Found at the Library, page 11
part #1 of Found Series
“Hmm, I like that,” Tommy said and began the slow process of reassembling his clothing. After he dressed, he dropped into his chair, but then winced. “I’m going to be feeling that for a few days. Thank you,” Tommy reached over and pulled Mac onto his lap so that he straddled him.
These little moments...perfection.
Tommy rested his head on Mac’s chest, and Mac ran his hands across his shoulders. Tommy closed his eyes. “I need to go see Ryder before you put me to sleep.” He pulled back and gazed at Mac speculatively. “Would you like to come with me?”
Tommy had never even hinted at Mac going on one of these nightly visits. Normally, he stayed here and wrote while he waited for Tommy’s return.
His surprise must have showed, because Tommy’s face closed off. “If you don’t want to go, that’s fine. I get it.”
“No, I’d like to,” Mac said. “You just surprised me by asking.”
“I want you to know him and vice versa. You two are the most important people in my life. It’s not right that you don’t even know one another.”
“That sounds nice,” Mac said before taking a nip of Tommy’s lower lip. “I’d like to meet your brother.”
***
Mac waited in what looked like someone’s living room rather than a waiting room at a mental health facility. Shades of brown, taupe, dark red and golden yellow decorated the room filled with big comfy couches and leather armchairs. Did the personal rooms look like this, too? That would certainly make a stay here a little less depressing.
Tommy had gone to Ryder’s room alone. First, he needed to see if Ryder was having a decent day and then second, if he’d be willing to meet Tommy’s new boyfriend.
Boyfriend. They had crossed that line already, hadn’t they? Mac smiled. He was ready. Every day spent with Tommy turned out to be better than the day before. He couldn’t believe they’d only been doing this for a matter of a couple of weeks.
But before he could give it anymore thought, his new boyfriend walked toward him with a huge smile on his face. Mac stood and raised his eyebrows. “Does that grin mean I get to meet your brother?”
“It does, but be gentle with him. He’s kind of nervous about this, especially with the situation that you’re meeting in. He hates—and is embarrassed about—being here.”
Mac nodded. “I would think that’s pretty natural.”
“Yeah, I guess. But we only have a few more minutes before visiting hours are over, so we’ll have to be quick.”
The door to Ryder’s room stood wide open and welcoming as they approached. Mac suddenly felt nervous. Tommy didn’t have parents any more, so meeting Ryder was as close to that scenario as he’d come. Meeting the family for the first time was significant. It meant something.
Tommy let Mac enter the room first. Ryder sat in a big armchair in the corner of his room just like the ones in the waiting room. Ryder looked up and wiped his hands on his jeans. He was a blond, more muscular version of Tommy with blue eyes instead of gray. But they were definitely related.
Mac strode over to where he sat and extended his hand. “I’m so glad to meet you, Ryder.”
“Ry, this is my boyfriend Robert McIntyre, but everyone calls him Mac.”
Mac was so stunned by hearing that word boyfriend aloud, even though he had thought the same thing in the waiting room, that he almost missed Ryder’s stunned gasp and widened eyes.
“No way. Robert McIntyre? The author?” Ryder fumbled with a pile of books on the table and pulled out three. “These are awesome. Tommy brought them, and I’ve been hounding him to get me some more in this series and the other two series.”
Mac laughed, but then frowned at Tommy in mock displeasure. “You haven’t gotten him the books he needs?”
“What? The store’s been busy. I haven’t had a chance to get to the bookstore.”
Mac sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. “I think you kind of have an ‘in’ with someone who may or may not have an entire bookshelf filled with extra copies.”
Ryder didn’t even let Tommy respond. “Yes, I just finished The Pilot’s Orchard. The way you ended that book was just wrong. I’ll be your love slave forever if you bring me The Ambassador’s Ambition tomorrow.”
“Hey, that’s my boyfriend,” Tommy chastised. “Don’t proposition him. I’ll get you your book. Hands off Mac.”
Mac laughed, and then they chatted for a while. He liked the brothers and could see how close they were. It made him sad that they were going through this difficult time. There were moments when Tommy was focused elsewhere, and Ryder let his calm, happy mask slip. Unfortunately, it looked like he still had a ways to go. Mac hoped he made it...for both Ryder and Tommy.
Their visit didn’t last much longer, because of hospital restrictions on visiting times. But that was okay. Although he was so glad he got to meet Ryder, Mac had to get back to work. His deadline loomed, and the story sat on the cusp of a pivotal scene. As he considered how to approach the mechanics of the coming scene, he missed something Tommy said in the car. “I’m sorry. I spaced. What did you ask?”
Tommy shook his head with a smile.
Mac tried to ignore that niggle of worry. He’d only tried serious once before with Stig and the relationship couldn’t stand up to the demands his writing involved.
“You know,” Mac said, “a lot of people find dating authors difficult, because we get lost in our own little world. With this book that is ten times worse, because I’ve made such a mess of my deadline. If our relationship makes it through this one hundred thousand words, we probably can survive anything.”
Tommy chuckled low. “Hey, you aren’t that bad, and we’ve found some sound methods for quick stress relief that I think are going to serve us both well.”
Mac nodded sagely, remembering the really hot sex in the studio. That kind of stress relief would always be welcome. “Too true.”
Tommy cocked his head at Mac for a moment before refocusing on the road. “But I have to wonder. You’ve written a lot of books, and you’ve said things like that several times. How did this deadline get so messed up?”
“It’s actually your fault.”
“What?” Tommy sputtered. “How?”
Okay, this may be the real test of their new relationship. If he told Tommy this, then he would know the true depth of how obsessive Mac could get with writing. “When I met you at the library sale, I couldn’t get you out of my head. I tried to find you but didn’t have any luck. So I did the next best thing. I wrote a book. It’s unlike anything I’d written before, and I didn’t have time built into my schedule for it.”
Tommy’s mouth dropped open and he kept swinging his gaze to gape at Mac before refocusing on the road. “Are you saying I inspired a book?”
“Um, yeah, kind of.” Mac rubbed distractedly against the back of his neck. “Surprise. This is what life is like when you date an author.”
“That is so cool.” Tommy gave him a wide grin that just about melted Mac’s heart. “Will you release it on audio so I can listen to it?”
Fuck. He’d probably be less enthused when he found out that Mac killed off the Thomas character. He still had no idea how to end that book any differently. Maybe after he finished book six, he could take another look at it.
“Right now, it’s still a first draft disaster and all of that takes months and months, but eventually, yeah, it should come out in audio.” Maybe by that time, Tommy would have forgotten that he’d inspired a character that Mac killed off.
“Or maybe you could read it to me,” Tommy said. “What’s it about?”
Mac grimaced. “I went a different way this time than I normally do with my writing.” He was ready to drop this subject now. This was embarrassing. How did romance writers do this every day? Love and romance in a story felt so much more emotionally revealing to him than his science fiction adventures. When he wrote sci fi, it obviously had nothing to do with his life since he’d never flown a space ship. But gay romance and one inspired by his actual love interest... Oh, fuck my life.
Exposing his life to millions of readers like that was such a bad idea. He had to get that book away from Emily before she started shopping it around. That didn’t need to be out there in the world. He wasn’t ready to expose that side of himself.
“And...” Tommy prodded.
Mac shook his head and rushed on. “It’s a romance story. But you know, the more I think about it... I don’t think my fans would ever want to read it, and I don’t want to deal with a pseudonym. I doubt it will ever get released.” He was rambling, but he couldn’t seem to stop.
Tommy reached over and grabbed Mac’s hand that he’d been flinging about as he got more and more panicked, talking about it.
“Whoa, calm down, Mac. I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s fine. Do you get this uptight about all your writing? I never noticed that before.” He frowned at Mac.
“No, sorry. This book is different, has been from the very start. And that’s probably because it’s tied up with you and my feelings for you. I’m too emotionally invested in it.”
They pulled up to a red light. Tommy grabbed hold of his chin and leaned to give him a fast, sexy, open-mouthed kiss.
“You are so sexy to me right now,” Tommy murmured against his lips. Tommy’s eyes had turned that gorgeous mossy green they did when he became aroused.
“Just right now?”
The corners of Tommy’s mouth lifted. “Well, okay. Always, but especially right now.”
The car behind them honked, and Tommy jerked away and gave a little apology wave to the irritated driver. “You’re also distracting.” Tommy winked.
“It goes both ways, but I really do have to work when we get back to your place. I need to get another two thousand words written tonight before I’m allowed to sleep.”
“How many more days do you have and how many more words left to write?”
“Around fifty thousand in eleven days. It would be twelve, but I’ve promised my mom I won’t write on Christmas day. It’s doable, but I have to stay focused.”
“Okay. I promise. No more distractions from me. Only well-earned break times.” Tommy looked over at Mac, eyeing him up and down while biting his lip.
That look sent bolts of arousal straight to Mac’s cock. His breath hitched.
“You get your word counts in, and I promise the breaks will be worth it.”
“Well, damn, that’s what I call incentive.”
Chapter Nine
Reading a book is a priceless gift. What other item allows you to explore strange new lands, visit with different people, and see all-new things? All while sitting on your couch.
-Observations from Mac
Sitting at his desk, Tommy drew furiously. Mac had gone home for an hour to get some clean clothes. They’d quickly discovered it was more fun, and they were both more productive when they worked together. But that had made it difficult to finish Mac’s Christmas gift. Not that he hadn’t loved Mac being in his life twenty-four-seven like he had been for the last week, because he totally did. It just made making a surprise difficult.
It was still about an hour before opening time for Typecast, so Tommy had the music playing while he worked. Ampersand slept on the corner of his desk and overall life looked pretty good this morning. Already the sun crept into the sky, so no snow forecast. That should be good for those last minute Christmas shoppers. With it being the twenty-first of December, they only had a few more days until the big day. The store would be busy.
It was also the last day he’d have Franny to help until the New Year since she was taking her grandchildren to Disney World for the holidays. She had promised to come back to work again in January. He’d made her the official manager, which they were both excited about. Since the gallery showing, his special orders had quadrupled so he needed more time to create. Franny would give him that.
Hiring her was one of the best things Mac had done. Well, besides the whole inserting himself into Tommy’s life in the first place. But in a short amount of time, she had become invaluable to the store.
Suddenly, Tommy heard something that didn’t go with the music. He used the remote to turn the volume down and realized Mac’s cell phone was ringing. He must have forgotten it when he’d rushed home earlier. Tommy dashed across the room to the desk where Mac had been working.
The backlit screen displayed Emily as the caller. Mac had been worried because he hadn’t heard from Emily while she was home taking care of her sick mom.
Tommy answered it. “Emily—”
“How could you do that to Thomas, Mac?” Emily sobbed and ranted. “You killed him? And now Rex will be all alone. Have you been warped by love that much?”
Tommy pulled the phone from his ear and stared down at it for a split second. What the fuck was going on here?
He put it back up to his ear, but Emily still cried. Tommy knew she was Mac’s agent. She said Thomas. Could this be about the book he’d written inspired by their meeting? No, surely not. But he’d said that story was a romance, and Tommy knew from experience that none of his other books were in that genre. Her talking about a character named Thomas was too coincidental.
“Did you say Mac killed off Thomas?”
The sniffles suddenly ceased with an indrawn hiss. “Who...who is this? Where’s Mac, and why are you answering his phone?”
“This is Mac’s boyfriend, Tommy. Mac went home for a little bit, but he left his cell phone here. I’m sorry. I tried to tell you, but you didn’t give me a chance. He killed his character Thomas?”
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. He’s going to kill me,” she mumbled to herself, still sniffling. “Tommy, ignore everything you just heard.” She hesitated slightly. “Oh God, he’s going to kill me. Really, it was nothing but book business. Can you tell Mac I called and should be there in a couple of hours? I’m on my layover right now.”
“Um, sure.” Tommy’s mind still spun with what she’d been upset about. “Do you need someone to pick you up at the airport? I know Mac would be willing.”
“No, he has writing to do. I’ll catch a cab, but thanks, Tommy. I look forward to meeting you. And please, forget whatever you think you may have just heard.”
“O-kay. Safe travels.” Tommy hung up and then sat there, staring at the phone. Mac had told him he’d written a book inspired by him. That took some balls to use his actual name but then to kill him off? That wasn’t normal, was it?
Tommy felt sick to his stomach as the sense of betrayal and confusion flowed over him. Why would Mac kill him off? They didn’t even fight. Yeah, they’d had a few misunderstandings when they first met, but nothing that warranted death. You had to seriously hate someone to want them dead.
Was this some sort of game to Mac? Get into a new relationship, find new fodder for his writing along with some easy sex, and then dump the chump.
No, that couldn’t be right, because no matter what else happened, Tommy knew Mac was a good guy. He’d proven that over and over again.
But Tommy had jumped headlong into this relationship without any real thought after those first initial doubts. The last month had been crazy with his emotions all over the place. The one positive in his life had been Mac, but was he reading too much into that good feeling? Spending time with Mac had simply felt good, felt right. So Tommy had trusted that, had trusted Mac.
Tommy’s thoughts spun. Was he jumping to conclusions here? Mac was an artist. He used words instead of visual representation for his art. But like any artist that meant his art didn’t mean the same thing to everyone...not even to Mac...that it did to all his readers. But by the same token, something felt off with this situation.
Tommy shook his head. The last month had been crazy, and he’d latched onto Mac like he was the last available man on Earth. Maybe he needed to step back, slow this down, and get a better perspective on what they were doing here. Before he got really hurt.
Although as the lead weight got heavier and heavier in his chest, it occurred to him that it might already be too late for that.
***
Mac showed up at Typecast five minutes before opening. When his gaze met Tommy’s across the room, his eyes lit up, and Tommy’s heart leapt a little. Could Tommy trust that? He didn’t know anymore. Tommy followed Mac’s progress as he headed toward the stairs to the loft to drop his stuff.
“Franny, I need to talk to Mac for a few minutes. It shouldn’t take too long, but if I’m not back out, go ahead and open when it’s time.”
“No problem, hon. You take your time greeting your man,” she told him with a wink.
He bound up the stairs with his gut churning. He still didn’t know what he planned to do here.
Mac turned and smiled in welcome as Tommy walked into the bedroom.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” Tommy asked.
“Talk? I can think of better things we can do in here.” Mac draped across the end of the bed, looking too damn sexy.
“Uh, yeah.” Yep, that was it. Proof positive that Tommy needed a lobotomy. He loved it when Mac got playful like this and damn, he looked good on Tommy’s bed.
He needed to focus. “No, let’s go into the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Mac tilted his head, concern shining from his eyes. “Are you okay?” Mac asked as they walked.
“Sure.” How did he even approach this? “I’ve been kind of curious about something.”
Mac followed him as he entered the kitchen. Tommy got out a glass and filled it with water simply for something to do with his hands. He glanced at Mac. “That book you wrote after we met. You said it was a romance, right?”
Mac nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s right. A male/male romance.”
“I’m curious. What were the characters names?”
Mac rubbed across the back of his neck, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “I actually need to change those. I didn’t get very original. At that point, I focused more on telling the story than being creative.”
“So, what were they?”
“Uh, Rex and Thomas.”
Fuck. His stomach sank, and he felt a little nauseated. He’d wanted to be wrong about this. He pulled Mac’s phone out of his jeans pocket and pushed it across the counter to Mac. “I think you forgot that when you left earlier. Emily called, so I answered it, because I know you’ve been waiting to hear from her.”
