“Oh, yes, you did!” Mark vaulted over the bar with too much energy for a man his age. “Tell me everything, every single detail. Where did you go? What did you do? Did he take you to his place? Is he as big as he looks? Was he thick? Veiny? Oooh, is he cut? I love foreskin. Please tell me you got to play with his snake’s sweater.”
“I’m not telling you—”
“He’s blushing!” Jacks announced, setting down the case with a thud. “Dude, you’re blushing so hard right now. That’s amazing. Boss got some dick!”
“Jacks—”
“Or did you get ass? Maybe eat a little? Either works. God knows, we needed you to get laid.” Jacks was grinning like a proud older brother. “You’ve been all stressed and tense for like two weeks. Good for you, man. Seriously. That lawyer dude seems cool.”
“I hate both of you. You’re dead to me now.”
“You love us.” Mark was circling me now, examining me like I was evidence in a trial. “Okay, let’s see. You’re wearing the same clothes from yesterday, so you stayed over. You’re smiling like an idiot, which means it went well. I mean, youarean idiot, but set that aside. And—” He leaned in closer. “Is that a hickey?”
“What? No!” I slapped a hand over my neck even though I was pretty sure there was no hickey. Chase had been very careful about that. I couldn’t even remember him kissing my neck.
“Made you look, though.” Mark was laughing now. “Oh, this is better than I thought. You’re gone.”
“I am not—”
“You are absolutely gone for him. Look at you! You showed up half an hour late, which you never do, and you’re standing here smiling at nothing while we interrogate you. That’s gone behavior.”
“I’mnotgone. We had breakfastonetime. It was nice. That’s all.”
“Just breakfast?” Jacks asked, and there was something knowing in his grin, the kind of knowing that came from vast locker room experience teasing men a hell of a lot tougher than me. “Come on, boss. We’re all adults here. You can tell us. Did he rock your world or what?”
“I am not discussing—”
“He diddled your Blarney Stone!” Mark teased. “Or would that be stones? I don’t want to be disrespectful to the land of leprechauns.”
“Mark, seriously—”
Jacks piled on. “Hetotallydiddled. That’s a post-diddle grin if I’ve ever seen one. I bet he diddled with his fingers and tongue and—”
“There was no diddling!”
“Diddling liar.” Mark stepped back and leaned against the bar. “You may as well just tell us. We’re never going to stop until you do. I might even call Priya in for backup. She’ll know if you came home last night and—”
“Fine! We had breakfast after spending the night together. Happy?” I huffed, my shoulders slumping. “There’s no need to blackmail me with my housemate.”
Jacks nodded sagely, as though he’d just solveda crime and the credits were about to roll on his film. “That’s cool, man. Happy for you. Lawyer dude’s hot. Good catch.”
“Can we please focus on work—”
Mark ignored my miserable plea and grabbed my shoulders. “Finn O’Brien spent the night with a boy, a hot lawyer boy. This is a red-letter day. We should commemorate this. Put up a plaque. Maybe Benji can make a special drink.”
“Ooh.” Jacks’s grin widened. “He could call it ‘Finnigan’s Wake.’”
“Too sad.” Mark shook his head. “The Irish Prig. No, too angry. Finn’s Emerald Isle.”
“Too weird.” Jacks frowned. “Finn’s Pot of Gold.”
“I love that!” Mark said. “He’s definitely doing it.”
“You two are ridiculous.”
“We’re supportive. There’s a difference.” Mark finally released me, walked around the bar, and went back to organizing bottles. Thank God, his tone returned to some semblance of normal, not-teasing inquisitiveness. “So? How was it? The breakfast, the night, all of it?”
I tried to keep a straight face. “It was good.”
