“Thanks, Sean.” Without breaking stride, Adam hurried off through the door marked Employees Only and found himself in a long hallway. The sounds of men laughing and knives chopping on wooden boards reached him from the far end where he knew the kitchen was located. Careful not to make a sound, Adam walked down the hall, passing by the bathroom and coming upon the open door of an office. He peeked around the corner to see Rico staring intently at the computer while his fingers flew over the keyboard. A screen full of multicolored charts appeared.
“Ha.” Rico smiled and fist-pumped in the air. “I knew it.” He spun around and stood. “Wait till Gid—” His voice died in his throat, the smile fading from his lips as he faced Adam, who leaned against the doorframe. “What’re you doing here?”
Placing himself between Rico and the door, Adam widened his stance, legs splayed and arms folded. “You left this morning without saying good-bye.”
“Shh.” Rico’s dark brows pinched together, and he grabbed Adam, pulling him all the way into the office. “Keep it down. I don’t need anyone knowing.”
A sickening feeling spread through him. “Are you ashamed of me? Or what happened between us?”
The door shut, and Rico faced him, brown eyes softer than a moment before. “No, of course not. Don’t be stupid. But that doesn’t mean I need them”—he gestured toward the door—“knowing everything that goes on in my life.”
That didn’t make sense to Adam. “I understand maybe Sean and the kitchen staff. But Gideon? He’s your best friend.”
An unreadable look flashed across Rico’s face for a moment, and that dread in Adam’s chest inched upward until he tasted bile. “You don’t have feelings for him, do you?”
For the first time since Adam walked into the office, Rico cracked a smile. “Gideon? Nah. He’s like my brother. When we first met, yeah, we hooked up, but it was nothing serious.”
Surprised at the relief pouring through him, Adam relaxed and sat in the chair by Rico’s desk. “How did you two meet, anyway?”
“In Florida.” Rico sat behind his desk and toyed with his phone. When it became apparent he wasn’t about to speak further, Adam pressed on. The guy had fucked his brains out. The least he could do was talk to him.
“Pretty big state. Any particular part? Or were you simply wandering the Everglades in search of alligators and happened upon him?”
Rico’s brows shot up, and he leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. His lips curved in a slight smile, his eyes crinkling with humor. Finally, a laugh. “You’re not going to let it go, are you?”
“No. I’m annoying like that. When I find myself attracted to someone enough to let them inside me, I kind of feel like maybe we’re more than strangers?”
A tinge of red stained Rico’s cheeks, and Adam sensed how uncomfortable he was. Unaccustomed guilt swept through him. He wasn’t a mean person, and if Rico didn’t want to talk, he must have a good reason.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”
A sigh escaped Rico. “You’re not. I don’t talk a lot. I come from Miami. My uncle owns a chain of successful diners, and I was working at one of them when Gideon showed up one night, hungry and with no place to live. I let him stay in the basement and got him a job in the kitchen. When it became apparent his potential lay far beyond dishwasher and short-order cook, we talked about setting up a business together.”
“And the relationship?” Having seen Gideon together with his boyfriend and Rico, Adam was curious how they’d remained such good friends after a breakup.
“It wasn’t a relationship; we’d only hooked up a few times and decided we’d be better friends than lovers.”
“If I’d been with you a month, it would be a really big deal to let you go.”
Rico blinked. Twice. “Uh. Well, anyway. Gideon didn’t know my uncle owned the diner; he thought I only worked there. That kind of came between us for a while until we worked it out. Gideon felt like I was the rich kid dicking around with him and didn’t like thinking I was giving him charity.”
“Were you?”
“No. I grew up always working hard. It’s second nature to me. My father’s love, next to his family, was work. But I didn’t want to follow the plan my parents made for my life.”
All too familiar with a story like Rico relayed, Adam struggled to keep his emotions in check. “Parental pressure and expectations can hurt.” Understatement of the year, but for Adam, it was the best he could manage.
Looking a bit confused, Rico answered, “Yeah, they can. But my father and I are pretty solid; we got real close after my mother died. And I understand where he’s coming from. So we compromised. I went to business school and got to work in the diner.” A bit hesitantly, he asked Adam, “You said you get along with your parents, though, right?”
“Yeah, they’re great. My mama keeps pressuring me to find a boyfriend, but Daddy’s okay and leaves me be.”
“So you’re not into relationships?”
A familiar tingle ran up the base of his spine at Rico’s eyes darkening with unmistakable attraction.
“I’m into having fun. Time enough to settle down, if ever.”
“That sounds about right to me.”
