“You’re going to eat those words, Boarman,” Morris said, dribbling the ball. He feinted as Theo closed in on him to cover and then passed the ball to Lincoln. Lincoln tried to dodge around Laila, but every way he turned, she was on him. He passed it back to Morris. That was one thing Laila and Theo would have to strategize around. Their reach was incredible.
At first Lincoln was tentative around Laila, afraid to get too close, but when she kept outmaneuvering him and stealing the ball right out of his hands, he lost his uneasiness and got in the game. Morris had no qualms about being all over Theo. Every damned time he turned around, Theo was confronted by his very sexy naked chest.
The morning air turned steamy as the sun rose higher, bringing out the worst Southern Maryland had to offer. The air was liquid in their lungs, and Theo’s shirt clung to his sweaty back until he stripped it off. Morris was relentless in his attempts to block Theo’s shots, and when he finally managed to dodge around him to sink a shot, it felt like the good old worry-free days when he used to go to the park to line up a game.
Laila seemed to be the only one completely unbothered by the heat, and she had to be working twice as hard. Theo was reminded how out of shape he was. Working in the kitchen kept him on his feet but did shit for cardio. Lincoln collapsed into a spindly heap as Morris scored the winning shot for their team, ten to their nine. “Can’t we call it the best one out of one and y’all admit defeat?”
Theo exchanged a look with Laila, who shook her head. “We were going easy on you, lulling you into a false sense of security,” he said, trying to catch his breath.
Morris snorted and retrieved his water bottle as a pained look crossed Lincoln’s face. “How can you take it out here? It’s worse than the dish station this morning, and I hate the dish station.”
Theo wiped a hand across his brow and caught the fresh bottle Morris tossed him. “I’ll admit, I’m a little out of shape for this heat. But it’s fun.”
“At camp we’re outside half the day every day,” Laila said with a shrug and sipped her own water. “I like it.”
Theo finished his water, retrieved the ball, and tossed it to Laila. “Okay, let’s do this.” He helped Lincoln to his feet. “No more nice guys. Tear ’em up, Laila.”
She grinned, her eyes lighting up with wicked delight, and Lincoln groaned. “I give. I’m a roasted tamale out here.”
“Dude, you can’t leave me hanging,” Morris said as he nudged Lincoln’s side. “Finish your water and let’s nail them two times in a row. That’ll shut them up.”
Lincoln perked up. “Yeah, if we beat them, there won’t be a third game and I can whoop some Borg butt online.”
“What’s a Borg butt?” Laila asked as she rolled and dribbled to the far end of the driveway.
“If you have a little time later, I’ll show you,” Lincoln said as he moved to intercept her.
Theo caught the pass, cursed under his breath at Morris’s crazy long reach, and ducked under and around him to break away. This time he accommodated for the different height of the hoop and the ball sailed in on the first go. “One to nil.” He pointed at Lincoln. “Better do more than that if you want to get online fast.”
He tossed the ball to Morris, then went for a rush before he could pass it off to Lincoln. Laila nipped it out of the air with a war whoop and made for the basket with Lincoln hot after her. The ball dropped through with a heavy swish. “Booya, two to zip.”
Morris glanced at Lincoln. “Did we get hustled last game?”
“Totally,” Theo replied with a wink at Laila. He handed the ball off to his brother as his phone rang with Scottie’s ringtone. He paused, glancing back at his phone. What if— Lincoln took advantage of his momentary distraction and passed the ball off to Morris, who rushed the hoop. “Hey!”
Even as Theo moved to block, Morris closed in and dunked the ball. He turned to Theo with a smirk. “Not nil any longer. Ever vigilant, my friend.”
“Sorry about that,” Theo said as he passed the ball to Laila. He should’ve shut his sound off. The phone dinged with a message notification and once again his eyes strayed toward it. No, if it was important, Scottie would call back. It made him twitchy to ignore a call from his go-to man, even if it was only for a short time. He tried telling himself Scottie was calling from his cell, not the bistro line, so maybe it was personal.
Laila passed the ball to him, and Theo rolled around Morris to pass it back. She zipped around Lincoln and they exchanged another couple of passes, keeping Lincoln and Morris spinning before she sank the shot.
“Those two move unnaturally fast,” Morris muttered to Lincoln. “Is tripping illegal?”
“I think it’s justified.” Lincoln swiped the back of his arm over his sweaty face. “You distract Theo, and I’ll tie his laces together.”
Laila tossed the ball to Lincoln as Theo’s phone rang again. He tensed at the sound of Scottie’s tone. “Three to one, guys,” Laila said. “We’re going to beat you this time.”
Theo jogged over and snatched up his phone, then frowned when he saw Scottie had texted too. He must not have heard that during the excitement of the game. “Hey.” He lifted a finger to the others to let them know he’d be a moment. “What’s going on?”
“I have Erin in your office,” Scottie said in a flat voice Theo knew all too well. One that said Scottie was fed up. As if Erin’s name wasn’t a red flag already. Dammit, Theo should’ve talked to Jill about her last night. He was still irritated with the tone she’d used with him and the little games she’d played once Jill wasn’t around to witness them. “She wants to talk to you now face-to-face.”
“Now?” Theo asked with a longing look toward the trio watching him.
“Right now, for real, bro.”
Theo bit back a swear and leaned over to scoop up the T-shirt he’d discarded earlier. “On a Scottie scale, how difficult is she being?”
“Not worth the trouble, boss man. She has a demand. It’s basically her or Rose.” Scottie sounded thoroughly disgusted. “Do you want me to take care of it?”
Tempting, it was so very tempting, but Theo knew Jill would want one of them to have the final word on an employee. Theo rubbed his temple at the headache brewing. He hated firing people, but he would if she pushed it. “Okay, on my way, but don’t tell her that. Give her this option. Either she can get back to her shift and talk with me this afternoon or she can clock out and I’ll meet with her earlier.”
“You know which one she’ll choose, but you’ve got it.”
Yeah, Theo suspected she’d choose to try to force him to come in earlier. He’d hear her out, but if she didn’t have a damn good reason for not wanting to work with the new manager, then she was out of there. He was done with the drama and games.
He turned and saw all three of them looking at him with disappointed expressions, even Lincoln. The disappointment twisted. He’d been having fun too. He really wanted to finish the game. It wouldn’t hurt Erin to stew a bit. Then Theo sighed and shook his head. Responsibility was a motherfucker, and he still had to shower again and drive in.
“I’m sorry,” Theo said, slinging his shirt over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” Morris replied, his eyes unreadable, his tone impersonal. “See ya around.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
THE KNOCK on his door cut through Morris’s concentration as he painstakingly inked his pencils, adding shade and dimension. The new brushes and inkwells were a pain to get the hang of, but once he had, he liked the end result. He sat back, studying the picture. Yes, this Wonder Woman was really going to be a hit for one of the prize giveaways. If he wasn’t so pressed for time, he’d keep her for himself and start on a new project.
Keep your damn eye on the job. You have enough of your artwork littering your apartment.
The knock came again as Morris dipped his brush in the ink. Go away. Please, go the fuck away. With that thought in mind, he bent back over his table. Maybe whoever it was would get the hint. This
was a do-or-die day, and he’d already shut off his phone to keep from being distracted.
“Hey, Morris, you home, man?” Theo’s voice called from the kitchen.
Morris let out an explosive breath. “Morris is dead and stuffed in his closet. If you don’t want the same dire end, back out now and lock the door behind you.” Then reality filtered through the haze of his work. Morris glanced at his watch. “Wait a minute. What the hell are you doing home?”
He hadn’t seen Theo since he bailed on them from the game last weekend. Which wasn’t entirely fair. It wasn’t like Theo had run off to hang out with someone else. But Morris didn’t see how they were going to get beyond a fling if they didn’t actually ever see each other. Talk about long-distance relationships. Theo might as well live several states away instead of just upstairs. And it sucked to get jilted when Theo had set up the game in the first place. Morris banked down his irritation over that before he worked himself up. He was already on edge with these multiple deadlines.
“I went in early and did the prep for Scottie so he could take care of some things. He’s going to do the same for me this afternoon, so I have a few hours to myself.” Theo came into the living room and paused by the art table. “Oh wow, that’s sweet. She looks like she’s about to kick some serious ass.”
“It’s what she does.” Morris leaned closer, inking in the delicate lines of her lasso. He was still debating whether he wanted to leave it as a black-and-white picture or add color. He really needed to make a decision like yesterday. Normally he decided it before he started inking. He’d been thinking of adding color even if it was just a splash, but damn, he really liked the look of his inks. It was stark and edgy and added to the overall emotion of the piece.
“Huh, what? I’m sorry.” Morris tore his gaze away from the page in front of him. Theo had been saying something.
A look of exasperation crossed Theo’s face, and Morris stiffened. He was sick and tired of that look from his family, and he sure as hell got enough of it from the last dipshit he’d dated. He didn’t need it from Bailing Theo Boarman too. What the hell kind of a reaction did they expect when he was in the middle of freaking working? It wasn’t like he was tuning out people all the time.
“I was thinking since I had a couple hours off we could go catch a movie.” A little hopeful smile crossed Theo’s lips. It wasn’t fair that one man could be so damned appealing and adorable. And right now, that was irritating too.
“Can’t, gotta work.” Morris bent back over his page, trying to figure out where he was going from here. He couldn’t fuck this up now. It was going too well. “Deadlines.”
“We could go see that new movie you insist you need to see because of work,” Theo wheedled. “That new superheroes one.”
Morris looked up with a frown, trying to analyze Theo’s tone. “It is for work. Seriously, I’ve got a show coming up. Everybody’s going to ask me if I’ve seen it and what my opinion is. I can’t say it’s been out for two weeks and I haven’t gone.” Though there was no way in hell he’d be able to get it in before he left for Newport News. Not unless a miracle happened.
“I understand, but I still call bullshit. You’d want to see it anyway even if you weren’t doing comic books. Seriously, I don’t have a problem with it. It’s not the first time I’ve gone to the movies and saw something I normally wouldn’t have.”
If Theo said one more patronizing thing, Morris might lose his cool, and he didn’t want to be like that. Damn, his ex said stupid shit like that and then made Morris feel guilty on top of it.
“Don’t do me any favors.” Morris’s expression must’ve shown his frustration because Theo hastened to reassure him.
“Hey, relax.” Theo rubbed his shoulder. “Just because I wouldn’t have initially picked it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy it. Trust me. I’m laid-back when it comes to entertainment.”
Morris hesitated. He really did need to see the movie and he really did want to be with Theo even if he was irritated with him. Dammit, the man was hooking him, and Morris still wasn’t sure if he wanted to be hooked.
Theo sensed his weakening and pounced. “Come on, you’re leaving for that out-of-town convention tomorrow night. You won’t be back till late Saturday, and you’re always exhausted after a show. This is a chance for us to be together.”
Until someone calls from the restaurant and Theo leaves again or Lincoln throws another foot-stomping scene or asks to tag along.
At that unwelcome thought, Morris looked away to his drawing table again. The pressure of deadlines loomed over him and if he thought about it too much, it would scatter his concentration. He had to focus on one project at a time. First, he had to finish the Wonder Woman piece. Then he needed to finalize the conception work he was doing for Brenden. He still wasn’t entirely satisfied with that. Then he still had to prepare himself for the show. That meant going through his inventory and preparing new pieces to sell, packing, and organizing.
“Sorry, man, maybe Sunday night if they have a late show.” Morris picked up his brush again.
“You know they don’t,” Theo said, his voice tinged with the same frustration Morris felt. He rubbed both Morris’s shoulders now, working out the tension and drawing his focus away from cleaning the brush. “You’re going to permanently twist yourself into a knot bent over like that. Come on. Get away for a few hours.”
Morris pressed his lips together. Theo owned his own business. He should understand being your own boss meant more work, not less. Morris could procrastinate with the best of them, but he also knew when it was time to buckle down.
Morris set his brush aside with a sigh and glanced up at Theo, who looked at him with an endearingly hopeful expression that both tempted and aggravated. He shouldn’t feel guilty because he didn’t have time right now to drop everything, yet guilty was how he felt. The same guilt he experienced every time his sisters called, making him feel bad for being busy. He hated it.
Setting his own hours didn’t mean he could drop everything any time someone wanted something from him. Being a comic book artist didn’t mean he sat on his ass all day long watching TV and being unproductive. “This isn’t a hobby for me,” Morris said, frowning at Theo as he gestured toward his table.
“I didn’t say it was.” Theo took a step back, his mouth thinning in an unpleasant line. “I just thought you might want to spend some time together. I haven’t seen you in days.”
That twisted too. Morris missed Theo. It seemed lately one or the other of them was always coming or going. It wasn’t conducive to a relationship, which was probably one of the reasons why his relationships always bombed. He should cut his losses now if Theo couldn’t understand. He was as bad about getting bent out of shape over Theo getting called away. This was doomed from the start.
“Can we talk about this later?” Morris asked, swiveling his chair back toward the table and picking up the brush again. “I can’t right now. I have to focus.” He dipped the brush in the ink and bent back over his work.
“You’re going to shut me out?” The stunned incredulity in Theo’s voice made Morris’s stomach knot. He hated confrontations and arguments. It made him want to hide away. It was one thing to mediate between others, that he could handle; a situation like this twisted him up.
He paused, searching for a response as the brush hovered over the page. A small drop dripped down onto the paper. “Goddammit,” he muttered, tossing the brush in his cup of water.
“You know what, never fucking mind.”
“Theo.” Morris pushed back from his table as Theo stalked out of the room, but he was at a loss for what to say. He couldn’t skive off work because Theo was having a temper tantrum, and he didn’t see how talking about it any more would change the situation. He told Theo he had deadlines. He’d mentioned before how it bothered him that his family saw his work as a hobby, conveniently pushed aside for their wants. Then the chance to say anything was gone as he heard the kitchen door shut.
Ca
ssie lifted her head up from where she was napping in the sun and gave Morris a baleful stare. “What?” Morris lifted his hands as he glared at her too. “It’s not my fault. Go back to sleep, you moocher.”
She left her sunbeam, rubbed her face against his ankle, then leaped up onto her cat tree, where she curled up in a ball and went promptly back to sleep with her back to him. “Great, now my cat’s pissed at me too,” Morris muttered.
Morris rubbed a hand over his face with a sigh and turned back to fix his Wonder Woman. He’d deal with Theo later. Besides the deadline, he needed time to calm down and get his thoughts together or it would be another fight.
He stared down at the page without seeing it, the sound of Theo’s voice replaying in his mind. He should go talk to him, or least send an apology text. But how could he word it so Theo wouldn’t turn right back around to attempt to drag him away? Maybe if he waited until Theo was at work.
Morris rose and flipped on the TV, scrolling through his movie options. He put on Big Trouble in Little China. That was entertaining background noise and a movie he’d seen so often it wouldn’t pull away his attention from his work, but it would keep him from feeling lonely. When it was over, he’d text Theo.
When Morris finally finished the last of what he wanted to get done, his hand trembled and throbbed, his eyes stung with strain, and his back ached with the knots Theo had promised would end up in his muscles, but all of his projects were done. He carefully tucked away the images of Chessie, then found sleeves for the dozen new trading cards he’d sketched, inked, and colored. It was always good to have new material on the table, the quick trading cards as well as the books.
He shook his hand as he rose and stretched up on his toes, and for a moment the room spun. Morris leaned against the wall as his stomach growled and he realized how thirsty he was too. How long had it been since he’d eaten or had anything to drink? In the background, the TV droned on with the next late-night movie option.
A Little Side of Geek Page 25
