“Sod off,” Eamonn said half-heartedly. The scene at the bar kept pulling his attention. More like yanking it by the collar. Why did he care who Rafe flirtedwith?
“Damn.” Heath said. Eamonn watched his ball bounce off the side of the table. “It’s yourturn.”
“Right.” What was he doing? Did he have a headache? He couldn’t understand why Rafe kept rubbing histemples.
“Where are you?” Heathasked.
“What?” Eamonn leaned down to take a shot.So Rafe was trying to pull someone. Not my problem.He hit the snooker ball with an extra gust of force. “Christ!” Heath yelled. The snooker slammed against the table and leapt onto thefloor.
“Off night,” Eamonn said. “I don’t trust that guy talking toRafe.”
“Why?”
“I’ve seen him around. He’s a bitdodgy.”
“How so?” Heath folded his arms and arched an eyebrow. He would not be turning Apothecary into hiscourtroom.
“He justis.”
Heath had a shit-eating grin on his lips. He found this allhilarious.
“What?” Eamonnasked.
“Nothing. Nothing atall.”
Eamonn flicked his eyes back up at the bar, and the guy was gone. Rafe was not. He looked so alone.What the hell was that wanker’sproblem?
He put down hiscue.
“You’re quitting?” Heathasked.
“I’m letting you win for once.” Eamonn joined Rafe at the bar, with Heath close behind. Rafe drank a Pimm’s Cup, which he did not seem toenjoy.
“Y’alright?” Eamonnasked.
“What is your problem?” Rafe asked Heath. “Why don’t straight guys announce they’re straight right off thebat?”
“Sorry?” Heath shrugged hisshoulders.
“The guy was a total cunt,” Eamonn said. “I couldtell.”
“Eamonn was taking mentalnotes.”
He elbowed Heath in theribs.
“He made me order a Prick’s Cock or whatever this is,” Rafe said of hisdrink.
Eamonn took it and smelled. “You really wanted to pull a guy who ordered a Pimm’s Cup? That should’ve been your first warningsign.”
“If you’re so eager for a shag, why don’t you just use Grindr?” Heath asked. Eamonn wanted to elbow him much harder, even if he wasn’t surewhy.
“Grindr is scary. I downloaded it once and it was like a wall of torsos and dicks coming at me.” Rafe shook off the memory. “I’m better in person. My witty banter doesn’t translate to text.” He turned to Eamonn. “Are there any gay bars aroundhere?”
“There’s one in Staines,” he said. “I’ll take yousometime.”
“I’ve never been to a gay bar. I mean, I’ve been to plenty of eighteen-plus nights, but they never serve alcohol. Which means you have to pregame before going, which means your buzz wears off halfway through the night and by that point you’ve broken the seal…Anyway,thanks.”
Rafe flashed him a smile that made Eamonn all fuzzy inside, even though Rafe made it clear that he was focused on finding other guys to pull who were most definitely nothim.
“Where’s Louisa?” Heath asked, and Eamonn was grateful for the newsubject.
“She should be somewhere around here,” Rafesaid.
Heath’s face dropped as soon as he got his answer. She was at the far end of the bar, busy talking with a guy who was in Eamonn’s maths class last year. He heard her flirty giggle carry through thecrowd.
Eamonn patted Heath on the back for support, but he pushed his handoff.
