was his job, after all, as a psychotherapist and family counselor, to listen to and observe people. Jordan sighed. He had to find a way to answer the inevitable follow-up question that Bart would ask him once he answered his comment without giving himself away too much more than he had already apparently done.
“I really have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, trying not to sound like he was protesting. “What makes you think there’s anything between me and Benn…Bennett?”
Fuck! He’d been about to call him ‘Benny’, which would have been a dead giveaway that he was lying. Even though there really was nothing between him and Bennett, it wasn’t because he didn’t want there to be, in some hidden corner of his mind. He just hadn’t planned to address it, and certainly not in front of his friends.
“You do know I can tell when you’re acting weird, right, Jay? You remember what I do for a living, right? Oh, and yeah, you also remember that we’ve known each other for a very long time, right? So, how about you try again.”
Jordan heaved a heavier, more exasperated sigh. “There’s really nothing between us. I’ve never met him outside of the times we met for Mac’s wedding.”
“So, what’s he like, aside from fuck-worthily gorgeous?” Brad interrupted.
His crass wording, while it was an apt description of Bennett, was also at once amusing and annoying. Jordan chose to chuckle, because there was no way he was letting Bart’s too-sharp gaze see through to the jealousy he couldn’t seem to tamp down.
“As I don’t know him all that well, I’d guess we’ll just have to agree with you, buddy,” he retorted. “If you like, I can have Mac put in a good word for you.”
That was definitely not something he ever wanted to do, but he was working hard to get Bart off his tail. So when he laughed aloud, something Bart seldom did, Jordan winced. Maybe he hadn’t been successful at getting him off the scent. He didn’t bother to ask him what was so funny, because he knew instinctively what had his friend laughing like a lunatic. Instead, he said,
“I’m gonna have another round and then get outta here. Anything for you two?”
Brad shook his head. “Wish I could, but I promised my mom I’d stop by to help her shift some furniture around before the store delivers her new living room set. I gotta get going. If I show up even slightly hungover, I won’t hear the end of it. And since I’m already in the doghouse for losing the girl, I’d rather not mess up anymore, ya know?”
They all laughed at that, and Bart finished his drink as well, saying, “I have a client in the morning. He missed his appointment today because he had an emergency, and I agreed to see him early tomorrow instead.”
“Dana’s okay with that?” Bart’s fiancée was a sweet spitfire of a woman.
Bart smiled. “Not exactly, but she’ll no doubt exact a punishment we can both live with.”
His smile held secrets Jordan suddenly wished he shared with someone he loved. A third heavy sigh almost escaped him. He swallowed it with his beer, and stood to hug his friends.
“If you need to talk, call me,” Bart said quietly in his ear before releasing him.
Jordan nodded, though he knew that was the last thing he would ever do. He had learned to rely on himself over the years for everything. Other people needed him. He could manage on his own. He made his way back to the bar and ordered himself another beer, deciding to sit there and finish it before heading out himself. He wasn’t ready to go back home just yet, but he didn’t feel like being chatted up, and returning to the booth alone was an invitation some guys wouldn’t be able to pass up.
“So, do you come here often?”
Jesus! That voice would be the death of him. He turned at the cheesy line, a smile tugging at his lips, to find Bennett standing next to him with an answering smile on his face.
“You might say that,” he answered after taking a heartening sip of his drink. “My friends and I hang out here on a Friday night for a couple of hours. Mac used to be one of the group, till he tied the knot.”
Dammit! He sounded way more bitter than he actually felt. He really missed Mac, but he didn’t want him to be there instead of with his