Rio shot him a hard look. “I saw the text. That was a flat-out booty call.”
“Which... often sparked a reconciliation,” Dave admitted.
“Yeah, well...” Rio searched for the right words. “Fuck that shit. Whatever it was, whatever it was supposed to be, I do know this: you were worried about him for days. It was unbelievably douchey that he waited—for any reason—to let you know he was okay.”
“Davy, I’m so sorry.” Casey’s heart was in her eyes—and yeah, Rio was ready to believe she was being sincere. Maybe because Dave obviously did, and Dave was nobody’s fool. Well, he was Jon’s fool, but he was actively trying to change that.
“You’re not responsible for Jon,” Dave told Casey quietly. “Not now, not ever.”
“I just wish...” she whispered.
“Still standing right here.” Rio said it aloud this time, waving as they both turned to look at him again.
“I was going to say, I wish Jon hadn’t hurt Dave like that,” Casey informed him, a tad spicily. But then she turned back to Dave. “And I know it wasn’t just that once. I know it happened a lot.”
“Welp,” Rio said, “good news! It’s not happening anymore.” He turned toward the door so they could free up the room for the crowd outside, many of whom no doubt needed it badly. Although wait, what would Luc do? If he really was Dave’s boyfriend, he wouldn’t just open the door and hold it for the two of them, would he? Nah, that’s what Rio would do. Luc would hold out his hand for his boo. So he did.
Dave shot him a furtive really, and Rio wiggled his fingers. “Come on, Davy. I need a drink. I kinda lost my place in line coming to your unnecessary rescue.”
“I’m really sorry—about everything,” Casey said again as she opened and held the door for them.
Rio was a hard-core, lifetime door-holder, not just for women and children but for any and every person who outranked him and some who didn’t. And frankly, Casey holding the door for him felt more weird than Dave taking hold of his outstretched hand. Which really wasn’t weird at all. It felt exactly like when Rio reached out a hand to help a teammate up onto one of the more challenging obstacles in the O-Course during PT. Sure, this was an emotional assist rather than a physical one, but the similarities were spot on. He was always ready to lend a friend a hand—and he wasn’t about to stop now.
His gesture didn’t go unnoticed. As Rio pulled Dave past Casey, she stared at their intertwined fingers, so he brought Dave’s hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it—more from his What Would Luc Do mental file—which of course made her look directly into his eyes.
And the world shifted again, same way it did back in the Ralph’s parking lot. No, not the same way. It was rockier. Shakier-up-ier. Way more stomach-flipped and heart-skipped-a-beat.
But Casey’s world clearly remained steady, because she tossed off a quick “See you at the table” as she followed them out and then immediately headed toward the entrance—no doubt seeking out her idiot brother and his meditation app.
Once her back was to them, Dave released his hand.
“You okay?” Rio leaned in to ask him quietly as they jockeyed for a position at the end of the long line to the bar.
Dave nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. That was harder than I thought. You know, seeing her and...” He took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully. “I don’t like lying to her.”
“You’re not lying,” Rio said. “I’m lying.” Dave didn’t look too happy about that either, so Rio kept going. “Or am I? Are you even certain that I’m really Rio and not Luc, back in town for a surprise visit? I mean, have you, in your entire life, ever seen your teammate Rio’s hair looking like this?” He pointed to his head with both hands.
That got the laugh from Dave that he was going for. “No, but believe me, I know you both well enough to tell you apart. Although it is almost freakish, how much you look like him.”
“He looks like me,” Rio reminded him. “We’re kinda mega-super-cousins because our fathers are brothers who married sisters. I mean, not their own sisters.”
Dave laughed again. “Yeah, I got that. But wow, that’s kinda crazy. Luc told me your families were big—and really close.”
“Yeah. We were the only boys, surrounded by six girls, so he was a lot like a brother,” Rio said. “Plus, we lived in a two-family house for a while, shared a yard. We even shared a bedroom at one point.”
Dave asked, “And... no one had a... problem with him...?”
“Being himself?” Rio finished Dave’s question for him. “Nah. And we definitely all knew he was gay. I mean, from like, forever. Kinda obvious.”
Dave was quiet, just nodding a little, so Rio asked, “Wasn’t your family...?”
“Casey and Jon’s family were my family,” Dave told him.
“Oh, shit,” Rio said, understanding instantly. “So you breaking up with Jon wasn’t just you breaking up with Jon.”
“No,” Dave said quietly. “It wasn’t.”
“Well, we’re your family now, man,” Rio told him. “Me and everyone in Team Ten.”
