Epilogue
GRIFFIN - ELEVEN MONTHS LATER
“Trey is cheating on me,” Theo cries, sliding into the booth across from me, Ollie, and Hunter.
“What?” I ask. “I thought things were going great for the two of you.”
Reaching across the table, Theo grabs the drink sitting in front of Hunter and chugs the rest of it down.
“Do you need a drink?” I ask. “Well, one of your own?”
“God, yes.”
At that moment, Charlie walks up to the table and drops down onto the leather seat next to me.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Trey is cheating on me,” Theo moans.
“How do you figure that?” Charlie asks.
“Well, he didn’t want to come to Ollie and Hunter’s party last week, and I thought that was off. And whenever I ask him to go out now, he’s always busy,” Theo blurts out.
Brooks comes over to the table with a tray of drinks and Theo grabs two, swigging both down.
“What’s wrong?” Brooks asks.
“Trey is apparently cheating on him,” I say.
“Who doesn’t want to spend time with their boyfriend?” Theo groans. “I mean, look at all of you.”
He waves a hand around to the couples sitting around the table, all in love.
“How are you going to prove this?” I ask.
“I don’t know yet. I need to drink my sorrows away first.”
“I’m sorry,” Ollie says. “Is there anything we can do?”
He shakes his head. “No. God, I wish I had a relationship like yours.”
Ollie and Hunter share a warm look. I know Theo wants a relationship like our friends have, not to be sitting here questioning whether or not his boyfriend is cheating on him.
“Can you talk to him?” Charlie asks. “Maybe it’s not what you think it is.”
“What else could it be?” Theo casts a glare in his direction. “After a year of dating, why doesn’t he want to spend time with me? I mean, that’s a giant red flag.”
I snort a laugh.
“Griffin,” Brooks hisses.
“What? What was that for?” Theo asks.
“It’s just…”
Shit. Am I really going to tell Theo that none of us like his boyfriend? Forget the fact that none of us have met him, but he never wants to spend time with Theo like he deserves.
“Just what?” he asks again.
“We just don’t think Trey is the right person for you,” I say, an ounce of trepidation in my voice.
I love Theo. He’s my best friend. But the very last thing I want is for him to turn his ire on me.
“The right person? He was the only person for me.”
“There are still plenty of—”
“Don’t you dare say fish.” Theo points a finger at Ollie, interrupting him. “I don’t want another fish. I want Trey.”
“Then talk to him,” I reiterate.
Theo rolls his eyes at me. “That would not go over well. ‘Hey, Trey, are you cheating on me?’”
“This isn’t going well,” Charlie whispers, for only me to hear.
“I need more drinks. I’m going to the bar,” Theo says, stomping off.
“Will you—”
“I’ve got him,” Brooks says, cutting Charlie off and trailing after him.
“Okay, do we really think Trey is cheating on him?” I ask, leaning across the table.
“Oh, he totally is,” Charlie agrees. “I’ve never liked the guy.”
“We’ve never met him,” I clarify.
“And that says something,” Hunter says. “If he hasn’t met Theo’s friends, there’s a problem.”
“I’m glad we were already friends,” Ollie says, love-filled eyes turned to Hunter.
“Me too.”
He pecks him, and sometimes, being around people so loved up makes it hard to be single. I’m not looking. I’m happy with where my life is. I really am.
But other times? Like right now? It would be nice to have someone.
These moments are few and far between.
“What should we do?” Ollie asks. “Encourage him to find out, or let it be?”
“I’m really going to regret this, but should we do it ourselves? Find out if Trey is cheating on Theo?”
“Would you?”
Shit.
Theo chose the wrong moment to come back to the table. If only I’d double-checked before saying it.
“Uhh…”
Theo drops down across from me and grabs my hands in his. “Please, Griff? I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”
“Wait, why me? Why not the other guys?”
“You suggested it,” Hunter not-so-helpfully points out.
“Fine.”
I fight the groan.
“Oh my God. You’re the best, Griff. Really. If he’s not cheating, then I know he really loves me and we should move in together,” Theo says.
“Maybe you might need to have a discussion with him before that,” Brooks says. “You’re making some big leaps here.”
“That’s a great idea,” I agree. “You can’t go from he’s cheating on me to moving in with him in the blink of an eye.”
“Let’s see if he is cheating,” Ollie says. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions.”
“You’re right. He’s not cheating.” Theo takes a healthy swallow of his drink. “I don’t know why I’m so worried.”
I won’t point out that he is worried because that wouldn’t be helpful at this point. Ollie looks like he wants to say it too, but Hunter stops him before he can.
“Send me his address,” I say.
“You got it.” Theo taps on his phone, my own buzzing in my pocket. “Trey is at kickboxing tonight and has to work tomorrow night.”
“Wait.” My hand stalls, not taking a sip of my drink. “You want me to do it tonight?”
Theo shrugs a shoulder. “Or tomorrow night. I mean, the sooner the better, right?”
I swallow the entire contents of my drink. “Okay, fine. But you can’t pester me all night.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Really?” I look over at him. He’s going to bug me until I do it.
“I mean, I’ll at least try,” he says.
“You owe me several drinks for doing this,” I say.
“Oh, your entire bar tab will be paid.”
Brooks snorts. “Considering most of you drink for free, I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“I really need to start charging them,” Charlie tells him.
“Hey, it’s all you, not me,” Brooks defends.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Okay, if I’m going to see if Trey is cheating on Theo, I need to get going.” I knock back the rest of my drink and stand.
“You’re the best,” Theo says. “Really. If I ever say you’re not, remind me of this moment.”
“I will.” I wink at him. Grabbing my coat, I slide into it and zip it up. “If anything happens, you’re paying my bail.”
I only hope it doesn’t come to that…