“What a perfect place to do so… at a hospital. I’d get such stellar care, don’t you think?”
“What happens if I call in a bomb threat? Does that get you off for a few hours while they investigate?”
I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Marlow to actually think of something that over-the-top as a means to give me an excuse to go to dinner with him and hisboyfriend.I still hated that word.
Weren’t we too old for those things?
“He says on an unsecured line.”
There was dead silence on the other end, long enough for me to glance down at the phone dock to check that the green light was still on.
“Okay, so. Avery can get me out. He’s got a lawyer on standby.”
“I believe he has a few. Though, none that I recall are experts in posting bail for potential Homeland Security threats.”
Beth glanced up from her computer, her eyes going slightly wide the moment she met mine. This Monday was supposed to be smooth sailing—not met with one of my staff upset with me and the other scared for her life. An omen seemed to be a better fit for today’s description.
Slowly lifting the phone dock off of the desk, I stepped as far away from the desk as the cord allowed and let it hang down at my side. “Why don’t you have Avery and Brandon go with you to dinner.”
“Because they’re busy and you’ve been avoiding me.”
Jesus Christ.
“I have not.”
“You have, too. Don’t think I haven’t caught on to your weird attitude since I brought Blake home.”
I had half a mind to sigh and hang up the call—nowhere near ready to have this conversation in the middle of my shift, let alone over the phone.
I didn’t hate Blake, nor did I hate Brandon, contrary to both of my friends’ suspicions. I simply hated change. The status quo being disrupted in the form of twostrangersentering our intimate circle, and therefore, changing the entiredynamic between all of us was, for lack of better terms, fucking exasperating.
No longer were we single bachelors unconcerned with the mainstream culture of partnering up and findingthe one.We’d shifted into a completely different timeline. One filled with holiday dinners with in-laws and celebrations of milestone anniversaries. Missed outings out to the bar in favor of cozying up in front of the fireplace, snowed in for the weekend. Vows and declarations of love overshadowing brotherhood and the stanch desire to go against the status quo every adult fell into eventually when wanting to start a family.
None of which interested me.
Finding myself on the outskirts of both of my friends moving into different life stages was…
Lonely.
Wrinkling my nose, I focused back on Marlow. “I’m busy. Sue me.”
“Too busy to come out to dinner? It’s an hour, Silas. Two, max.”
“When I’m on call, yes.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Wednesday?”
“I was planning on sleeping.”
“Okay. Look, you either agree to a day or I come break into your house and kidnap you. You’ve got those two options. Pick one.”
“I’ll just change the key code.”
“And I’ll ram my car into the side of your house! Two of us can be crazy at once, buddy!”
Clearly, I wasn’t getting out of this. “Why are you so fucking bent out of shape about this? You don’t need my approval for what you do with your life.”
“So, youdon’tapprove of Blake.”
