“Hey, sorry I didn’t call sooner,” I apologized. “It was a long day and I had my phone on silent. What’s up?”
Eric didn’t respond immediately and I started to worry that he was going to tell me Drew was having another one of his bad days. They weren’t as frequent as they’d been at the beginning, but they still occurred. Most of the time, the decline of his mood correlated to Eric trying to get him out of the house. Drew felt safe within the confines of the home they shared.
His attacker was still roaming free, and I got the distinct impression he was trying to avoid admitting that it terrified him to think about that concept. Hell, it would likely turn me into a hermit if I were in his shoes. Still, that didn’t mean it was healthy.
“Eric? Are you there?” I prompted when he remained silent.
“Yeah, sorry.” It wasn’t my imagination. Something was distracting the normally focused man I’d grown to think of as something more than a friend. Someone who I could finally admit to myself I thought had the potential to be an excellent partner. “I know I asked you to come over for the weekend, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
Life seemed to be full of ideas that seemed good at the time and quickly fell apart. “Oh, okay,” I said, trying to not sound upset. And I wasn’t, really. I was more confused than anything.
Earlier, Eric had practically bounced in his seat when I told him I’d love to spend some time with them. Did that mean Drew was the hold out? Had he been upset with Eric’s scheme? Did he feel as though the two of us were forcing him into something he’d seemed to want and was now having second thoughts about?
“Don’t sound like that,” Eric pleaded. “Believe me, I’m no happier about it than you are. It’s just…Cam’s coming home and Drew isn’t sure he’s ready to face questions from his best friend.”
“And he thinks he’d have to if we were both there?” That was ridiculous. Jason had stopped by once when we were all hanging out and he didn’t suspect anything was going on. Wewerecapable of keeping our hands off one another when others were around.
“I know, I said the same thing,” Eric huffed. “The thing is, he and Cam have been friends forever and he’s sure Cam will see it on his face and pull him aside. And he doesn’t want that. Not tonight, at least. He wants to make sure tonight’s all about welcoming Cam home and hearing about how things went with the show.”
“I get it,” I assured him. And I did. The chemistry between the three of us was insane. Most guys might not see it, but that was because they didn’t know or care to look for it.
But Cam was different. I’d heard from Jason how rocky things were for them at the beginning, when Drew was forced to admit that he had feelings for his best friend which ran deeper than typical childhood friendship. I couldn’t blame him for that, because under the usually gruff, sometimes cocky exterior lay a man with a heart of gold. And I considered myself lucky to have seen glimpses of that.
“Why don’t I give you a call in the morning?” Eric offered. “I have a feeling Jason’s not going to give up Cam for the entire weekend, so maybe we can just delay the start until tomorrow and you can spend Sunday night here if you want.”
“Yeah, I can do that,” I told him.
“I’m really sorry about this,” he responded, and I could tell he was. It may have been wishful thinking, but it seemed to me that he was just as disappointed as I was that we weren’t going to get our repeat of the night in the basement.
“It is what it is,” I said. “If you could, ask Drew to give me a call.”
I couldn’t explain why, but I needed to talk to him. I needed some sort of reassurance for him that Cam coming home wasn’t simply a convenient excuse to get out of spending time together. Unfortunately, he’d run so hot and cold since the attack that it was impossible for me to squash those thoughts.
“Will do. He’s taking a shower right now, so it might be a bit.” We both laughed because it had become an ongoing joke that Drew made it his mission in life to try and drain the hot water heater.
It had also crossed my mind that it was an escape for him. He could hide in the bathroom as long as he wanted and no one would push him to talk or do anything. And the manneededto be pushed because it wasn’t healthy to spend all day every day alternating between screwing around on the computer and vegetating in front of the television. He was an athlete, and he needed to remember that letting himself go in a fit of self-pity wouldn’t do any good in the long run.
We hung up and I pulled onto the street, aiming the car toward the Chinese takeout place on my way home. I was sick of eating Chinese all the time, but the people there had gotten to know me and were always friendly when I walked in.
I’d just placed my order when my phone rang again. I checked the caller ID and saw it was Jason. “Don’t you have better things to do than bother me?” I asked, trying to sound put out by his call. And I was perturbed, but it wasn’t his fault, it was his boyfriend’s because he was the one who was coming home unannounced.
“Well, hello to you too.” Jason chuckled. “And no, I don’t have anything more pressing at the moment. I’m sitting here waiting for Cam’s flight to land, but they’re delayed.”
“And I was the only person you could think of to entertain you?”
“No, asshole, I was calling because we’re having an impromptu welcome home party and I was hoping you’d come,” he told me.
I had to figure out how I was going to get out of this. I reminded myself that this didn’t mean Jason suspected anything. In fact, if he did, he likely wouldn’t have called me since I had to imagine the party was at Eric’s. For some reason, his place appeared to be the venue for just about any gathering their group had.
Still, Eric had begged off me coming over tonight and let me know Drew wasn’t comfortable with all three of us being there when Cam was around. I had to respect that.
“That’d be great, but I just ordered dinner.” The excuse was lame, but it was the only thing I could come up with.
“Not a valid excuse,” Jason shot back. “Knowing you, that means you plan on heading back to your completely depressing apartment and working all night. Well, I’m sorry but that’s not going to happen. You’re working too hard and you need a night off.”
“I can’t afford a night off,” I lied. He wasn’t wrong that I’d wind up going back to my apartment to work all night, but I didn’tneedto. I’d made sure I got enough done at the office today that I wouldn’t feel guilty for spending the entire weekend with Drew and Eric.
“Yeah, you can,” Jason insisted. “I know you. You’ve been obsessing over how to fix all the center’s problems as quickly as possible even though it’d take a miracle to turn it around in less than a year or two.”
