Page 11 of Doubling Down

“Wait!” Eric snagged his wrist. “At least take my phone number. Just in case. It would make me feel better until I can deal with Joey. I don’t want you hurt.”

That was a good idea. Ezra was a big fan of not being hurt. “Okay.” He pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans.

“Here. May I?” Eric held his hand out.

Ezra unlocked the screen before passing the small device over.

“I’m going to send a text to myself and that way I’ll have your number as well,” Eric said.

“That was sneaky,” Ezra teased. Wow, look at him. All it took was one incident of riding to the rescue and Ezra could flirt with Eric. Dom was not going to believe this!

“No bad intentions,” Eric promised as he gave Ezra’s phone back.

Ezra laughed. “You better not have any. I’ll sic Dom on you.”

Eric winced. “Yeah, I’ve heard him put a few people in their place. Please don’t sic him on me.”

They both knew that Eric wasn’t joking.

“Then you better behave.” Ezra waggled his finger playfully.

Eric caught Ezra’s hand before bringing it to his lips. “I swear.”

Oh! Oh damn! Ezra might have whimpered.

“Are you sure you have to leave? I can’t buy you dinner or anything?”

“Shit!” Ezra yanked his hand away. “I have to go!” He stressed the word have. Would he have liked to go to dinner with Eric? Hell yeah! Would he love to do more? Fuck yes! But responsibility. “Bye!”

“Bye, Ezra,” Eric said but Ezra was already throwing the door open and running.

Chapter Three

Eric

“Why are you pouting?”

Eric scowled at his best friend. “I am not pouting. I don’t pout! What the hell?” Damn it, when did Dane arrive? Eric had been doing just fine sitting at his desk, thinking.

“You’re totally pouting,” his lieutenant and other best friend said as he joined them.

Eric threw the pen he’d been staring at down on his desk. Great, now both guys were there. And they could read him like a book. They were detectives, after all. “Am not!” Okay, maybe he was a little. But Ezra had been off the last two nights and Eric wanted to see his boy. Not that he could admit that to his friends because they didn’t even know about Ezra. Or the feelings that Eric had for him. Although acting like a three-year-old probably wasn’t the best bet to get them off his back.

“This is about a guy,” Dane declared as he leaned over Eric’s desk and into his face where he blocked everything and everyone else from view.

“Dude!” Eric leaned as far back in his chair as he could. “Personal space!”

“Yeah, totally a guy.” Dane’s cinnamon breath from the gum constantly chewed, an addiction that he’d picked up when he’d quit smoking, drifted into Eric’s nostrils. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell.

“What guy?” Remi questioned. He grabbed the back of Eric’s chair so Eric couldn’t wheel away.

Why had Eric decided to come into the office? Oh yeah, Brandon was at work so the house was too quiet. And he was pouting about not seeing Ezra. Ezra was always at work! Two days! Where was the boy?

“He’s not denying it,” Dane said.

“What?” Eric said. If he didn’t get his friends to go away, he might break down and tell them everything.

“The guy,” Dan repeated.

---