Over and Back, page 16
Once he left, Hank sighed and sat back in the chair, taking a few minutes to breathe in the air around him. “What do you think of all this?” Hank turned to Angus and Kevin, who shared their table.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” Kevin answered. “I’m like Grant. I haven’t traveled a lot, and I love the things we’ve seen, but this place in particular is so different from back home.” He took a drink from his glass of water. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful or anything, but in some ways, I’m kind of ready to be heading back soon.”
“I know.” Grant leaned over the table. “We’re having a great time, but I’d love to sleep in my own bed again. I think if I had that, I could go and see the entire world and it wouldn’t bother me. I’m starting to understand why people buy yachts and motor homes. They get to travel and take their own beds along with them.” Grant’s lips shifted into a goofy little smile that touched Hank’s heart. “Though I am getting used to not sleeping alone.” He turned away as that adorable blush rose on his cheeks.
“Things are working out,” Hank agreed. He pulled his phone from his pocket when it chirped. He groaned at the name on the display. He thought about sending it to voicemail, but he was better than that. “Hi, Danny.” He tried to sound cheerful.
“How is Venice?” he asked in a snarky tone, and Hank thought about hanging up. “Are you having a good time with the kid from the club? Did you think I wasn’t going to find out about him?”
Hank pulled the phone away from his ear. Danny was loud, even over the din of the square. “What does it matter? You kicked me out, remember? I have my own place to live. You have your life.”
“Is that what all that was about? You just wanted to be free so you could screw the guy you’d had your eye on for months.” Danny had really worked himself up to a lather, and his voice was a little slurred. It was only eight in the morning in the States, and Hank was willing to bet that Danny had already been drinking. Either that, or this was a carryover from last night. Danny was an overall decent guy, but alcohol turned him into an asshole of epic proportions.
“It’s been three months—longer than that. You said you’d had enough and you were bringing guys to the club to make sure I saw you. We were done.” Hank stood and stepped away from the table, walking out into the square. There was no need for this drama to ruin everyone else’s lunch. It had already destroyed his. Hank’s stomach roiled, and he swallowed to keep the contents where they were. “You were the one who wanted to end things. And now you’re acting jealous.”
“Of course I’m jealous,” Danny countered. “Why do you think I brought those guys to the club? To get you to notice… to come back.” Anger dripped off his voice.
Hank rolled his eyes, looking up at the intensely blue sky. He needed something bright and cheerful right now. “Do you have any idea how dumb that is? If you wanted to get back together, you should have talked to me, not acted as though I didn’t matter.” Hank huffed. “Everything had to be on your terms, right? You broke up and then put together some elaborate ruse to make me jealous so I’d approach you and ask to come back.” Hank took a deep breath. “I have some pride, Danny. Not a hell of a lot, but I do have some, and you….” He took a deep breath. “Things are over. They were months ago. I’m not going to come crawling back to you.” There. He’d said it. “I think it’s time that you and I let this whole thing go and just move on.” He released a huge breath. He should have stood up to Danny months ago.
“It seems like you already have,” Danny sniped.
“You kicked me out, remember? And you were seeing other people.” Hank stayed calm. The usual stab of ache that accompanied talking about Danny was absent.
“That was….” Danny’s words trailed off, and Hank knew from experience that he was about to drop whatever shoe he’d been holding. Hank figured it was time for a preemptive strike.
“Yes, I know. It was to get even with me because I have a gambling problem. You made that very clear some time ago. Well, that’s in the past, and so are we. Go forward with your life, and I’ll do the same with mine.” He could breathe now. Finally, he was getting the closure he needed. “I wish you all the best. I always have, and I hope you find someone who makes you very happy.” He cleared his throat. “I need to go back to the others. But maybe you and I can get together when I get back, as friends.” He was willing to be nice because of what Danny had done for him and because Danny could press for the money he’d paid out to cover his debts, but he wasn’t going to give Danny any false hope. “Take care.” He ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
Every time he tried to move beyond them, Hank’s past mistakes seemed to follow him like a shadow, ready to grow and engulf him at any time. He needed to figure out a way to get this monkey off his back. He took a deep breath and joined Grant, Kevin, and Angus back at the table.
“Is everything all right?” Angus asked.
“That was my ex,” Hank said.
Grant put down his fork with a slight clang. “And he found out you were here with me and was angry?”
Hank nodded. “How did you know?”
“It was a guess.”
“But how did he find out?” Hank asked, confused.
Grant took a drink of his water. “If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it was Billy. He was mad at me because I was going to be coming back once the club opened and he wasn’t. Not that I have any proof, but it’s the kind of thing I think he’d do.” He sighed. “I bet Billy is Facebook friends with some of the guys in the group. It would be that simple.”
Hank swore under his breath.
“Go ahead and eat your lunch. There’s nothing we can do about it here. And when we get back, we have a club to help reopen, and he isn’t going to be there.”
What Grant said made a lot of sense. Hank picked up his knife and fork and took a bite, the lemon sauce singing on his tongue. His phone tinged in his pocket, indicating a message, but he ignored it. Hank figured it was from Danny because he didn’t get the last word, but Hank had no intention of letting him interrupt the rest of his day. When it dinged again, he reached into his pocket and silenced it before returning to his lunch. Whatever Danny wanted, Hank could deal with it later.
“Is that him messaging?” Grant asked.
Hank fished out his phone and handed it to Grant. “I don’t want to know. There’s nothing I can do about him over here, and he’s being a jerk.” He willed his appetite to return and slowly finished eating.
“The guy’s a real asshat,” Grant whispered. “He’s going on about the money now.”
Hank had known that was coming.
“Do you want to answer?”
“No, just ignore it. He’ll get tired when he doesn’t get a rise out of me. Whatever he wants, Danny can get when I’m home.” That was easy for him to say and a lot harder for Hank to put out of his mind. He took his phone when Grant handed it back and put it away, even as he tried to put it out of his mind. Of course, that didn’t work. The more he tried not to think about it, the more it kept nagging at him and the angrier he got.
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Grant said, trying to soothe him, but it wasn’t working.
“I know. But I can’t seem to let it go.”
“I have that trouble too,” Kevin said. “If you need to make a call and have it out with him, go for it. You aren’t going to insult us. We’ve all had jerk ex-boyfriends that we’ve had to deal with at one time or another.” Kevin turned to Angus with an idyllic grin. “I won’t have to worry about that ever again.”
“Nope.”
The two of them were so cute together that it hurt.
“I really don’t want to talk to him right now. He’s angry and pissed off at me. If I talk to him in a few hours, he’ll have a chance to calm down. Danny tends to be irrational when he’s riled, but it doesn’t last for very long.” Hank sat back while the others finished and read the messages. As he suspected, Danny was demanding immediate repayment of the money Hank had used to cover his gambling debt. Not that it mattered all that much—there was no way in hell he had ten grand lying around.
“Is it really that bad?” Angus asked.
“I think so,” Grant answered for him.
“He said at the time that as long as I changed my ways, everything would be fine, that he’d forgive me,” Hank told Grant quietly. “Now he’s being a real dick about it.” He showed Grant the last message.
“He can’t do that,” Grant said.
“Danny thinks so,” Hank told him.
“Thinks what?” Bull asked as he came over. Hank showed him the message, and Bull nodded. “Fat chance. That takes a hell of a lot more than whatever leverage he thinks he’s got. Let him cool down and talk to him later.” Bull clapped him on the shoulder, and Hank nodded. “Now, I came over to see if you were about done. It seems our table is taking a while.”
“Then relax and enjoy,” Grant answered for all of them. “We have a nice spot in the shade, and I’m going to have a coffee. We can move on when you’re through.” He smiled, and that was just enough to make some of Hank’s jitters dissipate. “The Campanile is right over there. Did you know that one is just over a hundred years old? The one before it collapsed and reportedly helped bring about the idea that the city was in danger if something wasn’t done.”
“You and Zach—you love your history.”
Bull grinned and then turned to return to his table. When their server came back, Grant ordered his coffee, and they all sat admiring the view.
The other table received their lunches, and Hank tried to stop himself, but ended up pulling out his phone. He read the messages again and resisted responding at all. Still, he knew Danny wasn’t going to back down. He thought he had a right to make the demands he had, and nothing was going to change his mind. Legally, he could probably force Hank to pay him, maybe even take him to court. Though Danny couldn’t get blood from a turnip, he could make Hank’s life a living hell. The specter of his past rose high and close behind him once again. Hank lifted his gaze to Grant—sweet, kind, understanding Grant. More than anything, Hank wanted to have a chance with him. Every cell in his body pulled him to Grant. But Grant deserved a whole person, someone without a huge ball and chain dragging him down. And there was only one way that Hank was ever going to be able to come up with the kind of money Danny was demanding all at once.
Without really thinking about it, he searched and found that two of the small number of land-based casinos in Italy were in Venice. They were close enough that he could head out tonight or tomorrow and spend a few hours building a stake. Hank looked up from his phone, finding Grant staring at him. He put his phone away and turned his chair, looking out at the square, making up his mind that he had to try to even the slate somehow. Then he could look Grant in the eye and be on equal terms with him. Maybe then, they’d have a chance. But with this kind of debt hanging over him….
“I think the others are about done,” Grant said softly, and motioned for the server. He brought the checks, and they paid for their lunches, then headed out for a walk along the Grand Canal before going back to their hotel.
EVERYONE WAS tired from travel and sightseeing, so most of the group, including Grant, settled at the table in the lobby for a game of cards. Hank excused himself, claiming to be tired, and went back to the room. This was his chance. They had eaten a quick dinner at a restaurant nearby, and the rest of the group was having fun. No one would be looking for him, so he changed clothes and left the hotel, walked to the nearest water taxi stop, and then followed the route out to the Casino de Venezia.
Hank stood outside, looking up at the imposing marble facade. It wasn’t glitzy, but incredibly grand, almost regal, hiding what it truly contained. It was a palace of possibilities, a palace of winners… and losers. He walked closer to the front door, his hands sliding into his pockets to figure out how much cash he had.
“Scusi,” a man asked as Hank stood half-rooted on the spot.
Hank hadn’t realized how long he’d been standing there while people came and went around him. It was like he was somewhere else, was someone else—a person he didn’t really like, but had to be.
“Hank.”
He knew that voice, would know that voice anywhere.
Grant hurried up to him. “What are you doing here?”
“Me? What are you doing here?” Hank asked, surprised as anything. “How did you know where I went?”
Grant shook his head. “Did you really think you could put one over on Spook? The man has eyes in the back of his head, as well as on both cheeks.” He put his hands on his hips. “Is this where you really want to be?” His voice was gentle.
“You saw those notes. I have to figure out a way….” Hank sighed.
Grant stood still, hands remaining on his hips. “Maybe. But is this how you want to do it?” He waved his hand toward the front door. “The place looks classy, even beautiful, but inside is the same fake glitter and fleeting hope you’ll find in every casino.” Grant’s hands slipped to his sides.
“Are you going to try to stop me?” Hank asked.
Grant shook his head. “If this is where you really want to be and what you want to do, I can’t stop you.”
“B-but…,” Hank sputtered.
“But nothing. It’s as simple as that. If this is what you want, instead of being back at the hotel with your friends and the people who care for you….” Grant shrugged and turned to walk back toward the water taxi stop.
“Grant…,” Hank called.
Grant turned around. “You have to ask yourself what’s more important. That”—he motioned grandly to the casino—“or your friends, me… maybe a chance at there being an us.” Then he turned back around and continued walking away.
Hank turned to the building, hearing its siren song, the one he’d always given in to before. It sang of hope and the possibility that he could come out a winner. That was what he always saw—the chance that he could come out ahead. He turned the way Grant had gone and tried to look at things with him the same way. Grant was a possibility, a chance, maybe one of his last chances…. Hank looked back at the casino and sighed. Maybe it didn’t hold the hope it once did, or maybe, if Hank played his cards right, Grant was the much bigger payoff.
He took his first steps in the direction he really wanted to go, back the way he’d come. First one, then another, faster, until he was nearly running, getting away from the casino and his past. He broke into a jog and reached the dock as the water taxi was about to leave. Hank hurried down the ramp, seeing Grant at the rails, and jumped onto the gangway and into the boat just before the ramp pulled up.
The engines revved and the boat turned around before heading across the lagoon toward the main island of Venice. Hank hurried up the stairs to the top and stood next to Grant, putting an arm around his waist. Grant leaned against him, saying nothing, because really, no words were necessary, not at a moment like this. Hank had made his decision—he knew it, Grant knew it—and it was the right one. Hank had no doubt of that. He might not know what he was going to do, but he knew who he wanted to try to figure things out with. And for now, that was all that mattered.
THE CARD game was still going strong when they returned to the hotel. The building itself was old, but the interior had been refurbished completely, so it didn’t have as much of the historical ambiance as their previous one had. It was clear that care had been taken to preserve the details that had been in the building, but otherwise it was impeccably clean, modern, and comfortable.
Hank and Grant sat at the table with the rest of the guys and were included in the next hand. Other than a few exchanged looks between Spook and Grant, and maybe Spook and Bull, there was no indication that anyone was aware he’d left the hotel.
“Uno,” Zach called gleefully, and after another round of play where everyone tried and failed to find a way to get Zach to draw more cards, he went out and won the hand. These guys sure played cutthroat cards.
“Good rest?” Jeremy asked as he began mixing the huge deck.
“They were both gone. I bet they did more than rest,” Tristan snickered.
“That’s enough, boys,” Angus scolded without heat. “Be nice.”
Tristan rolled his eyes. “We’re always nice. But Grant has had this little happy smile for days now, so we all know he’s getting something.”
“You’re like a bunch of gossipy old biddies. Did you all talk about us when we were dating?” Angus asked in general.
Zach, Jeremy, and Tristan nodded, but had the decency to look sheepish.
“You should know us by now,” Jeremy spoke up for the group. “We’re twinks. Gossiping and talking about one another’s sex lives is what we do. It doesn’t mean we aren’t happy for each other. And we’re delighted for Grant,” he continued.
Angus scowled.
Kevin patted Angus’s arm. “It’s okay. We’re happy Grant got a hunk like Hank. Now we each have one, and all’s right with the world.” He picked up his glass, and the guys did the same. “Twinks of the world, unite.” The four friends all clinked their glasses, including Grant, while the others looked on in confusion.
“Don’t worry. They seem to talk in code sometimes. They use words, but….” Angus shook his head, and Hank just shrugged and let it go. If everyone was happy, and if Grant kept smiling at him the way he was doing right now, it was well worth it. Danny and all his crap could take a long walk off a short pier for all he cared. He knew what was important now.
“Are we going to play?” Harry asked, and the cards were dealt and play resumed.
The game continued well into the night, much later than Hank would have expected. It seemed everyone was wired after late-afternoon snoozes. But by eleven, Hank was feeling run down, and Spook excused himself, patting Jeremy lightly on the shoulder. Soon, one by one, the couples threw in the towel for the evening. Hank helped Zach clean up the cards, sending Grant up to bed. Thankfully Zach’s usual curiosity seemed to be absent, and after saying good night, they each went to their own rooms.
