“You hate it?” Rick asked.
Allen hesitated. “I don’t hate it all the time. It’s just… repetitive. People get angry.” Allen paused, then added, “A lot.”
Rick leaned back a little. “People like being angry.”
Allen shrugged. “Seems like it.”
Rick’s eyes held his for a beat, and something in Allen’s stomach flipped. Allen cleared his throat, suddenly aware that he was staring. “What about you?”
Rick’s mouth tightened slightly, then relaxed again. “Music. Sort of.”
Allen blinked. “Sort of.”
Rick’s gaze flicked toward the window. “I… still do stuff. It’s not the same as it was.”
Allen didn’t know what to say to that, so he went with the truth. “I remember your song.”
Rick looked back at him slowly. He didn’t look surprised. He looked as if he’d been waiting for it to come up. “Yeah?” Rick asked.
“It was everywhere,” Allen said. “When I was in school.”
Rick nodded once. “That was a while ago.”
Allen lifted his shoulders. “It still gets played.” Rick’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Allen wondered if he believed him or not. Allen held his gaze. “It does.”
For a second, Rick’s expression softened, then it was gone. “Thanks,” Rick murmured.
Allen looked down at his drink again because he didn’t know what else to say. The silence stretched, but it wasn’t awkward, exactly. More like both of them were deciding what to say next.
Rick broke it first. “Do you come here often?”
Allen nodded. “Yeah. It’s close to work. I meet friends here sometimes.”
“Three guys?” Rick asked, as if he’d already pictured it.
Allen blinked. “How did you know?”
Rick’s mouth twitched. “You seem like the kind of guy who keeps the same friends.”
Allen didn’t know if that was an insult or a compliment, so he decided to take it as a compliment. “I’ve known them since school.”
Rick nodded. “That’s rare.”
Allen studied Rick’s face again. He didn’t look like someone who had a lot of friends. That thought made Allen’s chest tighten, and he didn’t know why.
Rick’s gaze held his. “What?”
Allen blinked. “Nothing.”
Allen’s phone buzzed finally. He looked down, expecting a message from Jamie, but instead it was Mark. Sorry mate. Laura’s car wouldn’t start. Jamie and Connor went to help. Rain check?
Allen stared at it for a second, then he sighed and typed back. No worries. Hope she’s okay. Catch you soon. He put the phone down and stared at it as if it had betrayed him.
Rick watched him. “They bailed?”
Allen looked up. “Kind of. Car trouble.”
“That happens.”
