Page 5 of Heat Transfer
“Shit, that blows.” Rhys whipped around. “Unless it doesn’t? Was your ex-girlfriend a closet racist? Or did you get sick of her talking shit about your precious Flyers? Or was she a rabbit hoarder, maybe?”
My brows drew together. “Rabbit hoarder?”
“Man, my sympathies. Rabbit hoarders are the worst,” Rhys said with a straight face. Cole’s lips twitched, and he pressed another kiss to his boyfriend’s head.
“Let me go grab Sammy from his room while you set up the game,” Kelsey said. The toddler stomps made it clear where Sammy was, and Kelsey loped to the steps.
“Right, so games.” I forced myself up from the couch. Otherwise, my brain would melt with Rhys jumping to rabbit hoarders and why they were the worst.
“They’ll be a good distraction.” Cole offered me those sympathy eyes that pressed at my temper.
Growing up, I’d gotten sympathy eyes a lot because having a seizure in front of your class more than once tended to freak people out. Clearly, I had won all the awkward loner awards. Thank fuck IT was filled with awkward loners like me.
“Unless it’s another ages-long game that takes an hour of setup alone.” I sat at the table, the seat creaking. I enjoyed board games, but I liked ribbing my brother and his friends more. Marco did these game nights weekly, a tradition between him and his friend group for years. I’d always struggled with jealousy when it came to him—the healthy kid, the successful kid, the one who’d not just found the love of his life but two.
Meanwhile, I was the sick kid, the mediocre IT job kid, and the one who let relationship after relationship kick the bucket.
Yet Marco was too damn likable. Asshole.
Sammy and Kelsey burst into the room, and Sammy zoomed over to the couches and lugged out one of the containers of what looked like Duplo.
“Play, Mommy,” he said.
“In a minute. I’m going to take a look at the game.”
“Okay, but do we need to, like, jailbreak these rabbits?” Rhys pulled cards out from the Cryptid Café box.
“She’s not a rabbit hoarder.” A grin rose to my lips at the sheer ridiculousness. “Not even a hint of a supervillain backstory. We just didn’t work.”
The truth slipped out of me, past the layers of self-loathing and hurt. Ugh.
“It happens.” Kelsey shared a look with Rhys. A soft understanding passed between them. Out of anyone, maybe the pair of them would get it. They’d been best friends for ages, but their attempt at a relationship had fizzled out.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced at the text.
Did you see there’s a sword-smithing demo going on at the Renn Faire this year? We should go.
My heart thumped a little harder. The text from Cor lightened my mood. I didn’t know what magic this man was capable of, but I’d never felt the urge to glue myself to a friend like this before.
Hell yes. Count me in.I shot back the text, then added another one.Only if you’ll dress in garb though. Bet you’d rock the hell out of a linen shirt.
I licked my lips, loving the spark of adrenaline that shot through my veins. Teasing him was fun, and I’d become a bit addicted to his responses, even though they’d never go anywhere. Even if I were bi, I wasn’t the type of guy he dated. His last boyfriend—Luke? Lane? Lemur?—was all big and strapping like him.
If I’m wearing garb, you’d better be there in leather.
Interesting proposition. A shock of interest coursed through me, and I had to shift in my seat because my cock was taking notice. Clearly, the breakup had scrambled my brain. Still, my fingers moved on automatic.
Sold.
“Did you even listen to a little of the game explanation?” Marco asked.
“Uh, I’ll pick it up as I go.” I crossed my arms.
Rhys snorted. “You’re as bad as me.”
“Can I cite breakup brain? Is that a thing?” I leaned forward, taking in the colorful game pieces in front of me.
“You can’t beat the breakup horse for too long. Otherwise, it might start to like it.” Marco waggled his eyebrows.