August and Ryker were watching him, saying nothing, and as they kept staring Dylan put down his drink and blushed.
“I ran into a friend of yours today,” Ryker said, breaking the tension.
Dylan frowned, wondering who he could be talking about.
“You did?” he asked, just as August groaned.
“Not this again.”
“Steve Miller. He was out on patrol and I had a little chat with him. He recognized your scent on me.”
It took Dylan a second to realize what Ryker meant, and when it clicked he went firetruck red.
“What’s the deal with him?” Ryker asked, his expression smug. “He obviously wants to be more than friends.”
Dylan took a deep breath and ignored the fact that he was blushing. He was a big boy. He could acknowledge that someone had shown an interest in him without having a meltdown.
“I don’t actually know him, we’ve just talked a few times,” Dylan said. “He asked me out, but I told him I didn’t want to date him if I was going on a date with someone else.”
August shot him a beaming grin. “So you didn’t consider ghosting me?”
Dylan looked at him, wondering where that had come from. Had he said something to Ryker that made them think he was going to break things off by ghosting them?
He shook his head.
“I have to admit, I was a little worried when you deleted your messages. Ryker was convinced you’d be a no-show.” August looked over at Ryker with a teasing grin. “Weren’t you?”
Ryker rolled his eyes. “You can’t blame me.”
Dylan had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. His fingers itched to pull out his phone to see if he had deleted any of the messages between him and August, but he was almost certain that he hadn’t.
August must have deleted them by mistake and thought it was him.
It wasn’t a great loss – they’d just arranged the date and told each other how much they were looking forward to the date – though Dylan could see how they would think something was up if he’d deleted them out of nowhere.
“It must have been a glitch,” he said, holding his Diet Coke and tracing the condensation on the glass with his thumb. “The messages I mean. I didn’t delete them.”
August and Ryker both nodded, but something about their expressions made Dylan feel like they didn’t believe him. It was a benevolent sort of look, the kind you’d give to someone you knew were telling a harmless lie to cover for a mistake they’d made.
Did they think he was trying to cover for deleting the messages because he was embarrassed about changing his mind?
He considered pulling out his phone and showing that he still had all their messages on his phone. At least he thought he did. It would be hugely embarrassing to whip out his phone only for there not to be any messages.
“I’m glad we got to you before Steve,” Ryker said, grinning. “He’s very handsome. Though now that we know we have competition waiting in the wings we should probably step up our game. Right, August?”
“Right,” August agreed. He bit his lip, looking at Dylan like he wanted to devour him.
Dylan had the strongest urge to reach up and touch his neck, suddenly hyper-aware of the bruise August had put there.
“What did Steve have to say about us?” Ryker asked. He leaned forward, his teeth glinting under the low light from the overhead fixture.
“He said he hadn’t heard anything bad about you, and he asked if I knew that August had a mate.” Dylan swallowed. “And he gave me his number, in case it didn’t go well with you guys.”
Dylan could admit to himself that he was playing with fire, trying to sharpen the jealous glint in August and Ryker’s eyes.
He was surprised when Ryker laughed.
“Cheeky puppy,” Ryker said, leaning back in his chair. He turned his face toward August with a lazy grin. “Can you believe that? He gave him his number in case wedisappointedhim.”
