He avoids my eyes, gazing off to the side of the gym. Everyone around us is wearing headphones, thank God. Otherwise, they’d probably be just as disturbed by this conversation as I’m becoming.
“I have, but notwitha woman.”
I wince. “Jesus, man.” Clearing my throat, I continue, “I’m becoming entirely too knowledgeable about your dick, even if you are one of my best friends.”
“So I shouldn’t tell you about the piercing I’m thinking of getting?”
Holding up my hand in front of his face, I fight to keep my protein shake down. “Please, for the sake of our friendship, don’t.”
He pushes my hand away. “Then come with me to The Charming Bull, or I’m going to make you go with me to get my dick pierced instead.”
“Charming Bull it is,” I say without hesitation—because I’ll be damned if I bear witness to Elliot getting a needle shoved through his penis. That would makemydick shrivel up and fall off, for sure.
He slaps me on the shoulder. “I thought so.”
“Are you not actually planning on getting your dick pierced, then? Did I just get manipulated with the threat of penis mutilation?”
He shrugs. “I mean, the thought has crossed my mind, actually. New penis, new me.”
“Your dick will still be the same.”
“No, he’ll be bejeweled.”
“For the love of God, please stop.”
Elliot tosses back his head with laughter before picking up his weights again. “Let’s finish this fucking workout, then decide who’s driving tonight.”
“I really hate you, man. You’re making me spend my one night off watching women dramatize riding a fucking fake bull.”
“No, I want you to show up for me like all of you fuckers have been preaching.”
That lands. The past nine months have been trying for all of us, not just Elliot.
Fletcher came home for Elliot’s wedding that never happened, and I found out he’s been in love with my sister since we were teenagers. Now they’re getting married in just a few months. While still processing that, we also learned something about Fletcher and his father that he hid from all of us. The truth sort of blew up our friendship.
For a group of friends always preaching how close we are, it became glaringly obvious that we haven’t all been completely honest aboutpersonal shit we’ve been dealing with or leaning on each other when it matters.
Then Henley, the other fourth of our brotherhood, found out he had a kid with a woman he slept with once, and she left the baby with him and took off. He hired a nanny and ended up falling for her, but had to face some bullshit from his childhood before he could actually admit how he felt about Elodie. Now, he’s so fucking lovesick it makes the rest of us wonder if he’s been possessed because he’s definitely not the same fucking person.
But while this has all been going on, Fletcher, Henley, and I have been keeping an eye on Elliot, trying to help him navigate his life after the woman he thought he was going to spend his life with left him. Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of Tori and neither were the boys, but we tried to be supportive. We’ve sort of taken turns helping Elliot through the healing process, which mostly involved copious amounts of alcohol, at least for him. But over the past few months, he seems to finally be coming out of his haze, and now he’s asking me to show up for him in a different way—a way that will help his dick, apparently.
I guess if that’s the support he needs right now, so be it.
“Fine. All right. You’ve laid the guilt on thick. Just promise me that we won’t stay out all night. If I do, Ellis will wake up at five in the morning, man. It never fails.”
He holds out his hand for me to shake. “Deal. And hopefully, I won’t have to ride home with you either since I’ll be getting my own ride in some woman’s hotel room or car.”
Shaking his hand, I say, “For both of our sakes, I hope so too.”
Chapter 2
Rhonan
The Wrong Dick Wakes Up
“This place is a fucking madhouse.” I can barely hear myself think as I yell over the music and chatter of people packed all around us. Bars have never been my scene, and right now, I feel especially validated in that opinion.
Elliot leans toward me. “Your age is showing, Rhonan.”
