Love Means No Shame - Andrew Grey

searched the room and managed to find the rest of his clothes. After dressing, he definitely didn’t want to move too quickly. He shuffled in the general direction of the kitchen.
    “There is a god.” The coffee maker was plugged in and set.
Geoff pressed the start button, and the machine took over and was soon filling the space with the heavenly smell of fresh brewed. Geoff heard the shower start and then stop a few minutes later.
    Searching the cupboards, he found two cups. They appeared clean, unlike the rest of the apartment, and he waited until the coffee was finished before filling the cups and walking back to the bedroom.

    The door was part way open and… ummm, Gary… yeah, that was his name, Gary… was getting dressed. Pushing open the door, Geoff quietly handed Gary a filled mug.
    “Thanks, dude, I really need this.” Gary sipped the drink and put the mug on the table. “I gotta be gone in about two minutes.” Geoff nodded, sipped his coffee—damn, that was good—and turned around, letting Gary finish getting ready. By the time Gary emerged from the bedroom, Geoff had finished his coffee and felt vaguely human again. “Thanks, Gary, I’ll see you around.” 2
Love Means … NO SHAME
    “Yeah, dude… thanks.”

    Gary was still finishing his coffee as Geoff left the apartment and headed down the stairs to the front door of the seventies-era apartment building. Once outside, the air helped to clear his head, and he searched the parking lot for his car, finding it right across the way. Fishing his keys out of his pocket and getting in, he started the car, pulling out of the space and heading toward home—well, what passed for home, anyway.

    His old car managed to get him there, and he parked in his reserved spot and headed up the walk to his building. It was newer than the one he’d just left: eighties chic instead of seventies. He let himself in and went up the stairs to his apartment.
    Inside, there wasn’t much: a sofa, a chair, and a television on a stand. Geoff tossed his keys on the counter and looked longingly to the bathroom. He had to wash the smell of booze, sweat, and spunk off his body. Geoff headed straight to his bedroom, which was furnished in the same sparse manner as the rest of the apartment: just a bed and a dresser. Stripping off his clothes, he went into the bathroom. He made the mistake of turning on the light and looking in the mirror. “Fuck.” His eyes were dark and his skin pasty. “The mirror never lies, does it?”
    Geoff began cleaning up, brushing his teeth and shaving before starting the water and stepping beneath the spray. The shower felt good— cleansing, refreshing. He started to scrub, and he could almost feel the remnants of the last night washing down the drain.
    The phone was ringing as he got out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he raced to answer it.
“Geoff, it’s Raine. How’s the hangover?” Geoff knew that Raine had purposely started talking loudly.
“Bastard.” He heard laughter on the other end of the phone.
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Andrew Grey
“Actually, it’s not so bad… not as bad as it could be, anyway.
How’s yours?”
    There was more laughter on the end of the line. “I don’t get hangovers, remember?” It was one of life’s cruel fates. Raine could drink like a fish and never seemed to feel anything the next morning.

    “You want to meet for coffee?”

    “Sure, give me fifteen. I’ll meet you around the corner.” Geoff dried himself and dressed, putting on a sweatshirt against the spring chill in the air, and left the apartment, walking happily to the corner.
    The coffee shop was packed, but he spied Raine’s head of jet black, curly hair at one of the tables, and he headed that way. “I didn’t get anything. If I get up, I’ll lose the table,” Raine said.
“No problem, I’ll get what you want. Large latte?” Raine nodded and smiled his agreement, so Geoff got in line.
It took a while, but he finally returned to the table with coffees and two large sticky buns. Sugar. He needed sugar.
“Thanks, Geoff.” Raine took the offered cup, and Geoff sat down. “You look like hell.” Raine sipped his coffee.
    “Gee, thanks. Don’t sugarcoat it.” Raine laughed. “Well, you do.” The man was always blunt and to the point. If nothing else, you always knew where you stood with him, because he held nothing back. “You’ve been burning the candle at both ends for a while.”

    “I know.” Geoff had been. Since he