I shrugged, sobering up as I remembered my reason for being here. I surveyed the bar, and some pretty intense gazes stared right back at me. I tried to push August from my mind and concentrate on the options before me, but it was hard to do. Hard to figure out if I’d let any of these men touch me the way I often fantasized about August caressing me.
“It’s hard to tell.”
“It can’t be that difficult.” He swiveled around. “How about that guy over there in the purple shirt? He seems like your type.”
“What type would that be?”
“You know.”
I stared at the guy in the purple shirt. He was a handsome guy, probably close in age to me, but he did absolutely nothing for me. The raw edginess I was used to getting from August was missing. I wanted a strong, chiseled jaw, while he offered me a timid smile, flashing dimples.
“No, I want someone edgier, more exciting.”
“Then how about that giant in the Bengals shirt?”
Bengals shirt definitely piqued my interest. He had enough similarities to August to push my buttons but differences as well. His head was completely bald, and his face sported a bushy beard I wasn’t too keen on. But other than the facial hair, I could be interested. He definitely had that edgy vibe I was after.
“He has potential,” I said.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, pulling my attention away from Bengals shirt. Declan’s name flashed on the screen. Should I ignore or take the call? I could never be certain of the direction our conversation would be going in whenever he got in touch.
So far, he hadn’t once called me while on his honeymoon, but I didn’t know if that was because he had confidence in my abilities once more or if he was keeping tabs on me through someone else. Like he’d done on the home front with August.
The reminder of him asking August to keep an eye on me made me bristle.
“Declan,” I greeted him. “You still have time to check out your old man when you’re on your honeymoon?”
“Charles, I need you to do me a favor.” He just railroaded everything I said, not even responding, and it irked.
“I don’t owe you a damn thing, Declan.”
I actually did. I owed him a lot, but I was just so pissed at him for assigning me a babysitter. August already had an unflattering opinion of me, and he’d added to it.
“I don’t know what’s up with you, Charles, but this isn’t about you. It’s about Auggie.”
My whole body lit up at the mention of his name. What was I even doing here at this gay bar anyway when I knew exactly who and what I wanted?
“What about him?”
“Something’s wrong,” Declan said, his voice full of worry. “Listen to me. It’s serious enough for Owen to want to cut our honeymoon short and be on the first flight out of Greece tomorrow.”
Alarm bells went off in my head. “He was fine when I saw him three days ago.”
“That’s when he flew off the radar. Did you have something to do with this?”
Did I? What if I hadn’t been subtle enough about my attraction to him? But that wouldn’t have made him go ghost on everyone.
“He was doing okay when I left the house,” I said more to reassure myself than him. He had even asked me to stay the night if I wanted. “Maybe he just needs some time alone.”
“That might be the case, but we need to know for sure. Can you check on him now, please? Tell him to call his father, or we’re coming back home tomorrow.”
I was already off the stool and reaching for my wallet to pay for my drink. The thought of August being in some kind of trouble made me nauseous.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Dad.”
That one word almost broke me. He never called me Dad. Not anymore.
“Yes, son?”
“This is perhaps the most important thing I’ve ever trusted you with. Please don’t let me down. I’m doing all I can to keep Owen calm at the moment. The quicker you see to him, the sooner we’ll know what happened.”
Chapter 12
Auggie
Lucky whined at the ringing of the doorbell and disappeared into the hall, then returned with his tail swishing. Pawing at the covers trailing from me onto the floor, he eventually clenched his teeth around a patch of the material and pulled.
“If we ignore it, they’ll go away, boy,” I muttered, not