Dangerous Thing by Lanyon Josh

Author:Lanyon, Josh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance gay mystery glbt high sierras adrien english amateur sleuth bibliophile lapd closeted cops
Publisher: Josh Lanyon

Chapter Nine

When I woke the next morning I could hear Jake snoring down the hall. Either that or he was taking a saw to the wall.

Stumbling into the bath, I relieved myself and paused at the apparition in the mirror. I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay? I looked like one of the legends I’d been reading about till three in the morning: the Blue Lake Monster or Sasquatch. Splashing stinging water on my face, I combed my wet hair back and shook out a pair of jeans.

In the kitchen I fried up bacon and put the coffee on.

Jake, lured by the smells — or the crash of the cup I dropped — wandered in wearing a pair of Levi’s and nothing else, and dropped down at the table. He scratched his very flat, hard belly in a leisurely fashion, brooding. I put a cup of coffee in front of him. He leaned over the table, both hands clasping his coffee cup as though in prayer.

“Fried or scrambled?” I held up an egg.

“Scrambled.”

I scrambled and said, “Listen, Jake. I thought over what you said last night. The fact is, you’re right. I’ve decided to go back to LA.”

Watching him out of the corner of my eye I saw his head jerk up like a Smokey the Bear scenting forest fire.

“I’ve got a few things to wind up and then I’m out of here.”

A beat.

“You’re serious?” he said finally.

“Yes.”

Another beat. He drank some coffee, set the cup down and said more cheerfully, “Well hell, maybe I should head back today?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“You think that would be a good idea?”

“I do. I think you should start packing right after breakfast. You don’t have to worry because I’ll be out of here by tonight myself.”

He smiled. “Hey, so if I start packing right away I could be on the road by lunch?”

“You won’t have to miss another day’s work.”

I stopped because he was laughing.

“Man, you are something else,” he said shaking his head.

“I don’t follow?”

“Don’t give me that little boy blue look,” he said. “You’re trying to get rid of me.”

“No. No, I thought about what you said last night. Really.”

“Shut up, Adrien,” he said. “I did some thinking myself last night.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, then he admitted, “I was in a pisser of a mood at dinner.”

“That so?”

He met my eyes. Looked away. “It was my birthday yesterday. I have a hard time with birthdays.”

This was the last thing I expected. I mean, obviously Jake had birthdays like everyone else, but I guess it underlined how little I knew about him. Not the most basic things. Not his blood type. Not his birth date.

“Why didn’t you say something?” I didn’t like the tone of my voice but I couldn’t help it.

Jake shrugged.

“How old are you?”

“The big 4-0. Forty.” He grinned sheepishly.

Eight years older than me. I’d wondered about that. And a Taurus. The bull. The bullhead.

“Happy birthday,” I said cordially and turned back to the stove.

The bacon popped and spat my way.

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