Marshall's Park, The Complete Series . 01-2014 Read online

  “Coast on Pico Boulevard,” Finn said, pulling out some jeans and studying them. He couldn’t remember if the rips were made in manufacture or whether he’d done them himself. Coast may be a beach side bistro, but he thought even their version of casual would draw the line at cut-offs and a vest. He shoved them back onto the rail and pulled out another pair, this time rip-free and the deep color of indigo. Finn nodded to himself, confident in his choice. They were casual, but of a far superior quality than his every day jeans, so were also formal enough for the evening’s destination. Teaming them with an olive green, short sleeved button down that showed off his biceps, Finn hung the outfit on his closet door and padded across the room to his dresser.

  “Where are you going after Coast? Do you need me to make myself scarce?” Chris said, waggling his eyebrows and twirling an imaginary moustache in a parody of a villain in a silent movie.

  “Would you get your mind out of your pants?” Finn grumbled, pulling some boxers out of the drawer he’d opened. “Even better, get your mind out of my pants.” He dropped the towel from around his waist and ignored Chris’s yell of: “Dude, put the mouse back in the house!” as he bent to pull on his underwear. “I want this to go well and you’re starting to freak me out,” Finn grouched, spraying his underarms with deodorant and then holding his arms out away from his body to let it dry.

  “Me?” Chris said, waving a Dorito at him. “Why am I freaking you out?”

  “You’re making me nervous,” Finn replied, plucking his jeans off the hanger and sitting on the bed to shove his legs into them. “I mean, what if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks I’m a better play-date?”

  “Dude, stop flapping, he likes you—it’s not like you haven’t already spent time together,” Chris said around a mouthful of chips, spraying Finn’s coverlet with bits of cheesy corn. “You need to chill or you’re gonna give yourself an aneurism.”

  “We’ve spent time together, yes,” Finn echoed, standing up to button his fly. “But not alone. We’ve always had Kaylee with us—which is cool—but now we have to try and converse on a whole different level.” He took the shirt of its hanger and pulled it on, his fingers deftly fastening the buttons. “What if he only sees me as light relief?”

  “Finn, you’re a mountain of muscle with huge eyes and a chin square enough to make He-Man piss his pants with envy—and gay, bonus! Hell, I’m straight and I’d do you. You’re a homosexual’s wet dream, man.” Chris smiled brightly and Finn tried to smile back, knowing that Chris was trying to reassure him in his own ineloquent way. “I’ve seen him looking at you. He ain’t interested in no play-date… unless it’s one that involves whips, chains and a shitload of rubber.”

  “Your brain should be donated to science—while it’s still in your head,” Finn deadpanned, “but thank you. My chin and I appreciate the sentiment.” He slipped his feet into his tan suede boots and fussed with his hair one last time before turning to Chris with an enquiring look. “Well?”

  Resisting the urge to complain as Chris’s gaze slid over him from head to toe, Finn waited for his friend’s response, which he finally gave with a nod of satisfaction. “You look hot, dude, seriously,” Chris said with a lascivious grin. “Do you want a quickie before you go? I’ve got that flavored lube you like so—”

  Finn stomped out of the bedroom with a huff of disgust and grabbed his keys and wallet from the table in the hallway. He shook his head, a smile twitching at his lips as he closed the front door on the sound of Chris still cackling at his own wit. Unfortunately, Chris seemed to find himself a hell of a lot funnier than those around him.

  II

  “Why can’t I come?” Kaylee’s bottom lip protruded and Aiden reached out to grab it gently between his thumb and forefinger.

  “If you stick that lip out any farther, I’ll have to pull it off and take it with me.” Aiden chuckled as she slapped at his hand and he sat down on the bed beside her. “Listen cupcake, we’ve talked about this. Daddy and Finn want to have a little grown up time together.”

  “Finn’s my friend, too,” she whined.

  Aiden smoothed her dark brown hair behind her ear and nodded in agreement. “Absolutely he is, but sometimes adults need to spend a little time on their own. Besides, Aunt Patti has got all sorts of things planned for your girls’ night in.”

  Kaylee perked up slightly. “Do you think she’ll paint my nails?”

  “Knowing Aunt Patti she’ll do anything you want her to do, paint your nails, braid your hair, watch Victorious…” Aiden trailed off as Kaylee jumped up onto his bed and began to bounce gleefully. “So you don’t want Finn and I to stay home?”

  Kaylee stopped bouncing and landed on her bottom on the mattress, staring at him as though he’d just drooled on himself. “Daddy, boys can’t have a girls’ night,” she said with an imperious shake of her head.

  Aiden swallowed the laugh bubbling in his chest and forced his face into a semi-serious expression—he hoped—and nodded. “My bad. You’re a very smart kid, you know that? Now, go watch T.V. while I finish getting ready. Aunt Patti’s making popcorn.” He smiled fondly as she skipped from the room and his heartstrings twanged when she stopped to blow him a kiss from the open doorway. She was growing up so fast he wanted to yell at her to stop; freeze time so he could keep her his little girl forever. It wouldn’t be too long now before she discovered the world was a whole lot bigger than his lap.

  Pushing the thought from his mind, Aiden stood up and wandered over to the closet. He’d managed to have a quick shower with Kaylee sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, chattering away nineteen to the dozen, quizzing him every few minutes just to make sure he’d been listening to her diatribe. He’d run off a text to Finn earlier asking for clues as to where they were going and the response had been a cryptic, smart but casual. His lips had curved into a confident smile at the descriptive, knowing immediately what he would wear. Slightly like a fifteen year old getting ready for her first dance you might think? Maybe, but he didn’t really care.

  The purpose of going to the park and ending up in the dolphin pool with Finn had been to get him to forgive Aiden—and hope that he wouldn’t press charges for having his face mashed into the concrete and Aiden kneeling on his back. Of course he hadn’t planned to dive into the dolphin pool, but it had at least got Finn to agree to join them for pizza. What Aiden definitely hadn’t expected was Finn being the nicest guy he had met in a very long time. In fact he’d only been on two dates in the eighteen months since he and Jack broke up—two unbelievably excruciatingly awkward dates.

  The first guy had repeatedly cleaned the cutlery in the restaurant over and over on his napkin before going on to tell Aiden about his long list of allergies, which included grass—grass!

  The second had stuck his tongue down Aiden’s throat the moment he’d sat down in the passenger seat. Needless to say they hadn’t made it to the restaurant, after Aiden had scrambled out of the car and into the house as fast as he could. That success story had been the last date he’d had and definitely the last time he’d let Patti set him up with a member of her church group.

  Aiden grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, fastening them before heading to the dresser to find a belt. He’d lost a little weight over the last couple of months. Several big projects at work had left him either forgetting to eat, or getting home too late to have the energy to fix something just for one. The last thing he wanted was to open the door to Finn and have his pants fall down like a ridiculous start to a bad sitcom.

  Their apology dinner had turned into another, then Kaylee had badgered him into going to the park again, and she had then invited Finn on their next beach trip. At first he thought Finn was humoring Kaylee because he didn’t want to upset her, but then Aiden’s cell had rung a couple of days ago and Finn had asked him out to dinner. An adults only dinner. Aiden would like to think he’d played it cool with a casual acceptance, although practically yelling yes down the phone on a decidedly unmanly squeal h
e would deny to his dying day would have been closer to the truth.

  Finn’s booming laugh and the obvious joy he derived from life intrigued Aiden. The only way he could describe Finn’s personality was that life must be a never-ending firework display for Finn—full of gasps of excitement and ahs of wonder as colors and sparkles burst in the sky. He didn’t think he’d ever met anyone quite like him, but he knew he wanted to know more. The fact that Finn was also incredibly hot could not exactly be ignored. Aiden did have eyes for God’s sake. As did half the male population who’d checked Finn out as he’d played in the sand with Kaylee. The sharp fingernails of jealousy had scratched at the pit of Aiden’s belly but he had ignored it. It wasn’t as though anyone like Finn would be interested in someone like him—would he?

  Aiden looked at his reflection in the mirror on the inside of the closet door as he put on his black button shirt. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with him exactly, just that he was average, in every sense of the word. Average height, average weight, average build, average… average… average. Definitely a solid five on the rating scale—maybe a six if he toned up a bit and had one of his chins removed. Okay, he tilted his chin and turned his head this way and that, so he only had the one chin right now, but the shadowy possibility of a second one was ever present—especially if he over-indulged on the extra cheese options.

  Smoothing the black cotton down over his belly and then pulling it down over his ass, Aiden ran his fingers through his short hair, attempting to coax the wayward blond strands into some semblance of order. He was certain he’d never make it onto a Calvin Klein billboard in his underpants, but hopefully Finn would be impressed enough to not get back into his car and drive away.

  While this inner diatribe about your self-worth is scintillating and certainly giving me a case of the chuckles, the man asked you out, so whether or not he likes you is kind of moot. So stop staring at yourself and get your saggy ass downstairs before he arrives. Or do you really want to leave him alone with Patti?

  Although he would usually ignore his inner voices meanderings, it had a point. Leaving prospective suitors in his Aunt’s company—alone—was never a good idea. Aiden firmly closed the closet door and shoved his feet into his boots before spraying a little cologne into the air and walking through the cloud. Gay? You? Who’d have guessed? This time he did ignore that inner mumbling and made his exit, slamming the door behind him.

  “Well now, don’t you scrub up well,” Patti teased when he entered the kitchen. “Looks like someone’s looking to get lucky.”

  “Please control yourself when Finn gets here,” Aiden pleaded. “I’d like to get through the evening without embarrassment.”

  “Who? Me?” Patti replied, feigning hurt. “I can’t think what you mean. I’ve never embarrassed you in your entire life.”

  “I refuse to dignify that with a response,” Aiden said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, having a flashback to the butt plug and warming lube she had presented him with for his birthday three months ago—just to keep himself open to the possibility of new relationships.

  “Do you have ants in your pants, Daddy?” Kaylee enquired as she wandered into the room.

  “Daddy’s a little nervous, that’s all, baby,” Patti answered, handing the little girl a bowl of popcorn.

  “Why?” Kaylee asked around a mouthful of kernels. “It’s only Finn.”

  “It’s a silly grown up thing, you’ll understand when you’re older,” Patti assured her, and Aiden was eternally grateful that Kaylee’s interest fizzled out there and she headed back to the T.V.

  Aiden waited until Kaylee had disappeared back into the living room before he ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Why am I so nervous?” he mumbled.

  “Because you haven’t been laid since God was a boy,” Patti countered. “Here.” Aiden’s gaze followed her across the kitchen and he watched as she opened one cupboard and took out a glass, then opened another and pulled out a three-quarters full bottle of Kentucky Bourbon. She poured a generous measure into the glass and thrust it into his hands. “Drink that, it’ll calm your nerves. Stop you jumping around like an egg on an engine block.”

  For once he didn’t argue with her. Aiden thought that maybe a little Dutch courage wouldn’t be such a bad idea. He lifted the glass and downed the amber liquid in one, hissing at the fiery rapids that burned the length of his throat and settled in his chest. “My God,” he spluttered. “It tastes like Drano.” He’d only just managed to stop coughing when the doorbell rang. “Fuck, that’s him.”

  “Well don’t just stand there,” Patti admonished. “Go answer the door.”

  Aiden squared his shoulders and took the hallway at a semi-sedate pace. A kaleidoscope of butterflies had taken wing in his belly and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Taking a moment to compose himself, Aiden took a deep breath and then opened the door.

  “Hi,” Finn said, his smile wide and bright, and Aiden swallowed when Finn’s gaze swept over him and he added, “Wow, you look great.”

  Aiden huffed out a nervous laugh and waved a hand at Finn in an all encompassing gesture. “And you do… do look great, I mean.” He mentally kicked himself for actually saying “do do” and stepped back away from the door. “Come in, come in. Kaylee will kill me if you don’t say hello. Oh, and ignore every single word out of my Aunt’s mouth. Whatever she says is specifically designed to cause me as much humiliation as possible—so if you could bear that in mind it’d be much appreciated.”

  “Don’t worry,” Finn replied with a grin, stepping over the threshold and waiting for Aiden to close the door behind him. “I have two grandma’s and a sister who pretty much do the same.”

  Aiden led the way down the hall and into the living room where Patti and Kaylee were sitting either end of the sofa like bookends, the popcorn bowl between them and Victorious on the T.V. He shot Patti a glare heavy with meaning and then turned to smile at Finn. “Finn, this is my Aunt Patti. Aunt Patti, this is Finn Thomas—and I think you might know the munchkin.”

  “Finn!” Kaylee shouted and bounded off the couch into Finn’s waiting arms. “Aunt Patti’s gonna cure my toes. We’re havin’ a girls’ night in, but boys aren’t allowed.”

  “Cure your toes, huh?” Finn laughed, swinging her onto his hip and smiling down at her. “Sounds like you’ve got a busy evening. Maybe Daddy and me should stay here with you and Aunt Patti.” Finn nodded at Patti and smiled, holding out his hand in greeting. “Hi, pleased to meet you. I’m Finn.”

  Patti shook his hand and Aiden cringed as she carefully studied Finn from head to toe. “Good to meet you, too. Aiden’s being holding out on me—he didn’t tell me you were so handsome. No wonder he’s been as skittish as a virgin on prom night for the last hour.”

  “Patti!” Aiden groaned, glancing down at the carpet in the vain hope that there would be a gaping hole for him to fall into. His mortification only increased when Finn flushed at her tease and he shot Aiden a sympathetic glance.

  “Maybe we should get going,” Finn suggested, depositing Kaylee onto the couch. “The table is for seven-thirty.”

  “Sure,” Aiden replied, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. He quickly dropped a kiss onto Kaylee’s hair and said goodbye, before turning to Finn and motioning to the door. “Okay, let’s go.”

  III

  Finn pulled into an empty parking space in Coast’s parking lot behind the restaurant. Why the hell was he so nervous? The scent of Aiden’s cologne had pervaded his nostrils in the confined space on the ride from Aiden’s house and Finn hadn’t been able to resist sneaking furtive glances at Aiden while he drove—glances he hoped weren’t so furtive they bordered on the creepy. “I hope you’re hungry,” he said in an effort to break the silence that had filled the car. “I’ve heard they do great steak here.”

  He gazed at Aiden, a frown creasing his forehead when he received no response from him other than staring out of the windshield. Fi
nn was confused. He hadn’t even said anything in the car so how could he have scared Aiden off already? Maybe Aiden had had second thoughts. If he had, Finn would rather know now so he could put the poor guy out of his misery. Having said that, Aiden didn’t look upset, or anxious—he looked… a little dazed. “Aiden?” Finn said softly, repeating his name a little firmer when Aiden didn’t flutter an eyelid. Finn’s third rendition garnered a response and Aiden blinked owlishly before turning a beatific smile on Finn and nodding serenely.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?” Finn asked, half-turning in his seat.

  “Am I okay?” Aiden echoed and Finn nodded, his confusion growing by the second. Aiden’s smile grew wider. “I’m awesome. Are we there yet?”

  What the fuck? “Um, yeah,” Finn replied gazing out of the window at the other cars in the lot.

  “What are you waiting for then?” Aiden said excitedly, almost bouncing in his seat. “I’m hungry. Aren’t you hungry? I’m hungry. Let’s eat, hot stuff.”

  Hot stuff? Finn stared open-mouthed at Aiden as he opened the door and practically bounded out of the car and headed toward the restaurant. Mentally shaking his head, Finn grabbed the keys and scrambled from the vehicle, pressing the remote to lock it as he ran after his date. “Aiden, wait!” Finn’s confusion intensified. Chasing Aiden down before they’d even reached the restaurant hadn’t exactly been part of the plan.

  When he skidded to a halt through the entrance to Coast, Finn found Aiden engaged in an animated conversation with the maitre ‘d, gesturing wildly to a table near the open patio doors. He swallowed hard at the bemused expression on the suited man’s face and crossed the small waiting area to put his hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “Hi,” Finn said to the maitre ‘d, pulling Aiden into his side firmly. “I’m Mr Thomas, I booked a table for two at seven-thirty.”

  “Ah, yes, Mr Thomas,” the rather stern looking man replied, pushing his metal-framed glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose and favoring Finn with a withering stare. The man’s English accent made his next comment all the more biting. “You would appear to have arrived in the nick of time. Your friend was having a little trouble remembering your name and, indeed, his own. However, your appearance has saved us from a rather lengthy game of who’s who.”