“Game stuff? Or life stuff?”
“Life stuff. I don’t know. Work. Family. And there’s this guy.”
“A guy?” Abe jumped on that last comment quickly, and Avery’s heart caught in his throat. He hadn’t meant to bring Linc into this. He shouldn’t have said anything. Bringing up his sexuality to a stranger online was a near-surefire way to never hear from him again.
“Yeah. I don’t know. He seems nice.” And straight.Nice and straight.
And Abe seemed like a really nice guy too, so Avery would be sad to see him go. But getting randomly paired in a video game was not an invitation to unload on him when they’d never even met face-to-face, especially about Avery’s weird crushes.
This time, the silence was so long Avery had to double-check the screen to make sure Abe was still connected.
“Avery, I—”
An alarm shrieked over the headset, so loud that Avery pulled the earphones off and threw them across the room. Avery stared at the headset, listening to the muffled shrill. When the noise stopped, he carefully lifted it back up to his ear again.
“Abe?”
No sound came from the Abe’s mic. A few distant voices, maybe, like a conversation in another room. On the screen, Abe’s gnarly warrior stood at attention, patiently waiting for direction.
“Hello?”
But Abe didn’t reply.
* * *
The Xbox at work was a bad idea, an unnecessary risk. But sometimes the nights got quiet, and Linc could only listen to Brian talk about prenatal reflux and stretch marks for so many hours while the console sat quietly by the TV, untouched and offering a refuge. The temptation of talking to Avery outweighed the chance of being discovered and having to answer unwanted questions from his team, at least until the alarm had sounded and Linc didn’t even have time to say goodbye before he’d needed to run for the truck.
And there’s this guy.
Avery’s words echoed in Linc’s head. If Avery had met someone, Linc would—really, what could he do but wish him well? But if—and this possibility made Linc’s heart race and his stomach turn—Linc was “the guy” in question...The conflicting urges to both throw himself at Avery’s feet and pack up his car and leave town were equally strong and terrifying.
He needed to call Avery after his shift to explain the Abe thing once and for all, but he was sore and stunk like sweat and smoke. He went home and showered, then collapsed into his bed. The next thing he knew, fourteen hours had passed, the sun was up, and he had another twelve-hour shift starting at the station.
When he finally found a minute to call Avery, it felt like ages since they’d been online, and Linc half expected Avery to ignore him or pick up the phone and hurl accusations that Linc definitely deserved. So, of course, Avery answered the phone with a cheery “Hey there!” Linc didn’t deserve that simple kindness.
“Hey. Um. How you been?”
“Good. I’m just between meetings. Going to see Mr. Graves at the equipment rental. What’s up?”
Linc sighed. Now was not the time to admit his creepy misstep. “Nothing. Just wanted to know what you were up to.” Yeah. Smooth. “Maybe I could come over later?” If he hoped to be Avery’s friend, better to have the awkward conversations face-to-face anyway. He’d tell Avery, and they’d laugh about it and then move on.
“Oh.” Avery’s voice brightened instantly. “Yeah, that would be awesome. I could make us dinner. How do you feel about chard?”
“Like a barbecue?”
Avery laughed. “Not really. Maybe you could grill it. I’m not sure. I could look it up? I— Oh, shit. I’m going to be late. I’ll see you tonight?”
“Yeah.” Linc smiled over the phone. Maybe Avery would understand. Abe wasn’t that big of a deal. Not like the other things Linc wasn’t ready to talk about. “See you, then.”
Linc had spent a lot of time moving. He’d worked odd jobs, never staying anywhere more than six months at a time. At first, he’d worried the police might catch up with him, and make him testify. But his dad pled guilty, skipping the need for a trial.
Nevertheless, all the moving around, even in the years after, meant his social life took a hit. Making friends was hard when you were always the new guy, and practically, being a closeted drifter meant his love life was nonexistent aside from rare hookups with strangers he never saw again. He’d been okay with that for a long time.
Which was why he had to salvage this growing thing with Avery if he could. Avery, who was queer and who might be patient enough to wait as Linc struggled through his identity. He’d like to get the chance to run his fingers through Avery’s glowing ember hair and suck on his bright pink bottom lip.
He stuffed that thought aside. Avery might not speak to him again after tonight. Better to not get ahead of himself.
Linc knocked on Avery’s apartment door. When he got no reply, he tried the knob, and the door swung open.
