Page 73 of Mine

When I changed planes in Dallas, I was sitting next to two guys who were wannabe gangsters. Ever since I was a child, my father used to smile and say that his son did not suffer fools. Nothing had changed. I leaned against the window, closed my eyes, and went to sleep.

In the terminal, I saw Javier and Dave. Hard to miss them in their suits and trench coats and scarves.

“Why are you guys dressed up?”

“I came from work.” Javier chuckled, his hand on my shoulder. “And Dave is dressed like an adult because, lo and behold, he had a job interview today.”

I looked at my friend. “And?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “He took me for drinks after.”

“That’s gotta be good,” I said, looking back at Javier.

“God, I hope so. Being the breadwinner in this family sucks.”

At which point my friend Dave, whom I had known since the fifth grade, smacked his boyfriend of four years really hard.

“Crap,” Javier groaned, squeezing my shoulder.

They were good together, and even though Dave had been looking for a job going on six months, they were still doing fine and had not, Javier assured me, had to dip into their savings. Tall, tan, beautiful Javier Gomez and short, bald, round David Schroeder made love look effortless and sweet. Sometimes guys looked at Dave and thought they could take Javier from him, and then Javier himself would quickly, easily, and effectively shut them down. No, Dave was not a super model, but God, Javier worshipped the ground the man walked on and vice versa. They were what I wanted for me and Landry.

“Where’s your boy?” Dave asked me suddenly, squinting.

“He stayed with his parents in Vegas until Saturday. He’ll be back Sunday night.”

“Oh.” Javier looked at Dave, who lifted his eyebrows and then turned back to me. “Was that a good idea, darling?”

I shrugged. “Sure, he’s fine there.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay.”

I looked at Dave; he forced a smile and nodded too.

“Will you two knock it off? Landry’s not broken; he can handle a lot of shit by himself.”

“Yes,” Javier agreed, “but not as much as you think. C’mon, let’s get you some food.”

The drive was nice, as was the company and the banter and dinner at one of my favorite places. I got treated, too, which was the best part. Once they dumped me at home, I staggered into my bedroom and passed out.

I thought I had been asleep for hours, but when I opened my eyes, it had been maybe twenty minutes. The reason I was up was that my phone had rung, and after a minute of fumbling around, I answered it even though it was not a number I knew.

“Hello?”

“Trevan?”

“Yep.” I was barely awake.

“This is Jo.”

“Oh, hey, how’s Landry?”

“Well, after all that this morning—” She paused and sucked in her breath. “As of right now, Landry’s having a meltdown.”

“Define ‘meltdown’.”

“He’s bouncing off the walls.”

I grunted. “Did he eat?”