I didn’t have to think hard, smiling. “That he shouldn’t have had to workthathard to get us to be good friends.”
Reggie grinned. “And in that irritated way he of his when he wasthisclose to being over your shit.”
I nodded. “I can’t picture what he’d say about this development.”
“I think he’d…” Reggie began and then stopped with a frown. I could see him working through his thoughts, and I gave him the moment. Then he opened his mouth and frowned. “What the fuck?”
“What?” I asked, turning to see what he was staring at. Then blinked as I watched headlights approach from the front drive and circle around to the entrance. “What the…oh hell, Jude!”
“Wow, we forgot your son,” he said, and slapped himself on the forehead with a sigh. “What in the?—”
I yanked on my jacket, momentarily forgetting what we’d just done, and about the best friend that I might or might not have been insulting with what we’d done. What mattered was that my son was down there, and while I was going to give him holy hell for not giving me updates, I was glad to see him face to face for the first time in weeks.
“Go,” Reggie said with a laugh when I gave him an uncertain look. “I’m not going to collapse into a pile of self-doubt ridden goop just because you want to go see your kid. Go on now. I’ll meet you after you guys do your father and son moment down there, unless you wanna give him the tour and I’ll just go to bed?”
“I probably should, huh?” I asked.
“You should; he’d love it, then I’ll take over after he’s got some sleep,” Reggie smiled and then surprised me by leaning close and kissing the corner of my mouth. “Good night, sleep well when you get there…and no more drinks, you’ve had enough.”
“Sure,” I said distantly, touching where his lips had been and watching him as he left. “Sure thing.”
Ah, this wasn’t anywhere near over.
REGGIE
“So,”I said, tucking my phone against my shoulder and looking at my tablet. “Just how late did you guys stay up last night?”
“Not terribly late,” Marc said, but his tone said different. Now I knew hecouldbe a good liar; that just came with his previous work, but he wasn’t that good. Well, that or I was just better at reading him than most people and knew when he was lying.
“Mmm, well, I have things to do today that don’t involve putting tasks off because I’m waiting for your son to wake up,” I said with a huff, and then glanced around the cafeteria to make sure I wasn’t overheard.
“We agreed we wouldn’t announce who he was,” Marc grumbled in my ear.
“My apologies,” I said, meaning it, and then pivoting because I wasn’t going to pass up a golden opportunity. “Then again, if someone wasn’t frustratingly lying to my face, sort of, then I would have remembered that detail. You know how hard it is for me to keep track of things when I’m frustrated.”
He gave an aggrieved sigh. “We stayed up until around two, and probably would have stayed up later, but he was falling asleep, so I took him to his room, gave him the quickestoverview, and let him go to bed. I assume he lasted less than five minutes, if that, before falling asleep.”
I checked the time. “Eight hours sleep should be enough. Or should have been.”
“Not everyone sleeps odd schedules like we do,” he reminded me. “He probably forgot to set an alarm and is tired enough that his body has forgotten it’s supposed to be three hours ahead of us.”
“So…wake him?”
“I…as you said last night, you’re taking over today. I leave that in your capable hands.”
“Wow, you said that like you were only in a little pain. I’m impressed.”
“Because I’m not thrilled about being hands-off, even though I know it’s the better option. Not because I don’t believe your hands are capable.”
“I love when clarify, it gets me all tingly.”
“Reggie.”
I blinked, and he snorted. “The best part? I didn’t even mean it likethat. But since you took it in that direction?—”
“Absolutely not,” he said, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he was trying to hide a smile; I could hear it in his voice. “Please, at least attempt to behave while you’re in public. We haven’t even…just behave.”
“Love it when you get all bossy.”
