“Not beer?”
“Usually it was morning. Beer’s not good for playing. I’ve got a piece of shit electric. I don’t need to be drunk off my ass when that thing snaps. Strings cut like crazy, but damn, it’s got a sweet sound for playing old-school shit.”
“I can’t believe Finnegan’s let you play up front. How many fucking times did the old lady shove a broom up our asses?”
“Enough so I still shit splinters.” Damien chuckled. “But Sionn… damn. He talked to me, Sinjun. About stupid shit mostly, but he spent the time, you know? I kind of missed that after that guy with the gun found me. Then everything became so real. It fucking scared me, Sin. That guy showing up made everything too fucking real. I was scared he’d hurt Sionn. Me—it didn’t really matter ’cause, you know, I was already dead, but Sionn, it was like he was keeping me alive.”
“If I had to lose you again—” Miki’s voice broke. “If I found out you were alive and then you were gone before—”
“I’m okay, man.” Damien turned over to face his friend and hugged him tightly, resting his forehead on Miki’s tear-wet cheek. “I’m here now. I’m here.”
He lay against Miki, holding him. Miki’s tears were sparse until Damie felt the tightness in his own chest shatter and his own sobs poured out. If he’d felt drowned before, he was past waterlogged by the time he and Miki were reduced to sniffles.
Kissing Miki’s forehead, he murmured, “We’re okay here, Sin. We’re good now. We’re together.”
“And Kane’ll kick anyone’s ass who fucks with us.” It was good to hear the pride in Miki’s voice when he spoke about his lover, even if it left a minute pang of jealousy in his heart.
“Yeah, I think Sionn would too.” Damien twisted his mouth into a grimace. “I think. Maybe. I dunno. Fuck, I’d hope so. I would for him, you know? For sure.”
“So you like him, then?” Miki teased, laughing when Damie pinched his leg. “Is this where I ask you if you like like him, or what? I didn’t do high school. Shit, I don’t even know what to call Kane. Most of the time, it’s… the cop. Or K. Like he’s Men in Black or something. Talk. Sionn. What’s up? Really.”
“Dude, I let him fuck me,” Damie admitted. “Hell, I wanted him to fuck me. It was all I could think about.”
“So you’re doing that now, D?” The singer whistled softly. “Or just him?”
“Just him.” He’d not bottomed in years. Even before his forced incarceration, he usually found himself on top, plugging away at another faceless body. It’d felt like he was giving too much of himself, and if he were honest, most of the guys he’d hooked up with wanted to have his dick up their asses more than anything else. “It’s crazy, Sin. I wanted to taste him. Fuck the condom. Fuck common sense. One damned taste. I think I even said something about testing. Should have stayed at Skywood. I’m nuts. Crazy for him. Like I can’t breathe.”
“Got in your fucking brain, then?”
He’d missed that about Miki. The guy could boil things down to one thought, taking a few words, sharpening them, and plunging them into Damien’s chest.
“Yeah, he got in my fucking brain.” He stretched out, lying on his back. Scratching an inch above his navel, Damie stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know why. Yeah, he’s hot, but so are a lot of guys. I guess it’s ’cause he… takes care of me. Not like a put-me-in-diapers creepy fetish kind of thing, but stupid shit like feeding me or tossing money in my case when it’s lean. He’d say stuff like, oh, I liked that song, but it’s crap. Just a lie he tells so he can slip me a twenty.”
“And he brought you here,” Miki reminded him. “He’s been gone. Today was the first time I’ve seen him.”
“Yeah, he dragged me here. We didn’t know you were here. Sionn knew Kane was hooked up with a musician, but he didn’t know it was you. Shit, if we’d known… I would have been here sooner. He just wanted me to talk to Donal.”
“Donal. You’re going to love Donal. He’s very cool. Like an Ent or something. But more kick-ass. Hard to explain.”
“I liked him. The dad, right? Shit, imagine having that dude as your dad.”
“Yeah, get used to him. He doesn’t go away… solid, you know? And you can use him to hide from Brigid.” Miki snuggled back into the pillows. “He’s really nice. Doesn’t push, but you know he’s there. Sionn should have come by sooner. Brigid’s pissed at him for skipping the dinner ritual, but hey, now we know what he’s been doing on Sundays.”
“One Sunday!” Damien held up his index finger. “Today. Shit, I better go find him soon. I don’t want him to….”