Page 37 of The Blame Game

He hadn’t asked Myles and Ethan yet but unless they had something major planned, they probably wouldn’t turn down courtside seats.

Dom snorted. “Yeah, that sounds good. You need me to pick up tickets for us?”

“Nope, I’ve got it all taken care of. A friend got them for me.” He slowed to a stop at a light.

Dom was silent a second. “Oh. Uh, sure. That works.”

“It was a birthday gift,” Shea blurted out, not sure why he felt the need to explain.

“Oh, shit, I forgot. That’s on Friday, right?”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did too,” Shea admitted.

Dom chuckled. “I don’t know. Now I’m a little worried. Should you be going senile at twenty-eight?”

“I’ll be twenty-nine in a few days,” he protested, turning onto the street his apartment building was on.

“Oh yeah, you’re really getting up there,” Dom teased.

“Fuck off,” Shea said, his tone playful. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Everything okay?” Dom asked, his tone turning more serious.

“Yeah, more or less. I finally got in contact with the High Park Towers building manager yesterday. The good news is the fire wasn’t my fault. The fire investigator has already been in and said it was clear from the burn pattern that the source was faulty wiring. No chance I left a burner on.”

“Oh, that is good news.”

“Yeah, that’s a huge load off my mind. I was also able to go into the apartment and get my wallet and old phone. The phone case and wallet itself smell a little smoky but the phone and all my cards are fine.”

“Good! God, that would be a hassle if you had to replace all your credit cards and ID. Did I ever tell you about the time I lost my wallet in St. Louis and didn’t notice for like twenty-four hours?”

“No.” Shea laughed, pulling into the underground parking in his building. “What happened?”

“Some random person got a niiice spending spree in before I shut it down. I swear I spent six hours on the phone dealing with the credit card companies.”

“Ugh, what a pain.” Shea drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he waited for the person ahead of him to park. “Hey, that reminds me. Do you need me to return the phone you sent over the other day? Uh, this one I’m using now.”

He’d transferred his number and contacts to the new device, but he could always switch everything back.

“Nah. Keep it. Sell it. Whatever you want,” Dom said. “It was the least I could do after you risked your life for me.”

“It wasn’t that big a deal,” Shea said, scoffing. “The phone is nice though, so thanks.”

It was several models newer than his previous one and came with all of the bells and whistles.

“Sure. So, yeah, the Titans game sounds great. Wanna do dinner at a steakhouse before the game?” Dom suggested. “I mean, that’s straight-boy enough, right?”

Shea snickered. “I dunno, better check with Kate.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sure she finds the whole thing as ridiculous as we do.”

“Oh, I figured. She didn’t seem like the type who bought into stereotypes that way.”

“Not at all. It’s just her job to know how weird the public can be about certain things.”

“Definitely.” Shea navigated into his spot and unhooked the seatbelt.

Dom cleared his throat. “So yeah. I’ll make reservations then. You said two of your friends will be there too?”

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