Page 46 of Play Hard
“Good, cos I like the way you look just now, all fulfilled and that.” Liam took a step back. “In fact, I want to feel the way you look just now. So…” He took a deep breath, then turned on his heel and entered Tamara’s classroom.
Feeling pleased with them both, Robert returned to his own class to continue observing his students at play. There were smiles and frowns and furrowed brows, but no faces showed the blankness of boredom.
Near the end of the exercise, a man in the front row, who was maybe ten years older than Robert, raised his hand. “I looked you up online. You’re making an app to stop Glaswegians dying young?”
The rest of the class quieted, every eye fixing on Robert.
“Erm…yeah, Scott, is it?” The man nodded, and Robert congratulated himself on remembering the name. “It’s meant to be sort of a game, but the play involves real-life choices—and some not-so-real-life ones, too, just to keep it fun.”
Liam appeared then at the door. He stopped at the threshold and gave Robert a thumbs-up.
“What’s the app called?” asked Emma, the girl who’d begged for Maximum Dragon lost levels.
“The official working title is Glasgow Effect, but to those in the know…” He met Liam’s eyes. “It’s called Be Less Shite.”
After class ended and the room had cleared out, Liam came over and gave Robert a quick kiss. “You’re a pure natural.”
“Thanks, but I definitely need practice. I talked way too fast. I was so terrified of being boring.”
“You could’ve read from the latest Act of Parliament and still held those girls’ attention. They’re fatally in love with you.”
Robert changed the subject. “How did you get on with Tamara?”
“Good. I’m glad you manipulated me into talking to her.”
“I didn’t—”
“She says the practice where she works hired a massage therapist. Most of the big places have them.” He picked up one of the whiteboard markers and started flipping it end over end. “So I guess not all massage therapists are, like, stuck for hours in a wee pastel room with incense and New Age music.”
“Did it help you figure out what to do?”
“For now.” Liam fumbled the marker, then bent to pick it up. “I think I’ll start at massage college next month, and once I’ve got my certification or whatever, I can decide what to do with it. There’s nae rush.”
“Good.” Robert was glad for that—as spontaneous as Liam could be moment to moment, when it came to big decisions, he definitely preferred to look before he leapt. “And you’d stay at Hannigan’s in the meantime?”
“Of course.” Liam rubbed his own forearms, looking aghast at the thought of quitting. “I’d never leave unless I had something secure to move on to.” He tugged the hem of Robert’s shirt. “Unlike the hotter person in this room, I don’t jump into things all balls-out, Don Quixote-style.” He glanced at the open classroom doorway, then kissed Robert again, this time longer and deeper.
Robert sensed Liam was done talking about big plans. “You know, back when I signed up to teach this course, you mentioned something about an extrinsic reward.”
Liam cocked his head. “Did I? What could that have been, I wonder?”
“Take me home and I’ll remind you.” Robert pulled him close, and in his boyfriend’s dancing amber eyes he saw the future—Liam’s, his own, and theirs together. “I won’t even make you guess.”
