Page 55 of Up In Flames
“Which time?” Hal asked. “Does it happen a lot?”
“More often than you’d think,” Jonas replied. “Most of the time they happen because people always think they have more time. But life always has her own agenda.”
Oren’s face paled a little and I thought about the accident he’d been in that had nearly taken his life. No one knew betterthan him about people running out of time before they were ready.
CHAPTER 25
Oren
Will wasn’t completely comfortable with my presence among his friends. I tried not to take it personally. After all, I’d been the one to insist over and over again that it wouldn’t bother me. Who knew I’d be such a liar?
His friends seemed like good people. Solid and steady people. They clearly cared enough about him to put their lives on the line with him and for him. But would coming out change that for him? I had my doubts.
Once the first pitcher of beer was gone, I took that as my cue to leave. I’d encroached on Will’s fun enough for one evening.
“I should head out,” I told them.
The conflict in Will’s gaze was easy to see, for me at least. He wanted me there, but there was a certain relief to me leaving. Hal had drank one beer, then ordered fries and wings, which he demolished.
“I’ll give you a lift,” Hal said. He peeled away a couple bills and tucked them under his plate for the waitress. The pub was starting to get busier, and he didn’t have the greatest seat in thehouse. He stood and gave his chair back to the table he’d stolen it from.
“It was nice meeting you,” I said to Briggs and Jonas. They both had that glassy-eyed, beer goggle look on their faces. Will wasn’t too far behind. “Make sure you guys take a cab or something, okay?” I rubbed at a sudden ache in my sternum.
Understanding flashed in Will’s gaze and he nodded. I’d have kissed him goodbye… except he wasn’t out.
One day he would be. I had faith in that much at least.
The evening air was fresh and clean compared to the stifling atmosphere in the bar. Hal slid into step next to me as we made our way back to where he’d parked.
After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It was just weirder than I expected it to be. Harder.” I swiped my sweaty hands on the sides of my pants.
“I think that’s normal.”
“You do?” Hal was a few years older than I was, and I appreciated the way he gave me his perspective on things without ever treating me like an idiot kid the way some of the professors at law school had. Hell, like some of the other students had done too.
“Up until now, you’ve hung out with Will on a one-on-one basis. Adding other people into the mix changes the dynamic. Especially when the two of you can’t carry on as you normally do. It’ll level out and be less weird. You just need to give it more time.”
More time. Right. I could do that. I had time. Will and I had just barely started dating. I’d come out because I had no one and nothing to lose by doing so. Things weren’t the same for Will. I almost envied him. Friends. Family. Parents who gave a shit.
Will might be worried about losing people, but at least he had people to lose. I had him. And Hal. Liam. Simon. Simon was my boss and not my friend, but I truly felt like he had my back. Icouldn’t be upset at Will for not wanting to lose the people close to him. From experience, I knew how much that sucked.
“It’ll get better,” Hal assured me as we climbed into his car.
“You know, Hal, for some reason, I think I believe you.”
He shot me a wide smile, flashing his gold tooth at me. The one that only appeared when he smiled a certain way. “That’s because I’m right, and you know it. I’ve been right about a lot of things. It’s why Simon keeps me around.”
“I thought he kept you around because the two of you are secretly hot for each other.”
Hal’s cheeks turned a ferocious shade of pink. “Between you and me, that ship sailed a long time ago.”
I scoffed and buckled my seat belt. “Looks like SS Simon has circled back.”
“We’re not talking about that.”
His tone was carefully nonchalant, so I did as asked and dropped the subject. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him by poking at old wounds.
