then.
None of the guys were married. Everyone but Klein played the field. Louis Klein had a boyfriend, Julio, and their relationship was the only steady one in the bunch.
Ignoring his friend, Mason pivoted to knock on Laila’s door. He hoped she wasn’t standing on the other side, listening to the entire mess.
What if she is… and she wants to come over?
Something in him balked at the idea. He didn’t want Laila around his single friends.
“I guess she’s not home,” Ransom said after a minute or two passed.
Mason hid his relief. “Now stop stalling. I want to kick your ass at poker.”
They returned to Mason’s place to play a few hands. Mason lost the first two, but he won the pot on the third—mostly because the girl perched on Collins’ lap distracted him during the game.
Shortly after the girl’s friends arrived, they dropped the pretense of playing poker. Everyone started dancing instead. Choosing to drink instead of chatting with the two available girls, he backed off. He then behaved like a grumpy old man, making the occasional circuit around the living room to pick up dirty cups. He also turned down the volume on his speakers whenever anyone nudged it over the threshold he’d marked in red sharpie.
Tran was probably going to call the cops, but it was out of his hands now. Mason had done everything he could. Deciding the cat was out of the bag, he allowed himself to relax, the hum of conversation washing over him.
“What are you doing hiding in the kitchen?”
Mason glanced up to see Julio, Klein’s boyfriend, holding a six-pack. Genuinely happy to see him, Mason pumped the other man’s hand.
“I’m not hiding. Just kicking back,” he said, taking the bottle Julio offered. It was from a local microbrew Mason sometimes visited.
“Thanks for this. I like this place. They have this killer Porter they only do at Christmas. Have you tried it?” Mason asked.
“No, but I’ll make sure to check it out in December.” Julio grinned, passing a hand over his blue scrubs.
“Did you come straight from the hospital?” Mason asked, pointing to the outfit.
“I did. I just got off a ten-hour shift, but I’m still wired. After Louis called, I decided to join in the fun. What happened to the poker game?” Smirking, he raised an eyebrow at the trio of couples grinding on the makeshift dance floor.
Mason shrugged before opening his beer. “You know how it is after a long op. They just want to blow off steam. I’m hoping they keep it down, though. The old man next door already threatened to call the cops.”
Although Tran had a point about the noise being more disruptive if it came from Mason’s bedroom, given their shared wall.
Guess it’s a good thing I’m not getting any.
His thoughts immediately returned to Laila, and he winced. Covering. he took a sip, although this particular beer wasn’t bitter enough to justify the grimace.
“Why don’t you move?” Julio asked, leaning back against the kitchen counter. “Louis and I started looking at houses since he got back.”
Mason drew his head back. “Really? A house?”
Julio nodded enthusiastically. “The last one we saw was nice. It’s in a new development outside of Alhambra. It’ll be a hell of a commute for me, but Louis and I want a yard, maybe a pool. You know what a fish he is. I’d rather just have a hot tub, so we’re thinking of compromising and getting one of those spa-swim things, with a hot tub at one end and a motorized lap pool on the other. They’re pricy, though, so it will have to wait for a year or two after we close escrow.”
Escrow? Julio may as well have been speaking Greek. “Damn. I guess Klein’s all grown up.”
The nurse nearly snorted out his beer. Wiping his face, he laughed. “Not quite, but for this, he’s motivated. We’re tired of our neighbors, too.”
“I didn’t say that,” Mason protested, thinking of Laila. “Not all my neighbors anyway. But buying a house is a big commitment. I’m not sure I’d be ready for that.”
He had the cash thanks to his Auric paycheck, but the idea of shelling out such a large amount just to call a place his own didn’t feel right. It was all so… permanent.
“Maybe you could rent one?” Julio suggested. “It’s not like you need to be in town, right? Proximity to an airport is a bigger factor.”
Mason thought about it before shaking his head. “I wouldn’t want to give up the restaurants around