“I know what you’re after, Beckett—” Graham sighed, “—and the answer is no. It was no yesterday, and it will be no tomorrow. No.”
Beckett feigned innocence. “You mean you don’t want me to help plan the ball?”
Graham’s expression went completely flat, as if he saw right through Beckett. “You are more than welcome to help plan the ball. I appreciate your loyalty to The Slope. You’ve been a good customer these last few years.”
Hope soared high in Beckett’s chest. Graham liked him after all. He appreciated him.
“But no,” Graham repeated, sending Beckett’s hopes thudding. “You and I are not going to spend time together. Not like that.” He let his arms drop with a tired sigh. “You know this, Beckett. We’ve been over it before.”
“It’s just that—”
Beckett’s plea stopped before it could truly get started as The Slope’s door opened and Marcus strode in. Beckett’s heart was immediately in his throat, and he snapped his gaze to Noah at the end of the bar.
Noah noticed the moment Marcus arrived, of course. He sat suddenly straight, then jumped off his stool entirely to move into Marcus’s path.
“Noah,” Marcus grumbled as a greeting. “Why are you still here?”
“Because you and I have unfinished business,” Noah said, eyes a little too bright and voice a tad too animated. “I cannot leave until we have patched things up between the two of us.”
Marcus clenched his jaw and walked around Noah. “There’s nothing to patch up anymore, Noah. It’s over. It’s been over for months. You know that.”
A sick chill went down Beckett’s back. Graham had just spoken nearly the exact same words to him. Beckett felt as bad for Noah—who followed Marcus the length of the club to the door leading to the back hallway—as he’d felt when Graham had said the same thing to him.
“It cannot be over,” Noah insisted, grabbing the sleeve of Marcus’s coat and holding him in place.
“Don’t make me toss you out of my club for harassing the patrons,” Graham spoke up from behind the bar.
A wave of prickling embarrassment swept through Beckett, as if Graham had scolded him instead of Noah. He ached for Noah and everything the poor man was going through.
“It’s alright, Graham,” Marcus said with a long-suffering sigh. “He doesn’t mean any harm. He nevermeansany harm.” The implication was definitely that he caused it anyhow.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Noah said, swaying toward Marcus in a way that made Beckett think he might drop to his knees in front of the man. “I’ll serve you in any way you’d like, even the most depraved of ways.”
Marcus glanced around, suddenly anxious and looking embarrassed for Noah’s sake. Beckett understood what he felt. He was a bit embarrassed for Noah too, if he was honest.
“Just take me back,” Noah pleaded. “Please take me back.”
“Noah, this isn’t seemly,” Marcus hissed. “I am not taking you back. I am happy here, with Jasper. You need to find a way to move beyond this. And please, stop troubling me. It has been…it has been a burden on my nerves these past few months.”
“I never meant to be a burden to you,” Noah said, his arms falling to his sides. Beckett could practically see the hope and energy drain away from him. “That was never my intention.”
Marcus opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and shook his head. “I cannot do this now. I’ve only returned for a moment to fetch something for work. Goodbye, Noah.”
With that, Marcus walked away, disappearing into the back hallway.
Beckett slid off his stool and hurried to his friend, feeling real pain throughout his body in the aftermath of what his friend had just experienced.
“Are you alright, Noah?” he asked once he was at Noah’s side.
He touched his hand lightly to Noah’s arm. Noah seemed to take that as a signal for much more. He turned and threw himself against Beckett, burying his face against Beckett’s neck with a sob.
Beckett gulped in alarm, his eyes going wide, as he hugged Noah tightly. His heart raced even harder because of his friend’s violent reaction to Marcus’s rejection. It was alarming to see a grown man fall apart the way Noah was. Something about it wasn’t right or natural.
But Beckett held Noah tighter, whispering, “There, there. It was just a temporary set-back. Marcus must be in a foul mood because of something at work.”
Noah sucked in a breath and stood straighter so that he could look directly at Beckett. “Do you think so?” he asked.
So many emotions swirled through Beckett that he couldn’t keep track of them. Noah’s reaction had been too extreme. It reminded him of the few things Jasper or Marcus had hinted about the reasons why Marcus had left his old lover before coming to New York. Noah was that lover, and the things Marcus had said before were about him. It was enough to worry Beckett.