“We’ll eat it all.” I pushed Trent into the kitchen. “Everyone, this is Trent.”
“Hi. I’m an old friend, but we recently reconnected.” He served me that infectious grin of his. “Nice meeting you all.”
Recently, huh? More like a few hours ago.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll open it.” Trixie handed me a plate of empanadas and gave Trent a bowl and a bag of chips.
When we moved to the living room, I made sure to sit next to Trent on the couch while the triad nested on the beanbags around the low table.
“Hands up! FBI!!” Hal yelled as he stormed in holding Laurie’s hand. As usual, when they visited after work, he and his husband wore three-piece suits in sensible shades of gray.
“What happened?” Trent looked from us to the newcomers, raising his hands up slowly.
“Chill, I was just kidding.” Hal patted Trent’s shoulder.
“We call them the FBI because of how they dress.” Sabrina elbowed Laurie. “But we enjoy having our lawyer boys at parties. They’ll loosen their ties soon enough. This is Hal and Laurie.”
“I’m Trent.” Trent shook hands with them as they sat next to us on the sofa. “I sense a story there.”
“Oh yeah, and it’s a fun one.” Laurie said, smoothing his smartly cut hair back.
“We were airing our brains on the benches outside of the courthouse after a grueling case that had dragged on for months.” Hal unscrewed a beer from the box they’d brought and took a sip. He sighed and leaned back, as if remembering how tired he was.
“I was sipping my coffee in peace and looking at the water, because Hal wasn’t talking for once, when this lot sat on the bench across from us.” Laurie pointed at me, Sabrina, and Trixie.
I remembered that day well. “We were psyched to land a spot supporting a local band with our original set, and Mulder and Krycek here moped over their coffees, ruining the vibe.” I poked Laurie in the chest. “Something had to be done.”
“You guys glared at us.” Laurie straightened his suit with mock disgust.
“We were afraid you were thugs. You looked battle ready, Mad-Max style.” Hal chuckled. “Then Charlie unceremoniously asked us what’s up and got the conversation rolling. One thing led to another, and he invited us for their gig that night.”
“No way!” Trent was listening to the interaction with eyes blown wide. “What did you say?”
“After the day we had, we figured we could let off some steam, so we followed them.” Hal patted his husband’s thigh. “It wasquite a trip to be the most weirdly dressed people in the room when we wore suits. The concert was fantastic though. Laurie and I had more fun than on our first date.”
“That’s probably true, yeah.” Laurie grinned. “And the rest is history. We’ve been attending gigs on and off and inviting ourselves over to parties since then. Charlie still calls us Mulder and Krycek when he’s drunk.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. They were hot.” Hal fanned himself with a coaster. “But seriously, it’s insane that you don’t have a record deal yet.”
“Oh, shut up.” I shoved Hal, and he grasped onto his husband with drama befitting a lawyer.
“I totally agree. I saw you for the first time tonight and you smashed it,” Trent said. “I’d love to hear your original stuff. If you invite me.” He gave me an exaggerated version of puppy dog eyes, melting my heart.
“Of course.” I ruffled his short, blond hair.
I gasped when he caught my hand, then fake-bit it, the way he used to do so long ago.
The laughter that escaped us both filled the room, reminding me of how easy it had been to be his friend.
“Ew.” I wiped my fingers on his shirt and realized all my friends were staring at us—at the grin on my face, at the blush on Trent’s. “We grew up next door to each other and some things never changed, I guess.” My hand was still on Trent’s chest, his heart beating under it fast. I snatched it back and stood up. “I’ll bring more snacks.”
“I’ll help you.” Trent rushed after me.
“The new boy has the hots for Charlie,” Hal whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“No nasty business on the clean countertops!” Trixie waggled her finger at me, but her grin betrayed her mirth. Fucker. I flipped her the bird, sending the entire room into giggles.
