Covet Thy Neighbor

right?”
    “I do.” He looked at me as we kept walking. “That’s why I moved here.”
    “Oh. All right.” So he was gay. Detail confirmed, target acquired. “Carry on, then.”
    “So what do you do around Tucker Springs?” he asked. “When you’re not tattooing people?”
    “Well, a buddy of mine and I know the biking trails by heart. You into mountain biking?”
    “Mountains?” He threw me a sidelong glance. “I’m from Oklahoma. I get a bloody nose stepping onto a curb.”
    I laughed, not sure if it was his sense of humor or just those eyes that made my heart go crazy again. “The second-floor apartment must be hell, then.”
    “It’s an adjustment, let me tell you. It’ll be easier once my oxygen tanks get here, though.”
    Goddamn, he was quick. I liked.
    I cleared my throat. “Okay, things to do in Tucker Springs that won’t give you altitude sickness. There are some pretty good clubs around, especially here in the Light District. Buddy of mine owns Lights Out.” I gestured over my shoulder in the general direction of Jason’s club.
    “Isn’t that the one Chris was talking about? The sleazy one?”
    I waved a hand. “What would a straight guy know about a gay night club?”
    “Oh, yeah. Good point. So it’s . . . a good one?”
    “Probably the best on the singles scene.”
    “Good to know. Though clubs aren’t generally my scene,” he said. “Too loud, too . . . just not my scene.”
    “Understandable.” But he hadn’t mentioned that he was spoken for.
    Jack’s wasn’t crowded, and the hostess quickly seated us by a window in the lounge area. We both ordered the local microbrew on tap, and then browsed the small menu in search of something edible. I’d been grazing all day long, though, and Darren wasn’t particularly hungry, so we settled on drinks.
    “So, how long have you been in Tucker Springs?” he asked.
    “Since college. About twelve years, now, I guess.”
    “What’d you study? Art major?”
    “No, I was actually majoring in music theory. Planned to teach, but . . . I never finished. Dropped out my junior year.” I took a long drink, as if that could begin to rinse the bitterness out of my mouth. “What about you? What brings you to Tucker Springs?”
    “Work.”
    The single word gave me pause. Maybe I was imagining it, but something about his tone reminded me of the bitterness I’d just tried to wash off my own tongue.
    Before I could ask, Darren cleared his throat. “I’d been in the plains too long, anyway, and needed a change of scenery. Thought the mountains would be a nice switch.”
    “Is it?”
    He smiled. “So far, so good.”
    “Good. I think you’ll like it here.” And you certainly won’t hear me complain about you being here. I took a quick drink. “Even if you don’t like it right away, though, the place does grow on you after a while.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind if I start questioning my decision to come here.” He slowly swirled his glass, watching the remaining beer slosh inside. “So, the hiking is decent out here? Once I get used to the elevation, I mean?”
    “The hiking is amazing. And some of the trails are fairly tame for wimpy lowlanders like you.”
    Darren threw me a playful glare. “Well, I wouldn’t want to wind up on top of a hill and not be able to get back down, would I?”
    I smirked. “Yeah, well, Search and Rescue only comes out if you’re above three thousand feet. Anything lower than that, you’re on your own.”
    He nodded sagely. “I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe if I go exploring out there, I should take you along as a guide.”
    Oh, yes. Please do . “I’m always happy to show a newbie around the trails. You ever want to go, just give me a holler.”
    “I’ll do that.” He smiled, then sipped his beer. “So you mentioned the singles scene earlier. How is it in this town?”
    I shrugged. “Not as big as it would be in Denver or someplace like that, but there’s plenty of single guys on the prowl around here.”
    “You one of those guys?”
    My throat tightened. “Are you asking if I’m single?”
    He put his mostly empty glass down and looked me in the eye. “In a roundabout way, yes.”
    “I am.” I reached for my beer. “And you?”
    “For far too long, yes.”
    “Is that right?”
    He nodded. “Kind of took a break there for a while. Had some—” His expression darkened briefly, his eyes losing focus. Then he shook himself back to life. “You know how it is. Life gets