Page 31 of How Not to Date a Griffin

“Alright!” Reid hissed, and started from the beginning. John looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole rather than hear about Reid’s love life, but the five minutes came and went and he didn’t stand up and storm out.

Their food arrived and John stabbed his french fries in the ketchup like they’d personally wronged him while Reid finished his story.

“And then I just… walked off.” Reid groaned, leaning back in the booth and glaring at his burger and fries. It looked much more appetizing than that sad salad of Nolan’s, but that didn’t mean he was in the mood to eat. “I already know what you’re going to say, but I can’t help but feel like…” Maybe it was a mistake? “…there’s more to it.” It had just felt so big, whatever he’d had with Nolan in the short time they’d been together.

“You’ve just got a measly little crush. It’ll go away.”

Reid didn’t want it to go away, was the thing. He frowned.

“He looked so disappointed, J.”

“Of course he was,” John said with a pointed glance in his direction. “Look at you.”

Reid rolled his eyes, but John continued speaking. “You’re hot. And loyal. With integrity. Of course he wanted to see you again. It’s not his livelihood on the line here. He’s just a spoiled kid who’s sad one thing didn’t go his way.”

Crossing his arms, Reid swallowed back the defenses rising to his lips on Nolan’s behalf. That’s not the vibe he’d felt from Nolan at all. But explaining that to John would just dig himself deeper.

John sighed, setting down a fry and leveling with Reid. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m not the most sympathetic to your cause,” he said, grumbling. “But I thought you invited me to this thing to give me a story to run. I really need a story to run.”

“Why?” Reid asked.

“Because I’m about to lose my job,” he admitted, and Reid sat up a little straighter in alarm.

“What? Why? You told me your last evaluation went well!”

“It did, but they’ve decided to cut reporters anyway. And I haven’t had any good, hard-hitting stories lately. If I don’t find something to impress them, they’re gonna think I’m not pulling my weight and axe me.” John’s head knocked against the back of the booth. “They need something by the weekend.”

“Inside coverage on the conference won’t be enough?” Reid asked. But he already knew what John was going to say.

“Not if nothing newsworthy happens. If the deal goes through, it’ll be all over the news, and whatever I have to say about it won’t be but a drop in the bucket.” His gaze narrowed suddenly, and Reid shifted in the seat as his friend stared. A long moment passed before he spoke. “You wanna see that guy again?”

Reid did not like the tone of his voice. “Why?”

“Well, I mean, if you were hanging out with this Nolan guy… you’d probably be hanging around his dad a fair bit more, wouldn’t you?”

Reid braced his hands on the table, shoulders rising up around his ears. “No way. I am not spying for you.”

“Why would you think of it like that? Don’t think of it like that,” John insisted, pushing his plate away to give Reid his full attention. “Anything would be better than the nothing I have now. Even if it’s… I don’t know, he kicks dogs in his spare time or some shit. I don’t know! We both know he’s a piece of shit. There’s got to be something that proves it. Now that would be a story.”

“But I like this guy.” Reid swallowed as the admission rang true, clanging through him with a start. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Yeah… but we’re going after his dad, not him. From what you said, it sounds like the guy hates him too.”

“But I’d be using him to get to his dad. That’s not right,” Reid argued, hands sliding from the table to fall into his lap.

“What’s not right is what Whittier is trying to do to this community. You know these rich fucks are never innocent. Just… think about it. Please?”

Thinking about it wasn’t committing to anything. Reid could think. Wasn’t anything bad about that, right?

He nodded, and John laid a twenty out on the counter for their meal before gathering his recorder and bag. “I’m going to see if I can snap a few photos before heading back. Think about it, seriously, okay? I could use the help.”

Fuck. John knew how to get him where it counted.

Using Nolan to get to his dad? He couldn’t do that.

But helping a friend he’s known for almost… god, ten years?

It was hard to say no to that.