“You were big then, but now you’re a monster.” Jalen laughed again, his face lighting up. Affection sat heavy in my chest as I stared down at him.
Before I’d admitted to myself that I was gay, I’d secretly crushed on Jalen. His good looks were well known around town. His skin was a beautiful umber and his eyes were nearly the same color. With high eyebrows, a square jaw, and a joyous smile, he’d always been popular with the girls—and guys. It was because of him that I’d realized I could live my true life as a gay man. I never got the chance to do that in Wittstock before I left, though.
Jalen’s attention drifted to Loki, and he pasted a charming, flirty smile on his mouth. “Andwhois this beautiful man?”
I snorted and grinned at him, then Loki. “This is Loki, my… partner.”
“Partner?” Jalen’s gaze flicked to the patch on the right side of my jacket, with the Norse Lords MC Viking skull, the Vice President stitched above it, and Pleasant Beach rocker below. He cocked his head. “You mean….”
“My boyfriend, yes.” I didn’t have to see Loki to know he was staring a hole in the side of my face, and my gut clenched. I’d kept him at a distance for multiple reasons—the safety of our hearts being the main one—but it was hard to deny I wanted Loki as mine. We’d been having sex long enough to be more than just fuck buddies.
“And you’re….” Jalen waved at my patch. “A biker?”
“I’m in a motorcycle club, yeah.” I glanced at Marion from the corner of my eye, but she hadn’t moved from behind the counter. I hadn’t even realized how quiet the diner had grown until my voice echoed through the small, narrow building. Everyone was watching us, both familiar locals and people who I hadn’t met before. The strangers were probably just curious to see what was happening.
Jalen nodded and sighed, tugging at one of his dreads that fell against his face. “You here for Daniel’s funeral?”
Guilt twisted inside me and the urge to be sick stuck in the base of my throat. I couldn’t talk, so I nodded.
“Sad to hear what happened to him,” Jalen murmured. “He was a good guy.”
I wouldn’t know anymore because I hadn’t talked to anyone since I’d left. Not Daniel, Morgan, Cameron, Dana, or my family. “Uh, we came to get something to eat.”
Jalen startled like he’d just realized we were standing in the middle of the diner with everyone’s attention on us and nodded fast. “Yeah, of course. There’s an open seat.” He pointed at the very end, to my old favorite booth in the corner where me and the crew used to sit before it all went to hell. “Don’t leave Wittstock until we catch up, all right?”
I smiled at him but didn’t make any promises. Now that there were people who knew I was here, word would get around and some, like Felix, wouldn’t like that I’d returned home. I didn’t know how long I’d be here. Leading Loki to the booth, I waved at the opposite side as I sat, and Jalen went back into the kitchen.
“He seems nice,” Loki said carefully, reaching across to play with the saltshaker. His mouth turned upward and the questions were in his eyes.Who was that? Are you going to tell me the truth?
No, I wasn’t. Not yet.
“That’s Jalen. He is—was—a good friend.” I wiped my hand over my mouth and glanced around the diner again. While nearly everyone had gone back to their meals, there were still a few lingering stares, including a familiar face. I cringed.
Fuck.Karma Merkel. Andy’s girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend? How did you refer to someone who’d lost their boyfriend? We’d only been teenagers at the time, but would they still consider her a widow? She and Andy had dated for about a year and a half before that night. I didn’t even know if she knew what had happened between Andy and me at the party. We’d been young and stupid, and Karma was always sweet.
She blinked at me and brushed her blonde hair away from her face, pretty lips pulled tightly in her mouth like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to smile or glare. To my surprise, she raised her hand in a small wave, and I gave her one back, my heart aching.
“Thor.” Loki’s soft tone dragged my attention away from Karma and back to him.
He was the most sinful sight in this diner, and I could eat him up in a moment’s notice and think he was the most delicious meal I’d ever had—but not today. Being back here for barely twenty minutes was already destroying me on the inside. My entire body was being tormented, from my heart to my gut to my head. I begged him with my eyes. I didn’t want him to ask what was happening.
He nodded as though he could read my mind and smiled, leaning forward. “You don’t have a buttplug in your jacket again, do you?”
I chuckled, my mind already feeling lighter from one sentence. “No, not this time. My parents live in this town. I can’t risk anyone walking in on me shoving a plug in your ass, can I?”
“Now that would be a way to meet the parents.” Loki laughed. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Langley. Why yes, you did hear correctly. Your son was stuffing a buttplug inside my hole.”
I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face, aware of a few curious glances our way. “Loki, everyone in this damn diner can hear you talking.” Yet, I didn’t care. For once in my life, what they thought of me meant nothing when I was sitting here with Loki, having a laugh so loudly that it hurt my stomach.
Loki’s personality was contagious, and it didn’t matter whether he was throwing grenades at other bikers or making butt jokes, he walked on sunshine wherever he went—a bright light in a world of darkness. He looked on the happier side of life, and I needed that more than ever.
“If they want to eavesdrop about you sticking something in my ass, that’s their problem, isn’t it?”
A little old lady at the booth behind us huffed and shakily got to her feet, sending us a glare as she strode along the diner and out the front door. We watched her until she was gone before we were laughing again. I pressed my face into my palms, shaking my head at how much it all hurt.
“Are you scaring away my customers?”
We both glanced up at Marion where she stood in front of us, her hands on her hips and a smile on her face. She stared at me softly, and something burned inside me. There was so much I’d missed in this town and the diner was one of those things. “Hi, Toby.”
