“With what? The guy fixing up your cars that you wouldn’t shut up about the last time we saw you? I know you don’t have a job currently, but you’ve got to stop hanging around there like a lost puppy, Av. Let that man do his job,” the other man goaded.
I watched his mouth drop in shock.
Avery’s talked about me?
Damn, why was that so flattering?
Obviously, I knew I’d be brought up if the past was ever talked about or used as background fodder for any particular story Avery might’ve shared—we were a part of each other’s lives for so many of those formidable years, I was bound to come up, even if it was an off-handed mention.
But from the way Marlow was speaking, it sounded like I was being brought up in far more than simply the retellings of past days gone by.
“Can you stop.” The words were gritted through his teeth, a deep flush coloring his face. “It wasn’t like I was chatting your ear off. You were doing plenty of talking yourself. And I still have a job, thank you very much.”
“One, that’s a lie because Silas and I were doing shots every time you mentioned the guy’s name which almost sent us to the hospital to get our stomachs pumped, thank you very much. And two, it’s been weeks since you’ve been back to the city to visit your office. Does the board even remember your name?”
“Seeing as I’m the one that pays their salaries, I’d hope so.”
My brain was in overdrive, still trying to wrap itself around Marlow’s words. This all could be one massive exaggeration in order to goad Avery into quipping back at his friend who clearly liked the verbal sparring, however I was beginning to lean toward that not exactly being true.
Not with Avery’s face still that beautiful rosy shade that seemed to grow even darker the longer Marlow spouted on.
Feeling like it was my duty to rescue my poor best friend from the persecution, I cleared my throat. “Um, Marlow was it?”
There was a pause, and then, “Oh? Avery didn’t tell me he had a friend with him.”
Other than the hand gently squeezing my thigh before he took a right turn, he wasn’t telling me to stop or not talk to his friend. So I took that as him giving me his blessing and carried on. “Yeah. The one you mentioned, actually.”
Marlow let out a hearty laugh. “Oh. I see what’s going on.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Avery muttered.
He laughed again. “Nothing! Just call me when you’re actually free. I think there’s some things you need to catch me up on.”
“Fine. Let Silas know I said hello.”
“Will do. And Brandon?”
I blinked. “Yes?”
“It was nice to put a voice to the name. I hope Avery brings you around soon.”
Even though I hardly knew this man, I could tell he was a good egg and was someone in Avery’s corner who clearly cared about him, even with what seemed like the endless teasing. Those were the kinds of people I was hoping Avery had found after being sent to Switzerland. A solid group of friends he could count on when I could no longer be there.
I was happy for him and the life he’d made for himself. And while I wished it hadn’t forced us apart, in the end, us finding each other again felt like divine timing.
“I look forward to one day meeting you,” I said.
Marlow chuckled. “Don’t let that bastard hide you away fortoolong. And if he keeps distracting you at work, I hear chasing him out with a broom works wonders.”
Avery scoffed. “Goodbye, Marlow.”
Lifting his hand off of my leg briefly to stab his finger against the console’s panel to end the call, he shook his head again before clapping it back down again. He traced his thumb along my knee, circling slowly along the joint.
“Pain in my ass,” he mumbled.
“Does he... know? About...” I waved a hand between us. Not that it really mattered one way or the other. I wasn’t ashamed of what Avery and I had gotten ourselves involved in with each other, or whatever label it was we were sticking to.
I was simply curious because if hehadtold Marlow about us, when the hell did he find the time? When he was on the way back from the hospital? Before that?
