Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“Oh the horror! The pain! Woe is me. Woe, I say!”
Luke looked up from the stack of clothes on his bed and grinned at his best friend and roommate. “Dramatic isn’t a good look for you.”
Gomez flung up his hand and somehow managed to smack himself in the face. “Ow,” Gomez whined. “But also, I always look good. Plus, in case you missed the obvious, I have two broken legs, Luke. I’m allowed to be as dramatic as I want. I can’t pee! Or poo!”
“Technically—”
“Don’t get technical, Luke! You’re abandoning me for a stupid interview, and a stranger is going to have to help me wipe my butt!”
Actually, Gomez was wrong on both counts.
Luke had not been helping Gomez wipe his butt, and he wasn’t leaving for an interview.
He had a mission. As a very well-paid courier of top-secret corporate information, Luke’s job description—and the intensive military-style training Luke had received along with it—would have blown his friend’s mind.
Unfortunately, Gomez wasn’t allowed to know anything about Luke’s other life. “This is a great opportunity, Go-Go. You know I wouldn’t leave you otherwise.”
Gomez attempted to maneuver his wheelchair into Luke’s bedroom. His dark hair stood up from all angles, so unlike Gomez’s normal perfectly styled messy waves. The poor guy had the worst luck.
Speaking of which, Luke averted another disaster by grabbing the leg braces supporting Gomez’s legs and preventing him from banging one of his casts against the door frame. Luke guided his friend’s wheelchair safely into the room before stepping clear of the danger zone surrounding Gomez.
“Whew, that was almost bad,” Gomez gasped before looking up at Luke. “Not as bad as that tie, though. Please tell me the pain meds are causing hallucinations, and you aren’t planning on wearing that…that…horror! Please, for all that is holy, my eyes.”
Luke held up the sage green monstrosity. He liked the tie. “It brings out the green in my eyes.”
“Oh sweet summer child, is that how the salesperson convinced you to buy it?”
Actually, it was exactly how Luke had been convinced, not that he planned on confessing that sin to his best friend. “You did my colors. I’m a spring. You said I look good in green. I have that color chart thing saved to my phone.”
“Of course you do,” Gomez said as he snatched the tie out of Luke’s hand and tossed it over his shoulder into the hall. “But there’s oh look, Luke has super sexy bedroom eyes green, and then there’s someone save me because that is probably alien blood green.”
Luke gave up. Gomez hated being alone and pouted every time Luke went on a trip.
Luckily, his cover career as a corporate training specialist meant he had a ready excuse for travel.
Unfortunately, Gomez knew good and well Luke wouldn’t leave him in his current injured state for a random training class Luke had never mentioned.
Luke had to think fast when he’d gotten the last-minute call for an urgent delivery.
Hence the job interview for a promotion that would keep Luke’s cover intact and provide a reasonable excuse as to why he’d leave Gomez in such a sorry state.
“Do you really have to go?” Gomez whined as he performed his best pouty face. “Haven’t these heathens ever heard of video conferencing? It’s all the rage.”
“This is the in-person portion of the process.”
Gomez dropped his head back and whimpered. “But Luke, stranger danger. Someone else is going to touch my no-no parts!”
“A nurse, Gomez, not a stranger. And you’ve had nurses here every day since—”
“Don’t say it!”
“—you tripped over your massive pile of dirty laundry and somehow managed to break not one leg but both of them. I still don’t know how you were able to fall so spectacularly.”
“I have skills, Luke. Now, go put that tie in the trash and show me our options. If you’re going to get this promotion, you’re going to require my assistance.”
As much as it sucked lying to Gomez, Luke would hate not having his friend in his life even more. After collecting his original alien-blood green choice from the floor in the hall, Luke grabbed the hanger containing his small collection of ties from the closet. He held it up for Gomez’s inspection.
Gomez’s disgusted frown alerted Luke to the tirade heading his way. “No. No. Good God, no. Hmm, no. And also no. Oh, this one isn’t burning my retinas. Let’s go with it.”
Luke tugged the slightly less green tie from the hanger and held it up. “How is this any bett—”
“Don’t question my genius. And grab the matching paisley pocket square from your top drawer. Now, what else are you packing?”
“The what…? Never mind.” Luke opened his top drawer and found the pocket square neatly tucked away. It confirmed his theory that Gomez went through his closet and tossed things he didn’t like on a regular basis. “T-shirts, boxers, basketball shorts, my hoodie—”
“Luka-million, darling, you do realize you’re not twenty-one anymore, right?”
No, Luke wasn’t but genetics had been kind.
Even though he’d recently celebrated his thirty-first birthday, he could still pass for a college-aged kid.
In his line of work, looking a decade younger than his actual age came in handy.
He played up the age discrepancy by making sure to keep his sandy brown hair a bit longer than he would like it.
It allowed the natural wave in his hair to come through, emphasizing his youthful appearance even further.
“Ugh,” Luke teased. “One, don’t call me darling. Two, it’s a long flight, Go-Go. I want to be comfortable.”
Plus, no one expected a courier to look like a college kid in an oversized-hoodie and track pants. If he showed up at the airport looking like any other twentysomething on a flight, he’d draw less attention.
Gomez huffed. “Considering you’re abandoning me in my time of need, the least you can do is dress well.”
“Gosh, I’m lucky I’m packing my bags since you’re taking me on a guilt trip.”
“Hardy har har. Promise me this job is local, Luke.”
Luke tossed the new tie on his bed before kneeling next to Gomez. “I promise.”
“You’re the only family I have.”
Which was the only reason Luke hadn’t already moved on. He’d made it a condition of his employment that he be allowed to remain in his current location. It wasn’t as if he worked for the CIA or something.
No, he worked for a tech giant whose CEO didn’t trust technology and preferred having someone well-trained move information the old-fashioned way…by hand. And no, the irony wasn’t lost on Luke.
Considering it paid incredibly well, Luke accepted the CEO’s idiosyncrasies and laughed all the way to the bank. After adjusting the sock barely hanging onto the end of Gomez’s foot, Luke gave his friend’s toes a comforting squeeze.
“Same,” Luke said. “And hey, maybe they’ll send a super-hot nurse. You can practice your flirting.”
“Practice does make perfect. Not that you would know since you’ve been living like a monk since…what was his name again?”
Luke grinned as Gomez wiggled his eyebrows in an attempt to look…seductive? Mischievous? Luke honestly couldn’t tell other than his friend looked ridiculous. He stood and hurried over to the bed and his trusty backpack before Gomez caught him laughing. “No comment.”
“Do you have your chargers?” Gomez huffed through the question, as annoyed as ever that Luke refused to discuss his ex. The betrayal still burned and reminded Luke exactly why he’d decided years ago that Gomez was the only person he could trust.
Luke lifted the pouch of cords from the bed before tucking it into the outer pocket.
“Laptop so we can video chat?”
Luke showed Gomez the computer before securing it into its compartment.
“That’s all I care about. I need a snack. You want something?”
Luke shook his head as Gomez rolled himself out of the room.
He had about three minutes before Gomez realized he couldn’t actually get himself a snack.
He used the opportunity to pack his blade-less multitool and a pair of ridiculously sharp embroidery scissors—the only TSA-approved weapons he could take—as well as the rest of his everyday carry gear.
His EDC didn’t consist of much, but he could do a lot with a little if push came to shove.
His training had made sure of that. He added the new tie and pocket square to his packing cube of clothes and called it done.
“Pack your swimsuit,” Gomez bellowed from the other side of their condo. “You can use the hot tub at the hotel and relax. You’re looking a bit tired. Ha! You’re getting wrinkles.”
A crash followed the shout. The too-familiar sound of breaking glass and Gomez’s groan prepared Luke for whatever new disaster Gomez had created. Luke sighed and hurried into the kitchen to find Gomez surrounded by the remains of their ceramic, hippopotamus-shaped cookie jar.
“Oops?” Gomez stared down at the mess before turning his pitiful gaze to Luke.
“You destroyed the hangry hippo. Where’s your grabber? I bought it so you wouldn’t risk life and any other limbs trying to reach for things.”
“I know,” Gomez whined. “I left the magic claw in my room. By the way, that thing is an excellent toe scratcher. Do you know how much my toes itch?”
“I do.” Luke grabbed the broom and began sweeping up the remains. “Stop thinking about it so much, and they’ll stop itching.”
Gomez’s snort of disdain brought another grin to Luke’s lips. “I’ll get us a new hippo. It’ll be here before you get back. I shouldn’t be eating cookies anyway. They’re going to go straight to my hips in this condition. I miss the gym. Please take me to the gym, Luke.”
“Why? So you can ogle the hot bodybuilders?”
“Um, yes. Why else would I go to the gym? We have an elliptical.”
Luke snorted and used the dustpan to scoop up the first pile of hippo remains and cookies. “That you use as a clothes rack.”
Gomez scoffed. “Listen, clean clothes go in the closet. Dirty clothes go in the hamper. But where do not quite clean but not really dirty clothes go, Luke?”
“On a hook behind the bedroom door, obviously.”