Corey stopped pacing and looked at him. “I came to tell you I’m sorry about last night, sorry you got caught up in my shit, and got hurt.”
Wyatt came out of the kitchen. “Wait, you were involved? What happened? Doug won’t tell me anything.”
“Wyatt,” Doug whined.
“I’m talking to Corey right now, Doug.”
Corey sighed and sat down on the end of the couch. He looked up at Wyatt. “A young guy who thinks I fucked him over tried to tackle Stewart and then punched me in the face. Somewhere in the midst of this, Doug tried to stop it and got thrown against a car.”
“Yeah, Corey got punched,” Doug said. “Because he’s mean.”
Stewart snickered, then covered his mouth and turned away.
“You
are
,” Doug said to Corey. “You’re like...” He made a claw of his hand. “Catty. Except you’re too big to be a cat. Maybe a tiger. You’re a big, mean, tiger, Corey. With big mean, bitchy claws.”
“Doug,” Wyatt said. “Stop talking.”
Corey chuckled, shaking his head. “I think I’m gonna take your advice, Doug, and go air myself out. Because to be honest, I am completely terrified by what might come out of your mouth next.” He stood up and nodded at Wyatt. “Nice to see you again, Wyatt. Stewart, I’ll see you later.”
Corey left, closing the door behind him.
“Bye, Corey,” Doug said, then fell back against the pillows.
“Do you want to stay for pizza, Stewart?” Wyatt asked.
Stewart came over and sat next to Doug. “Uh, okay. I mean, if that’s all right with Doug.”
Unable to stop himself, Doug leaned in and kissed Stewart hard on the mouth. Stewart stiffened, then melted into the kiss, tongue lingering as Doug pulled back. Stewart looked stunned. He let out a puff of air, then glanced at Wyatt, his cheeks flushing pink.
“
You
can stay,” Doug said.
“Doug,” Wyatt said. “Remember that little talk we had about painkillers and inhibitions?”
“Don’t worry,” Doug whispered to Stewart. “I’ll kiss you again when he goes back in the kitchen.”
“Yeah, still standing right here,” Wyatt said.
Stewart let out a belly laugh, his face still crimson. “Um, wow.”
“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “Maybe you staying isn’t such a good idea after all. Thanks for stopping by, Stewart. Doug will call you when he’s feeling more himself.”
“Oh,” Doug whined. “But I
like
Stewart. He smells good.”
Stewart smirked at him. “I like you, too,” he said, then stood. “I’ll call you later.”
After Stewart left, Doug slid down and fell into a deep sleep on the couch. When he awoke later, Wyatt was setting pizza out on the coffee table. “Eat up,” he said. “I made garlic mushroom and one pepperoni.”
“Oh man,” Doug said, rubbing his eyes. “That smells good.”
He was starving suddenly. They sat watching television as they ate. After getting a couple slices of pizza in him, Doug felt more alert, more like himself again.
“How’s your back?” Wyatt asked.
Doug stretched. “Hurts a little bit, but still okay.”
“You can take a pill before bed,” Wyatt said. “You should probably stay out of work one more day.”
“Ugh,” Doug said. “I feel bad calling in. I just had a week off.”
“I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“If I feel decent tomorrow I’ll go in, I can still sit at my desk and work if need be. I need work, actually, need my routine.”
Wyatt watched Doug thoughtfully. “What’s going on with you and Stewart?”
Doug swallowed a bite of pizza, then turned to Wyatt, his head clearing as memories of the day flooded back. He dropped the slice of pizza on his plate. “Shit! I kissed him, didn’t I?”
“Oh, you sure did.” Wyatt grinned. “And you called Corey a mean old tiger bitch. Or something like that.”
He slumped over, resting his head in his hands. “Shit.”
Wyatt laughed. “Don’t sweat it, they knew you were doped up. And Corey laughed off the tiger thing. He didn’t seem too pleased about the other thing, though.”
Doug stiffened, looking up. “What...other thing?”
“You were on the bed? Talking to Stewart? I brought Corey in?”
Doug’s shoulders sagged. “Oh, fuck. He heard me say all that shit about him.”
“A manic, crazy, egomaniac hooker,” Wyatt recited. “It’s burned into my brain. It was like slow motion, I wanted to dive across the room and cover your mouth, but Corey was standing right behind me, and heard every word.”
Doug winced. “Do you think he was mad?”
Wyatt snorted. “Would you be if someone said that about you? Especially to your
boyfriend
? Yeah, Corey looked upset. I gotta tell you, Bro, I’m not liking what I’m seeing here. This dynamic you’ve got with these neighbors, it troubles me. From my vantage point, it’s embarrassingly obvious that you want Stewart and that you hate Corey because he has him.”
Doug groaned and rubbed his forehead. “No, it’s not
quite
that childish.”
Wyatt snickered.
“Okay.” Doug laughed. “It started to get that childish. I got caught up, I admit it. But I’m detaching. Stewart and I talked the other night and I told him it’s too weird, it doesn’t feel right. And he brought it up when we were in the bedroom, said he got it. I think we’re on the same page. Gonna cool it off. Be friends.”
“But then you kissed him after that,” Wyatt said.
Doug scowled at him. “When are you leaving?”
Wyatt laughed. “I’m sorry, but that kiss was something, and Stewart got all flustered. He’s into you, I can tell. I think you may have negated your ‘let’s be friends’ talk by sucking his face directly after.”
“I was on painkillers. Stewart’s not an idiot, he knows I wasn’t in my right mind.”
“But you like him.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m putting him in the friend zone. He has a boyfriend.”
Wyatt shrugged, and took a bite of pizza. “That’s probably wise. But if you’re not going to wage war to win the fair Stewart’s heart, you should probably apologize to Corey.”
“Why are you all Team Corey today?” Doug asked. “You know, Stewart said Corey wins everyone over eventually, I can see him hypnotizing you right before my eyes. Don’t let that crazy prick fool you, he can be a monumental asshole.”
Wyatt raised his eyebrows. “You know who sounds crazy right now? You. You’re fixated on him. Not the same way you are with Stewart, but you’re fixated nonetheless. Apologize to him so there’s no lingering weirdness, clean the slate, and then stay the hell away from those guys.”
Doug nodded, looking down. He knew Wyatt was right, had felt the same way even as he took Stewart to his bed that last time. But a strange melancholy took over. It had been a long time since he’d felt sadness. Corey was right about one thing. Doug hadn’t mourned Harry, hadn’t let sadness in when the relationship ended. Especially when he found out that even after Tyler—Harry’s lover—had filed the lawsuit, Harry was still with the guy. Still sleeping with him. Harry
knew
. And he allowed it to happen. He allowed this man, this person he’d betrayed Doug with, to further destroy his life. So there’d been no room for sadness over Harry. Only anger; that white-hot, blinding rage.
But he felt sad now, with the truth that he couldn’t pursue Stewart, couldn’t pursue his own feelings. And he did have feelings. Though he’d known Stewart only a short time, the man had dominated his thoughts since their first night together. And his thoughts hadn’t been full of lust alone.
He’s perfect. He’s intoxicating. He’s for me
.
“Unless,” Wyatt said cautiously, “you think it’s worth it. Unless you do want to go after Stewart. See where it goes. There’s obviously something between you.”
Doug turned to his brother. “I can’t. No matter what I think of Corey. No matter what my opinions on their
open
relationship. I won’t break up another man’s home.” He shook his head. “I won’t do that to someone else.”
Wyatt gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “Well, then. You’ll have to move on, won’t you? I’m sure you’ll meet someone else. Apparently people find you attractive. Though I’m not sure why.”
Doug grinned at him. “No set ups. No blind dates.”
“I promise,” Wyatt said. “You’re on your own.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re on your own.”
But it turned out Doug wasn’t on his own for very long. He went to work the next day completely oblivious that he would have a Friday night date by lunchtime.
He’d been surprised by how good his back felt when he got up that morning. The bruise was tender, but the muscle spasms had ceased, and it seemed those had been the demons causing all his pain. He was granted permission from his boss to just sit at his desk and do paperwork, but he probably could have performed his regular duties with little trouble. But Wyatt would be pleased that he was at least taking it easy, after getting annoyed that Doug insisted on going to work rather than lying around his apartment all day. But shit, he felt fine, he wasn’t gonna miss work again so he could take aspirin and watch soap operas.
Late morning, his boss, Rick Hall stepped into his office. “Hey, you feeling good enough to babysit a project engineer from Ren Systems?”
Rick was a short, beefy guy in his fifties who’d been with the company a long time. He and Doug got along well, their working friendship solidified by Rick’s patient understanding while Doug had been going through his crisis in the aftermath of Harry. Doug would always be grateful to him for that, and for not firing his ass when he’d brought his personal shit to work, snapping at coworkers and basically being a miserable bastard.
Doug shrugged. “Yeah, sure. What do I have to do?”
“Just take him around the shop and show him the parts you’ve been working on. Then take him to lunch somewhere, company will pay for it. Bill was gonna handle it but he called in. With
back
pain. I think you might be contagious.”
Doug laughed. “Sure, where is he?”
“Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
****
“So what do you do for fun?”
Doug considered his answer as he bit into his sandwich. The young man sitting across the restaurant table was Kelly Ingham, the project engineer Doug had spent the morning showing around the plant. He was cute and thin, his sandy hair cut short, corporate style, and he wore a blue suit with a starched white shirt and red tie.
Doug laughed. “Fun. Let’s see. I run a lot. Work out. Been trying to get out more lately, but I don’t have what you’d call a bustling social life.”
Kelly took a sip of water and smiled at him. “I find that hard to believe. Guy who looks like you.”
That’s when it hit him. The long looks, the brief touch of fingers on Doug’s arm as he showed him around. Kelly from Ren Systems was flirting with him. Doug studied him across the table. He was attractive, if not a bit stiff looking. But he had strange eyes, his upper lids heavy in a way that made it look like he was always squinting.
Doug tried not to focus on his faults. Here was a cute guy that was flirting with him. Doug was single. And he needed to start dating someone who wasn’t his neighbor. He tried to convince himself that Kelly looked a bit like James Dean. A skinny, squinty, corporate version of James Dean. That would do.
“Thank you for the compliment,” Doug said. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
Kelly beamed. “Well, I have to visit another site tomorrow before I head home, back down to southern Mass. So I’m stuck in Boston for the night. You want to grab some dinner later?”
Doug nodded. “Sure, sounds good.”
Dating, going out to dinner, that was more Doug’s speed than picking up guys in bars. Stewart wasn’t the first stranger he’d ever gone home with, but the random hookup was something he equated with his youth. Once he got serious with Harry, he’d thought those days were over. Dating, having a relationship, in Doug’s mind that equated to being a successful adult. That’s how he’d thought of himself and Harry, as
up and coming
young professionals. Returning to the one night stand habit felt a bit like backsliding now. Even if he ended up in bed with this Kelly guy tonight, he could justify it as more than just a pickup—at least they’d have shared two meals together first.
“Great,” Kelly said. He grinned, his eyes nearly disappearing under his fleshy lids. “I figure if they’re making me work tomorrow, on a Saturday, I can at least milk the company credit card tonight. So dinner’s on me.”
“Then I’m definitely in,” Doug joked. “Anywhere particular you want to go? I can pick a place if you want.”
“Actually,” Kelly said, “the restaurant at my hotel is supposed to be really good. You could come by around seven?”
Doug hesitated a moment. The restaurant at his hotel. Where Kelly’s room would be right there for easy access if they decided to take things further. Though he’d been considering the possibility of sex just moments ago, the idea of actually following through with this guy elicited a tingle of anxiety.
He looked into Kelly’s weird, squinty eyes and wondered if he could get drunk enough to want to sleep with him. Thoughts of Stewart tried to creep in, that deep melancholy crawling around in his gut. That alone made the decision for him. He needed to forget about Stewart. “I’ll be there at seven,” he said to Kelly. “Looking forward to it.”
“Good.” Kelly smiled. “This trip might not be a total bore after all.”
****
The hotel restaurant turned out to be good indeed, and Doug enjoyed a sirloin steak that melted in his mouth, along with a strong martini. The conversation, however, was nothing special. They talked about work, their families, films they’d seen. Doug had changed into khakis and a light cotton shirt, but Kelly, though he’d removed his jacket and tie, was still in his suit from earlier. Doug wondered why he hadn’t bothered to shower and change. And wondered if he was stinky.
Stop. You’re being too picky
. He took another swill of his martini, willing Kelly to become more attractive. Kelly had also ordered a martini, and as he drank more of it, his eyes grew even droopier.