“Taken.I have found my pineapple, and there’s just frothy piña colada in my future, nothing else.”
Carl chuckled.“So I should call you Coconut?”
Corvin turned to Theo.“I like this one.We’re taking him.Do you have his contact info?”
“Taking me?”Carl crossed his arms and looked from one of them to the other.“Fellas, if you two are planning on abducting me—”
“To my bachelor party.”
Carl’s eyes widened.“You’re a direct one, huh?Fine, I’m in.”He pulled a card from his inside pocket.“This is me.Theo, no hard feelings, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to have my contact on you.Wouldn’t want Mr.Collins to get the wrong idea.”
Theo groaned.“Oh, fuck me.”
“Emphatically, no,” Carl said.“But maybe I should chaperone?”
Corvin cackled.“Oh my.Who are you, Carl?”
Carl straightened.“Security.”
“I bet.”
Theo rubbed his forehead.“Okay, can we cut this short?Carl, I don’t need a chaperone.We’re just here for, I don’t know.Maybe a coffee.And I wanted to say hi to Celeste.”
“And you wanted to dish,” Corvin whispered.
“That too.”
Carl narrowed his eyes before finally nodding.“You know the way.But if anything is the matter, you let me know, okay?Or you talk to Kira.She’s upstairs.You can tell her.”
Corvin’s jaw dropped.“No.No-oh.Is my gaydar broken?Carl, are you one of the straights?”
“Not overly much, no.Kira’s my sister.”
“Oh, good.In a totally platonic way.”
“Sure, Coconut.”
Carl winked at them as he stepped back and hit the elevator call button.
“Did you have to flirt with Carl?”Theo asked when the elevator doors closed behind them.
Corvin shrugged.“Listen, not only have I been on a monster romance reading streak, but I’m also about to embark on my one and only bachelor party.I’m getting warmed up, you could say.”
“For the spa day.”
Corvin shrugged again, his smile stretching.“Yup.”
Theo rolled his eyes, but just then the elevator stopped, delivering them to the bar area.Thankfully, Celeste was right there, a hand on her hip, her smile almost hidden by her impressive beard.
“Theo!How long has it been?”
Theo heard a small noise of surprise from Corvin, but he didn’t say anything.Celeste rounded the bar, showing off pumps that weren’t as high as she could go.When she reached Theo, she still had to bend forward to give him a proper hug, which was enough to drive the air from his lungs.
“Hey.Uh, Corvin, this is Celeste.Celeste, Corvin.”
She held out her hand for Corvin to shake.“Theo, please don’t tell me you’re here to test the bounds of your relationship with Peter?He’s a big old fluff ball, but he has his limits, you know.”
Corvin cocked his head.“Fluff ball?Are we talking about the same Peter?”
