Guys on Top 02 - Guys on the Side (33 page)

“Whoa! Angelo, take it easy. Do you remember me? It’s Jairo.”

Angelo let out a breath, staring at the man with dark curly hair, his memory slapping into place. Yes, Jairo. They’d met on the street in front of Corey’s the morning Angelo dropped him off after they’d spent the night at his loft.

“Oh, shit.” Angelo picked up his briefcase. “I’m sorry. You...scared me I guess.” He chuckled.

Jairo frowned, his wide smile absent, studying Angelo with sympathetic eyes. “Yeah, imagine that. You’re jumpy after being attacked last week.”

“Well...yeah. But it wasn’t me who got hurt.”

“Still traumatic for you though, Angelo. I’m guessing no one’s been checking up on how
you’re
doing after what happened with Doug.”

Angelo shrugged. “I’m fine. I’m just glad Doug’s okay. Why are you here?”

“I was asked to come round and take you out for a beer.”

“By Corey?”

Jairo shook his head. “No. Doug called me. He was concerned about you.”

“Doug’s concerned about
me?
That’s ridiculous, he should be taking care of himself. I’m the last person he should be worried about. I’m fine. I’m just glad he’s all right. He shouldn’t be worrying about—”

“Angelo.” Jairo stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not fine. You nearly jumped out of your skin when I approached you. You’ve got every right to be
not
fine. And I know...” Jairo shook his head, sighing. “I know Corey has dropped out of touch.”

Angelo’s eyes narrowed. Was Jairo here to put the nail in the coffin, inform Angelo he was being officially dumped? No, that was too childish, Corey wouldn’t do that. “I still don’t get it,” Angelo said. “Why does Doug want you to talk to me?”

“You like Doug, right?”

“Yes, of course. He’s a really nice guy. I feel terrible about what happened.”

“Then humor him, and come for a beer with me. Okay? He would have come himself but, you know. He’s not feeling so hot right now.”

Angelo nodded. “All right.”

They ended up at the sports bar down the road, and to Angelo’s silent discomfort, wound up sitting in the exact booth he’d shared with Corey that first afternoon when he’d come by Angelo’s office.

They made small talk until the waitress brought them each a draft beer, then Jairo’s kind brown eyes locked on Angelo. “Doug says that Corey’s being Guilty McGuilterson.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he blames himself. All the things that led to Doug getting hurt, he feels like they cycle back to him, and his bad decisions.”

“So I take it I was one of those bad decisions.”

“I think it’s more an ‘Angelo by association’ thing. Corey blames himself for not taking Tommy too seriously when you guys first went to his house. He thinks if he’d reported the incident right away, this wouldn’t have been allowed to escalate, and Tommy never would have dared to do what he did.”

“Yeah. Okay. I wish he wouldn’t blame himself, though. And I wish like hell none of this was splashing back on me. But clearly it is, if he won’t even see me.”

“He’s probably afraid seeing you will only make him think about it more, and he won’t be able to go back to whatever snuggly arrangement you two had prior. This is all speculation, mind you. Doug and I do tend to gossip, and Corey’s always a font of material for that.”

“Okay.” Angelo nodded. “I can see that. I understand.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be so understanding.”

“What do you mean?” Angelo frowned. “It makes perfect sense.”

“And you’re okay with it? Not seeing Corey anymore? You really like him, don’t you?”

Angelo looked down into his beer, sighing.

“Of course you do,” Jairo said. “He’s Corey.”

“If Corey doesn’t want to see me, I have to respect that.” Angelo looked at Jairo. “His friends come first. I get it.” He chuckled. “You know, the same morning I met you, I had the...privilege of meeting Zach after.”

Jairo laughed. “Oh. Lucky you.”

“Know what the last thing Zach said to me before he left was? He told me that Corey would never make me a priority. I know these are extreme circumstances, but I still can’t help thinking about that now. Stewart. Doug. Corey loves them both. He’d slay dragons for them. But me? I’m the new guy. And my link to Tommy has made me cannon fodder.”

“Doug thinks you’re the one.”

Angelo looked up. “The one what?”

“The
one
for Corey.”

Chuckling, Angelo shook his head. “That’s very romantic of
Doug
to say that. But it’s a moot point if Corey doesn’t agree.”

“Well, that’s the thing. Doug said he’d never heard Corey speak about someone the way he spoke about you. He said Corey’s bat-shit, off his rocker, crazy over you. So here’s the question. Do you feel the same way about Corey?”

“Maybe Corey did say those things to Doug, but that was before. Everything’s different now.”

Jairo smiled. “Didn’t answer the question, Angelo. Don’t tell me Stewart is right, and you were just using Corey as an experiment or to piss off your family.”

“
What?
Stewart thinks that?”

“Yes, but don’t give it too much credence, he tends to be over-protective, as you surely have surmised by now.”

“That’s ridiculous, I’m not a child. I don’t care about
pissing off my family.
Though I’ve done a pretty good job of it anyway, I don’t care about that, any of it. Corey is all I wanted, through any of this!”

Jairo calmly took a sip of beer. “You seem angry.”

“I am angry! Meeting Corey was the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me, and my asshole family fucked it up. Tommy put Doug in the hospital for Christ sakes, and my heart is fucking
broken
.” He quickly looked up at Jairo, realizing he’d vented a little too much. “Sorry. I’m just...this all fucking sucks.”

“Okay,” Jairo said. “Now we can talk seriously.”

“We weren’t before?”

Jairo shrugged. “I trust Doug. But I had to make sure for my own self that he’s right about you. And Stewart’s not.”

“What the hell difference does it make, Jairo?”

“Do you have friends, Angelo?”

Raising his eyebrows, Angelo said, “Excuse me?”

“Friends. People you hang out with. Pals. Buddies. Comrades.”

“Yes. I have friends. Why?”

“My boyfriend Rod and I are taking Corey out to Bernie’s tonight to see a band. You should come by with some friends. Just show up, do your thing. Doug is convinced that if Corey sees you, he’ll realize he’s still crazy about you.”

Angelo’s jaw dropped. “You want to Parent Trap us? That is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

Jairo shrugged. “Maybe. Doug did get hit in the head, after all.”

“I am not going to force myself on Corey if he doesn’t want to see me. I respect him too much for that. I’m not Zach, or one of his fucking stalkers, Jairo.”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, all right?”

“I’m sorry, Jairo.” Angelo took a long sip of beer. “I don’t meant to raise my voice at you. It’s been an emotional week.”

“I know, I get it. Just give it some thought, okay? And bear in mind, Corey knows nothing about this conversation, and he won’t. And I won’t get involved. I’ll just be there as an innocent bystander out to see the band. You wanna ask some friends to Bernie’s, just make it a casual night out, then you alone know Corey’s gonna be there. If Corey’s a douche or ignores you, or even if he’s friendly but nothing else happens? Then you know. You get closure. I’m sure you’re not enjoying being left
wondering
if he’s ever gonna call you again.”

Angelo scowled. “No. No, limbo isn’t too much fun.”

“And I know
you’re
not gonna call
him
and throw yourself at his mercy. You’ve got too much dignity, I can tell just by looking at you.”

“Ha, right. I’m scared shitless to call Corey, but I prefer ‘dignity’, so thank you.”

“So you’ll think about it.”

Angelo winced. “I guess. I’ll think about it.”

Jairo smiled widely. “Wear something hot.”

“I said I’d
think
about it.”

“Jeans and boots,” Jairo said. “Corey’s got a thing for jeans and boots.”

Angelo smirked. “I’ll
think
about it, Jairo.”

“And don’t stare at Corey with a big sad moony face. Be cool and casual.”

“Jairo...”

“Okay.” Jairo slapped a twenty dollar bill down on the table. “See you tonight.”

Angelo saluted him with his beer. “Goodbye, Jairo.”

Once Jairo had gone, Angelo stared down at the table, sighing.
This is stupid
. His pulse was already drumming at the thought of showing up somewhere Corey was. Things were too tense right now. It was a bad idea. A terrible idea. Juvenile. Possibly self-destructive. He should just give Corey his space, and let whatever was going to happen, happen naturally over the course of time.

Time
.

There was that fucking word again. ‘
I need some time, Angelo.
’ Corey’s text. A fucking text. He hadn’t even been willing to call, to speak to Angelo directly. And now that Angelo thought about it, that was kind of a bullshit move. Sure, Corey was upset, his friend was hurt, his ex-boyfriend was borderline homicidal toward Angelo. But did Angelo’s feelings mean nothing in light of that?

Jairo had made a good point. No one had checked in to see if Angelo was doing all right after the incident.
No one
. Except Doug, apparently. The guy who’d gotten his face smashed in. Doug gave more of a shit than Corey did? That didn’t jibe right. It made Angelo angry, but his analytical mind understood where it was coming from. Angelo knew a thing or two about guilt. He’d carried his own guilt over his father’s death for years, keeping it tucked away like a little torture device inside, pulling it out to flog himself every now and then just to keep the wound fresh.

But guilt wasn’t healthy when left to ruminate like that. Corey was smart. Angelo was sure he’d come to realize this truth eventually. But when? How long should Angelo wait?

Time
.

Angelo paid the tip, then left the sports bar, his anger escalating. He’d worked hard to get Corey’s interest. He’d battled with his inner demons, come out to his friends, bore his soul and his body. And the prize for doing all that was beyond worth it. Angelo had wanted Corey Stengel more than he’d ever wanted anything. And damn it, he wanted him still.

He started toward home, then paused on the sidewalk and pulled out his phone, dialing Jake.

“Angelo! What’s up?”

“Hey, you think you and Randy want to come out to Bernie’s Pub tonight to see a band with me?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m into it. I don’t know about Randy, but I’ll call him. Is your boyfriend gonna be there?”

Angelo paused. He felt a bit dishonest, but telling Jake about this silly plan might influence his friend’s behavior once they got to the pub. And Jairo was right. Angelo needed to appear cool and casual tonight, not needy or like it was a premeditated ambush. Even though it was.

“No. No, I doubt it he’ll be there. Not with me, anyway. We’ve kind of cooled things off.”

“Ah, sorry, man. Guess you need a night out.”

“Yeah. So you’re in?”

“Sure, you want me to come by your place?”

“Sounds good. And Jake, you borrowed my leather boots, do you still have them?”

“I do, I’ll bring them with.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you later.”

Angelo hung up and moved down the street with purpose now. Corey’s feelings mattered. But so did Angelo’s. Angelo mattered. But if Corey was planning to cast him aside? Well, then Angelo wanted to give him a good look at exactly what he’d be missing before that happened. And he was going to show him tonight.

“Fuck
time
,” he said, and got into his car.

Time could kiss his ass.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Sadly, it appears you’re still going to be damn pretty after all this heals,” Corey said to Doug, who sat on his living room couch, pillows propped up behind him. The swelling had gone down a lot, but his face was still puffy and bruised, raccoon circles of purple around his eyes.

“Yes,” Jairo agreed. “But just because he’s not permanently disfigured, doesn’t mean he can’t sue.”

“I’d sue,” Rod said. “Definitely.”

“I’m not suing,” Doug said. “I’ve had enough legal battles in my life, and it’s a huge, giant pain in the ass. Tommy’s admitted his guilt and is likely going to do jail time, that’s enough for me. Just going through all the questioning with the cops was grueling enough, I’m not going to add a lawsuit to this. I have a life to live.”

“You sure you don’t want us to stay in with you?” Corey asked.

“
No
, Corey.” Doug pointed at him. “You’ve been mothering me enough. Plus Stewart and Wyatt are both coming by later, I’ll be fine. You want to do something for me? Go out and have some fun. Please.”

Sighing, Corey crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t feel right going out whooping it up while you’re here all broken.”

“Oh for the love of God, Corey,” Jairo said. “Can we just go? You need a night out. And I’m going to stay here and be as annoying as possible unless you agree.”

“Why don’t you and Rod just go,” Corey said. “You guys are gonna be all dancing and shit anyway. I hate going out with couples, being a third wheel.”

“Please,” Jairo said. “You hang out with Doug and Stewart all the time. Your life is a third wheel.”

“And you promised to teach me to play pool,” Rod said.

“Jairo can teach you.”

“Jairo sucks,” Rod said. “I want you to teach me.”

“Christ, all right!” Corey threw his hands up. “I’ll go, if only to stop all this nagging.”

Doug let out a relieved sounding sigh. “Okay, good.”

Corey frowned down at him. “You that relieved I’m leaving? Thanks a bunch, Crandall. See if I make you anymore of my special healing tea.”

Doug laughed. “I want you to go have fun, that’s all. Now get out of here. You guys are really loud and it’s hurting my head.”