Page 70 of Crossing Lines

“They are.” With a chuckle, Laurent downed the rest of his margarita, then flagged down the waiter for another. “Ryan told me there’s a fun gay bar down the street from his place. You ever been?”

As a smile hung on my lips, my attention was drawn to him. “Sure. In fact, the first time Ryan and I got together, we started off the night there.” Ryan hadn’t told him about that, had he? Didn’t seem like it.

“You did, eh?” Narrowing his eyes, Laurent focused on Ryan. “You didn’t tell me that.” He tagged Ryan’s arm.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

RYAN

Iwinced. I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit to Laurent how Owen had me pinned against the wall that night, but I guessed we were going there. The story might make Jonah look a little better in Laurent’s eyes anyway. The two of them appeared to be one-upping each other. “Yeah, I went there after a win one night alone, and it turned out the clinger I told you about was there.” I ate a bite of taco, gathering my thoughts.

“You told Laurent about Owen?” Jonah sipped his iced tea, then ate a bite of food.

“Yes, he told me about some guy he met at the bar and had to block.” Laurent eyed me.

I pursed my lips. Maybe this story would get me out of ending up at the gay bar with Laurent tonight. “The guy turned into a bit of a stalker.” Shit, I didn’t want to mention the part about Owen making remarks about my relationship with Jonah. “He came after me at the bar, and Jonah saved my ass.”

“Saved your ass how?” Laurent flicked a glance at Jonah, then focused on me.

“I threw the fucker off him.” Shaking his head, Jonah scoffed. “The guy was getting pushy, and I stopped it.” He worried his lower lip, watching me.

I freed a long breath and wiped my hand on my napkin. “Truth was, he pushed me up against a wall, and I twisted my knee.” There, I’d said it.

“Holy shit, Ryan.” Laurent placed his hand over my forearm. “If I’d have been there?—”

“I was there, and I took care of him.” With his chest swelling, Jonah straightened. “I walked Ryan home and iced his knee.” He tensed his mouth. “Anyway, that was the first time we got together.” He twitched his brows at me.

“Well, I’m glad you were there, Jonah.” Laurent patted his shoulder, then shook his head once. “Jesus.” His gaze slid to mine. “You think the guy would be there if we went tonight?”

“Don’t know.” Shrugging a shoulder, I sipped my margarita, then ate my last taco.

“Wait, you two aren’t going there tonight, are you?” Jonah knitted his brows, his gaze snapping between us.

“Well, uh…” I drew a deep inhale and rubbed my brow. Jonah did not need to know about Laurent wanting to cruise the place with me. “Laurent wanted to see the place.”

Jonah’s gaze turned hard. “Fine. I’ll go with you.” His jaw muscle bulged.

“No, Jonah, you shouldn’t be in a loud place like that, and you need to rest.” With my gut knotting, I grabbed his fist, resting next to his plate. “We’re not going now, right, Laurent?” I gave him a pointed look. Maybe if Jonah hadn’t gotten injured, it would be different. But it didn’t feel right to go without him, and he certainly wasn’t going to the bar with a concussion.

Laurent pushed some fallen meat around on his plate with a fork. “Yeah, I suppose I could come back on another trip and check this place out when Jonah’s better.” His gaze met mine.

My shoulders relaxed. Thank God he wasn’t going to push on this. Maybe meeting Jonah had softened his stance on our relationship.

“I’m, uh, going to use the restroom.” After wiping his mouth, Jonah stood and walked off between the tables.

I faced Laurent. He was going to want to talk about Jonah. I knew him too well. “So…”

“So, he’s a very attractive young man.” Laurent arched a brow. “You think he’s too injured for a threesome?”

“Laurent.” I snickered through a scoff and threw my napkin over my plate. “That better be a joke.” My eyes narrowed.

“Relax, it’s a joke.” He freed a sharp chuckle. “It’s easy to see you two really care for each other.” He tilted his head. “You look good together.” He sank back in his seat and rubbed his chin. “I can see why you couldn’t keep it in your pants. If I had a hot young thing like that coming after me, I’d give in too.”

“Yeah, well, he’s notthatyoung. He’s twenty-three.” I breathed in deeply. The tension was gone along with Jonah. “So, are you going to behave when he gets back?”

“Whatever do you mean?” With a smirk, he stirred his margarita with a straw.

“You know damn well what I mean.” I poked at his arm. “Honey.” I freed a soft snort. “When have we ever called each other that?”

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