Page 1 of Seamus's Basement
Chapter 1
“Gentlemen.” Seamus Devlin nodded in greeting as he crossed from one end of his bar to the other, to his left, shelves neatly lined with liquor bottles and a half-dozen beer taps, and to his right, the well-worn wood bar. “What can I get you tonight?”
“Who’re you calling a gentleman?” Lucas Reika, Hope’s resident troublemaker, made a show of slowly turning his perfectly styled head from left to right.
“Not me!” Todd Smitty smiled affably and raised both arms in the air.
“I don’t see any gentlemen here,” Lucas confirmed.
“That’s because you left Jared at home,” Seamus said, chuckling.
“I didn’t leave him. He didn’t want to come out.” He looked around the bar. “Apparently, neither did anyone else. This place is practically empty tonight.”
“The man wakes up at the crack of dawn and works with his body all day, of course he doesn’t have the energy to come into town after ten to have drinks with you two.” Jared McFarland owned a farm on the outskirts of Hope, and he mostly kept to himself, so despite having lived there for eighteen years and running the neighborhood bar, Seamus didn’t know him well. But what he knew, he liked. Lucas’s boyfriend was a kind, patient, quiet man. Theirs was a textbook case of opposites attracting.
“Jared has absolutely no shortcomings when it comes to his body or his”—Lucas tilted his head and licked his lips suggestively—“energy. Trust me. He’ll wake up when I get in bed and then he’ll—”
Seamus coughed. “I’m begging you not to finish that sentence.”
“Lucky,” Todd sighed wistfully. “I miss spending the night with a big, strong man. There’s nothing better than when he holds onto you from behind and you can feel his—”
“I am standing right here! Tell me what you want to drink and then I’ll go to the other end of the bar so you can continue your…” Seamus winced, thinking about all the graphic conversations he had overheard between those two since Lucas had moved to town three years earlier. “…discussion.”
“Right, sorry.” Todd smiled apologetically. “Don’t scare the straights,” he hissed at Lucas.
“Uh huh. Sure,” Lucas said as he looked Seamus up and down, and then he spun to the side and arched his perfectly shaped eyebrows at Todd. “Are you ever going to tell me why you’re no longer going to bed with your big, strong man?”
“Uh.” Todd looked like he’d been caught committing a crime. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He cleared his throat. “Do you still have that cider on tap?”
“The Magners?” Seamus nodded. “Yep. I’m keeping it all summer. Do you want a pint?”
“Yes, please. Thank you, Seamus.”
“Alright, so we’re still pretending that you weren’t with him.” Lucas shook his head. “Whatever. At least that bullshit’s in the past.” He turned back to face Seamus. “I’ll have a dry martini with the Russell Henry gin and the Italicus vermouth.”
“I know how you take your martini, Lucas,” Seamus said with a smile. “You’re the only reason I keep both of those in stock.”
“That’s why yours is my favorite bar in town.”
“Mine is the only bar in town,” he pointed out. And then he did as he promised and walked away to get their drinks and give them space to have a private conversation. The privacy mattered more to him than to them. Todd wasn’t shy and Seamus was pretty certain that Lucas said the things he did just to shock him. He had just turned thirty-six, giving him a dozen years on Toddand nearly ten on Lucas but he had nowhere near their sexual experience. Not even close.
He moved on autopilot, taking a chilled glass from his cooler, putting the liquor into a shaker with ice, and assembling Lucas’s drink. Then he poured Todd’s pint and walked over to them.
“Here you go,” he said as he set their drinks in front of them. “One Mangers and one very top-shelf dry martini with two olives.”
“Thank you, Seamus.” Todd was a sweet guy, always respectful.
“Cheers.” Lucas raised his glass and then took a sip. “Mmm. Perfect.” He smirked at Seamus. “Happiness is a nice stiff one and you sure know how to deliver.”
Once upon a time, Lucas’s comments had made him uncomfortable, but now that he was used to them, he was mostly amused. “How are the two of you friends? Todd’s so polite and you’re so…”
“Bitchy?” Lucas asked.
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Seamus denied.
“I’m pretty sure he was going to say that,” Todd whispered loudly enough for them both to hear.
“We’re friends because the first thing I learned about Todd was that he can stand up for what matters to him.” Lucas stared at Todd meaningfully. “He doesn’t take people’s bullshit, even mine.”
