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“So how did y’all run into each other again?”

The two of us shared another look. My mouth twitched with the start of a smile I suppressed.

“It was at Gargy’s,” Klaus said, tamping down his own smile. “We… bumped into each other there.”

When I shoved my dick through the glory hole in the restrooms and Klaus gave me a handjob. Whilst he’d been mid-date with a creepy faun.

Dan probably would’ve enjoyed that part of the story. I’d seen his name scrawled in permanent marker beside that glory hole, still just about legible under the violent scribble of a ballpoint pen designed to scrub it from existence. Rafe’s doing, I was guessing.

But that didn’t mean we were going to share it with him.

***

I’d been wrong. Eventually my cock did go down, because Dan and Rafe stayed for so. Fucking. Long.

It probably wasn’t all that long in terms of what was socially acceptable—not that I was an expert on that—but it sure as hell felt like it. We sat in the backyard, sipping beers and chatting. Well, Klaus and Dan chatted while Rafe and I sat mostly in silence, piping up every now and then when one of us was asked a direct question.

They sorted out a schedule for Dan to come and work on his wigs once a week until he’d moved them all over to Rafe’s next door before Nat moved in. Dan spent some time gleefully filling Klaus in on what Crossbody and Vince had been like with each other at work while still pretending to hate each other but secretly fucking at the Elfknot Motel at the same time. They traded childhood stories and work stories, and then Klaus made the mistake of mentioning Frank and Beans’ recent visit to the Elfknot.

“Brian told me what they did,” he said. “That sounds awful. I’m so sorry. They—”

“Sorry, hold on,” Rafe interrupted. He’d sat up straight in his chair and was gripping the armrests. “Hold on. Did you just say they were staying at a motel?”

Klaus blinked, then cast me an unsure look. “Um, yes.”

“Here? They stayed at a motel here?”

“The motel I work at, yes,” Klaus said slowly, seeing my wince and starting to look worried. “I… Sorry, should I not have…?”

“Brian.” Dan was staring at me now. I winced again. “You knew they were here and you didn’t fuckin’ tell me?”

“Sorry.” My voice was a little hoarse with nerves. “It completely slipped my mind.”

“If it helps, they checked out a while ago,” Klaus piped up, trying to sound encouraging, like that was great news.

Dan spluttered in disbelief. “That just means they could be anywhere!”

“They did say they weren’t interested in you anymore,” I added quickly. “If it… if it makes you feel better.”

Apparently, that did not make Dan feel better. His head reared back, expression growing affronted, as if he was actually insulted by the fact that they no longer wanted to steal his head.

“They’re not interested in me anymore? What the fuck does that—Why not?” he demanded, reaching up to clutch his throat like a lady with delicate sensibilities reaching for her pearls.

“Uh, they said… What was it?” I looked to Klaus for help.

“Um… Oh! They said that pro wrestling was for losers…”

Rafe snorted as Dan gasped in offence.

“And, um… Oh, yes! Brian specifically told them to stay away from you…” He smiled kindly at Dan, as if this news made it all okay. “And they said that, um, well… that you needed to move on because you were still obsessed with them.” He was sounding less and less certain with every passing second. “And then they… they called you, um…” He trailed off.

“Called me what?” Dan asked sharply.

Klaus wriggled uncomfortably in his seat, voice timid when he finished, “Desperate.”

“Desperate?” Dan gasped in outrage.

“But that means they’re not interested!” Klaus hurried out. “That’s good news, right?”