No Good Deed - Marie Sexton Page 0,41
nothing more than to be part of it. But it starts with us,” Jonas said. “If we can set an example—ignore the past and proceed as if nothing’s wrong—the others will be more likely to do the same.”
Avery squirmed, uncomfortable. “I guess maybe, yeah.”
“All we have to do is put Gray and Charlie first. So what do you think?” He held out his hand. “Friends?”
Avery eyed Jonas’s hand as if it might grow fangs and bite him. He pushed back from the table and stood up slowly.
“I need to think about this.” He glanced toward the bar, at River and Taylor, then at Emily and Robert, who were now watching them as well. “I want to talk to my friends.” He twisted his hands together, then made a visible effort to stop, shoving them deep into his pockets instead. “I want to talk to Gray.”
“I understand. Just tell me you’ll think about what I said, Avery. You and I can make things better, or we can make them a hundred times worse. I’d rather we make things better.”
Avery pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to hear anymore. “I’m not saying no, Jonas. But I’m not ready to say yes yet either.”
“I get it. I’ve had a lot more time to think about this than you have.” Jonas got to his feet. “Thanks for listening, at any rate.”
He turned and walked out of the Tap House, leaving a stunned Avery in his wake. He’d done his part. Charlie would do his. After that, it all came down to Gravy.
Charlie spent the morning fretting until it was finally time for Gray’s arrival. Gray burst in without knocking as usual, as if it were his own house. He stood in the living room grinning, his arms spread.
“Here I am. What’s so important?”
Charlie wondered if Gray could tell how apprehensive he was. “Come on into the kitchen.” He’d baked cookies that morning in an effort to take his mind off the confrontation to come. He took a napkin off the stack on the table and used it as a plate for a couple of cookies in Gray’s spot. Gray ate the first one right away, while Charlie opened a beer for him.
Charlie finally forced himself to sit down. “Thanks for coming over.” He laced his fingers together in front of him. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Gray washed the cookie down with half the beer and laughed. “Well, yeah. I gathered that much.”
“I think it’s time I told you who I’ve been seeing the last few weeks.”
Gray’s eyes widened with surprise. “Oh, yeah? Your mystery guest?” He glanced around, grinning, as if Charlie’s boyfriend might be hiding behind the fridge. “Is he here? Do I finally get to meet him?”
“You already know him, actually.”
“It’s Robert, isn’t it?”
Charlie blinked at him. “Who?”
“Robert.” Gray seemed more interested in Jonas’s laptop at the end of the table than in the conversation at hand. “The guy who plays piano with Avery at the Tap House. Totally conservative, buttoned up, vanilla. Complete virgin to the lifestyle. Don’t tell me that isn’t tempting.”
Charlie sighed. He liked Robert, but he’d never considered asking him out. “No, it’s not Robert.”
“What is this, anyway?” Gray asked, turning Jonas’s digital tablet his direction. “I thought it was a monitor, but now that I’m looking at it…”
“It’s not a monitor. It’s for digital art.”
“Oh.” Gray dismissed it, pushing it back into place. “So who’s the new squeeze?” He picked up the second cookie Charlie had given him and took a bite. But as he did, his gaze landed on the napkin. He froze, midchew.
Charlie glanced at the napkin, wondering what had caught Gray’s attention, and his heart sank.
A drawing.
A drawing of a dog staring anxiously into an oven at a sheet of cookies. Jonas’s style was easy to recognize—big, comic eyes and expressions somehow easily rendered with only a few pen strokes.
Charlie groaned, slapping a palm over his eyes. He should have paid more attention. Jonas doodled on every piece of paper he came across, and Charlie hadn’t noticed that the napkin was no exception.
Gray picked it up, staring at it as he forced the cookie down his throat. “Charlie? What the fuck is this?”
“I wanted to tell you before you figured it out. Frankly, it’s amazing I managed to keep it from you this long.”
Gray stood slowly, the napkin still in his hand, his eyes on Charlie’s face.
“How long?”
“Gray, listen to me. Sit back down