Page 98 of I Blame the Club

“Maurice, you still with us?” Steven peers into the camera as if his virtual proximity will recapture my attention. I catch my father’s frown through his video screen, the silent chastise snapping me back to present.

Focus, goddamn it.

I clear my throat, making a point to adjust my headset, “My computer froze for a moment there but I understood your request clearly. I will have the updated report to you by the end of the day.”

“Oh.” Steven blinks, no doubt surprised by the lack of an argument, “That would be much appreciated, Maurice. Thank you.”

I give him a nod before muting my mic and tuning out the rest of the meeting. The moment the meeting is dismissed my work chat pings with an incoming message.

COREY: How you holding up, big man? You seem distracted.

I almost let out a laugh. Last night, I spent five hours staring at my bedroom ceiling, replaying the conversation with Nico on repeat until I cracked and hauled my ass out of bed at 4 AM to hit the gym. The endorphins did nothing to help my situation and thanks to my sleepless night I’ve had a skull-splitting headache all morning.

The last 12 hours have been hell and the only thing my coworker can say is I seem distracted. I should be happy that my self-preservation is somewhat back intact but the only thing I feel is empty.

Alone.

ME: Just had a rough night. Things are fine.

Typing bubbles appear then disappear. I sigh, closing the chat box and re-focusing on my emails. Five minutes later another ping goes off.

COREY: If there’s one thing my wife has taught me, it’s that no one is fine if they use the word fine. Anything I can help with?

I blink in surprise before typing out a response.

ME: You have a wife?

COREY: Going on five years now. I popped the question after graduation so now she’s stuck with me.

COREY: But back to your own wife problem…

I crack a smile, thinking of how Nico would react to someone referring to him as my wife. I can't imagine that one going over well.

Would you ever feel comfortable introducing me as your boyfriend? Bringing me home to meet the family?

My smile slips and all too soon I’m back thinking of last night and all the mistakes that went with it. The problem with people and relationships is they are a lot harder to accumulate data from. It’s one of the main reasons I've avoided them up until now.

Well, that and no one sparked my interest for longer than one night.

Typing out a response, there’s a knock on my door just as I press send.

ME: Thanks for the support but I’ll figure it out.

COREY: You always do.

Pushing back my chair, I walk over to check the peephole of my front door.

“Is there a reason you’re intruding on my day off?” My voice comes out perfectly calm, successfully masking my volatile emotions as I open the door and stare at the one co-captain I did not want to see today.

Wes gives me a tight smile, awkwardly holding out the shopping bag I gave to my sister a few hours ago.

“Can I come in? Nico asked me to return this.”

“No.”

He winces, eyes flicking from my face to the blocked doorway, “No I can’t come in or no I can’t return this?”

I cross my arms, my expression leaving no room for argument, “Both.”

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