“Well, if I didn’t, my jaw does,” said Marcus with a rueful smile. “How’s it going, Sam, or need I even ask, since I haven’t seen Zach this happy in I don’t know when.” He turned to Julian. “Right, Juli?”
A faint smile touched Julian’s lips, but his dark green eyes held a hint of wariness.
“Nice to see you again.” In contrast to Julian’s cool acknowledgment, a genuinely warm smile of friendship touched his face when he spoke to Zach.
“Zach, how are you? How’s your mom?”
“She’s good, thanks.” Seemingly unaware of any tension between Sam and Julian, Zach picked up a roll from the bread basket and began to butter it as he spoke.
“Every time you send her something, it’s like her birthday. I really appreciate it.” Zach bent to murmur in Sam’s ear. “Julian always sends beautiful silk scarves for my mom. It’s the only women’s fashion he designs, and my mom gets the exclusive before he puts them up for sale.”
“That’s really nice of you, Julian.” It was obvious to him how much of a family these men considered themselves, their lives entwined with one another. Knowing how important these men were to Zach, Sam had hoped he too could become their friend.
Instead, Julian flicked a glance over Sam, and tilted his head in silent acknowledgement, then turned to speak to Nick.
Last time Julian was much friendlier. Sam had done nothing to the guy—why was he treating him like a pariah?
About to open his mouth to speak, Zach gripped his thigh in a warning squeeze.
“Don’t say anything. It takes Julian a while to warm up and trust people. It’s nothing personal. He’s overprotective of the people he loves. Give him a chance to get to know you.”
In the end, it was Nick who broke the ice.
“I hear you and I have a lot in common, Sam.” Nick accepted a tall, foaming glass of beer from the waiter, who’d arrived with another round of drinks. Sam waited until the waiter took his and Zach’s order and retreated, before responding.
“Well, yeah, we’re both uniform—at least you still are,” he said, a pang of regret searing through him. Sam wondered if the shame would ever leave him. “I’m retired now.”
Nick finished drinking his beer and leaned back in his chair. “There’s that, but I wasn’t talking about our jobs.” His eyes crinkled with good humor, and he grinned. “I was talking about punching Marcus. I did the same thing the first time I met him.”
Zach collapsed against Sam, shaking with laughter. It took Julian, who couldn’t maintain his stony coldness in light of that hilarious moment in their shared history, a moment to catch his breath before he could speak.
“I wish I had a picture of Marcus flat on his ass on the dance floor of Sparks. Priceless.”
“I don’t know what’s so funny.” Marcus huffed and rubbed his jaw as if it still ached. “I’m the aggrieved party here.” He blinked and sulked in his seat.
Sam noticed Marcus’s gaze roaming the restaurant, his foot tapping under the table, and fingers drumming the table. The man was never at ease with himself or his surroundings.
“Poor baby.” Zach patted Marcus on the shoulder, then sat back to let the waiter place his mimosa on the table. “I’m sure you found someone to kiss it and make it all better.”
“Well, yeah.” Marcus tossed back his drink in a single gulp and signaled the waiter for another one. “That’s never been an issue.”
“I know,” Zach muttered under his breath. “That’s the problem.”
Sam made a mental note to ask Zach what Marcus’s story was. He had a sense there was a shit-ton of ugly emotion buried underneath Marcus’s shiny, beautiful exterior.
“We never did get the story,” said a somewhat friendlier Julian. At least his cold, standoffish demeanor had vanished. “Why did you pop Marcus in his beautiful mug?”
“You’re all having entirely too much fun with this conversation,” said Marcus, grumbling.
“It was actually very sweet,” said Zach, nudging Sam, his eyes bright with happiness. “I’ll let Sam tell you.”
Sam understood Zach was pushing him to speak so as to include him and give him face time with the guys. Zach believed in harmony and avoiding confrontation, much like Sam himself, which was why they both had been taken advantage of in their relationships. It wasn’t obvious from appearances, but the two of them were much more alike than either had realized at the start. Considering they’d both pretended to be people they weren’t in real life, it wasn’t surprising.
“I’d come to Sparks that night when we all first met in the diner to talk to Zach. I couldn’t understand why he brushed me off and made it sound like he barely remembered me, when we’d spent an entire evening together.”
“And hooked up it seems, let’s not forget that salient point, shall we?” Marcus chimed in, obviously attuned to the conversation, despite his concentration appearing to be elsewhere. “That certainly shocked the shit out of me for sure.”
Sam didn’t pay much attention to Marcus since he’d already been through this with him the night at Sparks. It was Julian he now had to win over. And becoming a part of this group and fitting in as seamlessly as Nick did was something Sam wanted. The reason—something so alarming yet at the same time so wonderful—wasn’t anything Sam had expected or thought would ever happen to him. It made him catch his breath for a moment and think. What was important to Zach had now become as important to Sam.
