Page 10 of Unrequited Sloth

“Gabriel wanted to ask you what a good wine was. He prefers Chardonnay.”

Langdon cocked an eyebrow at Gabriel, who felt his face heating. How did Bobby know what his preferred wine was? He didn’t drink at the family dinners in case he said something he shouldn’t. Gabriel could be a loose-lipped drunk, and he wasn’t taking the chance of saying something mortifying in front of his entire family. He only intended to have one drink tonight, and then he’d be out of here.

“We’ve got something new I think you’ll like. Beer for you, Bobby, or a rum and Coke tonight?”

“I’ll try the wine as well,” he said with a smile.

“You get the rest of the bottle free when you order two glasses on a Monday, so I’ll bring that over,” said Langdon

So much for having one drink! “We can go up or order on the app,” said Gabriel.

Langdon waved him away with his hand. “I’ll start a tab if you’re eating?”

“Yes, we are,” said Bobby without hesitation.

Fuck! What was he supposed to do now? Say no and look like an arsehole?

“One request, though, Bobby,” said Langdon. “Don’t do your usual windup on the food order tonight. Ryan’s in a tetchy mood, so don’t set him off.”

“Is he okay? Can I go back and see him?”

“I’ll let him know you’re here and he can come out and see you if he wants to.”

Bobby nodded, but the concern was clear on his face. It was how Gabriel would be if he heard the same thing about Alex. He could say it was the big brother thing, but Bobby was the youngest of his siblings. Once Langdon left to sort their drinks, he looked at Bobby, who was smiling at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re going to love my idea.”

Gabriel looked at the big grin on Bobby’s face and the sparkle in his eyes and knew that come the end of the night he’d have agreed to go to Las Vegas.

CHAPTER 4

BOBBY

Bobby couldn’t help but feel anxious as the plane left the runway. He wasn’t a nervous flyer, but the last few weeks had been stressful as fuck. If Alex hadn’t been away on her hen do at the same time in Dubai, Bobby would have cancelled this weekend. Something was wrong with his fiancé. He’d barely seen her all month, and when they were together, it was like he was with a stranger. The only action he was getting at the moment was in the shower, but it wasn’t about that; she was avoiding any form of intimacy, and he felt suspicious. He’d been cheated on before, so he couldn’t help where his mind went.

Bobby believed in his heart that Alex would never cheat on him. She loved him, and he knew that. The last girlfriend who’d cheated on him had been hard to get over. It had been with one of her neighbours. Bobby hadn’t known the guy, but he had spoken to him a few times in passing. Knowing who it was had made it a hundred times worse. Not that being a random stranger would have made it any better, but knowing what the person looked like meant he couldn’t stop himself from picturing it in his head. Bobby hated personal confrontation, though, so he hadn’t pushed Alex on what was wrong, and the couple of times he’d asked if she was okay, she’d practically torn his head off. It had ended up being best to keep his thoughts to himself. Not healthy in the long-term, and he knew that, but he hoped after the wedding things would get back to normal.

At least he had Gabriel sitting next to him. They’d met up a couple more times over the past few weeks, and Bobby loved their conversations. Gabriel could talk about any subject, and he was one of those people who genuinely listened to what you had to say, even if he disagreed. Most of his friends talked over each other and postured about how much money they had, or how many women they were fucking. It was tedious conversation, which had been fine in his early twenties when he was in solicitor training. Now it just made them sound immature. None of his friends were close to being married yet either. Perhaps that was what it was. They were still playing the field and travelling all the time. Bobby was getting married and saving for a house. Maybe he was the boring one. A few of his friends had said it enough times when he hadn’t wanted to go out after rugby practice.

They were sitting in upper-class seats, whilst his mates were in premium economy or economy. Gabriel had arranged it through his points as a surprise. Dillon hadn’t been pleased at check-in, but his best friend had been stressed lately, working long hours as he was chasing a promotion, and Bobby didn’t know Gabriel had arranged the upgrade. What was he supposed to do? There was no chance he was turning it down. None of the others would, and they’d been happy for him. Only Dillon had been pouting like a child. Bobby was loving the legroom, given how tall he was, and the menu looked heavenly. He was going to have the steak, as he couldn’t believe he could have it cooked to his liking on a plane. How did they do that?

“Are you okay?” asked Gabriel.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Looking forward to a few days away from work.”

That wasn’t really true. He loved his job, and the Rainbow Futures case was something he thought about all the time. Working directly with Daniel was such an amazing opportunity. The way his mind worked had Bobby in awe, but Daniel always wanted to hear his view on the case too. Daniel could easily use Bobby for all the grunt work, but he didn’t. The law firm he’d done his training at was toxic as fuck, and he hadn’t realised that until he’d moved to another company.

“You’re not a good liar,” said Gabriel with a smile.

“Sorry. Just a lot going on.”

Gabriel nodded with a look of sympathy on his face. There wasn’t anything more he could say. If he shared his concerns about Alex, Gabriel would naturally defend his sister, and it would make the next few days awkward. He’d wanted Gabriel to be there, not only as his future brother-in-law but as his friend as well. There were only five years between them, but Gabriel felt like a grown-up compared to all his other friends. The man had his shit together, and Bobby couldn’t understand why he was still single. Gabriel was a catch, and any man would be lucky to have him.

Bobby was looking forward to his trip to the Grand Canyon with Gabriel, which had more limitations than it used to, given the damage from millions of tourists every year. It was just Bobby and Gabriel going on the trip. That had been the way he’d persuaded Gabriel to come. Bobby knew Gabriel wanted to visit all seven natural wonders of the world, and this was an opportunity to actually go inside the Canyon. It was a private excursion, not for a group of drunk guys to act like immature dicks. He hadn’t broken that news to Dillon yet, but had just said he wanted a day clear so he could hit the shops. That way his best man wouldn’t have planned anything. Bobby had always wanted to see the Grand Canyon as well, so it was a double win.

Once the seatbelt signs were turned off, he headed back and checked on the others. Gabriel was watching something on his tablet. At a glance, it looked like two guys going at it, and he wondered if Gabriel was watching porn, and then it switched to a scene that looked like they were at some form of gala. Unless the budget was higher for gay porn, he was watching an actual TV show. Not wanting to get distracted, he headed back into premium economy and found Dillon with three of their friends. The rest were in economy class.