all these events. He promised me he’d take better care of himself, but obviously, that was bullshit, or he was just placating me. We got into an argument over it, and we both said some shitty things. I can’t be what he wants me to be.”
“What did he say he wanted you to be?”
Joker blinked at Jack. “What do you mean?”
“What exactly did he say he wanted from you?”
“Well, he didn’t literally say he wanted me to be anything, but he did. He said I couldn’t even make it through one event. It obviously bothered him since he threw it in my face. Why else would he ask me to go with him?”
Fitz shrugged. “There are a million reasons he might have asked you. Maybe he thought you’d feel left out if he didn’t invite you, or that you’d think he was embarrassed by you, or that you’d want to go because you were dating, or that you might enjoy a party since you work entertainment events, or—”
“Okay, yeah, smarty-pants, I get it.” Fuck. Was it possible Gio had asked him for a completely different reason than Joker had thought? What if he’d told Gio he didn’t want to go to his events?
“What exactly did you think he wanted from you?” Jack asked.
“I thought he wanted what Colton has. You know, how Ace goes with him to all his parties and events, charms the pants off the guests, shows his support.”
“And you thought the only way to show your support was to force yourself to be Ace?” Fitz patted his arm. “Oh, honey, think about that. No one in their right mind expects anyone to be Ace. I’m pretty sure Ace doesn’t expect half the shit he does or says.”
Joker snickered. “You’re not wrong.” Was it possible he’d gotten it all wrong? “Maybe he doesn’t expect me to be Ace or go to all his events; I’ll give you that. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s not serious about taking care of his health, and I can’t be at every event to make sure he does. He’s not taking his health seriously despite the fact he’s on medication now and has a fucking service dog.”
“He got a service dog?” Fitz asked, a hand going to his chest.
“I, uh, well, I got him a service dog. Cookie. He was trained for Gio’s type of condition but lost his owner a while back. He’s a two-year-old golden retriever.” Joker couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “The two of them are a couple of big dorks together. They really hit it off.”
Jack stared at him. “You got Gio a service dog?”
Heat crawled into Joker’s cheeks, and he nodded.
Jack’s expression softened, his words quiet when he spoke. “You’re in love with him.”
No fucking way. Joker was ready to deny everything. He opened his mouth to tell his best friend to fuck off, but instead something else came out.
“Yeah, I think I am.”
Fuck. He was in love with Gio.
Joker met his friend’s gaze, his heart in his throat. “I love him.”
Ten
This couldn’t be happening.
Gio sat on his couch with Cookie, his head on Gio’s lap as he stared up at Gio with big brown eyes.
“I’m a fucking idiot,” Gio said to no one in particular. A glass of water appeared before him, and Gio blinked up at Saint. He’d forgotten Saint was there. Good God, he’d witnessed the whole awful ordeal. Taking the glass from Saint, he thanked him and took several sips. His phone rang, and his pulse sped up. He answered without checking the ID.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Colton said cheerfully.
“Oh, hi.”
“Um, okay. I’m sorry to disappoint you. Clearly, you were hoping it was someone else.”
“I’m sorry,” Gio replied with a sigh. “You know I’m always happy to hear from you.”
“Right. I was calling to see if you and Joker wanted to join me and Ace for lunch, but it sounds like you’ve got something else going on.”
The back of Gio’s eyes stung, and he cleared his throat. He petted the soft fur on Cookie’s head. “Sacha’s not here. He… um, likely won’t be coming back.”
There was a long silence before Colton spoke up. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Colt—”
“We’ll be there in ten minutes,” Colton repeated.
“Okay.” Gio hung up and slumped back against the couch. He took another couple of sips before placing the glass on the coffee table next to him. “Colton and Ace are dropping by,” he told Saint, who merely nodded.
When the doorbell rang exactly ten minutes later, Saint went to