Gasp! by Z. A. Maxfield

Author:Z. A. Maxfield [Maxfield, Z. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Gay
ISBN: 9781611189810
Publisher: Loose Id LLC
Published: 2012-09-04T17:46:55+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Jeff had the absurd urge to carry Nigel from the car, but he suppressed it. He did help Nigel down from the high vehicle, putting his arm around the man’s thin shoulders to keep him warm. The sheriff’s deputies pulled up behind them with their lights flashing, and they dealt with anyone who followed.

“The good people of Bluebird Mountain are going to burn me in effigy,” Nigel remarked. While Nigel keyed the lock, Jeff watched Amil exit the driveway, closing the gate behind him.

Once inside, Jeff closed the door and punched in the security codes, setting the alarm again right away. “I’ll get all the window blinds down in here.”

“I have to get this muck out of my hair.” Nigel poked at the teased section of his hair. It barely moved.

“If you want, go take a shower. I’ll fix us something to eat. Close the blinds up there before—”

“I won’t make myself more of a spectacle than I already have.”

Jeff stopped what he was doing and turned toward Nigel. “What happened back there…that was just bad luck. In no way were you a spectacle. You were great. It’s just—” Jeff ‘s phone vibrated, and he pulled it out to check it. “Deidre.”

Jeff declined the call. He didn’t want to talk, not when Nigel looked so lost.

“I don’t understand,” Jeff said finally. “I want to help. I just don’t know how.”

Nigel yanked his earrings off none too gently. “I can’t tell you if I don’t know myself.”

“Can you at least tell me what’s eating you? Because I know something’s been bothering you since before I got here.”

“I don’t know.” Nigel sat on the stairs. “Sometimes things are brilliant. Then the moment pops like a soap bubble. I was singing for my bloke, and everything went to hell.”

“You were perfect up there.” Jeff sat down beside him. “And you sang like no one ever. People stopped breathing. You should be so goddamn proud. Everyone loved you.”

Nigel’s lips curved into a smile. “They did, didn’t they? Of course they did.”

Jeff huffed a laugh. “So I guess I don’t really understand what’s got you down. Besides the assholes tonight.”

“I don’t know.” Nigel sighed. “I’m old and things are different now. I can’t be the wayward kid who dresses up and shocks people anymore. I’m just…I’m just an oddity. An eccentric old man.”

“Hardly.”

“I am. I’ll be”—Nigel’s voice lost its usual resonance—“forty on my birthday. I never believed I would get that old.”

“Forty isn’t old. Forty is the new thirty.”

“Forty is me losing track of what I’m getting up for anymore. I’ve done everything I said I’d do. Bucket list completed.” Nigel brushed his hands together. “Fini. Now all I have left to look forward to is being invited to appear on tacky game shows and performing at the funerals of friends who have died. Nigel Gasp is frozen in the residue of his fame, and I can’t move on without him.”

“How can you say that?” Jeff put his arm around Nigel’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze.

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