Page 14 of Cosmo

“Abs,” Murphy hissed.

Abs’ blue eyes widened comically. “Sorry! Yeah, um, welcome to the club?”

Liam eyed Murphy suspiciously. Someone had told him that Liam wasn’t the biggest fan of family. He only hoped the guys didn’t know the complete story. Whenever anyone learned about it, they treated him differently.

The next to shake his hand was a guy in a fedora and sunglasses. He wore them inside at night. “I’m Hypnotic, but these guys call me Hippy.”

“Hi,” he said, smiling a little.

A small, beautiful man in a black sweater was next in line, dark hair and eyes, with distinctive middle eastern features. “I’m Mims, or Mimosa. Welcome.”

As Mims turned, Liam heard him whisper to Abs, “Why does Paps only hire young guys?”

A Latino man came to him with his hand proffered. “Haze. Nice to meet you, Cosmo.”

“Thanks, you, too.”

Goldie set a large hand on his shoulder. “This is the bartending crew, but those two over there, that’s Murph, who you know, but the fine brother next to him is his better half, Eazy. He was once upon a time called Hurricane and slept in your room.”

Eazy came around the island and instead of shaking his hand, he hugged Liam briefly. “Welcome to our home, our pub, and if you need anything, you let me know. Don’t tell Murphy, he never remembers a thing.”

Murphy rolled his eyes as he laughed. “He’s right, but vicious. The little kids are with their aunt, who you’ll meet too. She’s a common face around here. My son from another marriage, Ryan, is at school, but he’s here often, and my father is napping. You’ll have to get used to his craggy old face, too.”

Liam was a little overwhelmed to be around all of them, but he played it off like he’d learned to do for years. Sitting betweenHaze and Goldie at the island, he watched Eazy getting the food cooked.

“Salmon with roasted vegetables,” Eazy told him. “If you’re not a fan of seafood or have any allergies, let me know. We have dinner all together at least once a week.”

Murphy added, “You’re not obligated to attend. You’re not obligated to do anything except your job, parole stuff and, well, cleaning up after yourself.”

“Damn right,” Eazy said. “I’m nobody’s maid.”

“He’s not lying,” Goldie whispered to him. “Eazy sees a mess, and he’s gonna jump everyone’s ass until it’s dealt with.”

Eazy lifted his head and smiled to Goldie. “I’m not a maid, but I am the general shopper around here.”

Eazy was gorgeous. He had creamy skin that was a little darker than a good tan. Liam figured he was biracial, especially since he was a black man with very light golden eyes. Tall, lean but fit, and he smiled…a lot. Like everything around him made him happy.

Liam wondered what that must be like. He’d never been truly happy. Not when he was young, not growing up, and never since he’d become an adult. To be happy to him was a foreign thing, like everyone pretended to be that way, hiding their darker thoughts, like he did.

Before he could think on that more, an older man came into the kitchen, complaining, “Mary, Mother of God, what is this about? Some fag orgy or some shit?”

Liam’s eyes got wide as he heard, but the others just poked at him with teasing. Goldie, in that deep, velvet voice, said, “Exactly, Mick. We were just waiting for you.”

“I like pussy, thank you,” he said, then walked right over to the stove and opened the oven to peek inside. “What’s this shit?”

“Salmon, you old prick,” Eazy told him. “Most Irish people like fish. It’s an island!”

“To hell with that! Never liked it. My old granddaddy didn’t either, and he was from the place. Theisland, ya smartass.”

They were all laughing, and Liam thought for sure Mick would be hurt or pissed off, but he started laughing too when Eazy got in the fridge and produced a raw steak. “This is yours, Mick.”

“That’s my boy,” Mick said, patting Eazy’s shoulder. His eyes moved along the group, but stopped when they landed on Liam. “Who in God’s good name are you?”

Liam opened his mouth, then closed it before he finally said, “I’m Liam, sir.”

They all broke up when he called Mick sir. “Dad, this is Liam MacManus, the new guy.”

“Liam MacManus! Why didn’t ya say so? A good Irish lad? It’s about time.”

---