Page 29 of Thrill
They clinked glasses.
“Thank you both,” Tyler said. “You’ve saved my arse big-time. Cheers.”
All three knocked back the thick sticky drink. It burnt Tyler all the way down and ignited a fire in his belly.
“Fucking hell,” Tyler gasped.
The aniseed taste overwhelmed him. He grabbed his pint and took a swig.
“Jesus, I hate that shit,” Eddie said.
Scott cackled. “I quite like it.”
“Years of practice,” Eddie replied.
“So, Tyler Jones,” Scott said. “Give us details.”
Tyler felt the spotlight on him. Eddie and Scott stared back at him.
“What is there to say? I’m a middle child. Born and bred in Llandudno.”
“You’ve lost most of your accent. But now you’ve said it…” Eddie said.
“The juicy stuff please,” Scott interjected, warming to his theme. “Last boyfriend?”
Tyler sighed. It was a file he didn’t like to open. He also recognised that resistance would be futile.
“He was called Greg. We met at uni. As soon as I graduated, we went travelling.”
“Where to?” Eddie asked.
“Never mind that,” Scott said before Tyler even opened his mouth. “We want the gossip. Was he hot?”
“Very much so,” Tyler replied.
The day he’d run into Greg had been a life changer. He hadn’t experienced that before or since. Well, until he had gone to the lube testing anyway.
“The pandemic meant we had to come home early,” Tyler continued. “We went to live with Greg’s mum in Exeter. I got a shit job with the local council. I hated it. I loved Greg’s mum.”
“What happened?” Scott asked.
“We split. His idea. So, I had to find a house share pretty damned quick. At first, I kept in touch with them. Then Greg hooked up with this guy about a fortnight later, I realised there had been an overlap big-time.”
“What did his mother say?” Eddie said.
“She confessed she’d known for a while. I think that gutted me more. I got the job in Norwich and left.”
Eddie and Scott frowned at the same time.
“That’s shit,” Scott declared.
“Sorry, man,” Eddie added.
Tyler shrugged. “It happens, I guess.”
“I had a shit breakup just before lockdown too,” Scott confided. “There are so many arseholes out there. I don’t know why I bother.”
Eddie patted Scott’s arm. “Because you’re a numbers man.”
