Page 20 of The Nerd & the Ex-Con

“Are you sure you and Jay—”

“Positive.” When I walked into the kitchen, he followed me. I took two bottles of water out of the fridge and handed him one. He looked like he could use it. “What were you doing watching our house?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“Why?”

“Have you talked to Jay yet?”

“I haven’t had the chance.” Mostly because I was a coward who didn’t want to lose his best friend. Jay was the only person I had in this world.

“You haven’t had the chance, or you have no intention of talking to him?” Griff guzzled down the bottle of water. I stared at his Adam’s apple bobbing with each swallow. My tongue went dry despite just taking a sip of water. I wanted to lick his neck and cover him with hickeys.

“Maybe I can try harder, but it’s difficult telling someone you care about that you not only violated their privacy but also broke their trust.”

“Scottie, you said you would talk to him.”

“And I will.”

“When?”

“Scott, you home?” The front door shut, and I froze.

Jay was home. I hadn’t heard his car pull up.

“Answer him,” Griff whispered.

“Yeah, yeah, I am.” I rushed out of the kitchen to meet Jay in the hall. I had to distract him long enough for Griff to get out.

“How was your date?” Jay hung his coat into the closet. Holy cracker. How to prevent him from entering the kitchen?

“It was horrible.”

“Why? Did he try anything? I told you we should do a double date so I can check out this guy.”

“You can’t protect me all the time, Jay. I need to get back out there on my own.”

“Yeah, well, next time, meet him at the restaurant instead of getting into some jerk’s car. Okay?”

He started past me for the kitchen, and I grabbed his arm. “Wait!”

“What?” He frowned. “You’re acting weird.”

“Yeah, well, I need to talk to you about something, and it’s important.”

“Just let me grab a beer first.”

“The beer can wait.” I tugged on his arm and dragged him with me into the living room.

Jay groaned. “Scott, it’s not the sex stuff again, is it? You know I don’t mind if you’re gay, but I don’t want to talk about the sex stuff.”

“It’s not.”

I gestured for him to sit. He took a seat on the sofa, and I plopped down next to him.

“What’s up?”

“I’ve just been thinking.”

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