Page 23 of Grounding the Baker
“Sshhh,” said Liam, looking around as his face heated.
“I thought this was an open and inclusive town.”
“It is, but it’s also full of gossips. I don’t want people going around saying I’ve been hitting on the single dad. Besides, a few of the women have their eyes on him.”
Liam was thankful that Giselle and Henrietta weren’t here. Those two had supersonic hearing.
“Well, I think he has his eye on someone else,” said Milo, nodding at Liam.
“He was married to a woman.”
“Ever heard of a bisexual?”
“What? No, you think? Nah, he can’t be. I mean, look at him. There’s no way he’s into cock.”
Milo chuckled. “He’s probably more of an arse man.”
“Milo. Stop shit-stirring.”
“Okay, I’ll let it go, but I’ll say one last thing. Don’t make assumptions. That guy is into you, so if he asks you out, don’t brush it off with your usual ‘I’m not good enough’ crap you like to do.”
Could Austin be bisexual? His close group of friends were all queer. Well, Tony was a man whore from what he’d heard, and as long as they were breathing he was interested. Those were Giselle’s words, not something Liam would ever say. Thankfully, their paths had never crossed on the London scene. Michael was married to the town, but openly gay. Nathan had dated no one as far as he knew, but had spoken to Liam when he’d first come out. Nathan had shared that he was gay and offered to be a friendly ear if he needed one. Someone who wouldn’t push an opinion on him, like many people in this village did, even if it was well intentioned. Then there were Gerard and Kevin, the gay uncles of the village. His head was spinning, and he wasn’t sure what to think, but he didn’t need Milo using his mind-reading powers today.
“Fine. Now, you want to tell me why you schlepped all the way here? If you’d wanted to check in, you could have done that on the phone.”
“How are you doing?” asked Milo, a smile on his face.
He relaxed. It was nice for someone to ask him that, and not do the head tilt and sad smile, which he got a hundred times a day.
“Just taking it a day at a time. I’m worried about Dad. He can’t come back in here yet. One of the staff called out sick today, so I had to come in and cover for them.”
“He might just need some more time. It’s only been a couple of months.”
“It’s bizarre, you know. Sometimes it feels like it justhappened, and other times it’s like she’s already been gone for years.”
Milo reached across the table and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What’s going on with you then, Milo?”
“We can’t talk here.”
Well, that sounded intriguing. Liam loved a bit of gossip when he wasn’t at the centre of it.
“Okay, well, I have to cover the lunch shift, and then we can go back to my place.”
He wasn’t logging into work today. They’d had so much from him lately, and in a moment of weakness, he’d allowed his boss to take even more from him. It was something he hadn’t mentioned to his dad yet, or to Austin. Why he was worried about telling Austin he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that frowny, unhappy look. He wondered if that was his “dad” look, then decided against letting his thoughts wander there.
“How are things at the flat?” asked Liam. Nothing like a quick subject change to stop your thoughts from wandering to dirty places.
“Shit. Kieran still thinks I’m a home wrecker, and Hassan wants to move to a smaller place so we don’t need to have anyone new move in.”
“Yeah, he called me about that. Asked me to cover my share of the rent until the lease was up.”
“He did what?”
“It’s fine. Besides, it gives me a place to crash if I have to be in London for anything before my job finishes. Do you think you can live with those two on your own?”
“No, but I have little choice right now. There’s too much else going on.”
