27. Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
Evander
Somehow, Ozzy managed to avoid getting pinned down for even the briefest of conversations the entire day after he agreed to talk with Evander. Not that Ev didn’t try to get to him. He tried like hell, but Ozzy proved incredibly sneaky, somehow, able to hide out in spite of the confined space. He also muscled his way into the front seat of the SUV on the way back while Evander was caught in the back. Not that Ev would have brought anything up there , in front of God and Eliza and everyone. He wasn’t insane.
Well. Maybe . There was a little insanity in even suggesting the two of them could…what, get together? Try to get together? Bounce off each other endlessly forever like they used to? All based on a couple blow jobs and a comment from Bunny. But he was aware of it, so that couldn’t be a real problem.
They piled out at the hotel and Ozzy was gone in a flash. How the fuck he was disappearing…it wasn’t like Ozzy was particularly small and nimble. Someone like Robinson could disappear into any little nook or cranny. It was what made him so good at getting into those tight spaces to do all the plumbing work. Ozzy was a block of muscle. He shouldn’t have been able to vanish.
I have his room number . Evander hung back so it didn’t look like he was rushing to get away too fast. Besides, there was still an hour before Ozzy had agreed to have a chat. No good to push the issue too hard, in spite of the incessant itch under his skin.
“You look twitchier than usual.” Aras has his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans as he came into view. “Freaking out for a reason or just too many cups of coffee?”
“I’m not twitchy.”
“Right. I’m just imagining it.” Aras shrugged. “Not my business if you don’t want to share. Forgive me for trying to give a crap.”
“Aras!” It was at least some kind of distraction until they had their meeting. If he could keep up. Aras was already heading inside, shoulders bunched up close to his ears. Ev had to jog to catch up, but when he did, he looped his arm through Aras’s and pulled him to a stop.
He snorted. “What?”
“Well, I may be twitchy, but you’re in an even more foul mood than usual.”
“Gee. Exactly the kind of thing to make me more amenable to chit-chat.” He unhooked his arm from Evander’s and took a step away. Then stopped and reached up to massage the bridge of his nose. “Sorry, I guess. Pissed off. Not your fault.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Aras frowned. “No. Wouldn’t mind beating the shit out of some of the pillows up in my room, but no talking.”
“Seems healthy.”
“Healthier than punching that stupid contractor in the face.”
Evander nodded. “I heard about that. Didn’t have nice things to say about Melanie’s mom and dad?”
“No. He didn’t. As though you can just decide whether it’s worth putting in the actual work for a client.” He shook his head. “Don’t get me started on the whole thing again. It’s not good for my heart.”
“Right. Because you usually run so chill and calm.”
A tiny smile pulled at Aras’s lips before almost immediately vanishing. “Anyway. Shouldn’t be taking my shit out on you. Doesn’t mean you’re not obviously twitchy and worked up about something.”
Ev wanted to push back on that again, but if Aras was still pounding that drum, maybe there was actually something to it. “You haven’t gotten significantly chattier over the last couple years, have you?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you’ve always been pretty stable and probably haven’t had a major personality shift.”
“Bingo. If you’ve got some secret, may as well spill it here. Take my mind off this bullshit from today.” He jerked his head toward a couple of chairs tucked into a corner of the lobby. He headed that way and, after a brief hesitation, Ev followed. Once they were both settled, Aras crossed one leg up onto the other. “So, you ready to answer the question that started this whole stupid mess, now?”
Ev really wasn’t, but this was no time to stop being honest. Especially not with one of his oldest friends. Didn’t mean they had to go straight for the core of the issue. “You have any opinions on me and Ozzy? When we were together?”
“Tons. I have opinions on everything.” He raked his gaze up and down Evander, then smiled again. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about trying something again already.”
“Got found out quick.” It was somehow a lot easier for Aras to say it rather than Ev having to admit it himself. “Bad idea? Honest opinion.”
“I was just hoping it would take you another couple weeks. Now I owe Mason twenty bucks.”
Evander raised an eyebrow. “You were betting on the two of us… Do I need to comment on how supremely fucked that is?”
Aras rolled his eyes. “Suddenly you’re all bashful and demure? No room to be catty? Since fucking when?”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“Yeah it is. You don’t have to think so, but this isn’t any more scandalous or awful than when you helped me make a bunch of sock puppet accounts to trick my ex into outing the fact he was cheating on me, or when Mason and Robinson strung those Mormon missionaries along so they could keep checking them out while they worked around the house, or when Ozzy and Jake would get drunk and—”
“All right, I get your point. Still don’t love it.” Evander sighed and ground his teeth a bit before catching himself. No good internalizing, and especially not if it put his smile at risk. “How many people are in on this betting pool of yours?”
“Me. Mason. Robinson. Jake and Bunny both refused to put up any cash for it. I really thought it would take a while for you guys to drift back together.”
“We’re so predictable that all of our friends knew we’d be idiots.”
“No one’s allowed to wander around calling everyone idiots except for me. And I only get away with it because of my striking, aquiline features.”
Ev snorted. “And the fact you actually mean it.” Honesty always lent itself to authenticity. Duh.
“Of course I mean it. I’m a horrible, unpleasant man.” He grinned madly, a genuine smile that Aras honestly didn’t pull out all that often. Evander had his theories over the years—his biggest one was that Aras simply hated crowds and did better one-on-one—but it was always a treat to get to see that half-crazed grin. Even when he was being self-deprecating.
Then Aras leaned back. “You’ll notice I’m not calling anyone in this situation an idiot.”
“Getting me and Oswald back together isn’t stupid?”
“God no. You two are miserable fucks when you’re not with each other. At least, if you’re spending time around each other while you’re broken up. Always sniping at each other. This bullshit dick-measuring with the patio?”
“It’s not—”
Aras popped him in the forehead with his middle finger. Not hard, but enough to stop him from talking. “It’s a dick-measuring contest or some proxy war you’re fighting against your ex or whatever you want to call it. You know full well that who’s technically in charge of that one stupid chunk of concrete doesn’t fucking matter.”
“Ozzy’s not entitled to—”
Another pop on the forehead. “Nobody’s entitled to shit. And also, you clearly know his name’s Ozzy. Stop calling him Oswald. Unless you plan to start running around, deadnaming every trans person you’ve ever met too. In which case fuck you.”
Evander’s spine stiffened. “Shit. I guess I…yeah.”
“Never thought of it?” Aras sighed and rose from the chair. “Look, I think you two were good together, to answer your first question. You’re both a couple years older, a couple years more stable. You’ve got some baggage with each other. Decide if it’s worth unpacking. And preferably in a way where we don’t have to keep you two from literally murdering each other, or walk in on you fucking anymore.” He moved his hands in front of him, parallel to the ground. “Level. Steady. Grown-up time.”
“And start calling him Ozzy.”
Aras rolled his eyes. “Look at that maturity already shining through. Only took someone pointing out the insanely obvious.” Aras muttered and gestured to himself as he walked away toward the elevators.
Evander…just sat. He needed to process that. Aras had confirmed what he wanted to do in the first place, so it was good…right? But after so long, Evander struggled to really let go and believe it was a good idea.
Someone walked into the front door of the hotel. A white guy, probably about his age, with a dark mop. He glanced down at his phone, then around the lobby…and his eyes focused in on Evander. Then he grinned and walked over. “Hey. Ev.”
“Quinn?” He was the client from their last job, and probably more relevantly, Jake’s new boyfriend. Evander rose and closed the distance, offering a brief hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Surprising Jake.” He waggled his phone a little. “Bunny was supposed to send me his room number, but I never heard back from her. You don’t happen to know it, do you?”
He’d driven all the way up, across state lines. Evander couldn’t suppress a smile. “He’s going to be thrilled to see you. He hated having to go so soon.”
“I miss him. Haven’t gotten to kick his ass in any video games lately, so he’s probably getting a little too full of himself.”
“We’d hate to see his ego get out of control.” Evander pulled up his phone and flicked over to his notes. They all had each other’s room numbers, just in case something went down. “He’s in three-seventeen. But he’s probably in the shower, so I don’t know if he’ll answer.”
“I can wait. Already made the drive up here.” He shrugged. “What’s a few more minutes?” He patted Evander on the shoulder. “I hate to just run, but—”
“Go. It’s not like we’re dating.”
Quinn waved behind him as he made his way to the elevator. Evander…stood. That was all he could manage. Standing and processing. He wanted someone who would go out of their way to come see him. He wanted someone so desperate to be around him, time didn’t matter. He…couldn’t help but think of that time Ozzy showed up unannounced during Ev’s disaster trip to Phoenix. Rental car broke down, hotel cost way too much, and the concert he’d gone to see in the first place ended up cancelled. So Ozzy showed up at his hotel room and they turned it into a couple’s weekend. He even let Evander play ‘that awful shitty ska music’ that he hated.
Some more of the doubts eroded away as Evander stood in the lobby. All he had to do now was wait for their meet-up.