Surface Tension

Chapter 1-2

“Hey, mate.” Paddy opened the passenger door.

“Good time?” Andy asked.

“Not bad. There was a good crowd in tonight,” Tom said, getting into the van, followed by Paddy.

“Seatbelt,” Andy growled at Tom, who looked as though he was about to climb into Paddy’s lap.

“Aw, do I have to?”

Ever since the ambush, Andy had obsessed about road safety.

“Well, big guy, what did you think?” Paddy asked Andy as Andy manoeuvred the van into traffic.

“About what?”

“The kiss, silly,” Tom added. “Did you like it?”

“It was all right.” Andy wasn’t going to tell them that it was beautiful and soft and tender and…

“Just all right? Man, he’s f*****g gorgeous. Okay, he’s getting a bit past it now and I bet this charity thing was more to keep his career going than anything. But like I said, he’s soo hot. The scene in that movie where he’s a Roman slave and he’s manacled to the wall and that big black guy f***s him from behind. God, I spill a load every time—”

Andy tuned out Tom’s chatter. Whenever his friend became enthusiastic about a subject, he’d talk about it for hours, Andy only having to nod or make agreeing-type noises every so often. Though he couldn’t understand what Tom had said about Luke being “past it.” Hell, the kid was…well, just a kid.

They had only gone a couple of miles before the heavens opened and Andy was forced to turn on the windscreen wipers. He absently rubbed his right knee; it never let him down. A quick glance to his left confirmed that Tom was plastered to Paddy’s side. Despite being together for five years, the two men still seemed to be in the honeymoon phase of their relationship.

Andy knew they hadn’t had the best starts in life, both being orphaned at an early age. They were each other’s security blanket, helping each other deal with their joint issues of abandonment. Andy was envious of what they had, but didn’t begrudge their luck. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was those two. Sighing, he knew he would never have what they had, not with a mangled and disfigured body like his. Determined to snap out of his melancholy, he reached for the tuning knob and changed stations; he needed something a little more upbeat than the soulful jazz currently on offer.

“Hey, we were listening to that,” Tom protested as Andy found some classic rock.

“Tough s**t,” he said, though there was no malice in his voice.

* * * *

By the time Andy pulled up outside his friends’ cottage, Tom had fallen asleep, and Paddy looked as though he wasn’t far behind.

“You want to come in for a coffee or something?” Paddy asked little above a whisper.

“No, it’s okay. I want to take Lassie for a walk and check on the pigs before I go to bed.”

“Okay. Thanks for driving us.”

Andy treated his friend to a faint smile. “My pleasure. I enjoyed it.”

“Knew you did,” Tom said.

“Thought you were asleep.” Paddy kissed his boyfriend.

“Just resting my eyes.” Facing Andy, he went on, “You never did tell us what it was like to be kissed by Luke Wales. God knows you were lip-locked with him for long enough.”

“f**k off.”

But Tom wasn’t about to let him evade the question. “Come on, we want details. All of them. You can come in, have a mug of cocoa and tell us.” Before Andy could refuse again, Tom had climbed over Paddy’s lap, opened the van’s door and was walking up the path to his front door.

“He’ll not drop it until you tell him,” Paddy said.

Andy harrumphed.

Paddy got out of the van, shut the door and walked round to Andy’s side. “Come on, mate.”

With reluctance, Andy turned off the engine, unbelted himself and climbed out of the van, locking the door behind him.

Paddy slung an arm around Andy’s waist and led him toward the now brightly lit cottage. “That’s what friends are for, to confess all your secrets to.”

“Huh.” Though deep down Andy relished the camaraderie his two friends always extended to him. They would never let him wallow for long. He blessed the day he met them.

* * * *

“You told him about your pigs?” Tom choked on his Ovaltine, causing Paddy to thump him on his back. “Why? I mean, you actually get to talk to one of the hottest porn stars this country has produced, and you talk about pigs?”

“Well, uh.” Andy fidgeted. He knew it sounded stupid, putting him in the role of an ignorant country yokel. “He seemed interested. Even said he’d like to visit.”

“What?” Paddy handed Tom’s mug back to him. “I don’t think he meant it.”

“Don’t you think I knew that?” Andy raised his voice and got to his feet. “What could I talk about? Military campaigns of the British Army since the last war?” He ran a hand through his regulation length hair. A sure sign he was agitated. “It’s not like I know anything about the porn industry. Hell, I’m amazed he didn’t run screaming off the stage when he first clapped eyes on my face, let alone come talk to me outside. I—”

“Please, love, don’t. It’s possible he really was interested in your pigs.” The contents of Tom’s mug were in danger of spilling again as he gestured with his hands.

Andy snorted his disagreement.

“Some people—real people—see past your scars,” Paddy said, taking Tom’s mug from him and putting it on the coffee table. Standing, he approached Andy and laid a hand on his arm.

Andy didn’t say anything. He knew Paddy was only trying to make him feel better. He shouldn’t have gone, he shouldn’t have agreed to the kiss, he shouldn’t…

“I suppose it’s possible he could have been interested in your pigs. He comes from Wales originally.” Tom was evidently trying to move the topic back to where it had been. “Though isn’t that sheep country? I bet that’s why he took Wales as his name.”

“You mean it’s not his real name?” As soon as he’d said it Andy felt foolish. He really didn’t know anything about porn stars.

“No, it’s Matthews, I think,” Paddy said, squeezing Andy’s upper arm.

Until he met Tom and Paddy, Andy didn’t think people could be so tactile. Secretly he liked being touched by them, though he’d sooner die than admit it.

“Come on, love. Sit down and drink the rest of your Ovaltine.”

Folding himself into the armchair again, Andy wondered if Luke was his real name, too. But didn’t his boyfriend call him Lukie?” Andy ground his teeth remembering Roger the d**k-head.

“We’ll let you borrow one of our DVDs with him in it so you can see him in action.” Paddy moved over to a bookshelf. Pulling out a DVD case, Paddy stared at it. “God, he’s got a beautiful arse on him.”

Tom threw a cushion that hit Paddy on the back of the head. “b***h! You’re not supposed to look at other blokes’ arses.” In a lower voice he added, “Just mine.”

“Ha! And who was it who said Luke Wales had the cutest c**k of any bottom he’d ever seen?”

“Well, he has,” Tom mumbled.

Paddy gave the DVD to Andy, who stared at the front cover, which depicted a number of men all decked out in cowboy gear.

“Uh, thanks.” He was curious, despite himself. And yes, Luke did have a nice arse.