“You want to get a drink?” Dave opened the toolbox and started putting things away.
“Yes. Several.” Fuck this day. Cole didn’t want to be here; he didn’t want to work. He didn’t want to do anything. But gold star to him for showing up, right? “No date tonight?”
“Jenn has yoga. She invited me to go, but—” Dave laughed. “No.”
He grinned. “No, me either.” He and Dave worked hard enough they didn’t even need the gym.
“I could use some food too, I think.”
“Sure. As long as I can get a real drink, I’m good.”
“You okay, man? You’ve been kind of off today.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Let’s just say that I’ll be bringing in the doughnuts tomorrow.”
“Oh, shit.” Dave gave his shoulder a pat. “I’m sorry, man. I mean, it was a little bit of a sketchy arrangement I guess, but I was hoping it would work out for you.”
“It’s a lot less of a thing than I thought, that’s all.”
“That sucks. Well, I’ll try not to look too handsome tonight, maybe you can pick someone up.”
Count on Dave to make him smile. “No way. You’re a total cock-blocker.”
“Yeah? Y’think?” Dave straightened up and ran his hands through his hair.
Asshole. “You have got to be kidding me.”
They both cracked up and got back to work. By the time they finished cleaning up, Cole was in a much better mood.
Dave pulled out his phone while they waited for the elevator. “I should see if Jenn—oh. She texted me like, ages ago. Shit, I didn’t see this until now, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“She says ‘Mister Waters’ wants you to call him.”
What? Was this some kind of set up? “Right, sure. I don’t have his number.”
“She texted it.”
“Shit, really?” Ben had actually sent him a message through Dave’s girlfriend. That was… interesting. He peered over Dave’s shoulder and pulled out his phone, copying the digits and creating a new contact.
Under ‘name’ he put, “Friday.”
Hey, it was kinder than “asshole.”
“Got it.”
Dave eyed him. “Did he change his number? Or did you really not have it?”
He glared at Dave and went back to cleaning up.
“Seriously? How do you not have his number?”
“It was casual.” Was? Is? Who the hell knew?
“That’s seriously casual.”
He rolled his eyes. “Weren’t you going to call Jenn?”
“No. Oh, but Jenn says to tell you he said it’s urgent.”
“Okay.” Yeah, he’d bet it was.
“You want to call now? I can wait.”
“No.” Unless the building was on fire, it wasn’t an emergency, and even if it was on fire, his name wasn’t 9-1-1. It could wait.
“I’ll let Jenn know you got the message.”
“Sure. I’m ready when you are.”
Ready for tequila.
Ben ran so hot and cold he didn’t know what to think. What he did know was that he’d be at the bar on Friday night. And he also knew that if Ben showed, he’d take the man home like always. He was mad, he was even kind of hurt, but he wasn’t ready to give up.
So what did this phone number mean?
Maybe he’d fucked up something in Ben’s office. Maybe one of the blinds wasn’t working or the lights went out again. Maybe he’d misread the floor plan and messed up where the desk was supposed to go.
Or maybe Ben wanted to see him.
And maybe… maybe Ben was worried he wasn’t going to show up Friday night. After all, a better man with any sense of pride probably wouldn’t. A man like that probably wouldn’t have put Ben’s number in his phone either.
A better man wouldn’t be considering making that phone call right now.
“Cole. Earth to Cole…?”
He blinked. “Sorry.”
Dave was holding the elevator door for him. “You want to call, don’t you?”
He sighed. “I know. I know it’s a booty call. I know it’s meaningless.” To Ben.
Dave grinned. “Call. I’ll meet Jenn at yoga.”
“You sure? I’m sorry, man.”
Dave waved him off, grinning. “Good night and good luck.”
The elevator doors closed.
Good luck. Ha.
This new project was still in the bare bones stage and he walked back down what would one day be a hallway toward what would one day be a giant cubicle farm, flipping his phone over and over in his fingers, working up the nerve to make the call.
“Fuck this.” He gave up and texted: You tracked me down through my business partner’s girlfriend. Ballsy.
New phone who dis?
Oh. Asshole.
Kidding! Ben followed up quickly. I’m a little shocked that you texted so soon. I don’t know what to say.
No? How about: Why did you track me down?
I… missed you.
Cole read that a couple of times, reading volumes into all those dots. He must have waited too long because his phone started to ring, making him jump. “Shit. Okay…” The word “Friday” popped up on his screen and he chuckled as he accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s Ben. How are you?”
“Uh. I’m… fine. Tired.”
“Long day?”
“Yeah…” His brow furrowed, perplexed.
“How was your weekend?”
“Busy. I worked hard to get that corner office done.” As you well know, asshole, you probably spent all day working in it.
“I know. I am so pleased with it. You guys did an amazing job in here.”
Oh. Well, that was nice. Ben sounded genuine too. “Thanks. It’s a great room. The view is great.”
“It is right? I was disappointed not to see you today, so I could thank you in person.”
“Well, after the way we’d left things, it seemed—”
“Yeah, I know. You made your point. I missed having your face around here.”
He smiled. How about that? He’d take it. “You know where to find me if you still feel that way on Friday.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
He blinked, startled. “My favorite color?”
“Yeah. What’s your favorite color? Your favorite TV show? You favorite food?”
“Is this twenty questions?”
“Yeah. Twenty of the questions I should have asked you ages ago. What’s your favorite band?”
“Okay hold on. Wait. Red.”
“Red is a good color. Mine is green.”
What? No it wasn’t. “Yours isn’t green.”
“What? Yeah, it is.”
“It’s not green, Ben. It’s blue. You have a blue paisley tie, and the blue one with the gold diamonds on it. Your favorite suit is blue with a gray pinstripe. The stone in the ring on your right hand is a moonstone—also blue. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in green.”
“Cole...”
“Well, your eyes are hazel, but you didn’t get to pick them. And they’re kind of more brown hazel than green.”
“Seriously? I can’t believe you noticed all of that.”
“I’ve been looking at you every Friday for months, Ben. Pretty sure you’ve been looking at me too.”
“Not like that. I haven’t been looking at you like that. Not until…” Ben sighed. “Well, not until you didn’t show up last week, and then I missed that sexy bald head and your—” Ben snorted, amused. “Your baby blue eyes. They’re a great color.”
Okay, this was going in a good direction, right? “See? Blue.”
“I hate TV. But I like superhero movies and Looney Tunes.”
“I hate TV too, but who doesn’t dig Bugs Bunny?”
“Road Runner.”
“Oh look, an anvil.” He laughed, and Ben did too, and he wondered if they’d ever shared a moment like this. A real moment. He didn’t think so, and he wasn’t ready to hang up yet. “I listen to everything. Alternative, pop, a little R&B, country…”
“Remember Lifehouse? Are they still around…”
“Oh, man. They put out a Greatest Hits album; they’re ancient history now.”
“Jesus, I’m old.” Ben groaned.
“You shut up, I just turned forty.”
“What?” Ben sounded shocked. “I just turned forty.”
“May first.”
“May second.”
Cole pulled off his cap and ran his fingers over his bald head, feeling awkward and stupid. “Are you serious? We’ve been sleeping with each other for months and didn’t even know we had May birthdays?”
The line went quiet and he kind of got it. They were in a weird place. So intimate in one sense and nearly total strangers, and this crazy conversation had shined a big-ass light on the whole mess.
“Okay. Pizza.” Ben jumped in finally.
That was easy. “Veggies. Loads of veggies…”