parking lot.
Brock’s comment had been aimed at Lex Barry, who'd been coming to the city council meetings for a few years. Brock had been a total asshole to Lex for far longer than that. Ever since he thought Lex’s name was James and Drew’s friends called the poor kid Butters. Drew had to credit his old crush Tally with starting the torturing, but Brock was more than happy to continue it ad nauseam.
He wished there wasn’t any bad history between him and Lex. Drew sighed mentally and wondered why he’d ever come back to Rock Bay after college. He wondered if, at nearly thirtythree, it was too late to escape.
Drew took stock of the room where the city council meeting was being held—faux wood paneling, an accordion wall that would fold up to make the room larger if needed, cheap tables, a bunch of stuck-up country club folks. Sometimes he wondered how Lex stood it. Sometimes he wondered how he did… then again, sometimes he looked at Lex and thought it would be really nice to kiss him. Damn. Not a good thing to think, at least not in his current company.
Drew really didn’t fucking want to spend yet another night dealing with Brock, but he was still one of the “guys,” and the guys were Drew’s best source of business in town. He did the accounting for all of Brock’s friends and their parents—the business owners, the people with money. Without Brock, he’d be sunk. He knew that. Drew gritted his teeth.
“Brock, let’s blow the rest of this thing off. I think there are a few pints with our names on them at O’Toole’s.”
Brock wasn’t having it. “Hey, Sexie Lexie, what ya doing here? This isn’t Butt Buddies ’R’ Us you know.” He called it out loud. Several people turned to stare. Drew wanted to sink into the ground. He tried to make an apologetic face to Lex. Lex simply rolled his eyes.
“AA is down the hall and to the left, Brock. You might want to make a stop in there on your way out.”
“Oh, fuck you!” Brock yelled. Drew made a pleading face at Lex. Please don’t say anything else to him! Why did Lex have to go there? He started herding Brock toward the door.
“Lex was just joking around, B. Let’s get out of here before they start the speeches.”
He thought he saw Lex roll his eyes again and wished he could go back and say something, anything, to take Brock’s dumb comments out of the guy’s head, but he had his hands full of slobbering drunk asshole. As usual.
It wasn’t easy, but Drew managed to get Brock to the door. It would’ve been nice if one of the other guys had been at the meeting to help him haul Brock’s heavy butt around when he wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. Drew wished he had the balls to say something when Brock was messing with Lex Barry, just like he’d wished it back in high school. But he hadn’t had the balls back then, and he didn’t have them now. Brock was still an asshole, Drew still felt like he had to do what Brock said so he’d stay in the town’s good graces and… fuck . Nothing ever changed, did it?
Well, nothing other than Lex Barry. Damn . What used to be five and a half feet of pudgy freshman had turned into nearly six feet of lanky, gorgeous hotness. Drew really tried not to stare. Really. All the stuff that woke up back in high school when he looked at Tally, though? It never exactly went back to sleep. Which was a problem for him, since all his closest friends were homophobic pricks.
“We going to O’Toole’s?” Brock asked as soon as they were out in the fresh air.
“Don’t you think we should get you home,
B?” Drew tried not to roll his eyes.
“No. I don’t want to go there. Sucks. Letsh go
to the bar.”
Drew sighed, pulled his phone out of his back
pocket, and searched through his menu while trying
to hold the phone with one hand. It was awkward,
but Brock kept swaying toward him.
“Hey, Rick?” He was really glad that Rick
had picked up. Drew wasn’t a big fan of Brock’s
other right-hand man, but
Brock’s comment had been aimed at Lex Barry, who'd been coming to the city council meetings for a few years. Brock had been a total asshole to Lex for far longer than that. Ever since he thought Lex’s name was James and Drew’s friends called the poor kid Butters. Drew had to credit his old crush Tally with starting the torturing, but Brock was more than happy to continue it ad nauseam.
He wished there wasn’t any bad history between him and Lex. Drew sighed mentally and wondered why he’d ever come back to Rock Bay after college. He wondered if, at nearly thirtythree, it was too late to escape.
Drew took stock of the room where the city council meeting was being held—faux wood paneling, an accordion wall that would fold up to make the room larger if needed, cheap tables, a bunch of stuck-up country club folks. Sometimes he wondered how Lex stood it. Sometimes he wondered how he did… then again, sometimes he looked at Lex and thought it would be really nice to kiss him. Damn. Not a good thing to think, at least not in his current company.
Drew really didn’t fucking want to spend yet another night dealing with Brock, but he was still one of the “guys,” and the guys were Drew’s best source of business in town. He did the accounting for all of Brock’s friends and their parents—the business owners, the people with money. Without Brock, he’d be sunk. He knew that. Drew gritted his teeth.
“Brock, let’s blow the rest of this thing off. I think there are a few pints with our names on them at O’Toole’s.”
Brock wasn’t having it. “Hey, Sexie Lexie, what ya doing here? This isn’t Butt Buddies ’R’ Us you know.” He called it out loud. Several people turned to stare. Drew wanted to sink into the ground. He tried to make an apologetic face to Lex. Lex simply rolled his eyes.
“AA is down the hall and to the left, Brock. You might want to make a stop in there on your way out.”
“Oh, fuck you!” Brock yelled. Drew made a pleading face at Lex. Please don’t say anything else to him! Why did Lex have to go there? He started herding Brock toward the door.
“Lex was just joking around, B. Let’s get out of here before they start the speeches.”
He thought he saw Lex roll his eyes again and wished he could go back and say something, anything, to take Brock’s dumb comments out of the guy’s head, but he had his hands full of slobbering drunk asshole. As usual.
It wasn’t easy, but Drew managed to get Brock to the door. It would’ve been nice if one of the other guys had been at the meeting to help him haul Brock’s heavy butt around when he wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. Drew wished he had the balls to say something when Brock was messing with Lex Barry, just like he’d wished it back in high school. But he hadn’t had the balls back then, and he didn’t have them now. Brock was still an asshole, Drew still felt like he had to do what Brock said so he’d stay in the town’s good graces and… fuck . Nothing ever changed, did it?
Well, nothing other than Lex Barry. Damn . What used to be five and a half feet of pudgy freshman had turned into nearly six feet of lanky, gorgeous hotness. Drew really tried not to stare. Really. All the stuff that woke up back in high school when he looked at Tally, though? It never exactly went back to sleep. Which was a problem for him, since all his closest friends were homophobic pricks.
“We going to O’Toole’s?” Brock asked as soon as they were out in the fresh air.
“Don’t you think we should get you home,
B?” Drew tried not to roll his eyes.
“No. I don’t want to go there. Sucks. Letsh go
to the bar.”
Drew sighed, pulled his phone out of his back
pocket, and searched through his menu while trying
to hold the phone with one hand. It was awkward,
but Brock kept swaying toward him.
“Hey, Rick?” He was really glad that Rick
had picked up. Drew wasn’t a big fan of Brock’s
other right-hand man, but
Similar Books
To Catch a Treat
Linda O. Johnston
Lorik The Protector (Lorik Trilogy)
Toby Neighbors
Hunting Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #3
J.K. Harper
The Odin Mission
James Holland
Burial
Graham Masterton
Furyous Ink
Saranna DeWylde
Demonkeepers
Jessica Andersen
When Hell Freezes Over
Darrien Lee
