Chapter Fourteen.
When Haris went down for breakfast, he found Tyler and Wilson in the kitchen. Tyler was on his knees next to Alcide and both he and Wilson had their backs toward him.
"Sit," Tyler said.
Alcide wagged his tail but stayed on all fours.
"Sit," Tyler said and pressed on his rump.
"He"s very willful," Wilson said.
Yes, he f.u.c.king is.
Tyler reached up and broke off a piece of bacon from the rasher on his plate. He held it in front of Alcide. "Sit."
The dog immediately sat. Tyler gave him a tiny piece of bacon. "Good boy. Now fetch the ball."
The dog bounded off but came back without the ball.
"Sit," Tyler said and as soon as Alcide dropped his haunches, he gave him the bacon.
"It"s easy with bacon," Wilson said.
But doesn"t work with thirty f.u.c.king thousand pounds?
"Well, you have to start somewhere and then build up to him wanting to please you for no more than a pat on the head." Tyler dropped onto a chair.
So what did I do wrong?
Wilson spotted him. "Oh, good morning, sir."
"Morning," Haris mumbled.
Tyler smiled at him. "Morning."
Treacherous f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
Haris sat at the table and reached for his orange juice. Tell him to pack. He reached for his toast and bit into it.
"Have you remembered about the gig tonight?" Tyler asked.
"I"m busy."
The smile slid from Tyler"s face.
Ask your dark-haired friend.
"Would you like to come, Wilson?" Tyler asked.
"Well, I-"
"Wilson will be busy too," he snapped.
"Oh. Okay."
I am such an a.s.shole.
Tyler pushed to his feet, his breakfast unfinished. "I better get going. Thanks for breakfast, Wilson. Bye, Alcide. Bye... Yeah, bye."
Haris filled his mouth with toast so he couldn"t tell him not to come back.
A moment later, the front door slammed and Haris jumped.
"Trouble in paradise, sir?"
When he didn"t respond, Wilson cleared his throat and Haris braced himself.
"I do find, sir, that talking is the first step towards sorting out problems. Though I"m sure you have perfectly sound reasons for remaining stoically silent, might I be so bold as to suggest that telling the young man what the problem is might be a step in the right direction?"
"No, you may not." Haris glowered.
And for once, he shut Wilson up.
But after a useless day at work, he accepted that he was being an idiot. He was a.s.suming Tyler had been unfaithful, but he didn"t know. There could be another explanation for that photo Stan took and all he had to do was ask Tyler who the guy was.
Haris spotted Tyler the moment he and Wilson walked into the venue in Borough. He stood center stage under a spotlight with a guitar hanging around his neck, laughing at something the ba.s.s player was saying. Almost as though Tyler had sensed him come into the room, though Haris couldn"t see how that was possible because he stood in darkness, the guy stared straight at him and his face lit in a smile.
His gut clenched. Something in the way Tyler looked at him made him feel...warm, wanted. You couldn"t fall for someone in the amount of time they"d known one another, and yet one glance from Tyler made him think anything was possible. And he hated him for it because it made him feel weak. He couldn"t be in situations where he felt emotionally vulnerable. He hadn"t wanted to come tonight but Wilson had worn him down.
He fought his way to the bar, bought a beer for himself and a tonic and orange for Wilson, and found a place for them to stand at the side of the room. There were no seats empty. The place was packed with people a lot younger than him. More Tyler"s age. He winced as a mic screeched and then Tyler said, "Thanks for coming. We"re called Falling. If you like us, tell your mates. If you don"t, keep your mouth shut."
He nodded to the drummer and they began. Tyler was wearing tight black jeans that emphasized his slender hips, a sleeveless black leather top, and he looked...perfect. Oh Christ. He should have guessed he had a fantastic voice but it was more than that. He sang with his entire body, the sound pouring from his soul straight into Haris"s heart. And I hurt him because I a.s.sumed and didn"t trust. The dark-haired man could be a friend, not a lover. All he had to do was ask, except that would mean admitting he"d had Tyler followed. So a.s.sume the best not the worst, you idiot.
The band went through numbers by different artists: Robbie Williams, James Morrison, Coldplay and Snow Patrol, before Haris realized he"d not taken a drink of his beer. The members of Falling were talented and versatile. By their reaction, the audience seemed to think so too. Now his eyes had adjusted to the light, Haris recognized Simon Keys, from Spot, the music magazine. He was nodding his head to the beat and glancing around the room, gauging the reaction. When his gaze landed on Haris, he nodded and smiled.
Tyler tapped the mic. "Thanks, everyone. Almost done. You can nip to the loo in a minute but we"re gonna do a few of our own songs so cross your legs or you"ll miss a treat. The first"s called "Eye of the Storm" and it"s dedicated to a right pain in the neck."
Within moments Haris"s throat blocked up.
You saw me there Hanging from the cross Caught in the eye of the storm You cut me free And now I"m torn Still caught in the eye of the storm Can you live With or without me Trapped in the eye of the storm I want to be with you Doing whatever it takes Living in the eye of the storm When they finished the final set, the applause was deafening. Tyler had a broad smile on his face as he acknowledged the cheers, and Haris saw him scanning the crowd, looking for-me-and then the smile became even wider and Haris smiled back. No more a.s.suming, he knew whatever Stan had seen, he was wrong, that whatever the picture showed, it wasn"t what it seemed, and that Tyler was his if he wanted him and he did want him.
"Well, that was a surprise," Simon said at his side once applause for the last song had died away. "You said they were good, but I hadn"t expected that."
Haris laughed. "I hadn"t actually heard the band before, only Tyler and not singing. You"re impressed then?"
"Oh yeah. They"re a cut above the rest. Doesn"t mean they"ll make it, but they have talent, they"re different, and they can do more than mimic other bands, which is a start. They"re in with a chance. I need to go and speak to them while they"re packing up. Thanks for pointing him out. Lucky guy."
Tyler or me? The journalist wandered off in the direction of the stage and Haris and Wilson slipped into newly vacated seats.
"What did you think?" Haris asked him.
"Excellent," Wilson said.
"Is that it? One word?"
"And rather loud."
Haris laughed.
"I take it from your renewed good humor that whatever the little contretemps was that upset the equilibrium, it"s now been settled?"
"Yes."
"I didn"t mention it before but it might be as well to make sure you"ve made that clear because his bag is packed."
Haris"s heart sank. "Is it?"
"Obviously I wasn"t prying, merely changing the sheets, though I couldn"t help but notice."
"Right. And why didn"t you tell me earlier?"
"I thought you should come tonight because Tyler wanted you to, not for any other reason."
Haris wanted this subject changed. "Thursday night, we"re going out. Just the two of us."
"You and Tyler?"
"No, me and you. We"re going to set a trap for whoever has been following us. Tyler doesn"t need to know. I don"t want him worried. Stan Deeds is going to arrange for some of his colleagues to tail us and you"ll drive to a place where the pursuer can be boxed in."
"That sounds exciting. Might I suggest you don"t accompany me on the journey just in case it turns unpleasant?"
"I don"t think you"ll be followed if I"m not in the car. Regardless, I want to know who it is."
"And what do you plan to do, if you don"t mind my asking, if the driver doesn"t exit the other vehicle but drives furiously at you when you approach, pausing only to lower his window and empty his automatic weapon before he accelerates away and launches his vehicle at the one blocking him in, knocking it to one side before he races to a waiting helicopter and makes his getaway?"
"Too much TV, Wilson."
"Yes, sir, but-"
"We"ll stay in the car and let Stan handle everything." Probably.
Tyler raced across the room toward them. Haris stood and Tyler flung his arms around him. Before Haris could hug him back, he moved to do the same to Wilson who looked so astonished Haris had to smother a laugh.
"You both came. That"s great. Simon says he"s going to have a word with a couple of scouts. The guys are freaking out big time."
"You were fantastic," Haris said.
Tyler beamed. "Really?"
"Really."
"Are you ready to leave?" Wilson asked. "Only I"ll need several minutes to make my way to where I parked the vehicle, a.s.suming my back doesn"t cause me too many problems. Hopefully the ringing noise in my head will have subsided by then. Even more hopefully, the car will be where I left it."
Tyler laughed. "We can walk back together. Des will take the equipment to college. He lives just down the road in Greenwich."
"Did you have a coat? You"ll catch your death," Wilson said.
"I"ll go get it."
Tyler raced back the way he"d come and reappeared a few moments later wearing his jacket and Peruvian hat.
"I had three girls ask me for my autograph," Tyler said as they stepped outside.
"Only three?" Wilson said. "How disappointing."
Tyler barked out a laugh.
"No guys?" Haris asked.
"No. You"re not going to bring me down tonight." Tyler walked backward in front of them, then turned and jumped over a trash bin. He ricocheted from lamppost to lamppost, then took a long run at a postbox and leapt over that.
"It"s a bit like having a dog," Wilson said.
Tyler grinned. "I could do with a pee."
"Don"t you dare," Haris said with a growl, but inside he was laughing. Tyler"s joy was infectious.
"Honestly, tonight couldn"t have gone any better. And we even got paid. Fifty quid each. Now I can afford to buy both of you Christmas presents."
"That"s very generous," Wilson said.
"Well I"m only going to spend five quid. That"s what we should stick to. Five quid presents. Something that will make you smile. I"ll spend more on Alcide though, because he"s special."
Haris rolled his eyes.
The moment they were in the car and the privacy screen was up, Tyler fell into his arms. Warm hands slipped around his neck and Tyler"s soft lips and stubbled chin traced his face from his forehead down to his throat where he slowly licked and then sucked his Adam"s apple. Shivers of l.u.s.t snaked through Haris"s body. Tyler lifted his head to stare into his eyes and pressed his lips to his mouth. He closed his eyes and let Tyler kiss away the remnants of his jealousy and insecurity and suck the words "who were you with last night" right out of his head.
Wrapped in each other"s arms, they kissed as if they didn"t expect to see another day. Soft and wondering slid to desperate and greedy. Haris yanked off Tyler"s hat and he pulled back with a gasp and a laugh.
"I couldn"t figure out why I was so hot." He grinned at Haris.
"Think we can keep our d.i.c.ks in our pants until we get home?"