Page 109 of The Manny

“I guess so.”

We were silent for a few moments, then I said, “Maybe you need to apologize to Brody in person. It’s easy to ignore texts.” I pushed my empty glass to the edge of the table. “But not at the shop. If it goes south, I don’t want it spilling over onto my customers.”

“How do I arrange that, if he won’t read my texts?”

I shrugged. “Maybe I can tell him you’re trying to contact him.”

He slumped. “I can’t believe Brody is upset with me. That’s the last thing I wanted.”

“I know.”

“I’ve always had a little thing for Brody.”

“I suspected as much.”

“Did you?” His cheeks pinked.

“Yeah.”

He sighed. “I can’t help it. I’ve tried ignoring him, but every time I see him, I just want to get closer to him. Talk to him.”

“I wish it was just talking. Then we wouldn’t be in this mess.” I frowned. “What happened to your purple-eyed ginger?”

He smiled. “You mean Crispin?”

“Yeah.”

“I still see him. He’s hard to nail down.”

“Poor choice of words, Scott.”

Scott laughed. “Good point. He’s easy to nail, but hard to figure out. How’s that?”

“Seems more accurate.” I nodded at the waitress when she set the drinks down.

“Are you boys having dinner, or are we just drinking tonight?” She smiled, sounding non-judgmental. “Either way is fine.”

I eyed Scott. “We’re having dinner. We need food if we’re drinking.”

Sighing, Scott didn’t argue. “I’ll have the fish tacos with rice and beans, please.”

I handed her the menus that were on the table. “I’ll have the same.”

“You boys are easy.” She scribbled our order down on her pad. “I’ll be back to check on you two in a bit.” She moved away to help another group who were waving at her.

I returned my gaze to Scott. “The more I think about it, the more I believe you and Brody really do need to talk in person. If I help set up a get-together with him, do you promise you’ll behave?”

His face tensed. “Maybe you should be there too.”

I laughed. “What? Are you saying you can’t control yourself around Brody?”

His jaw muscle clenched. “I’m saying it will be harder now that I’ve… tasted him.” He shivered and kept his eyes down. “Haven’t you ever been in this kind of situation? Where you really want someone, but know you should just leave it alone?”

My face warmed as Thomas came to mind. I struggled daily with the desire to give into my lust. When I was weak, it was easy to tell myself sleeping with him was no big deal. The problem was, the more I had of him, the more I needed him. I didn’t want to need anyone, so I had to avoid him completely.

I became aware of Scott’s stare. “What?” I said, feeling conspicuous.

He laughed. “You know exactly what I mean. I can see it on your face.”

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