“Hello, Curtis! What’s up, man?”
“Hi, Dean. I’m sorry to interrupt. Do you think you have time for me tonight? I could do with some cheering up.”
“What happened? Do you need us all?” The cheer had dropped out of Dean’s voice. Now he sounded all business.
“Andrew got a visit from Jasper, and now he needs time to think about our relationship. So yes, I do need you all. I feel like eating at least two cartons of ice cream and topping it off with lava cake and chocolate chip cookies.” Curtis wasn’t prone to whining. He was usually in control of his life and everything happening in it. After the last few days, though, he felt he had earned the right to fully sink into his very own pity party.
“Holy crap! I’m calling the others. Where are you right now?”
“I’m still at the gallery. I was thinking about driving home, though. Can you tell the others to come over?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Curtis. You driving, I mean. Hold on a sec.” Curtis heard ringing on the line. Dean was making a conference call.
“Dean? What is it?” Collin sounded a little confused.
“Hello, Collin. Is there a chance you can kick out Martin for the rest of the day? Curtis needs us, and I think it would be best to do this at your house where we can take care of him. He’s on the line as well, by the way.”
“Oh Curtis, whatever happened? No, don’t tell me, I’m sure the others want to know as well and you don’t want to rehash it a thousand times, even though we’re only what, seven people, no, five, since you and Dean already know, but still, and of course you can come over. I’ll just send Martin over to Richard, they can play with Emily and the cats and perhaps Dog wants to go with him, then we don’t have to be careful where we put our food, and I just order something sweet, don’t I?”
Curtis smiled despite his tumultuous emotions. Collin was simply the sweetest. “That’s a great idea, Collin. I’ll try to bring some ice cream.”
“No, you don’t. We’ll take care of that.” Dean sounded stern. “Collin, I’m hanging up on you now. I still have to call the others.”
“Okay, Dean. Bye, Curtis. See you soon.”
The line clicked, then started beeping again when Dean called their next friend. “Stay on the line for this, Curtis. I’m trying to reach Leeland.”
After five rings, Leeland answered the phone. “Hi, guys, why are we conference calling?”
“Because Curtis’s ex is an asshole, and his current boyfriend an idiot.” Dean didn’t bother sugarcoating things, for which Curtis was grateful.
“Ouch. What do you need, Curtis?” And that was the best thing about their group of friends. They all were willing to drop everything when one of them needed help.
“I want to drown my sorrows in sugar. Are you up for that?”
“Are you kidding me? I’m on my way. Where do we meet?”
“Actually, that’s why we’re conference-calling you, Leeland.” Dean took over again. “You’re closest to Curtis’s gallery. Can you pick him up and drive to Collin’s place? I don’t think it’s a good idea for Curtis to be driving at the moment.”
“I’m not an emotional wreck, you know.” Curtis liked the care, though.
“I know. Just let us take care of you like you deserve. I need to stretch my mother hen muscles a bit.”
Both Leeland and Curtis chuckled. “No stretching needed, Dean. You’re already in full-on mode,” Leeland teased.
“Fine. Then you know better than to stop me. Curtis, Leeland is going to pick you up. I’m calling the others. We’re going to cheer you right up.”
Dean ended the call. Leeland stayed on to tell Curtis he would pick him up in forty minutes, which gave Curtis just enough time to wrap everything up for the day. When Leeland finally came, he was ready to consume his weight in sugar, just to escape the nagging worries and undercurrent of anger.
“HERE, TAKEanother cookie. They make for an excellent spoon.” Leeland handed Curtis the seventh chocolate chip cookie this evening, along with a freshly opened container of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Seth was in Collin’s kitchen, preparing hot chocolate for the entire group. They were all here, comforting him after he’d told them about Andrew’s “suggestion.” Peyton had offered to do something horrible to Andrew, though he hadn’t gone into details, which was probably for the best. Seth came back from the kitchen with a tray and handed each of them a mug of steaming hot chocolate.
Curtis sighed and took a first sip before he shoved a cookie full of strawberry cheesecake ice cream into his mouth. The combination of hot and cold paired with practically pure sugar was the only thing that kept him from crying. He was more angry than sad, but tears were tears. “I can’t tell you how sick and tired I am of being all mature and understanding all the time.”
“Then stop it.” Dean’s voice was firm, his gaze steely. “I’d say you’ve shown your class more than enough. Now it’s time to remind those two Doms who you are and what you’re capable of. I’d say you go all high-society bitch on them, get your point across without leaving any room for doubt.”
The others cheered, and even Collin waved his spoonful of ice cream around as if he wanted to stab somebody. Curtis smiled, deeply moved by their show of support.
“I guess I have no choice. If I leave it to Jasper and Andrew, this is going to turn into the world’s worst soap ever.” He closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself for what he had to do. “First, I need to get rid of Jasper, which means finding out his current address.”
