Free Heated Beat 02 - Lucky Man by Garrett Leigh

about that?”
    Bigsy rolled his eyes. “No secrets in the band, Finn. You know that. Worse than a bunch of schoolgirls.”
    He had a point, but since Finn had discovered Danny wasn’t out at work, he’d tried not to mention him to anyone but Jack and Will.
    “So, what’s the deal?” Bigsy said. “You split up?”
    Finn shrugged. Danny had cried off from their casual date, blaming work, but the paranoid monster in Finn’s mind kept telling him it was probably something else. “We’re not together. I’ve only seen him a few times.”
    “Why the long face, then?”
    Finn shrugged again. Danny had been nothing but sweet since the night he’d spent on Finn’s sofa, watching Finn sleep through a drug coma, but the silence of the past few days stung. Finn had grown way too used to the regular ping of his phone. “Haven’t heard from him in a while. Think he’s busy at work.”
    Bigsy grunted and picked up his bass guitar, happy now he knew the source of Finn’s sulking wasn’t anything sinister. “Won’t know unless you ask. Get him over to watch the footie on Saturday. Gonna be a good one.”
    “You think?”
    “Why not? Trust me, mate. Don’t rely on fate to sort your shit out, ’cause all that happens is bloody nothing.”
    “Are we talking about something else now?” Bigsy was a man with a lot on his plate: wife, kids, and, since the death of his mother, parental responsibility for a wild-child younger sister. “How’s Gemma? Hasn’t been nicked again, has she?”
    “Hmm? Oh, not for a while. She was talking about college the other day, if you can believe it.”
    “That’s good.” Bigsy’s sister was the bane of his life. Last Finn had heard, he’d had to change the locks on his house to stop her sneaking in and cleaning him out. “Is she clean?”
    Bigsy grunted. “Doubt it. Reckon she’s got a long way left to fall before that happens.”
    Finn let it go. Bigsy had a heart of gold, but he was a private kind of bloke, and talking about his family, fractured so often by death and heartache, didn’t come easy to him. “All right, mate. Let’s take it again from the bridge.”
     
     
    L ATER THAT night, Finn went home to an empty house, and as had become his habit in recent days, ate some dinner, showered, then took to his bed to stare at his phone. Bigsy had been right. Danny hadn’t sent more than a cursory text in days, but there was nothing stopping Finn from ringing him up, right?
    Yeah. Right. Nothing except his loudest demons telling him Danny’s silence was a subliminal message.
    Fuck that.
    Finn clicked on Danny’s number before he could second-guess himself. The call connected on the third ring. He heard a muffled curse before Danny came on the line, gruff and irritated.
    “Yeah?”
    Finn sat up in bed, paradoxically caught off guard. “You really do sound miles away this time.”
    “Finn?”
    “Yep.” Finn hugged his knees to his chest. “I was worried I’d made you up, so I figured I’d give you a call.”
    A beat of silence, then a gentle huff of air. “Shit. Sorry I haven’t called. It’s been a heavy week. I haven’t been home since Wednesday.”
    “You sound knackered.”
    “I am….” Danny broke off and yawned. “But enough about me. How are you? I’m sorry I ran out on your gig. It was ace, by the way. Can’t remember if I got round to telling you.”
    Finn smiled and relaxed a little. Something about his feelings for Danny made his stomach churn in a way that wasn’t entirely pleasant, but this… lying in bed with Danny’s voice in his ear… yeah, he could do this all night. “I can’t remember either. Seems so long ago, I can’t believe it’s only been a week.”
    “A lot can happen in a week, I s’pose. What are you up to now? Anything fun?”
    Finn snorted. “Not really. I’m in bed by myself. That’s never fun.”
    “Bed sounds good, though.”
    “When do you get to go home?”
    “In the morning.” Danny yawned again. He really