Free By CLARE LONDON by NOVELS Page B

least, that’s what it sounded like. Out in the kitchen, the arguing couple decided they needed Lady Gaga at top radio volume to accompany their raised voices.
    I winced and Jack laughed. “I know. You’d rather get the hell out of here.”
    I’d been considering burying myself upstairs with a beer, my headphones, and rock music, but Jack’s words shook my already wobbly nerve a different way. “Yeah,” I said. “I’m just going to change my shirt, then I’m going into town.”
    Jack didn’t exactly raise an eyebrow, but his expression went carefully blank. “Anywhere good? I might join you.”
    I shook my head. “You have Rehearsal City to manage.”
    “No he doesn’t,” came Louis’s voice. He’d come up the hallway behind Jack and now rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, staring at me. “In fact, I think I might join you as well.”
    “You’re preparing for your big break.”
    Louis snorted. “Cute, Max. It’s twenty lines and a cup of cold brown liquid on the café set. It’s hardly Les Mis. I’ll probably not be asked back again.”
    “Bollocks,” came Harry’s voice from someplace above my head. He loomed a good six inches over all of us. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks. He’ll be a fuckin’ star.”
    Louis grinned but kept his eyes on me. “Harry, you’re a silly tart, but a loyal one. Anyway, I need a break, and I’m going out with my friends.”
    “So what are we?” wailed one of the girls from the other room, obviously eavesdropping. “Don’t leave us behind.”
    “Where’s my bag?” called another.
    “Behind you, you stupid cow.”
    “Don’t call me that!”
    “Wait for us!” Bob called from the kitchen. He and Bryan had stopped arguing long enough for Bryan to make a plate of sandwiches, and he was finishing off the last crust.
    Jack rolled his eyes. “Looks like we’re all coming, Max.” He put the beer and snacks on the bottom of the stairs up to my room. The girls spilled out from the living room, and Bob and Bryan joined us in the hallway. It was starting to look and feel like some kind of rush-hour bus queue. Bryan bent down quickly to pick up a bag of tortilla chips.
    “Greedy bastard.” Bob jabbed him in the ribs and Bryan shrugged, unapologetic.
    “I was only going for a bite to eat and a drink,” I said in mild protest.
    “Works for us.” Jack slung his arm around Louis’s shoulders. “I want more time with this one before he goes off to film in London.”
    “A few days away, that’s all,” Louis scoffed, but his eyes danced at Jack’s attention. “And Grace says I’ll be stuck in some small, shabby B&B, nothing glamorous. Minimum expenses, mostly my own makeup, no guaranteed callback.” To my amusement, Grace seemed to spend a lot of her time managing her clients’ expectations downward. “But maybe I’ll get some free time to look around. I haven’t been up to the smoke for a long time. You’ll point me to the best places to go dancing, Max, won’t you?”
    I froze. Everyone else must have picked up on the sudden tension, because they all stopped talking and turned to look at me.
    “You from London, man?” Harry asked me. “Would I were in an alehouse in London! Right?”
    “Just….” I swallowed quickly. “Stayed there for a while.”
    “Fuck,” Louis whispered, not quietly enough.
    “London’s a big place,” Jack said, his voice steady. “Max isn’t some kind of walking A to Z, Louis.”
    Louis laughed carelessly, placing his pale, elegant hand over Jack’s dark one. He was a much better actor than people gave him credit for; I expect only I noticed how tightly his fingers closed on Jack’s. “Of course, yes, it’s a huge city, and Max was only passing through, right?” He grimaced at me, apology in his eyes. “Stupid of me. I didn’t mean to… anyway, people, this is my chance for the big time, isn’t it?” He wriggled out of Jack’s grasp, shaking his blond curls and seeking the