Men of London 06 - Flying Solo (14 page)

No doubt he’d be getting pictures of the city, together with pictures of Max’s dick, and no doubt there’d be some hot and heavy phone sex later. It was how they kept each other going. Max had suggested a Skype session, something apparently his friend Oliver and partner Leslie did regularly, but Gibson wasn’t too sure about it.

“Is that it then?” he asked testily. “Can I get on with my work now without you
so
-ing in my ear every couple of minutes?”

Jack waved airily. “That’s it. I wanted a plan to meet the guy who has tamed my Gib.”

Gibson turned a frosty stare on Jack. “He has
so
not tamed me, arsehole.”

Oh yes he has. Admit it. He’s become special to me in a way I never thought I’d see.

Gibson’s mobile rang. He smiled when he saw who it was. “Mum. Hi, how are things at home?”

His mother sighed. “Hi, darling. Things are okay here. Your dad still isn’t feeling too well; he’s going for more tests. Ricky is fine and Haggis says hello.”

Haggis was the old family dog, a mix of cute and clever mixed with collie and a bit of Dalmatian. “I’m sorry about Dad. Do you want me to come home? Is there anything I can do?” Part of him wanted to go home and see his workaholic father and tell him to take it easy, and part of him hoped his mother would say no, because he did have a load of deadlines to meet on his gaming efforts.

“No son, that’s not necessary.” Doris Henry sounded tired and Gibson wondered if he should go home anyway. “Ricky’s here, he pops in every night, so we’ll be fine. We’re seeing you in next month anyway for your niece’s birthday, aren’t we?”

Richard’s adorable daughter Chloe was turning six years old at the start of September, and was the apple of both her father and uncle’s eye. “Yes, I’m flying up early in the morning. I’ll get a taxi to you.” Max was scheduled to be on the flight, spending the night in Edinburgh. Neither of had them had talked about him going to meet Gibson’s family. Gibson hadn’t offered and Max hadn’t pushed.

His mother laughed. “Well, that’ll be fine. Dad’s sleeping at the moment or I’d let him say hi. But he’s been tired so best let him catch a snooze when he can.”

“Okay, Mum. Give him my love when he wakes up. Ask him to give me a ring and we can have a father-son convo.”

Doris snorted. “Convo? Is that text or game speak, Gibson? I assume you mean a conversation.”

Gibson rolled his eyes at Jack. He did love his mother but she was a stickler for proper speech. “Yes, I mean a conversation.”

Jack was grinning at him across the room, no doubt realising what was going on. As the favourite best friend, he too had been subjected to a few ear bashings on the proper use of language.

“Anyway, the reason I called, other than to see how my youngest son was faring, was to ask you to please bring that old Hibernian FC scarf your dad left at your place last time we visited. He swears blind he had it recently and he won’t accept he didn’t. He’s got this bee in his bonnet about wearing it to a match in a few weeks’ time.”

Gibson nodded. The scarf was balled up in his cupboard somewhere—at least he hoped it was. A sudden trickle of panic set in. He hadn’t seen it in a while. “Sure, I’ll bring it. I can’t wait to see you both again. And my gorgeous niece of course.”

“Good, I’m looking forward to seeing you too, son. I’d better get off, Haggis wants walking and he’s going crazy. Say hi to Jack for me and his lovely girlfriend.” She paused. “Should I be saying hello to anyone special in your life, Gibson? I mean, I know you don’t do relationships as such, I can’t remember the last time I actually heard you talk about the same man twice. And your friend Jamie has been popping around here asking after you. He still seems very keen.”

“Mum, please.” Gibson was mortified at the fact his mother knew he was a player. Jamie had been a guy he’d hooked up with on his last few visits to Cramond—gay pickings were slim in the small village—but he’d been clear to Jamie that the last time had been it. Jamie had started getting a little possessive and Gibson had needed to cut him loose. Thank God Gibson had never given him his mobile number or he’d have been flooded with texts and entreating phone calls.

“Actually, there is a guy I’ve been involved with for a while. His name is Max, and he’s cabin crew on the plane I’ll be flying in on.”

“Ooh.” His mother’s voice perked up. “Well, you’ll have to bring him to visit when you’re here. I’d like to meet the man who has your attention longer than a week. Right, got to go. Talk to you later.” His mother rang off and Gibson put his phone down with a defeated sigh.

“Crap. Now she wants to meet him. Why didn’t I keep quiet?”

Jack cocked an eyebrow. “You didn’t keep quiet because you wanted to tell her that her baby boy wasn’t a slut and actually had a man in his life who he didn’t pick up at a club for a quickie.”

“Fuck you.” Gibson heaved another sigh. “I’ll find some excuse not to take him. Tell them Max had to work an emergency shift or something.”

Jack shifted in his chair, his face puzzled. “Why not introduce him to them? What’s the harm?”

Gibson hummed. “It’s complicated. I mean, this whole thing with him has moved quite fast and it’s different. I like Max, a lot, but I’m not sure I want him to meet my family yet. That seems”—he struggled to find the right word—“so permanent. We’re having a great time together and it’s fab having a regular guy to go out with so far, but it’s like chalk and cheese for me from where I was to here. I don’t want to move too fast and find we don’t work out after all. And he’s away such a lot and that’s not going to change.”

I miss him when he’s not around. There, I actually admitted it.

Jack nodded. “I understand, but he’s good for you, Gibson. I’ve never seen you so settled. Or happy, bro.”

Gibson blew air out of pursed lips. “Maybe I’m not ready to settle down if I don’t want to take him home yet?”

Fuck. Why the hell had he said that? He
was
happy. He cared about Max and the word ‘boyfriend’ had
nearly
slipped out of his mouth a couple of times when he was talking about him to others, but it was all a bit scary. He’d never done the relationship thing—what if he messed it up? And he’d have his folks all over his case because once they met Max, they’d love him. Anyone would. Gibson didn’t want to disappoint anyone if all fell apart.

A noise at the door made them both turn towards it. His heart sank when he saw a pale-faced Max standing there in his cabin crew uniform and a bag slung over his shoulder. His face was pinched, his eyes flat.

“Max. I thought you were going to Venice?” Gibson’s mouth was dry and he wondered how much Max had heard. Judging from his body language, it had been most of it.

Max moved into the room. “The flight was cancelled. Air traffic control problem. I thought I’d surprise you.” His voice was tight as he nodded at Jack. “You must be Jack. Good to meet you at last. Sorry I came in unannounced. The front door wasn’t locked.”

Jack nodded, glancing from Max to Gibson. “Yeah, nice to meet you too at last. I was going out to pick up my girlfriend, so I’d better be off.” He hefted himself off his chair and hunted around his desk for his wallet. “Gib, I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Gibson swallowed past the lump in his throat and nodded. “Sure.” He knew Beth was still working so Jack wasn’t going to pick her up. He was giving him and Max space. He watched as Jack case a sympathetic glance at him and left the office.

“How much did you hear?” Gibson stood up and walked over to Max, who stepped back. Gibson’s chest ached.

“From when you put the phone down.” Max was still. “I’m sorry you feel that way. You should have told me.”

“Max—” Gibson moved again towards his lover and Max shook his head.

“No, this isn’t one of those times when you can kiss me and make me forget stuff, Gibson. I know your tricks and it only works when I want it to.” The hurt on his face was palpable. “I’m sorry if I moved too fast, and again, I’m sorry I’m away such a lot. We’ve been through this and I thought we’d agreed to see how things pan out over the next few months.”

Gibson wanted to hug Max, drive the bleak expression from his face. He opened his mouth to speak but Max beat him to it. “The trouble is, I’m more invested in this whole relationship than you. And after overhearing what I did… I knew it could happen, so honestly,” he shrugged, “it’s not that much of a surprise.”

Gibson wasn’t going to let his observation pass unchallenged. “Max, hear me out,” he said firmly. “You have to understand where I was coming from. This is my first time in a real relationship and I’m scared I’m going to mess it up. And with you being away a lot, it’s tough. I miss you.”

Max’s eyes shadowed. “Is that true?” he said quietly. “’Cos it didn’t sound like it to me. It sounded like you doubt whether we should be together.”

Gibson’s stomach clenched. “I do bloody miss you, all the time. I get caught up in my work, but then I have a break and I remember you’re not around to talk to, because you’re thousands of feet in the air and I can’t even text you and tell you because I know you won’t see it until later and honestly, then the moment’s kinda gone. I get all insecure and say stupid things like what you heard. I’m sorry.”

Max still hadn’t put his bag down and looked ready to run out of the door at any moment. Gibson wasn’t going to let that happen. He moved closer to his lover and wrenched the bag from his hand, ignoring Max’s startled look. He wrapped arms around his lover’s stiff frame and buried his face in his neck. Max smelt of sweat, aftershave, curry and his own unique scent of Max.

“I’m glad you’re here, honest. I like being with you. And may I tell you how damn sexy you look in your uniform?”

A soft rumble in Max’s chest told Gibson he was thawing. He’d heard the same low chuckle when they lay in bed together, Gibson’s ear against Max’s warm body.

“And it’s not that I don’t
want
you to meet my family,” Gibson murmured. “It’s if they meet you, they’ll love you, because who wouldn’t, and if things go wrong, I’ll never live it down and they’ll make my life a misery for driving my first real relationship guy away—”

Warm lips shut him up and as he responded to the kiss, Gibson was relieved Max was still there, glad Max had understood his reservations and hadn’t flown like one of his planes.

When Max finally released his lips, they stood together quietly. Gibson’s nose wrinkled and he looked up into brown eyes. “Why do you smell of curry?”

“I had one before coming over here, it was pretty spicy. Sorry.” Max heaved a sigh then moved to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. He filled the glass and turned to look at Gibson.

“Did you mean it when you said you’re not ready to settle down? I won’t be mad, so tell me the truth.” His lips twisted in a painful smile. “Despite my high ideals about having a regular guy to see, I don’t mind taking what I can get of you, whatever you want to give. It’s better than not having any of you at all.”

Gibson’s heart tore a little at the precise moment he heard those humbling words. It looked like he’d done what he’d so not wanted to do: stuff things up. He needed to fix this.

He picked up his phone and dialled a number. Max stared at him in puzzlement.

“Gibson?” His mother sounded surprised.

“Hey Mum. I wanted to let you know Max, my
steady boyfriend
,” he made sure to emphasize those words, “
will
be joining us at Chloe’s birthday and he’ll be staying over. We’ll stay in my old room—together, if that’s okay. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

His mother’s squeal made him wince. “Oh, Gibson, that’s wonderful. I can’t wait to meet him. I’ll get the room sorted in time, and make sure there are supplies.”

A twinge of unease swept through Gibson. “What do you mean ‘supplies?’”

“Well, the whole safe sex thing is important darling. I know how it is. I did the same thing for Richard when he had girlfriends to stay.”

Gibson was mortified. “Mum, please say you’re not going to do what I think you are. Truly. Dying here.”

Doris Henry tut-tutted. “Now, Gibson, don’t be coy. I’m an open-minded woman. Listen, sweetheart, I’m late for bingo. The taxi is waiting. I’ll call you later in the week and see how things are going. I’m so excited to see you both.” She laughed. “Oh dear, poor Jamie’s going to be devastated.”

The line went dead.

Gibson put down his phone and groaned. “Oh my God. My mother slays me. She wants to buy us ‘supplies.’”

Max raised one eyebrow. He looked a little happier than when he’d first walked in. “You mean—”

Gibson nodded miserably. “Yes. I see condoms and lube making an appearance in my old bedside drawer.” Max’s snort made Gibson grin. “My mother is going to make sure she gets to know everything about you. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Max regarded him with uncertain eyes. “I’m going to a birthday party? As your
boyfriend
?”

Gibson panicked. “Oh, crap, I guess I should have asked you first and not assumed…”

“It’s fine. As long as you’re sure about it all.” Max’s face looked happier but still unsure.