“Nope. Already got coffee.”
“That can’t be called coffee.” She pointed a red fingernail at the cup.
“I know.” He scrunched his nose after taking a sip. “But I have way too much work, and I’d like to leave at three today.”
“Okay... Want me to bring you anything?”
Dylan shook his head. “Thanks, though.”
“No prob.”
With Penny and Cora in the cafeteria and the other programmer who sat in the same corner as them on paternity leave, Dylan and Jared were left alone. Suddenly there was a chill in the air, as if a vampire or Death itself had just walked in.
It stayed like that for a big chunk of the morning. Even after Cora and Penny returned, the frost between the two men showed no sign of melting.
Jared didn’t have the balls to start a conversation. The fear of getting a biting response was bigger than himself, though he didn’t really get any murderous vibes from Dylan. They were neither good nor bad. Just a plain state of nothingness. It was such a weird feeling, and he wasn’t fond of it.
The hands of the clock on the wall ticked in slow motion, making minutes feel like hours.
After spending the first half of their shift working with his headphones on and ignoring the world around him, Dylan broke the silence.
“How was your week?”
Jared cleared his throat. “Ehm... Good. I guess.” Can you be any more awkward? “Yours?” He tried to act normal.
“Could have been better. Peter has been a pain in my ass.”
“I guess you had to do some overtime last week?”
It was obvious to him, and probably Dylan too. The tension between them, not even sexual right now, was dense and uncomfortable.
“Yeah. Thursday and Friday.” Dylan sighed, glaring at one of his screens before leaning back in his chair and turning towards Jared. “I also worked the entire day Saturday again.”
“Oh, right. I saw the wolf tattoo you shared.”
Jared knew nothing about tattooing but loved seeing Dylan’s art and listening to him blabber about it. He’d been doing it for some time and was starting to do cover-ups, which was apparently one of the hardest things to do in tattooing. Something about the blacks being too black sometimes and not blending right if you overdid it.
“Yeah.”
“Turned out pretty decent.” Okay, this isn’t going that bad.
“Didn’t get to finish it though. I was feeling sick halfway through.”
“Too much partying for your old cranky ass on Friday?” Jared quipped, trying to keep his jealous gremlin on a leash.
What are you getting all possessive about? You have a boyfriend.
“I wish…” Dylan muttered.
He was going to say something else, but before he could, his entire face paled, scrunching up like he was in pain. Then he bolted from his chair.
Jared watched through the glass walls as he stormed down the corridor that led to the vending machines and the bathrooms.
What the fuck?
Worried, Jared locked the screen on both their computers and strode in the same direction his friend had gone. Even though he wasn’t entirely sure where Dylan had run to, the retching sounds coming from the men’s bathroom when he passed by were a good indicator.
Knocking on the stall where Dylan was, Jared called, “You need anything?”
