Nuclearfallout.
“Anyway.” Bas cleared his throat and looked out the window as he sipped his coffee, neatly closing the door on that conversation. “You can have the prize of your choice, if you come along for my meeting withGary.”
Drew took a deep breath, trying to restore his mental equilibrium. “Ah, yeah. Yeah, sure.” He shook his head at himself, and called up the calendar on his phone, taking refuge in the simple task. “I’d be happy to. What time is theappointment?”
“This evening,” Bassaid.
“This…thisevening?”
“I told you I didn’t want to wait,” Basreasoned.
Drew sighed, mentally reshuffling his end-of-day appointments. “Whattime?”
“Six. We’re meeting for drinks at some pub helikes.”
“I can do that,” Drew agreed. “Want me to meet youthere?”
Bas looked at him like he had three heads. “Why the hell would I want to meet youthere?”
Because after thirty years, things are awkward between us? Because I can barely hang onto my resolve to keep things platonic when you’re in my fucking office, let alone when we’re in a cartogether?
“Because you drive like Wiley Coyote on crack?” Drew offered, falling back on a decades-oldjoke.
“I drive like a Bostonian,” Bas corrected, pushing to his feet. “But that’s fine. You can drive.” He rapped his knuckles on Drew’s desktop and shot him a grin. “That’s yourprize.”
“Lovely,” Drew said sourly, but he was actually glad. Much easier to be with Bas when he could focus on the road and there’d be no opportunity for deepconversation.
We’re friends. Friends, friends,friends.
“Have a good afternoon, counselor,” Bas teased as he strode gracefully to thedoor.
And Drew kept his gaze on Bas’s tight ass as he walked away… just like afriend.
He was soscrewed.
