“Damn good!” is Tank’s enthusiastic reply.
I shudder at Tank’s mouthful of food, on display without a care. Ugh.
“Tank! Manners. Use them,” I bark out in my trainer voice. Not that he’s gonna listen.
Arlo snickers. I see Micah’s lip turn up at the sides. It’s always an excellent day when I can make those two grin.
“You wanna hang out with me later? I’ve got a bunch of reports to run. Boring,” Arlo tells Micah.
“Sure. I got plenty to keep me busy. ‘Cause I’m in such demand for my fantastic graphic services.”
“They are fantastic,” Arlo reassures him.
“Too bad those guys at the Go-cart place didn’t think so,” he replies with his usual snark. He doesn’t look that upset, but the tight lines around his eyes and the way his jaw clenches show me it’s bothering him more than he’ll admit. Typical. It makes me want to punch people. Specifically, the go-cart people.
“Tell ‘em to eat a bag of dicks,” Tank says, inserting himself right into the conversation, as usual.
Arlo smiles, and Micah shakes his head.
“Sure, Tank, I’ll get right on that,” Micah snarks.
My hand’s already reaching for him when I remember to pull it back. It’s so hard.
Patience. That’s the key here.
Micah is staring intently at his phone, which is not something he does often. Maybe he’s got a new client.
Arlo nudges his shoulder, pushing his light brown hair off his face as he leans toward Micah.
“Let me see. What are your options?” he asks quietly.
“Here. I’m not sure about any of them honestly. Maybe the last one.” He hands Arlo his phone, and they huddle over it together.
I know it’s none of my business. I’m just a co-worker in his eyes, and I’ve got no claim on his life. So why am I sitting here wishing I could figure out what they’re looking at with such intense scrutiny?
“What about this one?” Arlo asks, pointing to something on his screen.
“More your type than mine,” he says, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms over his head. His soft gray t-shirt rides up, and I can’t pull my gaze away from the mouth-watering strip of tan skin on display. I really need to get a life, or get laid. Something. Except when I imagine getting laid, Micah is all I see.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. You’ll find one you like,” Arlo says confidently as he gives Micah a one-armed hug.
“Dating sucks,” Micah tells him, tossing his phone onto the table with a thud.
Dating? He’s dating?
It’s completely wrong and I know it, but I glance down at his home screen, and there it is. Grindr. Well, that answers the ‘is he into guys’ question. Although considering he and Arlo both dated that douchebag, Derek, it wasn’t that big of a mystery.
Yeah, he’s just not into you.
Fuck me sideways.
Chapter 2
Micah
Idon’t know why I agreed to do this.
Yes, you do.