Page 55 of Starved

Hoping to avoid an awkward conversation, he turned away from the counter and scanned the room. He couldn’t see Evan through the crowd but knew he usually worked the camping gear section and headed in that direction.

He heard Evan before he saw him, a rumbling laugh coming from behind a display of camp stoves, and turned the corner to see him standing with a pretty—and very familiar—brunette.

She spotted him first, her eyes going bright over the sequined mask she wore. “Colin!”

He forced himself to speak. “Hey, Shelby. Long time, no see.”

“I know, right?” Eyes dancing, she bounced over, arms outstretched for a hug before she rocked to a stop and held out a fist for bumping. “Dammit, I keep forgetting. Asshole Covid.”

Colin let out a chuckle and tapped his fist to hers, studiously avoiding Evan’s gaze. “How have you been?”

“I’m awesome.” Her eyes crinkled above the mask, the bubbly personality she’d been known for in their college days undiminished with the passage of time. “I’m in Lansing, now, for vet school.”

“That’s great,” he said, and he meant it. Shelby had always wanted to be a veterinarian. “You’re at State?”

“Yep. Took me a while to get there, but I’m in the home stretch now.” She poked him in the shoulder, a friendly gesture she’d used often. “What are you up to? Still doing the financial planning thing?”

“Still doing it,” he said, enjoying himself despite the lingering hangover. Shelby’s good cheer was infectious.

“Maybe when I finally get out of school and get a job, you can help me figure out how to pay off my student loans.”

“Happy to.”

“Awesome. My trip hasn’t been a total waste, then.”

“Waste?” Colin asked curiously.

“Yeah.” She patted Evan on the arm, her head tilting to rest on his shoulder. “I was hoping sexy here would be up for a little trip down memory lane. Make Christmas home with the folks a little more bearable, you know?” Then she heaved a dramatic sigh. “But alas, he’s taken.”

Colin glanced at Evan for the first time. “That he is.”

“He won’t tell me by who, though.” She narrowed her eyes playfully at Colin. “I bet you know, don’t you?”

Colin tucked his hands into his pockets. “It was good to see you again, Shelby.”

Shelby shook her head. “I should’ve known you’d keep it in the vault for him. Best friends forever, right?”

Colin risked another glance at Evan. “Right.”

Shelby trilled out a laugh. “All right, keep your secrets. I’ll just stalk your social media until I find out.”

“You do that,” Evan said, amused. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“You either.” She pressed a kiss to her finger through her mask, then tapped it on Evan’s nose before turning to Colin. “And you, you call me if you decide to open the vault.”

“You’ll be the first,” he promised and watched until she’d bounced out of sight. “You didn’t tell her.”

“That you’re who I’m taken by?” Evan said behind him, his voice strangely subdued. “No.”

With his stomach threatening to reject the toast and coffee, Colin turned to face him. “Why?”

Evan shrugged. He was dressed in his work uniform of jeans and a t-shirt, his blond curls tousled and his eyes cautious. “I didn’t think you’d want me to. Was I wrong?”

“No,” Colin admitted, rubbing a hand over his uneasy belly. “It hurts you.”

Evan started to speak, then shrugged. “I can deal.”

“It hurts you,” Colin repeated.

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