Xane walked up to the house in order to dispose of the condom. He might be a rock star, but he was a civilised one. He wasn’t about to start leaving his trash in the middle of his best mate’s lawn. He also hoped that leaving the pair of exhausted noodles on the picnic mat together might prompt them to do some more bonding. Admittedly, that was unlikely – he had a good enough grasp of how Dani’s mind worked to know that post-sex was when her doubts weighed on her most – but he was in a glass-half-full sort of mood.
Of course, she’d have to get over her embarrassment first, in order to start talking. He’d put money on her being a vibrant shade of fuchsia right now. Though what the hell there was to be embarrassed about, he didn’t get. They’d fucked, and she and Luthor had both masturbated hard at the sight of the other being rogered. There was nothing shameful about those facts. They’d all enjoyed it and gained pleasure from it. That was all that was important.
Xane had to trudge right through the house to the kitchen to find a waste receptacle. He stopped long enough to drink a glass of water. When he returned to the garden, his two lovers were still on the tartan blanket. The only movement that appeared to have occurred was Luthor putting his shorts back on. They hung so low on his hips, he had to question if it had really been worth the effort. One tiny tweak and they’d be around his ankles again.
Instead of going to them, Xane planted his butt on the garden swing that occupied one end of the veranda and waited for them to come to him.
The sun had disappeared behind a cluster of grey clouds, and the smell of rain was in the air. He wasn’t sure how much of the time Rock Giant had agreed to give him remained. Probably not enough for an extensive heart-to-heart. He still wished the stupid buggers would talk to one another though. Life would be so much easier if they’d just open their mouths and communicate. It was his genuine belief that the three of them could have something good together, if they’d just learn to open up a little instead of bottling everything up.
Actually, Luthor didn’t really have a problem in that regard, it was all Dani, and he kind of got that half the problem was that actually she didn’t know what she wanted. Her head was pulling her in one direction, heart in another and her libido a third. As for her guts, he guessed they were in one big knotty tangle.
He just wanted to know for sure where her lines were going to be drawn, so he could get on with making her happy. If only she’d realise that she was the one currently standing in the way of that happening.
Doubt swirled in her eyes as she headed towards him. He wished she’d cast those troubles aside along with her traumatic past and get on with living in the here and now.
While people’s individual pasts helped shape them, he didn’t accept that they dictated future events. He wasn’t a sex addict because his childhood had sucked. It was because he was too damned weak-willed to consider a life of abstinence. In any case, why the fuck would you give up something that made the world a more pleasurable place, unless you were Spook? Spook’s reasons he understood. He didn’t necessarily agree with his friend’s choices, but he accepted the logic that had led to his vow of celibacy. The guy had essentially overcome his problems by amputating his dick.
Yeah. He closed his legs. That was not a pleasant thought.
Finally, both Luthor and Dani stirred themselves and joined him on the veranda. Luthor passed him his jeans. There was no sign of his shirt. It was probably floating on the lake by now. Just as well it wasn’t one he gave a shit about. Maybe he’d do some internet shopping later for some birthday treats. Find a stupidly expensive scrap of designer silk to drape himself in.
Luthor scratched a hand through his golden blond hair, then dragged it down his torso. He hadn’t bothered to put his T-shirt back on. ‘Someone clue me in about what happens now.’ He looked to Xane for a reply, even though the person with the definitive answers was Dani. She just chewed her lip.
‘Movie?’ Xane suggested. While sex was definitely going to dominate their interactions while they worked all this out, sharing some quality time doing everyday stuff would probably help too. ‘I don’t know what Spook has lying around, probably a ton of Viking movies in Swedish or else the world’s biggest collection of troll-hunting discs, but if we’re lucky he might have Netflix set up.’
‘It is, Ginny checked last night.’ Dani bypassed him and went into the lounge. Providing her with a new focus seemed to be working a treat. Leastways, it had stopped her giving Luthor the side-eyes.
Having pulled his jeans on and got them all drinks, Xane positioned himself in the centre of the broadest of Spook’s many white sofas. That allowed Dani to sit one side of him and Luthor the other. There was no need to talk once they’d chosen a film, and he decided maybe that was a good thing. There was much to be said for companionable silence.
Spook, Ash and Ginny returned when they were halfway through the second film of a quadrilogy. Rock Giant had already gate-crashed and planted his butt on the floor between the sofa and the TV. Initially, he’d tried to snuggle next to Dani, but she was having none of it, and actually neither was he. Rock Giant needed to go out and find his own snuggling companions.
Spook looked knackered. There were deep worry lines etched around his eyes, and his skin – always pale – was way beyond ashen. ‘Everything all right?’ Xane asked, hammering the pause button.
Ash grunted and walked right past him, followed by Ginny. They went straight into their bedroom and shut the door. Spook met his gaze and sighed.
‘That bad?’
His friend pushed both hands backwards through the strands of his white-blond hair. ‘If he keeps this shit up, I’m going to call his mother.’
‘Yowch!’ Xane sucked a breath in through his pursed lips. He considered it a bonus on occasions such as these that his own mother was dead. Not that she’d have given a shit if one of his friends had called her, worried about him. She’d never managed to muster any concern for him as a child, so why would she be bothered about him as an adult?
Ash’s mum, on the other hand, was a stick-thin woman with a heart so big it had to fill her entire chest cavity. She was always smiling and fussing and brimming with pride for her famous son. If she’d been about five stones heavier she’d have been the snuggly comforter Xane had wished he’d had back when he was eight or nine.
‘Please don’t ever, ever call my mum about anything,’ Rock Giant said, sticking up a finger as if he were at school. ‘Unless I’m dead, then you can call her, but only after you’ve wiped my hard drive of porn.’
Rock Giant’s mum was famous in her own right. The general population might only have a sleepy eye focused on the Toll Puddle Martyrs, but on the folk music circuit they were legendary.
‘Isn’t she a hedge witch?’ Spook asked. ‘If you were dead, she’d probably try and raise you.’
‘Possibly with more success than on her first attempt,’ Xane quipped.
Rock Giant beat him hard across the shin, prompting him to raise his legs and rub at what would inevitably become a bruise.
‘What did the specialist say?’ Xane asked, returning to the subject of Ash and his wayward fine motor skills.
‘That it’ll take time to fix.’ Spook swiped the bag of cheesy puffs from Rock Giant’s lap and munched a handful. ‘The likelihood of a full recovery is good, but it won’t happen overnight, and Mr Impatient doesn’t like that.’
‘What sort of timescale are we talking?’ If they were talking months it might impact the new tour dates. The studio recordings weren’t as big an issue. He or Spook could stand in for Ash on lead guitar.
Spook popped another cheese puff into his mouth. ‘Billion-dollar question – could be days, could be months, even years, but it’s not going to happen while he’s getting worked up over his inability to lick, and refusing to do exercises or consider speech therapy.’
‘Can we do anything to help?’
‘Avoid stressing him out.’
‘We can do our best.’ Xane snatched the corn snacks from Spook’s hands. ‘You’ll hate me if I let you eat all this cheesy goodness.’
Spook’s eyes narrowed as if he might argue the point, then his shoulders sagged and he dusted the orange residue from his fingers. ‘I don’t suppose any of you layabouts ventured as far as the kitchen and prepared something to eat?’
‘There’s a casserole in the slow cooker,’ Rock Giant muttered.
‘What?’ Xane’s surprise echoed Spook’s own.
‘Casserole.’ Rock Giant frowned as he looked at the pair of them. ‘You know what that is, right? It needs another ten minutes or so. Time to set the table and rustle up some garlic bread.’ He flipped up onto his feet, and headed for the kitchen.
Spook broke into an enormous smile. ‘Awesome. You’re my new favourite house guest. You can come again.’
‘Does this mean I get upgraded from the chicken coop?’
‘If there was an actual alternative, totally.’
‘When the hell did you make casserole?’ Xane asked, still incredulous.
‘After we went mushroom picking.’
‘There aren’t woodland mushrooms in it, are there?’ Luthor asked warily.
Spook, who had followed Rock Giant into the kitchen area, lifted the lid off the slow cooker, which released the rich aroma of chicken, vegetables and gravy. ‘Frankly, I don’t care if that’s all that’s in it. This looks fabulous.’ He found a piece of bread and dipped it into the pan. ‘Mm … mm. You definitely win the best house guest award.’