Miss Me

by Mel Spenser

  "You sound like a tea-kettle, Henry." Andy made several attempts to pet the moving target and then he finally gave up. Henry was ecstatic, but it was time to get going. "Henry. Let's go." The dog sprung to his feet, alert. He managed to keep himself in check, but he was still very excited. Andy clipped the leash onto his collar.

  "Henry, heel." They walked toward the exit. Henry immediately fell in step to the left of Andy, his training taking over.

  "Such a good boy!" They heard the receptionist gush as they left.

  As they walked to the car Nick asked, "Henry? Did you make a new little friend? Did you enjoy your playtime with your ducky and blanky?"

  Andy laughed. "You can be a real smartass sometimes, you know?"

  "It's part of my charm."

  Nick put Henry in the back of the Element while Andy got in the passenger seat. Nick was walking back around the car and he glanced to his left. He noticed a car with its windows down on the other side of the parking lot. It was backed into a space under some trees. There was a red haired man sitting behind the wheel, looking at them.

  "What the fuck?" Nick changed direction and started walking toward the other car at a fast clip. The red-haired man behind the wheel got a startled look on his face when he saw Nick approaching.

  "Nick!" Andy was following him.

  When Nick got up to the car, the man cringed in the driver's seat. The window was down, and Nick put both hands on the door frame and loomed over the guy. Right before Nick opened his mouth to speak, he glanced in the back seat and saw a black lab on a blanket with several tiny puppies. He stopped what he was about to say and just stared.

  Andy practically ran in to Nick trying to catch up with him.

  "Uh, Nick? What's up?"

  Andy and the man in the car were looking at Nick. Nick was staring at the back seat with a confused look on his face.

  "What? Oh! Um…" he backed away from the car.

  "Nick." Andy had put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not him."

  Nick backed further away from the car with both hands up.

  "Uh... Sorry man. My mistake." Without another word, he turned and headed back to the Element.

  Nick got in on the passenger side this time. He had his elbows on his knees and was looking down at the floorboard when Andy got behind the wheel. Without looking up he handed the keys to Andy and said, "I've got to get a hold of that detective and see what he's found out. We've got to get this taken care of once and for all."

  "Hey, buddy. It's going to be okay."

  Nick gave a snort. "Listen to you. I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you."

  Andy looked at him, wondering when it was that he'd become Nick's responsibility. "Funny, I thought we looked out for each other." He looked at Nick a while longer, then started the car. He decided that was something they needed to talk about later.

  "So, do you think Briggs found out anything?" Andy asked.

  "That's what I'm paying him for." Nick ran a hand over his face. "Fuck. I can't call him until Monday."

  "Obviously we can't do anything about it right now. Let's try not to think about it and just enjoy the rest of the weekend."

  "Yeah. You're right." Some of the tension left Nick.

  "So do you want to stop by your loft and get some things?"

  "Sure. I better go check on the place. But then I'm going home with you. I don't want you staying by yourself."

  "You mean, you're not sick of me yet?" Andy gave him a loopy smile. "Even after spending all that time together?"

  "Hardly." Nick relaxed some more and his humor started coming back. He reached over and rested his hand on Andy's thigh. "In fact…" He inched his hand up. "I think that I have an idea for tonight's activities."

  "Oh really." Andy glanced over at Nick, grinning, and then turned his attention back to the traffic. "What did you have in mind?"

  Nick inched his fingers up under the hem of Andy's baggy cargo shorts. "I'm still working on it." His fingers found the way into the leg of Andy's boxers. "I should have a fully developed plan by the time we get back." His hand kept creeping up Andy's thigh until his fingers brushed Andy’s balls.

  Andy squirmed. "Hey! I'm trying to drive here. We're going to get in a wreck."

  Nick's hand stopped, but he didn't remove it. Andy glanced over at him and Nick gave Andy a leer. He wiggled his fingers and tickled Andy's balls. Andy shivered.

  "If you don't knock it off, I'm going to pull over and have my way with you right by the side of the road," Andy said.

  "Promises, promises."

  Andy grabbed Nick's wrist and wrenched the hand out of the leg of his shorts. "Let's just get to your place. Preferably in one piece."

  Nick reached up, slid one hand under Andy's hair and caressed the sensitive area below his ear.

  "Shit!" Andy raised his shoulder up to his ear.

  "You know… I've noticed that this area seems to be a little hot button with you." Nick continued to lightly touch him.

  "Nick!"

  "Oh look. We're almost there." He removed his hand.

  Andy pulled the car up to the curb in front of Nick's complex and jammed it into park. He reached over, wrapped one hand behind Nick's neck and pulled him close.

  "Goddamn, you make me so fucking hot." He gave Nick a rough kiss.

  "Gee, Andy. We are out in public. You may want to calm it down a bit." Nick smiled at him.

  "You fucking tease. Let's go get your stuff."

  "I don't tease. I always deliver."

  Andy looked back over his shoulder. "Come on, Henry. You can't stay out here. You'll keel over from the heat."

  The three of them walked under the parking canopy on the way to Nick's loft.

  "Hey, Nick!"

  Nick looked toward the voice and saw the guys who lived in the loft next to his. He and Patrick worked at the same company together. Nick had hung out with him and his partner a few times, having dinner or watching movies.

  "Hi, Patrick. Sean. This is Andy."

  "Nice to meet you." They shook hands. "Man! That's a big dog. Does he bite?"

  "Only when necessary." Andy joked. "He won't bite you, though. His name's Henry."

  They petted him and Patrick said, "Hey, I wanted to let you know that some guy came by looking for you while you were gone."

  "Really?" Nick asked. "Did he say what he wanted?"

  "He never really got to the point. He wanted to know where you had gone and when you were coming back."

  "When was this?"

  "Last Monday. I remember because I was bringing the trash cans in when I got home from work."

  "What did he look like?"

  "Red-haired guy. You know him?"

  "Yeah, we know him. Would you recognize him if you saw him again?"

  "Definitely."

  "So, could you let me know if you see him? Give me a call?

  "Yeah. Will do."

  "Thanks, Patrick."

  "No problem. Hey, let's all get together some time soon. I could make us dinner," Patrick said. "Bring the dog. He's cool."

  "Sounds good," Nick said. "Thanks again."

  Nick took Andy's hand and they walked on to Nick's unit in silence. They were both a little apprehensive about what they were going to find when they went in. Nick unlocked the door and opened it. They stepped inside and looked around. Nothing appeared to be out of place. They both looked down at Henry. He was relaxed.

  "Fucking bastard." Nick mumbled. He tossed his keys on the table and went upstairs.

  Andy went over and sprawled out on the sofa while Nick got his things together. Henry came up and laid his head on Andy's knee. So much for hot loft sex tonight.

  ***

  "Got everything?"

  Nick had a bag with a few things in it. "Yeah. Most of my stuff that I need is at your place anyway." He locked the door to the loft and they headed down to Andy's car.

  As they got close to it, they could see that there was something on the windshield. Andy pulled a piece o
f paper out from under the wiper. Nick read the note over Andy's shoulder. It was similar to the previous ones. It was in the same bold, jagged script and it said, "Welcome back, Andy. Miss me?"

  "Motherfucker!" Nick looked around.

  Andy stood there looking down at the note in his hands. "He did this while we were inside. He was just here."

  "Goddamn it. We must have just missed him." Nick put his hand on Andy's shoulder, still looking around. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

  Nick put Henry in the back and then steered a somewhat numb Andy over to the passenger side. Andy looked out the side window as Nick drove.

  "Nick, I'm sorry you got dragged into all of this."

  "Huh?" Nick glanced over at him.

  "He obviously knows where you live. Now he's starting to mess with you."

  "So? I'm not scared of that asshole."

  "I'm just saying…" Andy looked over at him. "You don't need to make this your problem, too. I don't want you to have to get involved."

  "What the Hell's that supposed to mean?" Nick glanced at him again, frowning. "Of course I have to be involved. He's threatening you."

  "You had a nice, peaceful life before you got involved with me."

  "I was a lonely workaholic before I met you. So what are you getting at? Are you dumping me?"

  Andy flinched. "No! Of course not."

  "Well, the only way that you're getting rid of me is if you tell me that you don't love me anymore."

  "I do! I didn't say that."

  "Fine. Then cut the crap." Nick pointed a finger at him. "Look, Mr. Griffin… I worked through all of my neuroses about committing because I wanted to be with you. We did establish that I love you. And I was told that the feeling was mutual. Correct?"

  "Yes. I do. But--"

  "No buts about it, babe. You think I'm going to walk away because of this jack-off? Is that the impression you have of me? That I'll leave when things get tough."

  "Of course not."

  "I didn't go into this blind. I knew what was going on. You're stuck with me now. Unless you tell me to take a hike, I'm not going anywhere. And besides, that little peckerdick is going to be out of commission real soon. Then we can get on with our lives."

  "Okay. Okay. Sorry I brought it up."

  "You should be." Nick gave an irritated roll of his shoulders. "I don't want to have this conversation again."

  "Sorry, Nick."

  "Humph."

  They rode on in silence for a few blocks.

  "Peckerdick?" Andy looked over at Nick with a slight smile on his lips.

  "Alright!" Nick glanced at Andy, then turned his attention back to the traffic. "Look who's being the smartass now."

  "No. Seriously. I don't know what a peckerdick is... And I know a lot of useless stuff. What exactly is a peckerdick, Nick?"

  "You know." Nick paused. "It's a…" He trailed off. "Well, I'm not sure either actually."

  "Is it some kind of animal? Or maybe it's some sort of technical chemical engineering term that I've never heard before. Do they use that phraseology a lot where you come from?"

  "Oh shut up, smartass."

  "As you would say, it's part of my charm."

  "You're a riot, you know that?"

  ***

  Lee had watched them drive off. He had followed them to Nick's loft several times. He'd sit outside in whatever car he was in at the time and watch the building, waiting for Andy to come out. Then he'd follow Andy home. He hadn't figured out how to get past Andy's gate yet. But he would.

  He knew that they were coming back from their vacation today. Boy, that had pissed him off when he found out that they had taken a vacation together. Here he had been worried about Andy and had been looking for him. And the whole time Andy was off somewhere with his asshole boyfriend, not even thinking about Lee. The stupid neighbor he had talked to the other night had given him all the information he needed, so here he was now, sitting outside Andy's asshole boyfriend's place.

  Lee had been sitting in a pickup parked down the block when they had finally pulled up. He'd been waiting for like a couple of hours, which pissed him off even more. After they had gone into the asshole boyfriend's place, he'd made his move. He had pulled up, stopped next to Andy's car and left the note on it. Then he had driven around the block. He had barely had time to park before they came out of the building. It surprised him that they weren't in there for very long.

  The view from where he sat was perfect. Andy looked good. His hair was even blonder than Lee remembered. He must have been out in the sun when he was on vacation.

  Lee had watched them come out and find the note. He had enjoyed their reactions when they read it. Then he watched them as they got in the car and left.

  Lee sat there and frowned. The problem was that it didn't look like Andy and his asshole boyfriend were going to be breaking up any time soon. In fact, they looked pretty friendly with each other. He didn't like that one bit. Lee might have to speed things up by getting him out of the way so Andy would see the light. Lee was a little leery of the asshole boyfriend, though. The guy was pretty tall and looked in shape. Lee decided that he would have to attack him from behind when the time came. He was good at that.

  He started the truck and pulled away from the curb. He was not too happy that he couldn't follow them tonight. Andy had been gone for almost two weeks, and just a glimpse of him wasn't enough. But he had to get the car back to the garage before it was missed. This wouldn't go on much longer, though. He was getting tired of waiting.

  Chapter 22

  Nick could hear the music when he got out of his car. Rage Against the Machine could only get louder as he neared the back door. Once inside the kitchen, it was almost deafening. He called for Andy, but his voice was lost in the din. Even Henry must not have heard him because the dog didn't appear either. Nick set their coffees and bag of breakfast on the island and went searching for Andy.

  Nick found them in the utility room. Henry had his head buried under a pile of laundry on the floor with his lower half sticking out. Andy was bent over getting clothes out of the dryer. It was just too tempting.

  Nick walked up behind Andy and grabbed his hips. Andy jumped at the unexpected contact, but didn't turn around. Nick playfully ground his crotch into Andy's backside while Andy kept pulling laundry out of the dryer. It was a little hard to get hold of everything with Nick jostling him around. Finally, he straightened up with an armload and turned to face Nick. Andy blew a strand of hair off of his forehead that had fallen in his eyes and smiled at Nick. Andy gave Nick a kiss over the mound of warm laundry.

  Andy set the clothes on the counter and they headed out of the room toward the kitchen. On the way out, Andy leaned down and tapped Henry on the rump. Henry came out from under the pile of clothes on alert status. Then he got excited when he realized that Nick was back.

  Once in the kitchen, Andy reached over to the wall panel and turned down the music. Nick's ears were ringing from the abrupt change.

  "You know, I like 'Killing in the Name' as much as the next militant. But Henry didn't even hear me come in, and I shouted for you both. It's kind of hard for him to guard when he can't hear."

  Andy looked in the bag that Nick had set on the counter. "Ah. Blueberry scones. My favorite. Thanks."

  "Did you hear what I said? You were a sitting duck in there with your pretty little ass sticking up, looking all sexy."

  "Yeah, but I knew that you were coming right back." Andy shrugged his shoulders. "So, no big deal."

  "Well, just so long as you're aware." Nick got them plates and moved the coffee and food to the table.

  "Yes, mom."

  "So what do you want to do today, Nick?"

  "We've got all weekend ahead of us. I don't mind just hanging around here. We could swim." Nick picked up his coffee and said nonchalantly, "Later, you could make us lunch. Then dinner."

  "Ha! Where did you get the idea that I cook?"

  "Well, I made us breakfast…"


  "Yeah, right, Nick. I'll treat us to lunch. How's that?"

  "Works for me. I guess we can negotiate dinner." Nick blew on his coffee. "Anyway, I thought we could play pool later. I'll show you how I dominate the table."

  "Dominate?" Andy squirmed a little in his seat. "That sounds interesting. What exactly do you mean by dominate?" Andy looked at Nick through his eyelashes as he took a bite of his scone. "Does that mean I have to submit?"