Page 11 of The Long Game

His dick, at least, could get on board with the third date going late. It had been a while. And if the rest of him didn’t experience as much of a zing as he’d hoped, that was fine. Sometimes feelings evolved over time.

It was just…it was hard to imagine finding a partner he could trust and let in. Someone he could be sure would stand by him. Someone who would never leave.

He wondered if such a man even existed.

He smiled at something Sean said and told himself not to rush to any conclusions. It was early days yet, far too soon to be thinking about the complexities of loyalty and maybe, eventually, love. What mattered was that this third date was a success and the evening still had promise.Sean and Gradyhad promise. Grady was determined to invite Sean back to his place for a drink and to see what might happen from there.

He was dwelling on that idea with a mixture of hope, nerves, and horniness when his phone vibrated against his leg.

With an apologetic grimace for Sean, Grady reached into his pocket. “I’m sorry about this. I have to make sure it’s not work.”

Sean nodded understandingly, a move Grady’s coworkers would probably assure him was cause for a marriage proposal.

Thoughts about Sean’s virtues and Grady’s coworkers evaporated as soon as he saw the litany of texts flashing acrosshis screen, hardly there long enough for him to read before the next notification popped up.

Barnaby: Somethings wrong with Jack.

Barnaby: Just got up and left Quigleys.

Barnaby: Didn’t pay. Left truck. Having trouble breathing?

Barnaby: Garrick driving us to Jack’s apartment now.

Barnaby: Help?

The warmth of the room bled away with each new message until Grady was chilled to the bone.

Grady tried to imagine Jack, always so unflappable, doing what Barnaby described. It didn’t make sense. When the shit hit the fan, Jack was the one running in to help. Even when Grady was ninety-nine percent certain Jack was upset about something, he would nevershowit. It might be Grady’s least favorite thing aboutJack, but there was no denying the man was a master at controlling his emotions, the strongest of which could turn his beautiful face into a blank mask.

Grady looked up at Sean, knowing he should feel guilty because he was being a terrible date. Worse, he was about to be a complete asshole.

“Everything all right? Do you need to go?” Sean asked solicitously.

There was no question what Grady’s answer would be. “Yeah, I do.”

Sean smiled. “I understand.”

He undoubtedly thought this was about Grady’s job, and Grady let him while ranking himself somewhere below pond scum and only slightly above dog shit on a shoe.

That didn’t stop him from standing up and pressing a kiss to Sean’s cheek. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.” When Sean beamed at him, Grady made himself smile and add, “I was looking forward to lingering over dessert at my place. Maybe next time?”

Sean’s face lit up, but rather than be delighted that Sean was receptive to the idea, Grady felt vaguely anxious. He’d have to get over that, but he’d worry about it later. Right now there was only the burning need to get the hell out of there.

He strode across the restaurant, his phone in hand. As soon as he was out on the street, he hit the call button.

Barnaby answered on the first ring, his tone deceptively casual. “Oh, hey, we’re just getting out of the car. We’re going to hang out here at Jack’s for a bit.”

Grady flung himself into his SUV while he listened to Jack assure their friends it wasn’t necessary and that he was fine. Garrick told Jack to go fuck himself and let them inside, which was maybe not the approach Grady would have chosen, but Jack’s exasperated response sounded more amused than anything else.

Grady barely checked for oncoming traffic before pulling out. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know,” Barnaby admitted before excusing himself to the bathroom. When he spoke again, his voice was low and Grady could hear running water in the background. “It was…strange.”

“Strange?” Grady said, pressing his foot to the gas.

“Scary,” Barnaby admitted. “He was fine, then suddenly he went absolutely gray and was sweating and gasping for air.”

“Did he explain? Tell youanything?”

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