Chapter 4 #3
“Oh, yeah, my brother Ted. He used to work in the oil fields like eight months of the year, but he quit.” Adam knew he’d been lonely and that he hadn’t gotten along with a lot of his coworkers, but he didn’t know what had made him leave.
“So he moved back to Nova Scotia and he manages a go-karting business outside Halifax. He’s been trying to get the nerve to ask his girlfriend to marry him for a year, but he’s so stupid for her, he can’t get the words out.
Kind of think she’s going to beat him to the punch. ”
Finally, he was ready. Even if Mo had refused his sunscreen, at least he’d worn good hiking shoes and a hat, and brought a backpack with his own water.
“Anyway. That’s my family. Unless you want me to get into the cousins and aunts and uncles, but I don’t think I brought enough water for that. ” Adam’s mom was one of seven kids.
Mo was quiet for a moment longer as Adam closed the hatch and then started toward the trailhead. Then he offered, “That’s the most you’ve ever said to me at one time.”
The most you’ve ever said to me was about your neighbor’s dad teaching you about cars, Adam thought. Which of them had revealed more? “I like my family,” he offered.
Mo snorted. “That makes one of us.”
If Adam had needed the hint to stay away from asking about his parents, that would have been enough. But he’d figured out before that would be a sensitive topic. “You still friends with Sage?”
That brought a smile to Mo’s face. “Of course. Ride or die and all that.”
They found the sign for the trail and followed it to the walking path. There were much harder hikes in the preserve, but the point was something fun and private, not risking a twisting an ankle.
“We went to NYU together. We both got caught up in the idea of college in New York City, you know. East Coast metropolitan life and living out the Hollywood college dream. Dorm life and parties and all that.”
“Of course.”
“So I did the boring degree at Stern, but Sage wanted to tread the boards. Naturally, they got into Tisch and wowed everyone. They’re in London right now, doing Shakespeare. Playing Viola, which is perfect, honestly.”
“Viola… is that the cross-dressing twin?”
“Adam Murphy, you, a sports jock, know Shakespeare?”
“Remember when I said my parents were teachers? Mum was high school English.” She loved a good production. “She liked to show us modern adaptations. She’s the reason I saw She’s the Man the first time.”
Mo slowed down so that they could lock gazes and he could smirk. “The first time? Who’s responsible for the other viewings?”
Heat rose into Adam’s cheeks at his accidental slip, but he refused to be embarrassed. “Channing Tatum, obviously.”
“Oh, obviously. So, that your type, then?” Mo said with an eyebrow waggle.
“That your next question?” Adam shot back.
“Nah. I’m more curious to know about actual exes. Not a full list, but anyone serious?”
Adam blew out a breath. “Not really.” Being in the public eye made it hard. “I mean, there have been a few guys who lasted more than a couple of dates, but no one serious enough to meet friends and family.”
“So no one is going to tell me they wished I was more like your ex Joe Perfect?”
Adam snorted. “No. What about you? Anyone going to compare me to your exes?”
“If they do, it’ll be in your favor.”
“Ah.” Adam mulled over his follow-up question. He didn’t want to pry, but also… “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but is there any awful exes I’d be expected to know about?”
“Not unless you meet Sage,” Mo quipped.
“Cryptic.”
“Not really. Sage was the only one to witness my freshman idiocy. I was young and na?ve and thought he was as twitterpated as I was.”
Adam suspected there was more to the story, but judging by Mo’s flippant attitude, he wouldn’t get much more from him. Fair enough. If he ever did meet Sage, Adam could push the point then. But since they were apparently a continent away, that didn’t seem likely.
“So… when’s the flight to see Sage’s debut?”
“How do you know I’ve got a flight?” Mo arched an eyebrow, but there was laughter dancing in his eyes.
“Because you’re obviously very proud and supportive, and it’s not like you don’t have the money.”
“In two weeks for opening night,” Mo admitted. He cast a rueful look Adam’s way.
A tickle of an idea came to him. “Do they know? Sage? That you’re coming?”
“No. I mean, I said I’d come, but I haven’t told them about opening night.”
It was a shame Adam’s own work schedule meant he couldn’t go with to see the look of pride on Mo’s face or the shock on Sage’s. Maybe he could’ve managed New York, but not London.
He played that thought back. Ridiculous. He didn’t want to go—well, at least Mo wouldn’t want him to.
“I bet they already suspect. Knowing you,” Adam said, because he didn’t know what else to say and also he suspected he was right.
Mo laughed. “Maybe. I’ve always been known for dramatics.
And I am their biggest stan.” He cast a grin in Adam’s direction, taking his eyes off the uneven path, and stumbled.
Rocks clattered. Instinctively, Adam gripped Mo’s arm to steady him and noted the corded muscle under his palm.
Mo might be small and slight, but clearly, his time spent in the garage paid off.
“Thanks.” The tops of Mo’s cheeks were red, but given the heat and exertion, it probably didn’t have anything to do with Adam.
“No problem. Just repay the favor when it’s my turn?” He smiled, and Mo nodded.
“Of course.”
A dog barked, and Adam jerked towards the sound. A large chocolate Lab trotted around a bend in the route ahead, sniffing and investigating. A second later, a solitary hiker emerged as well.
Which was when Adam suddenly realized that they were standing in the middle of the path like a couple of idiots. And he was still holding on to Mo’s arm.
He jerked back and blushed. Mo watched him with one eyebrow raised, but he didn’t say anything.
The Lab, clearly well trained, perked up when it got closer but didn’t try to bowl either of them over. Instead, it gently sniffed their shoes, wagged its tail, and offered its head for a few pats. Adam obliged it. Its ears were so soft.
The hiker didn’t seem to recognize Adam or Mo, merely nodded at them as they passed by, and the dog gave Adam a lick before trotting after its human.
Alone again, Adam looked back at Mo, who was still watching Adam with an unreadable look.
Adam cleared his throat. “Whose turn is it?”
It was another second before Mo started moving again. “Mine, I think. Why don’t you have a pet? Seems like you miss it.”
“That obvious?” Adam navigated a particularly rocky part of the trail before answering. “I’d like to. It seems mean, though. I’m gone a lot. They’d miss me.”
“It’s not like you couldn’t hire a pet-sitter.”
True, but that wasn’t the same as the animals having their person around. “Are you volunteering?”
Behind him, Mo huffed in amusement—just as Adam’s foot slipped on some loose scree. He would’ve landed on his ass, but Mo caught him by the belt loop—surprisingly steady considering Adam had to outweigh him by more than fifty pounds.
Mo tugged his shorts sharply enough that Adam turned to look at him. “I think it’s a little early in our fake relationship to adopt a pet together. You good?”
Right. “Good,” Adam agreed.
Mo unhooked his fingers and patted his hip. “Now we’re even.”
By the time they’d made it most of the way through the trail, Adam was mentally patting himself on the back.
He definitely understood Mo better now. Obviously, people weren’t just born spoiled brats.
Something happened to make them that way.
If Adam had had parents who foisted him off on the neighbors every summer, he’d probably be spoiled too.
Hell, in a lot of ways, he had been spoiled more than Mo.
Putting a kid in hockey wasn’t cheap, and his parents had way less resources than Mo’s.
At some point, they moved out of their tit-for-tat question-and-answer session and started trading stories of their misspent youths.
They might have had different upbringings, but Mo’s New York college stories matched up to some of Adam’s from juniors, at least if you ignored the ages and the amount of money spent on each shenanigan.
“…So then Sage’s roommate gets back to their dorm room after class to get ready for her date and none of her clothes are there. Not one pair of underwear. Not even a sock.”
She had it coming. Not only borrowing Sage’s clothes without asking, but leaving her own stuff in stinking piles on the floor when her roommate had a broken foot? “What did Sage do with it all?”
“Washed them,” Mo said with a grin. Their arms brushed together as they crossed the parking lot.
They had both worked up a sweat. “Every single item, even the dry-clean-only stuff. Their own clothes too. I don’t know how they did it—I swear they must’ve had to pay off every other resident in the dorm to get access to that many washing machines at one time.
But there was nothing for Charlotte to wear on her fancy date except the same clothes she’d been wearing all day. ”
“How’d they do it all with a broken foot?”
“Fuck if I know. Probably batted their eyelashes at one of the football team hopefuls and had them do all the lifting and carrying. They’d never tell me the truth.”
Adam snickered, imagining the roommate’s face. “Remind me not to get on Sage’s bad side.”
“You’ll be fine as long as you don’t fake break my heart.”
What a concept. Adam shook his head, mock-serious. “Are you kidding? I’m a professional athlete—I’m definitely fake winning this fake breakup. Sorry. Prepare to be fake devastated.”
“Ha! Joke’s on you. I grew up best friends with an actor. You want devastation? I’ll give you devastation.”