Blue-Eyed Soul, page 6
Remey gave him a teasing look and swiped a finger across his whipped cream to lick off. "Maybe you need another reminder wandering around, hmm?"
Aleks followed the movement of Remey's tongue on his cream-coated finger, forcing himself to look away after a second. "Maybe. Although I think you've got some kind of sour impression of me because I don't like the changes your presence has made in my town. I assure you, I do plenty of laughing."
Remey smiled, shaking his head. "I'm sure you do. I would, too, with Willow around. She's the sweetest kid. But something about me makes you all serious and... well, grumpy."
"It's not you," Aleks began, and Remey shook his head.
"I know it's not me. I mean, you keep saying it's not, and I have no reason not to believe you. I know you wouldn't even be here right now if you disliked me. But seeing me seems to be a reminder to you of all the reasons you hate that I'm here." Remey sighed and cut off the end of his pie with the side of his fork, scooping up the bit and offering it to Aleks. "Here. You don't even need to share yours."
Aleks took the fork and ate the bite of pie, his eyes closing halfway in pleasure. "Amazing. Mona makes the best pies ever, I swear. I've tried to talk her into making some for me for Thanksgiving every year, and she always says no. I can cook well enough, but baking is beyond me."
Remey laughed as Aleks gave him back his fork, taking a bite of the pie for himself. "I'd make you pies, if you wanted. My mama taught me how ages ago, and she's an amazing baker. I haven't made any in years, but it's one of those things you don't forget how to do. I have copies of all her recipes somewhere."
Aleks shook his head. "No, that's okay. I was kidding. We'll make do with store-bought, or I'll bug Jess to bring dessert. She's my sister-in-law. We always do Thanksgiving at my house, and Christmas at her and Stevan's."
Remey smiled. "I saw the pictures of you and your brother the other day. You look amazingly alike. Do they live close by?"
"Yeah, Stevan and Jess live a block over. It's nice having him so close. We have dinner together, all of us, once a week, and we spend holidays together."
"That's sweet. What about your mom and dad?"
Aleks shook his head, taking a bite of his own pie. "Mom lives in Florida now. She's got herself a live-in boyfriend," he said with a smile. "Daddy died when I was thirteen." He held up his hand immediately. "Stop... don't say you're sorry, or you didn't know. Of course you didn't. And there's no need to be sorry. It was a long time ago and we try to remember the good stuff, not the bad."
Remey gave him a sympathetic smile, then nodded. "Okay. So your mom doesn't come for holidays?"
"No. She's afraid to fly, ever since the Towers, you know. So when she comes, it's a long trip, usually by train, and it's not something she can do often. So we visit her more than she comes up here. Not every year, but we went down last year for Thanksgiving and this year we'll be doing New Year's, and I make sure we're down there for her birthday every year."
Remey smiled. "You have this whole... I don't know, family routine. I miss that kind of thing--the constant of knowing you'll be having Christmas at Grandma's and thanksgiving at your uncle's or whatever. Traditions, I guess is the word I mean."
"It's part of what I wanted for Willow when we moved back. I didn't want to spend Christmas in some cramped Brooklyn apartment with a tiny tree and nowhere to build snowmen and trying to explain how Santa is going to get in if there's no chimney. I mean, I didn't move us back here solely because of Christmas, but it's all of it, all those little things kids ought to have when they're growing up."
"Like riding their bike outside in the summer. And jumping into leaf piles in the fall." Remey nodded with a smile. "I get it. If I ever have kids, I want the same kind of stuff."
"You think it's possible, being who you are? I mean, not having kids--obviously that's possible--but them growing up like you did, like I did?"
"You mean normal?" Remey nodded. "Sure, it is. It'll take a little more work, but I don't think it's completely out of reach or anything. Kids shouldn't be in the spotlight because of their parents, no matter who their parents are. I hate how magazines and tabloids are always publishing pictures of celebrities with their kids. It's not right, the kids didn't choose it, and what kind of childhood could that be?"
"Not a good one," Aleks agreed, sipping his coffee. "I guess I don't see how you could manage it. I mean, look at how you've been mobbed ever since you moved here."
"True, but it's bound to die down sooner or later," Remey pointed out. "No photographer or reporter is going to hang around here long when they realize I'm not doing anything newsworthy at all. There're plenty of more interesting people back in L.A. they could be stalking instead.
"I give it another week or so before they're gone... unless they think I'm doing something scandalous," Remey added, shooting Aleks a grin. As if he wouldn't mind doing scandalous things with Aleks, a thought that had Aleks's mind making up a list of all the possibilities.
"I personally think you should be as boring as you can be. Maybe don't even leave your house for a week. They'd be gone before you knew it," Aleks suggested, his eyes amused.
"Unfortunately, I'm not a complete hermit. Believe me, I did consider holing up when I got here. It wouldn't have lasted too long. I like people too much to barricade myself in my house or something. And if I did, all my neighbors would think I was crazy."
Aleks laughed. "Don't worry. We're a small New England town. Eccentric residents are kind of our specialty."
What Remey said made sense, though. Haven was a nowhere little town and, while he loved it, there was little to keep a horde of media present for any length of time. In Los Angeles or another major city, they had other prey to justify the time and expense. But how long could they realistically focus all their efforts on only Remey if he wasn't doing anything noteworthy? They'd have to move on soon.
"I like it, though. It's charming, everyone's a character and everyone has this story, you know? Makes me want to talk to everyone and find out what their story is." Remey smiled and took a sip of his hot chocolate.
Just then, Mona and Joe came in through the kitchen door, and Aleks smiled, waving. "Thanks for coming by again tonight, you guys."
Remey smiled. "Do they do the refreshments for every practice?"
Aleks nodded. "At the beginning of the school year, they bring lemonade for the kids, then once it gets colder, they switch to hot chocolate and hot cider. Their son Coby is one of the clarinet players, but I'm pretty sure they'd do it even if he wasn't. It's the same thing for the sports teams practices, and Coby's an only child."
Remey let out a soft sigh, shaking his head. "See, this is what I love, what I miss about living in a small town." He took another bite of his pie. "I knew this was going to be the right move, I really did."
Aleks glanced down at his pie, then up to meet Remey's gaze again. "So the spotlight might be dimming in a week or so. Think you can behave long enough to get rid of them?" Maybe his voice was a little suggestive. He had to admit there was a hell of a lot of appeal in the idea of the main protest he had against Remey being gone. If it was only temporary, maybe he wouldn't mind getting to know the resident hot celebrity a little better. Maybe a lot better.
"Why, Aleksander, are you suggesting there might be something in store for me if I do?" Remey bit his lip, blue eyes warming.
Aleks shot him a heated look. "There might be. If you're interested."
Remey's brows shot up. "If I'm interested? You have no idea." He glanced around, then leaned in, lowering his voice. "I'm definitely interested. If you hadn't been sending 'back off' signals since the first time I laid eyes on you... Well, we could've broken in the brand-new couch in my living room. We still could."
Aleks laughed. That was another thing he found surprising about Remey, how awkward he could be. It was adorable and, damn it, Aleks had always had a weakness for adorable boys. "Well, there goes all your mystique, Remey. Do you want to take a second to wrap a bow around yourself, too?" he teased.
Remey blushed and wrinkled his nose at Aleks. "Shut up. And maybe. If you're lucky."
Aleks snorted. "I think you pretty much just promised me I would be."
The blush got brighter as Remey seemed to realize what he'd said and how he'd sounded. Remey covered his eyes with one hand. "Jesus. Allison is always telling me I need to develop a filter." He peeked out between his fingers. "Sorry. Um... shit. Did I really offer to sex you on my couch, like, anytime?"
Aleks laughed, nodding. "You did, indeed. Don't even think about changing your mind now. No take-backsies."
They were both laughing pretty hard by then and drawing more than a few stares and finally Aleks reached over and squeezed Remey's arm. "Shhh. Or we'll start a scandal and the paparazzi will never leave."
Remey snickered, trying to stifle his giggles. "And that would be a definite tragedy now. I swear. I'll be so good." He pressed his lips together, holding up two fingers. "Scout's honor."
"I bet you were a Boy Scout, weren't you?" Aleks smiled, sipping his coffee.
Remey laughed and shook his head. "I wasn't. My brother was big into it, and all the camping and fishing and stuff, but I never joined. I was always more interested in music. What were you into as a kid?"
"Causing trouble," Aleks answered with a laugh. "My mother swears I gave her weekly heart attacks when I was in my rebellious phase as a teenager. Looking back, I'm sure she's right. Haven was the last place I wanted to be, and I let everyone know it.
"I attempted to learn how to play guitar a few times, thinking I could be a badass rock star, but it never clicked for me. Carl gave lessons back then before his arthritis got too bad and he told me to stick with the piano. Which, of course, was the last thing I wanted to hear. Rock stars didn't play piano."
"I bet." Remey finished off his hot chocolate and set down his mug. "Were you and your brother always close?"
"Mostly, yeah. I got annoyed with him tagging along everywhere sometimes, but we've always been best friends. We'd be friends even if we weren't brothers, you know?"
"That's really nice. My brother and I--his name's Dan--we've never been close. I mean, he's my brother and I love him, but sometimes I look at him and all I can think is, Oh my God, why are you the way you are? He can be a bit of a tool most of the time. But we get along much better now than we did when we were kids, in large part because we're hundreds of miles apart."
Aleks chuckled. "Ah, family. Gotta love 'em. Because even if you don't, you still have to see them at holidays." He glanced at his watch and sighed. "Speaking of family, I have to get going. Willow's over at Stevan and Jess's, but it's pushing up on eight and it's past her bedtime. I gotta go."
Remey smiled, nodding. "Okay. Don't worry about the pie. It's on me. Tell Willow I said hello. And maybe you and I... maybe we could do this again. When you don't have to run home by eight?"
Aleks hesitated, then smiled. "Maybe we could. Maybe Tuesday. If you don't mind Willow tagging along, we could meet for dinner." He pushed to his feet and tugged his coat back on. "And hey, take your car by Bobby's shop on Pine Street. Tell him I said to give you the Aleks Winter Special."
Remey's eyes were curious. "You have your very own special at the mechanic shop?"
"Nah." Aleks shook his head. "It's code for 'Don't fleece the California boy.'" He grinned and had to resist the urge to bend down and take a kiss. It seemed like the thing to do, but he didn't. "See ya."
Remey nodded. "Yeah. See ya."
Aleks shoved his hands in his pockets as he left the café. It was still silent and the street was almost empty outside. No sign of the media. Maybe Remey was right. Maybe they'd even already left. Aleks grinned and climbed into his car.
In which case, he would definitely be seeing Remey soon. And maybe his couch, too.
Chapter 5
* * *
"So you're Remey Dufresne."
Remey turned away from the display of apples at the grocery store, his brows lifting at the man who stood a few feet behind him, grinning once he got a decent look at his face. "And you're Stevan."
"My brother talks about me so much you recognize me?"
Remey laughed and shook his head, bagging up his apples and setting them in his cart. "No. But you look very much alike." He offered his hand to shake, and Stevan took it. "Nice meeting you."
"Same. Aleks does talk about you, though," Stevan told him, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops, and Remey pressed his lips together. He was dying to ask what Aleks had said, but he wasn't going to pry. He hoped, after yesterday, at least some of what Aleks had said was good.
"Yeah, he was... Let's just say he wasn't thrilled with me being around at first." The paparazzi were still hanging around--they'd been waiting outside Remey's house when he'd left for the store--but he thought there were less of them than a few days ago. He sure hoped there were. The sooner they all left, the sooner that stumbling block between him and Aleks would be gone. Remey could hardly wait.
Stevan snorted. "Don't let his 'I am king of this land and you are not welcome' routine intimidate you. Much to his disappointment, he doesn't actually own the Berkshires."
Remey smiled. "Good to know not everyone wishes I'd crawl back to California."
Stevan leaned his hip against the cart, shaking his head. "He might have thought so before he met you, but trust me, he doesn't anymore."
Remey blushed, eyes hopeful. "He doesn't?"
Stevan seemed to belatedly realize his brother might not want him spilling such tidbits and cleared his throat. "So, uh... I hear you're going to be doing a little concert thing for the festival this year?" He gave Remey a mock-annoyed look. "My wife is going to be flailing for weeks after, I hope you know. She's a huge fan."
Remey laughed and pushed his cart out of someone's way, glancing up to meet Stevan's eyes. Geez, he was every bit as tall as Aleks and made Remey feel like an absolute midget. "I'm excited about it, too. It's for an awesome cause, plus it gives me an excuse to sing every Christmas song I can. You'll be there?"
Stevan laughed, shaking his head. "If Jess didn't make sure I went, Aleks would. This youth center is totally his baby. He's been trying to come up with ways to get funding for it for ages. But, yeah, we'll definitely be there, along with half the town. The winter festival is a big thing here in Haven."
"I'm looking forward to it. L.A. doesn't have stuff like it. The big events are all celebrity stuff and not for everyone else." Remey had been to his fair share of those events, and he ended up being bored out of his mind nine times out of ten. He was sure the Winter Festival would be anything but boring.
"Our little festival is more your speed than an awards show after-party?" Stevan asked, and Remey nodded.
"Believe me. They're always the same thing, ostentatious and crowded."
Stevan shrugged. "I think it's a case of 'the grass is always greener,' honestly. Aleks felt the same way for the longest time growing up and once he got away and realized the big city had its own set of downfalls, he turned Haven into this mythical sort of Wonderland in his head and would stop at nothing to come back."
Remey was so curious, but was hesitant to probe too deeply. "Do you think it'll turn back in the other direction and he'll start wishing for the city again?" If things ever went anywhere between him and Aleks, maybe some kind of bi-coastal thing... but it was way too early for those thoughts.
"Maybe." Then Stevan grinned. "Hey, you busy tonight?"
Remey blinked, surprised at the question. "No... why?"
"Because I'll be a hero with my wife if I can get you over to our house for dinner. And because Aleks brings Willow over for dinner on Thursday nights."
Remey laughed. "That's sneaky. I like it. Can I bring dessert or something? I went and dug out all my mama's pie recipes so I can practice."
Stevan's eyes gleamed with amusement. "I did hear you and Aleks were getting cozy over coffee and pie at Mona and Joe's place yesterday. Sure, why not? Jess will probably try and kill me for springing you on her like this, but it'll be worth it. You know where Aleks's house is? Jess and I live a block over on Chestnut. It's the blue house, fourth down from the corner of Elm. We eat around six, so come by around five or so and hang out a bit."
Remey nodded, making a mental note of the directions. "I don't imagine your wife is going to be the only one who'll want to kill you for inviting me."
Stevan snorted and waved a hand, as if to brush off the idea. "I'm not bothered by Aleks. Besides, I can take him. We'll see you at five?"
"Absolutely." Remey agreed, and Stevan nodded before heading off. Remey laughed, shaking his head and steering his cart into the next aisle. He had ingredients to buy, a pie to make, and a recalcitrant man to try to impress.
* * * *
Aleks stood on the sidewalk, Willow's mittened hand in his, and frowned at the sleek SUV hybrid sitting along the curb. He looked down at Willow, who looked back up at him with curious blue eyes.
"Why you stop, Daddy?" She tugged on his hand impatiently. "Come on! Go inside. Is cold." She faked a shiver and tugged again.
Aleks was going to kill someone. What the hell was Remey Dufresne doing at his brother's house on family dinner night? He let Willow lead him along the walk and up the steps to the porch. He didn't bother knocking or ringing the bell, tugging open the screen door and then pushing open the front door itself.
He was assaulted by the scent of bread baking, the rich smell of Jess's pot roast and the spicy, sweet tang of some kind of pie. Mmm. Damn, it was hard to stay annoyed with all those delicious and comforting smells surrounding him.
"Stevan!" he called, making sure his tone indicated exactly how annoyed he was. He crouched down to help Willow off with her scarf and coat, tucking her mittens into his own pocket.
"He said to tell you he's got homicide on speed dial and to be nice."
Aleks glanced up and met Remey's bright blue eyes, all smiles and laughter, and fuck... He was gorgeous.
