Page 22 of Tempting Fate

Chapter Eleven

Emerson

I watch, frowning, as Jamie all but runs from the pub. The man who just joined us—I didn’t catch his name, and I don’t think Jamie knows him well, either, not from the way they shook hands—pats Dax on the arm when he goes to follow.

“I’ve got it,” he says.

Vince scowls and opens his mouth to protest, but Nick shakes his head.

“Might be better sending someone new,” he mutters.

I don’t understand at all. It makes little difference. The man ambles out into the evening air, leaving me staring after him.

Is something wrong? I drag my gaze away and fix it on the glass in my hand instead. I debated coming tonight. I’m here for a job, not necessarily to make friends. Of course, being friendly with the people I’m living with can only be a good thing, but I could have begged off. Could have said I had to work or had plans already or any of the numerous excuses I’ve used to avoid gatherings in the past.

Only, I didn’t want to, did I? Jamie asked, looking ever so hopeful, so of course I said yes immediately.

“He’ll be all right,” Nick says quietly. “It’s nothing as serious as you’re thinking.”

Does he know what I’m thinking? I’m not even certain that I do.

“Yeah, no, I—We didn’t have to come here. If it’s a problem.”

“It’s not,” Vince says. He speaks a little louder and ends the utterance with a sigh. Dax, his boyfriend, purses his lips in what I think is displeasure. Vince’s eyes flick to the man behind the bar.

He’s still staring at us. Has been since we walked in, and I can’t work out why, the same way I can’t work out why I’m so worried about Jamie, or why my skin feels tight, stomach all fluttering. The man who just joined us was talking to him for a minute before. They obviously know each other well.

“Who is he?” I ask before I can stop myself. I’m staring back at him now. I can’t help it. His eyes look dark from this distance, but I can’t tell their true colour, even through my glasses. He’s wearing a forest green jumper, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he plants his hands on the bar now, absolutely unabashed to be caught looking.

“Patch,” Dax says, sharply enough that I snap out of the weird trance I’m in. Somehow, Patch seems to, as well. He pushes off from the bar and busies himself at the counter behind, but from this angle, it looks like he’s just moving things around. “I lived with him before Vince and I moved in together.”

“So you’re friends?”

A smile curls the corner of Dax’s mouth. “Yeah. The best of. He’s usually much… calmer than this.”

“Has something happened?”

Dax shrugs. “He’s not said anything,” he replies, and it feels awfully like he’s avoiding the question.

I scowl and take another sip of my drink. I asked for pop, which seems like a good decision, considering I’m now thinking how much less awkward it would be if I had a couple of pints in me. No. I’m on my best behaviour. Not my fault that Patch is strangely intense and Jamie is just…

I look helplessly at the door again. Whatever he is. How ever he is.

“I’m gonna get another,” Vince says, and Dax grabs his arm, giving him a significant look. “No, it’s fine. I’m done, see?” He holds up his empty glass, shaking it from side to side.

“I’ll go,” I say. If Jamie’s problem is with Patch, then maybe I can find something out. If not, at least I can tell him it’s rude to stare. “What did you order?”

Vince looks at me, then at Dax, then at Patch, then back at me again. “Uh… Yeah, okay. Just a beer. He knows what I like.”

“Nick?”

“Yeah, same for me, too.”

Cecile shakes her head, and Dax holds up his half-full beer when I look at him. “I said I’d get Jamie a drink,” he says, and I nod. I’ll grab that one, too.

I square my shoulders and walk up to the bar. This close, I catch the way Patch’s back stiffens, which only serves to make annoyance rise in my throat. Do he and Jamie have something going on? That’s fine. It’s not like anything would happen between the two of us anyway. Or not like it should.

I can’t figure out what else it could be. Either a breakup or Jamie isn’t interested, surely. Dax doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d be friends with a homophobic dickhead. Don’t see how that would be possible when he and Vince are living together.