Page 10 of Heart of Glass

“You know Grady?”

Xeno tucked his cell phone and wallet into his pockets and shrugged on his jacket. “He’s my best friend and roommate.”

“Are you stalking me?”

“Through your physical therapist?” Xeno quirked one eyebrow and snorted. “Yeah, you caught me.”

Even Lachlan had to laugh at the absurdity of the accusation. “Well, your friend is a dick.”

“Undeniably.”

“He thinks I’m too skinny.”

“That bastard.” Xeno pulled his sneakers on and tightened the laces.

“And his office is really just a front for an elaborate torture chamber.”

“You want me to kick his ass?”

Lachlan pretended to think it over for a moment. “Yes.” He bobbed his head once. “Definitely.”

“Consider it done.” Leaning over him where he sat on the sofa, Xeno tugged playfully at Lachlan’s earlobe and kissed the tip of his nose. “I’ll be back.”

After Xeno left, Lachlan straightened the living room, tossed the takeout cartons, and folded the blankets. Then he did the few dishes in the sink, wiped down the counters, and made a pot of coffee. Growing restless, he paced around his apartment, holding his favorite mug in both hands while he waited for Xeno to return.

When twenty minutes passed with no sign of him, Lachlan began to have a sinking feeling in his gut that perhaps Xeno wouldn’t be coming back. “Stop it,” he chastised himself. Xeno had said he’d go to the diner, but he hadn’t said which one.

No matter how he tried to rationalize it, though, Lachlan couldn’t shake the restlessness. Hoping a shower would distract him, or at least eat up some time, he picked out clothes for the day, grabbed his razor off the shelf over the sink, and stepped into the glass stall.

The hot water helped unknot the tightness in his neck, and the steam cleared his head, but he still remained hyperaware of his surroundings, listening for the click of the front door. It never came, though, and by the time he’d dried off and donned his clothes, over forty minutes had passed.

The sting of rejection and disappointment felt like a raw wound, opened wide and laid out for the world to see. What hurt the most, however, was that he hadn’t expected it, not from Xeno. Was he really so lonely and desperate that he’d misread the signs?

The buzz of the intercom both startled and annoyed him, and Lachlan jabbed the button a little harder than he’d intended. “What?”

“Where the hell have you been?” Xeno demanded. “I’m freezing my ass off out here, and breakfast is getting cold. Let me in.”

“You…I…” Glancing at the digital clock over the fireplace, Lachlan’s eyes widened, and he reached up to smack himself in the forehead. “Shit. I’m so sorry.” He pressed the red button to give Xeno access to the lobby and spent the next three minutes wearing a hole in the carpet while chastising himself.

“I’m sorry,” he said by way of greeting when he opened the door to Xeno’s knock. “I took a shower, and I guess I was in there longer than I thought. I was listening for the front door, but I didn’t hear the buzzer.”

“Relax, it’s not a big deal. I should have asked for the code before I left, but I figured the people at the front desk would let me in if I stood there long enough. They didn’t, but it was a good thought.”

“I’m still sorry.” Mostly because of the uncharitable thoughts he’d indulged in about Xeno and his behavior. No one needed to know about that, though. “Here, let me get you a cup of coffee.”

“That sounds great, but unfortunately, I have to go.”

Lachlan paused on his way to the kitchen and turned slowly. “You’re leaving?” Maybe he hadn’t been so far off the mark after all.

“Don’t look like that.” Dropping the two white, plastic bags filled with food onto the bar that separated the kitchen and the dining room, Xeno cupped Lachlan’s face in both hands and rubbed their noses together. “The café called. The new guy didn’t show up today, so they asked me to work a double.”

“Oh…right…of course.” Lachlan felt like an idiot. Why did romantic entanglements always make people act like babbling, jealous, insecure morons? Plus, Xeno hadn’t done anything to warrant the suspicion. Hell, if anything, he was almosttooperfect.

“Come by and see me after therapy. Please? I’ll buy you dinner and walk you home.”

It would be dark by the time Xeno ended his shift, but Lachlan wanted to see him again. Against his better judgment, he found himself bobbing his head and smiling like a goddamn fool. “Yeah, okay, but I’m buying dinner tonight. Do you like pizza?”

“I love pizza. Hawaiian is my favorite.”

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