Right Move (Clean Slate Ranch #6) - A.M. Arthur Page 0,30

bad scare in the hospital while waiting for test results, but no. It’s not about that, I just...can’t explain it.”

“Then maybe you should pursue it. See if there’s something between you.”

“How? Bring him another sandwich with no real excuse other than I want to see him again?”

Robin stared at him for several long moments before a smile spread across his face. “So don’t take him a sandwich. Take him something else that will help him test his comfort zones.”

“Dude, I am not going over there for a booty call. He’d slam the door in my face.”

“So not what I meant.”

Curious what his friend had in mind, Levi leaned in closer. “Okay, good. Then what?”

Chapter Seven

George tried to work after Levi and Ginger left, but all he could do was stare at the indented carpet where the crate had once been. He already missed his coworker and it had been less than an hour. Part of him wanted to leave the apartment door open just to see if Lucky would wander inside, but he couldn’t do that and work in his bedroom. And the terms of the lease prevented him from adopting a cat of his own.

One week. How had his life changed so dramatically in one week? He wanted a cat and couldn’t stop thinking about Levi and that hug. His smiles and odd mannerisms. His unique way of looking at the world.

When Orry texted that he was on his way home with Chinese takeout for dinner, George realized he’d been staring into space for most of the afternoon. Since he’d accomplished nothing productive, he gave up. Shut down his program and went into the living room to read on his phone. Orry looked exhausted when he finally got home. He dumped his keys and the food on the coffee table and thumped down on the futon next to George.

“Cat gone?”

George grunted and reached for the bag of food, stomach already rumbling from the familiar scents. “Yeah, a few hours ago. Levi was thrilled to take her home.”

“Excellent. Now I can sleep again.”

“Her yowling wasn’t that bad.”

“You wear noise canceling headphones all the time. Hand me the pot stickers.”

George found the labeled carton and passed it over, along with a plastic cutlery set. He could manage with chopsticks but Orry had never bothered to try. George had wanted to learn when he was younger so he could catch flies with them like Mr. Miyagi in those old karate movies, and while he’d never caught a fly, he could eat fried rice with them. He found a carton of Black Pepper Chicken and went to town on it.

“Where did you work today?” George asked between bites.

“Ride share job. Might have to get the car checked soon. The engine is making a weird rattle sometimes and I don’t want it to affect my customer rating.”

“Okay. You off the rest of the night?”

“Nah, got a bartending shift that starts at eight.”

“Oh.” Intellectually, George understood his brother worked all the time to help pay rent here, keep the car maintained, and cover any additional expenses their grandparents might have, but he also missed his brother. This was the first meal they’d shared in days.

And he still hadn’t asked Orry about that mysterious shift on Thanksgiving night.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” George asked.

Orry paused with a pot sticker right in front of his mouth. “Duh.” Then he shoved the whole thing in.

“I just... I guess I feel like we don’t really talk much anymore.”

“If I had anything interesting to share, I’d share. I mean, I could probably come up with some funny customer stories but I’m exhausted. After I eat, I’m going to power nap.”

“Okay.” Disappointment swamped George, and he pushed it aside in favor of stealing a pot sticker out of Orry’s carton.

Orry pretended to stab at his hand with his fork. “Thief!”

“We always have joint custody of the pot stickers. You don’t get to hog them all.”

“You’re annoying when you’re right.”

They had a joint account for household expenses like rent, utility bills and food, and George insisted takeout fell under the food category. They both ate it, after all, so why should one or the other pay for it out of their personal money? The only time it didn’t count was if Orry was working and grabbed a solo meal. So far, the system had worked well for them for years.

After they ate their fill, George volunteered to store the scant leftovers and sent Orry to take