6
Seeing so many old friends in one place was a balm for Ezra's heart. He'd landed back here two years ago after wandering the world aimlessly for a while, but he'd never really shaken the sense of being lost.
This was grounding. Being here, among all these people who he'd known and loved throughout his time at the sanctuary was enough to save him feeling alone, at least for a few hours.
“It's cute that they're having a joint bachelor party,” Mike said, suddenly right at Ezra's side. He passed over a can of lemonade—Ezra knew Mike didn't drink, and he didn't want him to be theonlysober one at the end of the night.
“Thanks,” Ezra said, taking it from him. “And yeah, those two aren't interested in a last night of freedom. I wasn't here when they first got together, but apparently they were disgustingly cute. Also. I walked in on one of them tying the other to the bed once. Not telling which was which.”
“I didnotneed to know that,” Mike said, punctuating the sentence by cracking open his own can.
“Yeah, well, neither did I. But they say a burden shared is a burden halved,” Ezra teased.
He was thrilled for Oscar and Ryan.
“Do you feel like your burden's been halved?” Mike asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ezra shrugged. “Not exactly, but it's a comfort to know I'm not the only one stuck with that mental image.”
“I always kinda wondered if you had a thing for Oscar, actually,” Mike said. “You guys seemed close.”
“We are close, but no thing.” Ezra sipped his lemonade. “I did kiss him at New Year's once. It was… fine, not something I'd do often.”
It'd been the New Year's Eve after Mike had left. Not that Ezra was about to reveal the connection between those two things.
“Coming from you, that's kinda harsh,” Mike joked.
“I've grown up a lot since you left,” Ezra responded.
Healsowasn't about to explain the way those two things were related. Mike leaving had been a wakeup about how nothing in life was permanent. His father's death had compounded the lesson, set it in stone for him, made it stark and real, but… Mike had been the first one to teach it.
Seeing him again left Ezra with allkindsof complicated feelings.
Most of them good, though. It was nice to see him.
“Shit,” Mike said all of a sudden, pulling Ezra's attention back to the present. He followed Mike's gaze to see that Rachel had just walked into the room.
The man with her was tall, classically handsome, and had the air of someone who'd never cleaned their own bathroom.
“She left you forthat?” Ezra asked, incredulous on Mike's behalf.
Beside him, Mike snorted. “Notfor. She left me because I was boring. She met him a little while later.”
“Well, she downgraded,” Ezra said. “I hate him.”
Mike chuckled, and the tension that Ezra had been able to feel rolling off him eased a little. Good. That was what he was here for.
A moment later, Ezra's eyes widened as Rachel grinned and waved at Mike, grabbing her new man and dragging him through the crowd toward them.
“We're still supposed to be friends,” Mike whispered in Ezra's ear, hot breath tickling the sensitive skin. Ezra forced back a shiver—now really wasn't the time—and wondered how the hell he was supposed to handle this.
He'd assumed that Mike and Rachel were both on the same page about their relationship.
This did explain why Mike had been worried, though. Rachel clearly wasn't going to avoid him.
“Mike, hi!” Rachel enthused. “And Ezra! You guys are so cute together. I always used to tease Mike about you.”
Ezra glanced at Mike, seeing his eyes widen, panic written all over his features.
