“And yet I wasnotthe one who spend half an hour in a bush, puking my guts out,” Dawson said.
“Oh, man, you didn’t.” Mo laughed and smacked him on the shoulder. “Didn’t realize you were such a partier back then.”
“I wasn’t,” Aidan said at the same time that Dawson added, “Why do you think he puked for that long? He never partied. Too busy being a super responsible big bro.”
“Fair,” Mo said.
“Never drank tequila again,” Aidan muttered.
“Smart man,” Dawson said. “You can’t handle it.”
“Speaking of tequila,” Mo said, turning to Dawson. “Your rookie alright today?”
Dawson froze a little. Then forced himself to relax. Mo had no idea what he and Cam had done last night. He only knew that Cam had joined Trevor and Lane for a round of tequila shots. And then a second round—Dawson had been watching, so he’d seen Mo take one too.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Dawson said, like he hadn’t been right there to witness every single bit of Cam’s morning after. And hehadbeen fine. Fine enough to wake up this morning and be totally into another round. Then there’d been that look in his eyes after breakfast, like if his phone hadn’t rung, Cam would’ve been perfectly willing to go right back to bed.
Aidan raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t check on him?”
Shit.
He’d played it too casual, and now Aidan was worried he’d left Cam out to dry.
“Of course I did.”Checked on him with my tongue in his mouth.
“Daws,” Aidan warned.
“Will you quit worrying about him like he’s the next coming of Riley?” Dawson bitched. “He’s a grown man. Perfectly capable of handling his own shit.”
Perfectly capable of handlingmyshit, too.
“Unfair,” Aidan argued.
And yes, it was a tinybit unfair that he’d brought Aidan’s little brother, Riley, into this. He knew what Aidan was like—how hehadbeen, before he’d gotten his head out of his ass—about Riley.
“Hey, he’s allowed to make one crack about Riley,” Mo said. “You friend-matched us. And totally brainstormed conversational topics with Levi before you showed up tonight.”
Aidan huffed. “You guysshouldbe friends. And not just so you can gang up on me. I know I’m . . .” He shrugged. Like he didn’t have to finish that particular sentence because both Dawson and Morris knew exactly how Aidan could be, better than just about anyone else.
“Ridiculous? Over-committed? Over-involved? The opposite of chill?” Mo smiled, like all of those things actually made him like Aidan better. And Dawson discovered he agreed. Those things were what made AidanAidan, and as much shit as Dawson gave him, one of the huge benefits of coming here and playing for the Thunder had been reuniting with his old college buddy again.
“Yeah, yeah, I know it.” Aidan was smiling though. “Joke’s on you, though, ’cause Levi actually likes those things about me.”
“Proves he’s a good guy who’s worth you,” Dawson said. He wondered what Mo would say. There’d been a time when Aidan had hoped that Morris might be that guy for him. But then Levi had come along and Aidan had realized he and Mo were much better as just friends.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Mo said, and his smile was both warm and completely genuine.
Aidan looked visibly relieved by this pronouncement.
And maybe it hadn’t just been that Aidan thought he and Mo should be friends, but that he was still feeling out this new iteration of his friendship with Mo.
Dawson didn’t think he’d ever been brought along as a buffer before. Probably because everyone on earth would know he’d befucking terrible at it. But who else was Aidan going to bring? He couldn’t bring Levi—that would have been more awkward, not less.
Dawson had been his only choice, but he still felt an unexpected surge of warmth towards his old friend.
“We’re all so happy for you,” Dawson said, reaching out and patting Aidan on the shoulder. “Finally growing up and falling in love.”
“For real,” Mo said and his gaze was soft and affectionate. Platonic affection, Dawson was relieved to realize.
