At the same time, Beckett understood what Noah was feeling. He wasn’t an overly emotional sort, but he’d just received yet another set-down from Graham. Rejection was not enjoyable. It did unpredictable things to people.
“Come over here, Noah,” he said, leading Noah to the stairs at the side of the stage where The Slope’s entertainment took place. He helped Noah to sit and kept his arm around his friend’s back as he did.
“Do you want a glass of water?” Elliott, one of Beckett’s friends and another regular patron of the club, asked quietly as he approached.
“Yes, please.” Beckett nodded to him, then returned his focus to Noah.
He brushed Noah’s hair back from his forehead. It was such a sunny, strawberry-blond color. It matched the usual cheer of Noah’s personality.
Noah responded to the gesture, leaning heavily against Beckett’s side and sniffling.
“Don’t let one unsatisfactory encounter drag your spirits down,” he told Noah. “You would tell me the same thing, wouldn’t you?”
Noah nodded slowly, then said, “Yes, I would.”
Beckett peeked toward the bar, and when he saw Graham otherwise engaged, he whispered, “You heard Graham brush me off yet again.”
“And why should he?” Noah asked, sitting straight and scowling. “You’re perfectly lovely. The man must be out of his mind.”
Beckett smiled. That was the spirit he wanted to see. “Marcus doesn’t know what he’s missing with you,” he said, taking Noah’s hand and patting it. “We are both undiscovered treasures that are being passed over when we should be cherished.”
“We most certainly are,” Noah agreed, managing to find a smile behind his tears. “And we can make them see it, I know we can.”
“Of course we can,” Beckett said, smiling along with Noah.
A flutter of something hit his insides before he could stop it. Tears made Noah’s eyes luminescent, and yet, there was something desperate and yearning behind that beauty. The mad idea hit him that what he should really do to make Noah feel better just then would be to kiss him. He had a feeling Noah needed to be kissed and held and cuddled as often as possible. Perhaps then his soul would be settled.
“Now,” he said in a more bracing voice, squeezing Noah’s hand, “cheer up, wipe those tears away, and breathe deeply. We have a Halloween ball to plan.”
“Yes, we do,” Noah said, blinking rapidly, then wiping his face. “I heard Graham agree to the ball.”
“He did,” Beckett said. “Your idea was brilliant. You see? You are quite a magnificent man. You are filled with brilliant ideas. And now we must figure out how to make them realities.”
Beckett stood, offering a hand to Noah to help him up.
“Thank you, my friend,” Noah said with a touch of shyness that Beckett assumed was uncharacteristic. “I traveled all the way across the ocean to find one thing, but I feel like I have found another on top of that.”
Beckett smiled, warmed to his core by the compliment.
“And I know that, with your help, I’ll win Marcus in the end,” Noah went on with renewed enthusiasm.
Beckett’s smile dropped. The comment disappointed him somehow, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.
ChapterFive
Noah had forgotten entirely how marvelous it was to cohabit with a man who understood and appreciated him. Beckett was the most wonderful and generous soul alive to open his home to a virtual stranger. Not only that, in addition to sheltering and feeding him, Beckett had purchased an entire new wardrobe for him. The gesture was so touching that Noah vowed to himself not only that he would take great care of the things Beckett gave him—he wasn’t always so careful with his possessions, especially when some fancy or another took his mind that he simply had to pursue—he would find a way to repay Beckett for everything.
That repayment method was simple. He would stop at absolutely nothing until his friend had the man he desired.
“Don’t you think these decorations are a bit ghoulish?” Brendan Redford, another of Noah’s new friends and one of the five men who referred to themselves simply as The Five, asked as he held up a small papier mâché model of a severed head. “I was under the impression that masquerade balls were meant to be bright and festive.”
“They are, but All-Hallows’ Eve is about thinning the veil between life and death,” Beckett explained. He pulled a bat that appeared to be made from rubber out of a box on one of the tables in the club and dangled it in a way that made the wings flap. “We’re going for the macabre here with the decorations.”
“We certainly are.” Noah rushed to Beckett’s side so that he could defend his friend. “So if you do not like it, you are welcome not to attend.”
Brendan looked taken aback. He held up his hands, including the one holding the string to which the head was attached, in a gesture of appeasement. “I didn’t mean it as an attack,” he said, watching Noah warily. “Just an observation.”
“Oh.” Noah hung his head a little. He admitted to himself that he’d overreacted a tad. But Beckett was dear to him. He’d made the last two weeks some of the easiest of his life. Anyone who questioned or ridiculed Beckett would have to face him first. “Sorry,” he continued to Brendan. “High spirits and all. But I suppose that is what Halloween is all about.” He punctuated his comment with a breathy laugh.