“No, but I saw him at your computer after you rushed out of work. I thought that was kind of weird. When I asked Mr. Peterson about it, he said you had a family emergency. I asked if I could help him with anything, and he told me it was none of my business and if I didn’t go back to work, he’d fire me.” Travis’s cheeks flushed and his voice lowered. “When he went back to his office, I kind of snuck a peek to see what he was looking at. That’s how I found about the motorcycle shop.”
“So, you drove all the way here to tell me?” Gabriel couldn’t figure that part out.
“Look, I know you don’t like me, but—”
“It’s not that I don’t like you, Travis. I just don’t think we have a lot in common, and you were always pushing so hard to spend time together, sometimes a little too hard, you know?”
Travis’s gaze dropped to his hands. “I don’t have any friends. I thought since we were both gay that we could be friends, but—”
Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re gay?”
Travis glanced at him. “Yes.”
“How come you never told me?”
Travis glanced down at his dark suit and lavender-colored dress shirt. “How could you not know?”
Obviously, his gaydar was broken. “Because I try not to stereotype people. Just because you dress nice doesn’t mean you’re gay. It just means you have good fashion sense.”
“Oh.” Travis’s cheeks tinged with color. “Yeah, I’m gay.”
“What about your girlfriend?”
Now Travis looked really confused. “What girlfriend?”
“A couple months back you were talking about going to some fancy restaurant with your girlfriend.”
Travis chuckled. “Rachel, my girl friend, not girlfriend.”
Okay, now Gabriel felt like an idiot.
“I’m sorry, Travis. If I had known, I never would have turned you down.” Gabriel shot Chay a hard look when the man growled. “We could all do with more friends.”
“Yeah?” Travis asked in a tentative voice.
Gabriel smiled at him. “Yeah.”
“Then, maybe, we could hang out when you get back to town or something?”
“I…uh…”
“I’m hoping to convince Gabriel to move here with me, Travis,” Chay said. “But you’re welcome to come hang out. We might even be able to introduce you to a few more gay guys.”
“I don’t suppose that hunky guy at your motorcycle shop is gay?” There was so much hope in Travis’s voice.
“Tommy?”
Travis nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, he is.”
“Oh, could you introduce us?”
“How about once we get this thing with Mr. Peterson all worked out, we’ll have a big barbecue and we’ll invite you and Tommy?” Sounded like a good plan to Gabriel, especially if there was meat involved.
“Oh, Mr. Peterson said he was going to send someone to find you. That was one of the reasons I came to track you down. That guy he was going to send was a real creep. He didn’t seem very nice at all.” Travis shrugged. “It was probably nothing, but I thought I should warn you. I don’t want you to get in trouble at work.”
Chay smiled, but it wasn’t a real happy smile. “Just for that, I’ll tell you that Tommy is single. I’ll also tell you that you’ll have an easier time getting to know him if you don’t wear a suit. I’m pretty sure suits give Tommy hives.”
