Page 61 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Tommy nearly spit his beer out. “How did you kn—”

Gene laughed again. “I got eyes, don’t I? You think I never noticed you sneaking off behind my pub after your shift?”

Tommy was about to say something. He wasn’t sure what exactly, but something.

Gene went on instead. “You think I didn’t notice when you stopped doing that? Right about the time a certain officer of the law named Bobby started taking his dinner breaks with us on your nights….”

His appetite disappeared at the mention of Bobby’s name. Tommy sank back on the couch and took another sip from his beer. “What Bobby does is his own business. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

“Is that why he called nine times looking for you tonight?” Gene narrowed his eyes at Tommy with the answer.

There were a dozen things Tommy could have said to that, but instead he asked, “What’d you tell him?”

Gene snorted a laugh. “I told him you hadn’t been around. It wasn’t far from the truth, and I didn’t think either one of you needed him to see you off your face.”

Some sense of relief washed through Tommy then, and he let out a small breath. It shouldn’t matter, but he didn’t want Bobby thinking of him in the same light as his father. “Thanks, Gene.”

Gene stood up with the garbage from their dinner. He patted Tommy’s knee before reaching to pick up his empty bottle. “Don’t thank me, kid, just get your shit together and don’t fuck up the few good things you’ve got going for you.”

Tommy considered arguing with him or asking Gene exactly what good things were left, but he let the topic die. In truth, Tommy had to admit it was solid advice.

“I’ll throw some towels in the bathroom for ya,” Gene told him when he came back through the room. “I’m off to bed.”

He turned off a few lights as he made his way down the hall.

Ben seemed content to stay where he was. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, knees spread, fingers laced behind his head on the back of the couch. He took up nearly half of it.

“How long have you and your guy been together?” Tommy wasn’t usually one for small talk, but he was restless and needed to ignore his own problems for a while longer.

“We were together three years.” Ben sat up and reached for his beer. He turned to face Tommy. “Split up a few days ago. I haven’t told Gene yet.”

Tommy felt like his own life was too much of a headache to think about, so he asked, “What happened?”

Ben shrugged one bulky shoulder. “Gavin was too young for me.”

If Tommy had to put an age on Ben, he’d assume somewhere in his late thirties, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask. “How young?”

Ben laughed at the question, a soft rumble of breath through a bright smile. “Too young. He was seventeen when we met, barely eighteen when we got together, a total mess. But he’s gotten his shit together, and he’s in college now, and… it’s time for him to move on.”

Maybe he was still a little drunk, but Tommy was genuinely curious. “Why break it off after he gets his shit together?”

“That’s not the reason, just, he’s twenty-one now, ya know? I loved being that young and that stupid. I was out at clubs every night, fucked everything that moved.” Ben was looking at his beer bottle in his hand, picking at the label. He said quietly, “I’m the only person Gavin’s ever been with and that just seems… wrong, somehow. He’s practically a kid, and instead of going out and partying, he’s home studying and making casseroles for dinner.” He dropped his head back on the couch and sighed. “He shouldn’t feel like a 1950s housewife.”

Tommy didn’t care one way or another if someone had been with one or a hundred-and-one people, but he understood why it bothered Ben. “Why not just open the relationship up? Let him play around and see if he still comes home.”

Ben raked his hand through his shaggy hair. “I thought about that. I mean, I don’t know if I could handle it, but I thought maybe a don’t-ask-don’t-tell arrangement would be okay. When I brought it up, he thought it was because I wanted to get out more.” His voice got quiet and he cleared his throat. “Think it really hurt his feelings. We had a big fight, and I told him he should just be packed up and gone by the time I got home.”

Tommy shifted to the edge of the couch. He knew what he was about to say could get him knocked on his ass, and he’d probably deserve it. “Okay, I gotta hit the shower and get some sleep so I can deal with the fucking disaster that is my life right now. But I gotta know, did you ever ask him if he wants to be out partying and sucking off strangers every night?”

He braced himself for a blow, but it didn’t come. Ben looked surprised at the question. “Did ya ever think maybe he kinda wants to be a fifties housewife? Because I’ll admit, I don’t know you from shit, but it sounds to me like you’re the only one with a problem in the relationship.”

Ben sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Fuck.”

When Tommy stood up, he patted Ben on the shoulder. “Sorry, man, but I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that shoots himself in the foot from time to time.” Ben let out a short laugh at that. Tommy said, “Do yourself a favor and call Gavin. Practice your groveling before you see him.”

Ben looked up with a smile. “Maybe I can take some pointers from you. Sounds like you’ll have to do some begging of your own when you call that Bobby guy.”

“Maybe we can take a class together before we gotta face ’em.”

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