have to go to my apartment.”
“Are you there now or are you at Slice of Life?”
“You don’t—”
“DJ? I’m coming now. Where are you?”
“Thanks.” His voice was small. “I’m at Slice of Life.”
“Laura,” he said, as he pocketed his keys and his phone. “I’m taking off.” He immediately turned around and rushed toward the backdoor, gut churning. Something was wrong.
Slice of Life was a five-minute walk from his bar, but it’d take them closer to twenty minutes to get to DJ’s apartment.
His plan was for them to handle whatever was going on there and then for DJ to come back to his place for at least the night and hopefully for longer.
Based on the way he sounded on the phone, Seamus didn’t think he had the energy for that much walking so he got his truck.
A minute later, he turned onto Union Drive and saw DJ on the sidewalk. He was hunched in on himself, his gait much slower than usual. Seamus pulled up to the curb beside him and put the truck in park, intending to go to him, but DJ opened the passenger door first.
“Hi. Thanks for coming.” He closed his door, tipped his head against the seatback, and closed his eyes. “Sorry for making you miss work.”
“I don’t care about work.” He twisted to the side and looked at DJ’s face.
His smooth, fair skin was paler than usual and he didn’t think it was because of the dim lighting.
His thick black hair was disheveled, like he’d been lying or tugging on it.
And his blue eyes had dark circles underneath them.
Instinctively, Seamus reached out and smoothed his fingers over his hairline. “What happened?”
“I have to move out of my apartment right away.”
Being happy about this development when DJ looked downtrodden was horrible so Seamus refused to acknowledge his immediate reaction.
“Do you have boxes?” he asked as he pulled back onto the street.
“No. I should have thought of that.”
“I have some at the bar. It’ll only take me a minute to grab them.”
“Okay.”
He pulled up to the bar’s back door and put the car in park. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come help.” DJ sat up and reached for the door.
“You’re exhausted. I can handle empty boxes.
” Seeing the determination on DJ’s face, Seamus reached out and clasped his hand.
“Please let me do this. You can rest for a few minutes. Recharge a little so you have the energy to pack.” Not that he’d have any problem packing DJ’s belongings by himself. “Please.”
The stiffness left DJ’s posture and he relaxed back into the seat. “Thank you for taking care of me.” He rubbed his thumb back and forth over the back of Seamus’s hand, pretty blue eyes looking into his own. “I don’t remember the last time anyone…” His voice broke on the last word. “Thank you.”
Heart aching, Seamus leaned closer and kissed DJ’s forehead. “I’m your husband. It’s my honor and my privilege to take care of you.”
The words slipped from his mouth naturally, without thought. They were something a person in the community would say to their spouse. After he heard himself speak them, Seamus realized just how much he meant them.
Head turned to the side, DJ looked at him consideringly. “We only got married to please your parents.”
“So does everyone in Claddagh. That doesn’t change the truth of what I said.” He cupped his husband’s cheek and kissed his forehead again. “Sit tight. I won’t be gone long.”
With six retail businesses in his building, there was always a big stack of empty supply boxes.
Seamus went into the bar’s utility room to get the packing tape and then gathered an armful of boxes and carried them to the truck.
He repeated the trip another time and was about to go back for a third when DJ rolled down the window and said, “That’s more than we’ll need. I don’t have much stuff.”
He nodded and got back into the truck. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“No,” DJ said, but immediately continued speaking.
“It turns out that the plumbing thing in my building is a big deal. My landlord said something about damage to the foundation and the beams. I don’t remember the details, but the end result is that he has to demolish the building and I have to find a new place to live. ”
“You already have a place to live.” And Seamus was thrilled that he wouldn’t have to argue with him to make that happen. He needed to take care of DJ and now he’d have that opportunity.
“I can’t move in with you.”
“Why not?”
“Have you ever had a roommate?”
He had moved from his parents’ house to Hope. “Do my parents and my brothers count?”
“No.” DJ chuckled.