"Good old Nathan; you can't help putting words like life and live in inverted commas, can you? I can positively hear the quote marks in your voice. Still can't get used to being dead, eh?"
There's a smart reply to that; I just know there is. But I can't think of it. "You're still holding on to my hand."
"You still haven't pulled away."
"Will asked me to come and seek you out."
Adam's eyebrows lift in obvious surprise.
"He asked a favour of you?"
I shrug. "Yes. He wanted me to come and see you. We---he---thought it was time."
"Still doesn't explain why now, as opposed to last year, next year, in another decade's time.
You're good at hiding, Nathan. Why not carry on?"
I open my mouth to speak, but nerves make me hesitate. Oh, in for a penny, in for a pound.
"He's met someone."
"You what?" Adam bursts out laughing, pats my hand gently before turning away. Quite what the break in physical contact does to me, I don't know, or don't want to admit. "He's met someone? Will Bosworth, the eternal bachelor? Bloody hell. So ---" he looks over his shoulder "---what's that got to do with you? And me?" Then he goes back to shaking his head, pacing slowly up and down beside the bed.
Bed. Adam Locke. In the same room. With me. Oh stop it, Nathan. You're just horny.
No, I'm not. I'm angry. Anger's good. Stay with anger.
I gulp back nerves and try to force myself not to think what I want to think about.
"Hold on...Will meets someone and sends you to me. Why? To distract me? Does Will think I'm in love with him? That I need a lure to take my attentions away from him?"
"No, he---"
"Wait, wait." Adam waves a hand in my general direction, as if swatting away my irritating interruption. "Will met someone and decided it was time for you to insert yourself back into my life again, or at least to put yourself back on my radar. Why? To take my mind off Will and his new love, who I never even knew about, incidentally."
"Will thought you'd find out eventually. You have a way of getting into people's business."
"Smothering them, I suppose? Is that right? Jesus, way to make me feel rejected, Sergeant."
"Nathan."
"Nathan, then. Honestly, what did he think I was going to do?"
"Cause trouble for him and Kieran, just like you do for everyone else."
"Oh, Kieran, eh? Nice name. Irish, is he?"
"No, just---"
"So Matchmaker Bosworth thought that now that he was all cozied up with his true love, that I should have, what? A plaything? You as my little pet? To take my mind off Will and Kieran playing happy families. For fuck's sake, the pair of you make me laugh..." Adam grimaces. Anything but laughter falls from his lips.
"He thought you'd cause trouble if and when you found out he was happy with Kieran."
"What on Earth for? No, don't tell me. Let me work this out. Let me talk myself through this. Will hooks up with this Kieran character but gets antsy about me finding out because, what? I'll be jealous that he's got someone and..." Adam turns on his heels to face me but stays on the other side of the room, smirking in triumph. "Ah. I've got it. I'll be jealous that he's got someone, and I'm sad and lonely, having believed I killed my one and only true love, for whom I've been pining for decades. So, to avert my unwanted attentions from his happy home life, he thinks, hey, why not throw Nathan back into Adam's social circle? That way, he'll be too distracted with the realisation that Nathan's not dead after all to bother me and my new, lovely, shiny boyfriend? Yes? Am I right? How close am I to the truth?"
I gesture with one hand, a surrender or some sort of dismissive wave. A silent way of saying, "Okay, you got me."
"But how did he think I'd find out about this Kieran character? We only ever spoke on the phone, the odd email. Just in passing. Of course, look what happens when you mention the name of your favourite nightclub to an old friend..." Adam makes a sweeping movement with one hand, arcing through the air in front of him. Meaning me.
"Another old chum tracks you down, and hey ho, let's sit down and talk about old times. For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings, hmm? I mean, I didn't find you in the past however many years. Then again, I didn't know you were still alive. No reason to look for you. So what are you? My gift from Will? A reward for behaving? Please, Adam, stay away from my lover and don't kill him.
Distract yourself with Nathan. Fucking hell."
Adam's jaw drops, and now he nears me again, enlightenment spreading across his face. "Did Will actually think...Christ, I should just phone him to ask. I still have his number in my mobile, although I haven't used it in a while---"
"No." Before Adam can go fetch his jacket and root around in the pockets for his phone, I grab his wrist, and the look of surprise in his eyes is almost comical. "Don't. Leave him."
"Busy on a date night, is he?" Adam bats his eyelashes comically. "Wouldn't want to disturb the lovebirds, would we? Oh, he's probably expecting me to call at some point. How dare you be happy when I'm so alone, because yes, Nathan, I've spent the past
