Page 16 of The Jock
“Trust me.”
Twenty minutes later, Colby opened the door for Taylor and watched his expression as he raked his gaze through the crowded club. The show was going to start soon so he had to find Milo and get Taylor settled in with a drink before he had a chance to figure out what was going on.
“What?” Taylor stopped in his tracks and gazed out at the crowd.
Colby wrapped his arm around Taylor’ shoulders. “I want you to meet my friend.”
Taylor looked at Colby. “A new one?”
“I met him at the gym, believe it or not.” Colby grinned when he saw Milo. After half a second, Milo saw him too and he lifted a hand to wave, silver bangles sliding down his arm. Tonight he wore some kind of delicate-looking shirt, something gauzy and light, like a strong breeze might tear it. He’d pairedit with skintight jeans and ballet flats. His lips were cherry red and shiny and Colby had a hard time forcing his eyes away from them to meet Milo’s gaze again.
“Milo, this is my brother, Taylor. He’s the cook at my family’s diner. Taylor, this is Milo. He goes to my gym.” He stopped dead, feeling awkward now that introductions had been made. He didn’t know what to say or how to steer the conversation, especially since he was aware of how tense Taylor had gotten all of the sudden.
“Colby.” Taylor started to pull away.
“Colby is going to get us drinks while we have a chat and get to know each other, isn’t he?” Milo’s expression left no room for argument.
“Same as last time?”
“Please.” Milo turned his attention to Taylor. His tone and demeanor were slightly softer. “Sit? Please?”
Taylor huffed like an inconvenienced teenager and took a seat at the table Milo had reserved for the three of them. Milo looked at Colby and made a shooing motion with his hand.
Taking the hint, Colby went to the bar. After some embarrassment when he couldn’t remember the name of the drink, they finally figured out what he was supposed to get. By the time he got it ordered, Milo had Taylor smiling and laughing. He was glad to see it because it meant that Taylor would probably stick around for the show, but at the same time, he felt irrationally angry about it.
He didn’t want to share Milo, he realized with a startling clarity. He didn’t know what to make of that, but there it was. Colby didn’t think Milo was Taylor’s type, but he had the crazy thought that if the two of them ended up together, he wouldn’t be able to stand it. It was childish, but he saw Milo first.
But there were worse things to suffer through than the people around him being happy, so Colby shoved his silly feelingaside and took the drinks to the table. Taylor narrowed his gaze at Colby when he approached, but there was no real animosity behind it.
“You told him.” Taylor blurted once Colby sat down.
“I know you said not to tell anyone, but I didn’t want you to walk around thinking there was something wrong with what you were doing.”
Taylor took a sip of his drink. “I’m not sure if I’m mad that you broke your promise or not. Check back in after a couple more of these.”
Then, for the first time in days, Taylor gave Colby a genuine smile. The tension in his shoulders unknotted and fell away. He took a deep breath, then a long drink and wondered what Milo had said to him to win him over so quickly.
CHAPTER 8
MILO
All it had taken wasa single well-timed compliment on Taylor’s belt and Milo had broken the ice. Taylor was young, barely twenty-two if Milo remembered correctly, and the gap between that and his own thirty years seemed like a chasm. Milo’s twenties had been a tumultuous time for him and he guessed it was that way for most people. It was the decade when you were starting to strike out on your own. You were figuring out who you were and what you wanted. Milo was familiar with that particular struggle. He was still mired knee-deep in self-doubt half the time.
Looking at Taylor was like looking at a past version of himself. If he hadn’t already agreed to do what he could to help Taylor, he’d want to anyway. There was an element of absolute naked longing in Taylor’s eyes when he saw the flowy top Milo was wearing and the smattering of lip gloss he’d freshened up as they’d arrived.
Colby’s affection for his brother was touching and that should throw up red flags for Milo. He’d promised himself no more gym boys. And he was fairly sure Colby was straight. A crush on a straight guy, no matter how nice he was, was the absolute last thing Milo needed.
But he could help Taylor.
“Don’t be mad at him, okay?” Milo found himself saying. “He means well, and he wants to help you.”
Taylor’s eyes widened and for a moment he looked mortified.
“I know you’re probably embarrassed, but you can even the score by telling me something humiliating about your big brother. You know, level the playing field.” Milo winked and hoped it had the desired effect of lightening the mood.
Colby approached then and delivered their drinks.
After a brief admonishment from Taylor, who pretended to be more upset than Milo guessed he was, the three of them fell into an easy conversation when Milo asked what Taylor liked to do for fun.
