Page 28 of Inevitable
“Sorry,” Ezra mumbled. “It’s none of my business.”
“It’s fine. We’ve been apart a lot lately. Between my job and Bas’s irregular schedule, it’s sometimes hard to find time to just relax.”
“Maybe he’s seeing somebody?” Ezra said innocently. It was an asshole move, but curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to see Drew’s reaction.
The man stared at his cup like it held all the secrets of the universe.
“Maybe.” Drew straightened himself. “Everybody loves somebody sometime, right? And Bas… he likes to take a chance every once in a while.”
Too bad it’s never with me.
Sometimes the unspoken words were the loudest.
Drew got up and put his empty mug into the sink. “I’m going to bed. Early morning.”
Ezra rinsed their cups before turning in for the night.
He lay awake for a long time, staring at the ceiling, listening to Drew move around on the other side of the wall.
Ezra’s main goal when moving in had been to keep his distance, but seeing Drew today, all serious, a deep frown on his face as he’d talked about Bas, had put a dent in Ezra’s resolve to remain as distant as possible.
Bas and Drew were the first people who’d been genuinely kind to Ezra, with no expectations or counting of favors. So maybe, just maybe, before Ezra left, he could try and do something for the two of them? Nudge them toward each other. He couldn’t fix them up or magically make them compatible, but maybe he’d at least be able to do something about the simmering tension that seemed to suffocate both Drew and Bas.
He figured it might be worth a shot.
* * *
Ezra: You don’t text me anymore.
Bas: I thought you didn’t like it.
Ezra: It was growing on me.
Ezra: How’s work?
Bas: Lousy.
Ezra: Maybe you should take a break? You can bring me pizza.
Bas: I see how it is. You’re not worried, you’re just hungry.
Ezra: Eh, two flies, one stone.
* * *
“You’re home early.”
Drew blinked as Ezra stepped into the living room. It wasn’t exactly surprising, considering that Ezra had so far done his very best to show up when Drew was already asleep.
“The library chairs are uncomfortable,” Ezra said. “You know, those wooden things that make your ass hurt after the first twenty minutes.”
Drew’s eyes slid down Ezra’s body as if checking for any soreness, and the look in his eyes once their gazes collided held definite appreciation at what he was seeing.
Ezra swallowed. Had the room gotten hotter in the last minute or so?
He could’ve sliced the tension with a knife. Ezra banished all thoughts of Drew. Pushed down the desire that made its way out of the deepest parts of Ezra, where he’d buried the memories of the one night he and Drew had spent together.
He forced himself to turn away and break the connection.