Page 67 of Resisting You

“Aww,” Adele said, kicking Dallas’s shoe, “look at the little baby ally learning all his terms.”

Dallas flipped him off and turned his attention back to Frey. “We’re talking about Dr. Douche, right?”

“Dr. Dickhead,” Adele corrected.

“Dr. Dipshit last week,” Bowen added. He was sitting on the floor with Dallas’s daughter between his legs, helping her sit up and gnaw on a rattle. She was the youngest in the group and giving Frey a wild case of baby fever, which was the worst thing he could have right then. She gave him a gummy grin as Dallas leaned forward and thwapped Bowen along the back of his head.

“Don’t teach her that shit.”

Bowen gave him a flat look before turning Audra to face him and leaning her on his shoulder. “Eat shit and die.”

Dallas sat back with his arms crossed, pouting for a moment. “So. You’re falling in love with Dr. Dipshit-Dickhead-Douche?”

Frey looked at his coffee table, at the book he had detailing all of the fucked-up things Renato had said on the job. Frey had gotten it out to add in the morning’s bullshittery, but he couldn’t bring himself to put pen to paper. Not after Renato had whispered in his ear. Not after he’d made sense.

Not after he’d kissed him like he cared.

And held him like he wanted more.

Then promised to make pasta with his kid like he wanted to spend time in Frey’s messed up little life.

“He’s coming over tonight,” Frey mumbled.

Bowen choked on his tongue. “I’m sorry. What?”

Frey’s cheeks heated, and he shrugged. “I invited him over tonight. This is obviously going to end in flames, and you can all tell me what an epic masochist I was when I’m crying on your shoulders, but…yeah. He’s coming over tonight to make pasta with Rex.”

Adele’s eyes were narrow, and he leaned forward. “Is he the person you’ve been seeing all this time? Has it been just this one guy?”

Adele might have known the truth if Frey hadn’t blown him off after Adele invited him over for snacks and conversation. But Frey had panicked. He let himself get lost in his new and bizarre routine. Adele, being the kind of guy he was, didn’t push. He didn’t ask. He just smiled at Frey and came over whenever Frey invited them around like nothing was out of the ordinary.

But he regretted it now.

“There hasn’t been a guy,” he finally said.

The room was so quiet he could have heard a pin drop. Off in the distance, he could hear Rex and Briar laughing, but that was it. He took a fortifying breath and tried not to feel the full weight of everyone’s stares.

Bowen cleared his throat. “What?”

“There’s never been another guy. Not since Jace.”

“But,” Bowen started, then stopped. “But you said?—”

“No,” Adele said, holding up a hand. “We said, and he just agreed.”

Frey bowed his head. “I didn’t mean to lie. It was…fuck.” He slapped his hands over his face and breathed out. “It was just easier. After Jace and I ended and Rex healed up, I don’t know. I couldn’t do it. Every time I went on a date, I’d get sick to my stomach. I’d panic. It felt like my skin was crawling off. It was easier to just let everyone think I was fine. That I moved on.”

He felt a touch on his knee and looked over to see Dallas had moved close and was squeezing his leg gently. “I think we all get it.”

Adele laughed roughly. “Yeah. Fuck. I haven’t seen naked skin outside of porn in—” He checked a fake watch. “—sixteen years?”

“Only a few months for me, but the very idea of dating makes me want to throw myself into the sun,” Dallas said.

Bowen laughed softly. “If it hadn’t been for Lane, there’s no chance in hell I’d have broken my dry spell.”

Frey looked at them all, then settled his gaze on Bowen. “I was such a fucking hypocrite when I was trying to set you up. But I didn’t want you guys thinking I was some loser who couldn’t get past his shitty ex.”

Bowen’s face was soft and kinder than Frey felt like he deserved in that moment. “We’ve all got our heads up our own asses a lot of the time. I get why you let us think that, but I do kind of feel like a giant asshole for giving you shit all this time.”

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