The vibration in his pocket forced a scowl. He pulled out his phone. “What’s up?”
“You were supposed to call me when you got in, knucklehead,” Aidan said.
Bull chuckled. It was a good thing he knew his best friend well enough to recognize his odd brand of affection. “I took an earlier flight. I figured you were still working, so I called a ride share.” The silence through the phone line was unsettling. Bull glanced around, the emptiness weighing on him.
“Is the big and smiley Bull lonely?”
“Jerk,” Bull said with a huff. Aidan 2.0 was a far better person now than the grumpy guy he had served with ages ago. But sometimes, Bull preferred the pre-Jessie side of Aidan who was blissfully ignorant to emotion. Aidan’s partner had somehow awakened that part of his friend’s brain that heightened Aidan’s awareness of those around him. Bull couldn’t hate on him…on either of them. He had gotten to know Jessie a few years back when tasked to play bodyguard. They had become fast friends. Thankfully, Aidan hadn’t become jealous of their friendship.
“You should go visit your sister. It’s been a few months,” Aidan said.
Bull glanced at his watch and quickly calculated the commute there and back. “I’ll swing by tonight.”
“No. You should stop by her job. Tomorrow…after ten. She’ll be less tempted to kick your ass at the shop for not being around for the holidays.”
Bull frowned. Even with Jessie’s influence, Aidan wasn’t super sensitive to others, and he sure as shit wouldn’t care about sparing Bull from an ass kicking. In fact, Aidan would likely want front row seats as he munched on popcorn and cheered. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Go visit her.”
“I’ll call—”
“So she can rip into you about how it would have been just as easy to have called her sometime in the last three months? Go by tomorrow. Consider it…a surprise.”
“Oh-kay,” he said slowly, stretching out the small word.
“And Julian’s doing his barbecue thing this weekend. You should come. You know you have an open invitation.”
Bull narrowed his eyes and pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the display to double-check he was actually talking to Aidan Calloway. He returned the phone to his ear. “You’re starting to freak me out.”
“Shut up. Jessie’ll be there. He misses you.”
Oh yeah. Something’s definitely up. “Uh-huh.”
“Now get your ass off that couch and stop moping around feeling as if you’re the King of Lonely Hearts. It’s depressing.”
“You’re such an ass.”
“And you’re predictable as hell. And I’m sure the holidays all alone sucked. Tell me you’re not sitting on that old-ass couch feeling sorry for yourself?”
Bull sighed.
“Go see your sister tomorrow at work. It’ll…perk you up.”
Bull scoffed. He and his sister were so much alike that they’d probably commiserate and trade stories over coffee about how hard she worked and how her dating life suffered because of it…after kicking his ass for not calling.
“Bull,” Aidan said with a sigh. “You’re not a loner, never have been. Trust me. Go see her tomorrow. I’ve got to go. Jessie just got home.”
The call disconnected. Bull groaned as a tingle of jealousy trickled into his system. He was happy for his friend and the relationship he had with Jessie, but he wouldn’t deny the evil green monster that reared its ugly head when he saw them together.
He could narrow his relationship failures to two critical flaws: Honesty and trust. He enjoyed the globe-trotting freedom that came with his freelance work, but none of his relationship partners had ever agreed it was a job perk. And his easygoing nature hadn’t helped. Texts, phone calls at random moments to check in on what—or who—he was doing grew more annoying. Maybe it was the need to rebel after his time in service. The thought of someone hovering over his every move, keeping tabs on him, questioning every action and carefully controlling every reaction…it all made him twitchy. He wanted trust. He needed honesty. Especially since he had never been the cheater in his relationships.
He was monogamous. Period. Always had been and hated how others assumed the contrary.
He rose from the couch and grabbed his suitcase, refusing to dwell on the ignorance of others. Tomorrow, he’d stop by and visit his sister. Tonight, he might as well start with some laundry.
Ben held the clipboard as he counted off the items on the shelf, making a note of the inventory that needed to be replenished with the next order. Even though he hadn’t been able to help with