Jude laughed, but the sound didn’t match the tight coil in his gut. Like it or not, he had a feeling Nally was in some kind of danger, and he didn’t know how to protect him. He didn’t know how to protect himself from getting hurt again by his growing feelings for his best friend, either.
SEVEN
Everything was normal.Nally didn’t know why he was questioning that. He had absolutely nothing to worry about. It was just career jitters. The interview had thrown him so far off his daily routine that he didn’t know which way was up anymore.
He told himself those things and more as he and Jude walked the relatively short distance from Jude’s house to The Chameleon Club, center and home of The Brotherhood, an LGBTQ organization that had existed since early Victorian times. They walked the same route they always did, laughed and joked about the same stupid stuff as usual, and once they reached the club, they greeted Caleb, the attendant who was always on duty, and asked the same questions about what was on the menu for the night. Caleb answered the same way he always did, “Sausages as far as the eyes can see.”
Nally and Jude chuckled the same as ever, then headed up the long corridor to the dining room-cum-ballroom.
“Is it too late to have supper?” Jude asked as they entered the ballroom just as the kitchen staff was clearing up the tables and taking everything down to prepare for the night’s entertainment.
“Not if you don’t mind eating in the kitchen,” Walt Severance, who was actually a super famous celebrity chef, but who sometimes ran The Chameleon Club’s kitchen for special events, answered them. He nodded over his shoulder to the open kitchen doors.
“Great to see you, Walt,” Jude greeted the man, veering to the side to shake Walt’s hand. “I assume you’ve got something great for me to eat tonight?” He gave Walt a sexy look.
Walt was happily married, but he laughed anyhow. He also stopped what he was doing to pose for a selfie with Jude.
“I’ve been slacking lately when it comes to posting,” Jude explained as he and Nally walked on to the busy kitchen. “Walt is well known enough that my audience will appreciate this.”
“I’m sure they will,” Nally said with a tight smile.
He wasn’t jealous. That wasn’t the emotion he felt at all. Jude had a fanbase to nurture, and posting content with famous men like Walt was exactly what being an influencer was all about. But he didn’t have to make salacious jokes, did he?
Not that it should matter to him. It had never bothered him before.
The kitchen had a large table tucked into one corner that was used mostly by the club’s kitchen staff and members who wanted a little privacy while they dined. Nally wasn’t surprised that he and Jude were the only ones there as they grabbed plates from the earlier dinner service. As amazing as the food was, though, Nally didn’t have much of an appetite.
“I haven’t been to a Brotherhood event in ages,” he chatted as he ate his roast chicken and spiced root vegetables. “This should be fun.”
“Oh, yeah, and Disco Night is bound to be wild,” Jude added. His conversation seemed somehow more stilted than usual.
“We don’t have any costumes,” Nally pointed out.
Jude shrugged. “They usually have a closet filled with bits and pieces we can borrow.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Nally said, nodding like he remembered.
After that, they were silent. It drove Nally mad. What was wrong between the two of them? They weren’t fighting. They’d had spats and disagreements in the past, besides the Timothy catastrophe, and had given each other the silent treatment now and then until they got over it, but that never lasted for more than a day. And they’d never done it when they were sitting across the table from each other. They hadn’t had anything to argue about either.
“I wonder if Gavin Martin is in town,” Nally said when the silence stretched on too long.
“Gavin?” Jude glanced up from his nearly empty plate. His face was flushed slightly, and there was something odd about the energy in his eyes.
“Yeah. Remember him?” Nally asked, heart beating too fast.
“Of course I remember him,” Jude said, now sounding slightly annoyed. “You couldn’t shut up about him last year. Did the two of you ever hook up?”
The question was far more pointed than it should have been. Were they having a fight?
“No, we never did,” Nally answered. “I wasn’t really interested, I was just horny that one time. You know how it goes.”
Jude laughed breathily. “Yeah, I know. I mean, right now, well, it’s been ages.”
“Has it?” Nally asked, way too interested.
“I mean, months at least,” Jude said, avoiding his eyes.
The whole conversation made Nally want to stand up and scream. It was right there in front of him. The reason they were stupidly uneasy with each other when they were usually more comfortable together than with anyone else was staring them inthe face. And it wasn’t going to go away unless and until they did something about it.
