But it wasn’t, and a sudden chill rippled through him.
What if Win wants to break up with me?
Their relationship was so new, so fresh, Elliot didn’t want to do anything to upset their growing bond. He knew he loved Win with all his heart and in ways he hadn’t even been aware existed before they met. But having Win as a friend was as important to him as having him as a lover, and at this point, Elliot didn’t want to give Win up in either capacity; and so, tentatively, he reached out one last time.
“Are you sure? You seem preoccupied.”
“I said yes,” Win snapped, and pushed away from the table. “Stop pushing me. I-I’ve got to go somewhere. I’ll talk to you later.”
Without any explanation, Win left the kitchen, and Elliot heard the front door slam. Reeling with shock, he scrambled after him and had managed to open the front door, only to see Win’s Jeep back out of the driveway and take off down the street at a faster than normal speed.
“What the fuck?” He stayed on the porch in the hope that Win might turn around, but after five minutes of waiting and getting more frustrated by the second, he reentered the house and locked the door. An hour of wandering around the house accomplished nothing, so he forced himself to sit at his computer and pound out the rest of an article on the little-known catacombs of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
When three o’clock came around—and still with no call from Win or any answer to his texts—Elliot went grocery shopping. Then, home again and in the midst of putting everything away, his phone buzzed with a text, and in his hurry to see who it was, he dropped the container of salad and watched it burst open and spill out all over the floor.
“Shit.” But he left the pile of greens there to check his phone, hoping to see a text from Win. Instead, it was a summons from Wolf, who’d beenin absentiafor weeks from their group texts, hard at work on a big criminal case. It was the first he’d heard from Wolf since the night Win had met him.
He picked up the mess and dumped it into the garbage while reading the text.
We need to talk. Dinner at 6. Il Mulino.
He rolled his eyes as he typed:What’s this about?
Don’t ask questions. See you then. Come alone.
“Typical.” He finished cleaning the floor and checked his watch. It was already four thirty, so he’d need to hustle if he wanted to shower and get uptown by six.
“Leave it to Wolf to pick a place convenient for him,” he grumbled to himself as he stripped off his clothes. The bedsheets lay rumpled from the morning he and Win had spent making love until they could barely move, and he paused for a moment, recalling Win’s touch…
His body quivered as if he’d just left the bed. Where was Win, and what the hell was going on?
Confused, he sped through the shower, and since the restaurant was a somewhat formal place, he put on a blue button-down with a tie and a pair of nice black slacks.
He grabbed his phone to check messages in case Win had tried to get in touch with him.
Nothing.
Once outside, waiting for his car, he noticed Win had returned. His Jeep was parked in the driveway, alongside an unfamiliar car. He wondered if he had time before his car arrived to stop in and see what the hell happened. He ran down the porch steps, then stopped and squinted at the window. A lone light burned in the living room, and Elliot watched as a figure moved behind the drawn curtain. His car pulled up, but Elliot remained frozen on the grassy lawn when a second figure joined the other and they merged together, as if in a hug.
What the fuck is going on?
Stricken by the thought that Win had someone else with him, Elliot was startled out of his numb state by a horn blaring. With one final look, he ran to the car waiting at the curb.
***
“What the hell is this ‘emergency’ dinner meeting about anyway? Do you have any idea what Wolf is talking about?” Elliot had rushed to make it on time, only to find Spencer alone at the table with a glass of wine.
“When do I ever know anything about what that man has to say? All I get is growls.” Spencer sipped his rosé.
True, Elliot mused. “Well, it’s annoying to be summoned and have to sit here waiting for him. ‘Come alone.’ Like, who the hell is he? What if I wanted to bring Win?”
“Who cares what Wolf wants? Tell me about your gorgeous, hunky detective. I can see how happy you are, now that you’re getting some on the regular.” Spencer’s bright eyes searched his face, and his brows knitted in distress. “Uh-oh. What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re not together anymore?”
While he did tell his nosy group after the night they showed up that he and Win were seeing one another again, he’d never updated them that he and Win had decided to see if they could make an actual relationship work because…he didn’t want to have to listen to them lecturing him on everything he was doing wrong. Especially Spencer and Wolf, which was comical, considering neither of them had ever had or desired a steady partner. Maybe he should’ve spoken to Chess separately, but now wasn’t the time, given what he’d seen earlier at Win’s house. Realistically, there might not be anything for him to come home to.
“Well, together is relative. Yeah, we’ve been seeing each other. A lot. But I’m not sure where it’s going.” The waitress approached their table, and he ordered a glass of Cabernet.
“Mmhmm. How’s that working out for you?”
