Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
GREG
The mid-April sun was bright and finally giving off some warmth after a long winter. I had just left Juilliard after practicing the score for the show I was subbing for. I’d finally been called in for the upcoming Wednesday night show and needed to deliver the best possible performance I could.
I stopped by Café Roma and got my latte to go.
I wanted to take advantage of the early-spring sunshine while we still had it, so I planned to take my coffee and pastry and walk the two blocks to Central Park.
Brendan, the redheaded barista, was there, but the asshole Mark had quit.
In his place was an older woman with a pleasant smile.
I chatted with Brendan while I waited and found out his end-of-semester exhibit was the last week of April.
As I made my way toward the park, I decided I would ask Tony to go to the exhibit with me.
He liked art, and he might appreciate seeing some up-and-coming artists.
I hadn’t seen him this week because he’d been monitoring Marco’s team while they were overseas rescuing some executive, and I had a website to build in addition to practicing for the upcoming show.
As soon as I entered the park, I took a deep breath and felt my whole body relax.
The sounds of traffic became muted, and I could hear dogs barking and children laughing and squealing.
I walked along the tree-lined pathway until I got to Sheep Meadow, where I discovered I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the sunny spring day.
All around me, people were playing ball, tossing frisbees, or lying on blankets, soaking up the sun’s rays.
I saw couples walking hand-in-hand and families sharing food from coolers.
My stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten much today, so I found a patch of sun and sat drinking my coffee and eating the delicious pastry from Café Roma.
I’d gotten up to throw away my trash when I heard someone shout, “Look out!” At the same time, I was sure I heard Tony call my name.
I turned in time to see a frisbee coming toward me. Not having the greatest reflexes, I only managed to get my arm up, so the thing didn’t hit me in the face. I shook my arm out. “Ow,” I grumbled.
The owner of the Frisbee ran up to me, looking apologetic. He looked to be a little older than me, average height and slender, with light-brown hair and pale-blue eyes. “I’m so sorry. It got away from me. Are you okay?”
I picked up the offending item and handed it back to him. “I’m fine. Luckily, it hit my arm and not my face.”
“I’m really sorry,” he said again. “Maybe I can buy you a coffee to make it up to you?”
I was already shaking my head. “No, it’s fine. I just finished my coffee.”
He looked like he was going to try to convince me, but he never got the chance. A large warm hand landed on my shoulder, and Tony said, “Hey, Greg. How are you doing?”
The relief that swept through me at his arrival seemed out of proportion with the circumstances. I smiled at him. “I’m good. I was enjoying the nice weather.”
“Us too.” He pointed to a group of people farther into the park. “The team had a rough week, so we decided to have a picnic. They sent me over to get you to join us.”
Warmth filled my chest, and I couldn’t hold back my smile.
It was so different from my reactions in the past when I’d been invited to join the group of friends.
Then, I’d been nervous, afraid they wouldn’t like me or would think I was weird.
Over the past few weeks, since the dinner at Jeremy’s place, they’d gone out of their way to include me whenever possible.
I’d met Gabe, who was dating Cody’s dad Nico, and Dante, another member of the team.
They’d done everything they could to make me feel comfortable without overwhelming me.
I turned to Frisbee Guy to tell him I was leaving, but he was already gone.
I shrugged and said to Tony, “Let’s go.”
“Who was that guy?” Tony asked as we walked toward his team.
“No idea,” I replied. “He accidentally hit me with a frisbee and came over to apologize.”
“It didn’t look accidental to me,” he murmured.
I stopped walking to face him. “What do you mean?”
His brows drew together in a frown. “He wasn’t throwing it to anyone. There was no one anywhere near you for him to throw it to. It looked to me like he was trying to hit you.”
“But why would he do that?” I asked, genuinely puzzled. “I don’t even know him.”
Tony sighed heavily. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s just weird and throwing frisbees at people is his way of trying to make friends.”
I chuckled. “Well, he did ask me to get a coffee with him.”
He rolled his eyes. “Figures. I have to say, it’s a shitty way to meet a potential date, if that’s what it was.”
I shrugged. “It certainly didn’t work with me.” I pointed at the group waiting for us. “They’re waving like lunatics. I think they want us over there.”
Tony shook his head and said with a fond smile, “Idiots.”
We were about five feet away when I stopped short, my mouth agape. Marco had a black eye and a split lip, Gabe was wearing an orthopedic boot on his right foot, and Dante had his left arm in a sling and thick bandages covering his forearm and hand. “What happened?”
The three men looked at each other, smirks on their faces. Pete and Andrea both rolled their eyes. “Here it comes,” Pete said.
“You see,” Gabe began, “there was this tiger.”
“Yeah,” Dante added, “it came out of nowhere.”
Marco lifted his hands questioningly. “Who knew tigers could hold AK-47s?”
“Jesus Christ,” Tony muttered.
Liam rose to his feet. “Ignore them. Have a seat and grab some food. There’s plenty to go around.”
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“Hey, are you okay?” Liam asked. “We saw you get hit with that frisbee.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” I replied. I smirked. “I guess you missed the tiger though.”
There was a brief moment of silence, and then they all burst out laughing. Tony sighed. “Great. You’ve corrupted him.”
Nico, Gabe’s boyfriend, handed me a bottle of water and a plate loaded with fried chicken and macaroni salad.
I listened while Marco and his team recounted how their personnel extraction mission had gone sideways, resulting in the injuries they were sporting.
They did manage to get the executive away from his captors, but he’d suffered serious injuries before the team had gotten there, and had to be flown to a hospital in a nearby country to recover before he could return to the US.
I blew out a breath after they finished their tale. “Wow. That’s something.”
Liam leaned against Marco. “At least Marco wasn’t shot this time. Dante gets the prize for worst injury.”
“That is not a prize I ever want to get again,” Dante grumbled.
Dante’s arm had gone through a window, shredding the skin all the way up to the elbow.
The worst part was that a random shard of glass had nicked his brachial artery, and he had been in danger of bleeding out.
Luckily, both Gabe, Marco, and Liam knew what to do to keep him alive until they could get him patched up.
He’d had to stay in the hospital overnight to make sure he was stable, which was why Tony had been close to his phone all week.
I honestly wasn’t sure what to say. These men always seemed so indestructible. It was strange to see them banged up like this. “I’m glad you’re all here,” I finally said.
“Yeah, we all made it,” Marco said. “That’s what’s most important.”
Dante’s mouth turned down in a frown. “Unfortunately, I have a couple of months of PT ahead of me before I can go back on the team.”
“It’ll go by fast,” Liam said. “And we’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Besides,” Michael added, “You can always help me watch the screens. You don’t have to stay home.”
That caused a lot more chatter and some sounds of disagreement. I tuned out because that was definitely not my circus or my monkeys. Tony leaned in and asked, “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Thank you for inviting me over. It’s fun hanging out with you and your friends.”
“They’re your friends too,” Tony insisted. “Marco saw you before I did and told me to go get you.”
I felt heat rise to my cheeks. “He did? Wow. That’s… I don’t know what to say.”
He smiled at me. “Just say you’ll keep hanging out with us. We like having you around.”
Emotion clogged my throat and it took me a moment to respond. “I will. I promise.”