by Mel Spenser
When they were about a mile from the mainland, the crew stopped and anchored. They set up the spinnaker halyard so people could swing way out and drop in the water. They had a few takers, and of course Andy did it from their group. Nick watched him grab hold of the rope and then he was swung out over the water. At the end of the arc, Andy let go. He free fell feet first from high over the water, arms over his head and his hair flying. He surfaced to applause. His fairly light weight allowed him fly further than any of the other guys who had been hot-dogging.
They finally made it back to the mainland. They were all tired from the fresh air and sun. Nick had made sure that Andy was slathered all day, so at least they didn't have a sunburn to deal with. They made it back to the hotel in time for dinner. Separating, they headed for their rooms with promises to meet up later.
Chapter 19
Andy and Nick sat together in the hotel lounge. They were sitting toward the back on a sofa arranged behind a low table. They held hands in the darkened room and sipped margaritas while they watched several couples dancing the salsa. When the band took a break, they were joined by two men, who took a chair on either end of the sofa.
"Hi. My name's Jay and this is Lewis."
"I'm Nick. This is Andy."
"We noticed you guys sitting over here. Where are you from?"
"Houston," Nick said. "How about you?"
"We're from L.A."
"This hotel is a lot nicer than where we're staying, isn't it, Jay?"
"It sure is."
They all sat looking at each other. The silence dragged on.
Nick finally broke the silence. "So what brings you here?"
"We saw you two at a club the other night," Jay said. "We knew where you were staying because we looked at your wristbands."
Nick leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "You say that you saw us at a club and then you tracked us down here?" He glanced back at Andy.
"Yeah. We thought you two were hot."
This got Andy's attention and he leaned forward as well. He and Nick looked at each other and then back at the two men.
"So, what can we do for you guys?"
"Well, Nick. We were wondering if you guys like to play."
Nick heard what sounded like a gurgle come from Andy. Nick reached one hand around behind him and rubbed Andy's back.
"What did you have in mind?"
"We could go up to your room, or you could come to our hotel. Or we could go down to the beach, if you want to make it less formal." Jay was obviously their spokesperson.
Nick felt Andy pinch him on the thigh. He wondered if it was a get rid of them pinch, or a hell yeah let's go party pinch. He didn't know what Andy wanted, but it looked like Nick was the negotiator for their team by default.
"Uh. I have to admit, you guys are both pretty hot yourselves," Nick said.
He felt Andy tense next to him.
Nick continued, "If you'd asked me about eight weeks ago, this conversation would be over and we'd already be hitting the sheets."
Andy was starting to vibrate. Nick couldn't figure out if Andy was excited or petrified.
"I can't speak for Andy, but I'm going to have to pass. I'm committed these days." He took Andy's hand in both of his. "How about you, Andy? You want to play? It's your choice."
All three men looked at Andy expectantly. He had a deer caught in the headlights look.
"Uh… thanks, but no."
Nick turned his head and looked back at the other two. He had a smug look on his face.
"Sorry, guys. Thanks for the offer. Like I said, a few weeks ago…"
Jay and Lewis stood up to leave.
"Well, if you change your mind, here's where we're staying. We'll be here until Friday." Jay handed Nick a slip of paper. Andy watched Nick take it.
"You guys have a good vacation," Nick said to them.
When they were gone, Nick tore the paper into several pieces and dropped them in the ashtray. Nick leaned back on the sofa and reached up with both hands, pulled a stunned Andy back and put an arm around his shoulders.
"Are you okay, baby?"
"I think we need to talk."
"I figured you'd say that." Nick got up, pulling Andy with him. "Let's take a walk on the beach."
They headed through the lobby and out the back of the hotel toward the pool. It was late and the pool was empty. They walked around it and headed down the stairs to the beach. Nick took Andy's hand in his and they started walking.
"It's pretty out tonight, isn't it, baby?"
"Um-hmm."
They walked awhile. Nick waited. He knew Andy would get to the point eventually.
"Nick?"
"Hmm?"
"Those guys…"
"Yes?"
"Did you want to go with them?"
"No. Did you?"
"Uh, no." Andy paused. "You've done three-ways before?"
"I've done a lot of things before. But yes, I've done them."
"Oh." Andy seemed a little disappointed.
Suddenly it dawned on Nick that he was concerned what Andy thought about him. He didn't want Andy to think less of him and he felt like he needed to explain himself.
"The things I've done…" Nick tried to get his thoughts together. "Hell. I can't even blame it on being young."
They walked on. Nick tried again.
"I've always had one-night stands. It was always anonymous. Never the same guy. It was a way to get my rocks off. Nothing more. No emotions attached. Pretty empty."
He ran his free hand through his hair.
"When I met Tim, I thought I was in love. But I figured out pretty quickly that I wasn't. I never screwed around on him. My loyalty had nothing to do with how I felt about him. I was trying to be honorable. When he screwed around, I knew that I was the biggest chump ever. I was more mad at myself than at him. And it just served to reinforce all my past habits. I thought that if I didn't get emotionally involved with someone, I didn't risk getting hurt. I had it all figured out."
Nick gave up. It wasn't coming out like he wanted.
They walked on for a while in silence. They got to the end of the hotel's private beach and stopped next to some trees. They stood side by side and looked out over the water. Andy had crossed his arms in front of himself, putting a little distance between the two of them.
Nick decided to give it another try. "Then I met you," he sighed.
Andy glanced at him, then looked back out over the water.
"I knew that first night that we were together that it was different. I knew you weren't going to be a just another one-night stand. I knew that I'd never get enough of you."
Nick was starting to speak softly. Andy strained to hear, but didn't look at him.
"I've got it bad." Nick gave a little laugh. "I'm like a stupid teenager. I get excited when I see you come up on the caller ID. I can't wait until the next time I'm with you. The next time I hear your voice. Your laugh. I can't get enough of your smell. Your taste. Making love to you…" He trailed off.
"So, no." He continued. "I didn't want to go with those guys. They held no appeal. What I want… the only one I want is right here, standing beside me.
Andy still looked out at the water and said nothing. Nick thought that he'd blown it and was starting to feel sick to his stomach.
Finally Andy spoke. "You said, make love to me…"
"Yes. I did."
Andy glanced at him. Nick was looking at him and their eyes held. They were both feeling a little vulnerable and the apprehension showed in their faces.
Nick figured he'd come this far, he might as well go ahead and say it. "I love you, Andy."
Nick could see tears welling in Andy's eyes. He wasn't so dry-eyed himself. He pulled Andy to his chest and held him. Andy snaked his arms around Nick's waist. Nick stroked Andy’s back with one hand and, with his other, spread his fingers through the pretty blond hair that he loved so much. Andy said something, but it was muffled in Nick's shirt and he cou
ldn't make it out.
"What did you say?" Nick asked.
"Love you, too."
At Andy's words, a shot of adrenaline went through Nick. He swore that he actually felt butterflies in his stomach along with the relief. He held Andy's head against his chest and kissed Andy’s hair. They stood there on the quiet beach with their arms around each other. It was not just about the sex anymore. For the first time, it was about being with someone he loved and who loved him back.
Chapter 20
Briggs sat in his car across the street from the brake and transmission garage. He had finally tracked Sims here, to where the man had been working for the past couple of months.
Briggs flipped through his notes. Sims had been a little bit of a challenge to pin down. By sheer determination and old fashioned investigating, Briggs had finally tracked the bastard. Sims had been subletting an apartment from a college student who was gone for the summer. His name didn't appear on any lease and there was no record of a current address. No utilities were in his name. The garage where he worked paid him in cash once a week. He didn't own a car, but did help himself to customers' cars to get around. The guy was truly a drifter.
He thought back to the other night when he had watched Sims at the club. The guy had been unaware that he was being watched most of the evening. Briggs knew the instant that Sims had zeroed in on the blond-haired man. Sims' body language had changed, becoming more like an animal stalking its prey. Briggs had watched him prowl around the perimeter of the dance floor as he stared at the blond haired man through the crowd.
Briggs had only met Andy Griffin once, but even he could easily see the resemblance between Griffin and the blond-haired guy Sims had been stalking in the club. Briggs remembered how Sims approached the man and then wrestled with his inner demons. Sims' reaction when he found out that the guy wasn't Griffin was pure psychosis. Sims was definitely a disturbed individual.
He looked up from his notes in time to see Sims leaving work. He knew that it was Sims' habit to walk home, change and then head out to one of the gay bars in the area.
When Sims was out of sight, Briggs started his car. He planned to go to his office and compile a daily report from his notes. Then he'd hit the gay clubs and see what Sims was up to.
***
Lee watched Briggs drive away. He had doubled back to the garage, grabbed some keys off the pegboard and gotten a customer's car.
He had sensed there was something about the guy when he saw him at the club. It was no coincidence that the guy was sitting in a car across the street from the garage.
Lee followed Briggs’ car as he headed into downtown Houston. He was back a couple of blocks when he saw Briggs turn into a parking lot. He drove by the lot slowly in time to see Briggs going into an entrance to a building.
Lee felt a rush of alarm when he saw that the guy had gone into a private investigator's office.
Oh. This wouldn't do at all.
***
Briggs sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He noticed that it had gotten dark outside. He had finished updating his file on Sims and he was ready to call it a night. He shut things down, picked up his keys and headed to the door. He dropped Sims' file on Stephanie's desk on his way out.
Outside, he locked the door to the entrance. It had gotten later than he thought and there weren't many cars left in the parking lot.
He walked to his car, sorting through his keys and whistling softly. As he was getting ready to open the car door, he heard a sound behind him and looked over his shoulder. The last thing he saw was Sims swinging a jack handle.
Chapter 21
The gate opened and they pulled into Andy's driveway.
"Oh man, back to reality," Andy said. They got out of the car and Nick started removing their luggage from the back.
"We've got a shitload of laundry to do."
Andy grabbed a bag. "We can do it all here. We'll just unload the suitcases in the laundry room. It shouldn't take too long if we combine it."
Andy picked up another bag and headed toward the house. "Hey, the vet is still open. I'd like to bail Henry out of the kennel before they close. You want to come?"
"Sure, I'll put the rest of these inside and go with you."
The vet clinic wasn't far, and they got there in no time. When they walked in, they were greeted by a very young receptionist wearing a smock with cartoon puppies and kittens all over it.
"Hi, Mr. Griffin!" She all but squealed. "Welcome back!"
Nick visibly started, and Andy's eyes widened at the enthusiastic greeting. She certainly was chipper. And loud.
"Uh, hi, Bridgette."
"How was your vacation?"
"It was pretty good," Andy replied. "Hard to come back, you know."
"Don't I know it! Gee. It always takes me days to get back into the routine. This one time, I went with my parents to England. And coming back was really rough with the time change and all, let me tell you."
"So, is Henry ready to go?"
"You bet! Let me have him brought up." She rang for the attendant to bring the dog to the waiting room. "I bet Henry is going to be so excited to see his daddy!"
Nick raised his eyebrows on that one.
"Did he do okay?" Andy handed her his credit card. "Any problems?"
"Oh, heavens, no!" She looked shocked at the mere thought. "Mr. Griffin." She paused for effect. "Henry is such a delight! We all adore him. He's a very good boy. And so well behaved." She leaned forward, as if she was going to share a secret, and said more softly out of the corner or her mouth, "Not like some of these other dogs we get in here." She leaned back in her seat and continued full volume. "Henry is so sweet! Just precious! And so smart! He loved his play time. He chased tennis balls and carried around a squeaky ducky to play with."
Andy heard Nick give a snort.
"He made a new little friend," she continued.
"Really?" Andy tried to ignore Nick when he gave a little chuckle.
"Oh yes! He just adored his new little friend, Sophia," she went on.
Andy knew from past experience that there was no way to stop her. He could sense Nick shifting around next to him, enjoying the show.
"Sophia?" Nick asked, prompting her for more.
"She's an Italian Greyhound and it was just so cute to see them playing together. He's so big and she's so tiny. I mean, her whole body is about the size of his head. They played tug of war with a blanky. He was so gentle with her. It was just darling."
Nick was in full chuckle next to him. Andy refused to look in his direction.
Thank God the phone rang.
"Oh, my! Well, I need to get this. Henry will be right out."
Nick and Andy escaped to the other side of the room to wait. They stood looking out the window with their backs to the room. Nick leaned over and said softly, "Mr. Griffin."
Andy glanced over and Nick gave him one of those devilish grins.
"Don't even start," Andy said under his breath, trying to keep a straight face.
"But, Mr. Griffin…"
"Stop."
"I want to meet Henry's new little friend," Nick said softly.
Andy choked back a laugh. "Will you knock it off already?"
"And I think it would be a good idea to have a look at that ducky so we can get him one just like it for home. Don't you think so, Mr. Griffin?"
"Stop it."
"Oh, Mr. Griffin, don't be that way."
Andy jabbed an elbow in Nick's ribs, trying not to laugh.
"Oof." Nick rubbed his side. "Gee, Mr. Griffin. That hurt."
They heard toenails clicking excitedly on the floor on the other side of the door to the kennels. They both turned to look. The door opened, and when Henry spotted them, he went ballistic. His stub of a tail wagged wildly. He spun in tight circles in front of Andy until he flopped on his side. Then he rolled over on his back and kicked his legs up in the air in front of Nick. All the while, a high-pitched keening sound came from him.
