Laurie
and James are a monogamous couple with an occasional lover in James’s best
friend, Al. It is a casual, friend-with-benefits situation which suits them
all, especially given Al’s promiscuous lifestyle.
When Al
is assaulted, however, Laurie and James are forced to confront the fact that
their feelings for Al might be stronger than mere liking. But would free spirit
Al ever want more than what they already have?
Excerpt:
P.A.
Friday © 2017
All
Rights Reserved
Anyhow,
Laurie hung around outside, a little distance from the shop. He was grateful
that it was a decent evening, even despite the cold. Finally, he heard the door
begin to open and walked towards it.
“Don’t
stay, Al. I can manage from here,” Fen called.
“Yeah,
okay.” Al’s voice sounded a little strained, and Laurie moved more swiftly
towards him, unwilling to let him hang around alone on the doorstep.
“Hey,” he
said, tapping Al gently on the shoulder as he came up to him.
“Laurie!”
Al let go of the shop door and clutched his chest in an age-old gesture of
shock. “God, you scared the bejesus out of me.”
“Hell.
Sorry,” Laurie apologised. Appearing out of the darkness at someone who got
attacked a couple of days earlier by a group of people appearing out of the
darkness. Nice one, Laurie, he castigated himself mentally. “I didn’t want to
hang around in the shop looking like some sinister spectre at the feast in case
your boss didn’t appreciate it,” he explained guiltily. “But I should’ve
thought. Sorry.”
Al gave a
weak grin. “No, you’re right. Fen would probably not have wanted you standing
about watching her cash up. I’m just a bit twitchy. Sorry, yourself.”
“I feel
like an idiot,” Laurie apologised.
“Nothing
new there, then,” Al said, his grin widening. Then he sobered up, touching
Laurie’s arm. “Seriously, though, thanks for this. Meeting me, I mean. Didn’t
realise how much of a fucking wuss I was until it came to going out, and it was
dark, and…”
Laurie
bit his lip. Bastards. He felt the now-familiar wave of anger wash over him. So
much for being a peaceable sort of chap. Laurie would quite happily have
committed murder at the moment, given the right targets. He pulled Al into a
one-armed hug.
“Not a
problem. You’d do the same for me.”
Al looked
at him, his strange green eyes lit by the street light above them. “Yes, I
would,” he said quietly. “I’m glad you know that.”
Laurie
felt his cheeks flush, despite the cold. He hadn’t known, not really. If he’d
thought about it, he’d have presumed that Al liked him well enough—but probably
more as James’s boyfriend, not for himself particularly. His own feelings for
Al were one thing (and he was slightly embarrassed about his level of
protectiveness, not to mention love, towards the younger man), but he had no
thought that they were reciprocated, and he hadn’t been unduly bothered by
that. They didn’t have that sort of relationship. But there was something
simple and genuine in Al’s response that was touching. It wasn’t the normal,
teasing young man who Laurie usually knew. Laurie mumbled something incoherent
and left his arm around Al’s shoulders as they walked towards home. James was
too tall to hold like this; Laurie’s hand always fell across his back and
rounded his waist on the far side. But Al was five or six inches shorter than
Laurie, and Laurie’s arm slipped around his shoulders quite comfortably.
“What did
Fen say—about your face?” Laurie asked.
Al
shrugged. “Told her I got in a fight.”
Laurie
raised an eyebrow. Of all the people to get in a fight, Al was one of the least
likely. Al stared at his and Laurie’s feet.
“Told her
she should’ve seen the other guy,” he mumbled. “Wasn’t true. They were fine.”
“They
were a ‘they’,” Laurie said, trying not to sound as angry as he felt. “With a
knife.”
Al
shrugged. It was such a familiar gesture, but this time Laurie’s arm was around
Al, so he could feel it go through him. It seemed as if he could also feel the
self-hatred Al was experiencing, too. It burnt, and Laurie felt helpless to do
anything about it.
“Yeah,”
Al said, at last. There was a silence. Then, “Laurie,” he said.
“Uh-huh?”
“I think
I’m ready to tell the police now.”
Laurie
could feel Al tense as he said the words; it was not going to be an easy
experience for him, Laurie knew.
“You’re
bloody brave.”
Al
huffed, a little puff of cold air escaping from his lips. “Hardly,” he said.
“Think I’m being anything but.” He stopped walking, shivering a little.
“Thought how I’d feel if they did it to Fen. To someone else.” He leaned his
head against Laurie’s arm. “I have to, don’t I?”
“No,”
Laurie said quietly. “You don’t. But you will, because you’re brave. Because
you’re you. Because you’re thinking about someone else two days after you—”
“Yeah,”
said Al, cutting him off quickly. He hadn’t let them say the word—not Laurie,
not James, definitely not himself. “I was shit. But—”
It was
Laurie’s turn to cut Al off. “No, you weren’t. And no, you aren’t.” There were
moments when one-armed hugs didn’t cut it. Laurie pulled Al close in against
him, holding him as tightly as possible without pressing against him too
painfully. No need to remind Al of all the bits of him that hurt in quite so
physical a fashion. “You’re being incredible, all right?” Laurie whispered in
Al’s ear. “Don’t think otherwise.”
“Going to
carry on hugging me like this?” Al asked, sounding a bit happier. “Because you’re
having a decent effect on my ego.” He gave a little wriggle, pushing himself up
against Laurie. “More than my ego,” he added thoughtfully.
A warm Al
pushed up against him was rather too good for a public street, Laurie thought.
He said as much to Al, who laughed.
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