“He has a thing,” Griffin added.
“I hate you both.”
Bernard’s hand slid under the table, resting on my bouncing leg. He gave it a squeeze. “Eventually you’ll admit it.”
I had plenty of things to hide right now, but my encounter with Aiden wasn’t one of them. Long ago, I had forbidden them from discussing my relationships over breakfast. No matter how many times I threatened to punch them, they persisted.
I balled my fists on the table. “There’s nothing to admit.”
“This is a reason to celebrate. Chad,” Alejandro yelled at the owner, “a round of coffee for my companions. We’re celebrating.”
The barista was usually the first to nose his way into the conversation. Sweet and overly concerned with his patrons, Chad had a way of being disarming, funny, and uplifting in everything he did. However, as he walked over with a pot of coffee, he poured without commentary. His lack of input bordered on supernatural.
“Chad…” I reached out, tugging on his arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine.” Fine. The word used by those who felt anything but. I had to wonder if his usual peppiness was a superpower, and now he functioned like the rest of us. While he tended to be a bit more than I could handle, the morose body snatcher was not an improvement.
“I, for one, am happy Xander found somebody.” Griffin poured creamer into his coffee, ruining the cup as it turned a khaki color. “I thought at any moment he was going to be court-ordered into anger management.”
My fist smacked the table, rattling the silverware enough that a momentary hush passed through the HideOut. I wanted to be angry with Griffin. It wasn't news that I had an issue with my temper. I spent years drifting from one employer to another, unable to “knuckle under.” But asnails dug into my palm, I was angrier that the joking came with an air of truth.
“I didn’t mean?—”
“You did,” I said.
Our dynamic had shifted. Without Bernard to mediate our extremes, we were teetering on a total friendship collapse. Unlike my younger self, I knew when it was time to remove myself from a situation. Sure, it wasn’t the best coping mechanism, but it kept me from lashing out verbally, or worse.
“I have to head to work.” I tossed a twenty on the table as I pushed my chair back.
“Tomorrow?” Griffin asked. It was a peace offering, a sign that I wouldn’t let this drag me away from the others.
“We’ll see.” I’m sure it sounded petty, but it was the best I could promise myself. If I had given in to anger, I’d have flipped the table, given them each the finger and stormed off. I could control it. Ihadto control it. What worried me most—a part of me didn’t want to.
“Wait, papi.” Alejandro put money on the table. “I need arm candy and you’re going my way.”
Great, just great.
We had walked nearly three blocks through the Ward. We passed red brick storefronts holding quaint mom-and-popshops, one of the charming aspects of this part of Vanguard City. Alejandro’s loft was another block away, marking the midpoint between the HideOut and the ambulance bay. In the years I had known Alejandro, he had never gone this long without talking. His silence had grown more unnerving than his frequent rattlings.
“I can’t take it anymore. This is the longest you’ve ever been silent. What is going on?”
He linked his arm through mine. On an evening out, it might be a romantic gesture. Two burly men, however, sauntering down the sidewalk made walking incredibly awkward. Thankfully, I found just about everything about our friendship lacking grace.
“You mean, me acting out of character is freaking you out? You don’t say. The irony is?—”
“Did you just keep your mouth shut for four blocks to make a point?”
“I died a little on the inside.”
I stopped walking, jerking his arm so that he stopped. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to launch into a monologue. All I could do was laugh. It had been years since I met Alejandro, and I thought the man’s weakness was silence. If left to his own devices, he’d ramble on for hours. Tears formed in the corner of my eyes as I struggled to catch my breath.
“Bernard is acting weird. Griffin went an entire mealwithout mentioning comics. And you,”—he poked me in the chest— “you’re being the weirdest of all.”
“How am I being weird? Because of Aiden?”
“Xander, I’ve never lied to you.” The others might dance around a topic, but Alejandro had a knack for cutting right to the chase. I had watched him tend bar, and he could charm the pants off even the noblest of heroes, but he never needed a silver tongue. “Let me be blunt. You have anger issues.”
“Thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re not the first?—”
