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I’dtoldChief I didn’t want to work with Harlow. Not for selfish reasons though. I didn’t want to work with him because it wasn’t fair to Harlow. But Chief thought I needed to be taught a lesson from my younger days and own up to my shit.
So, he was forcing me to do that. Fucking cock sucker.
“Well, you look mighty fucking happy,” Colwyn drawled, taking a seat on the stool beside me. I grunted when Slater took the one on my other side. I already knew I was about to get an interrogation, and frankly, I wasn’t in the mood for one.
What I wanted was some peace and quiet to figure out where in the hell to go from here. But now that these two fuckers were here, that wasn’t happening anytime soon.
“What do you want?” I muttered before lifting my beer bottle to my lips to take a sip.
“Want to know what in the hell is going on with you and the new guy,” Slater said, leaning back in his chair and resting his ankle on his knee—the poster boy for relaxation.
I rolled my eyes. “Nothing is going on,” I grumbled, looking back at my drink.
“Really?” Colwyn asked, not believing me for a second. Never expected him to, though. He was good at calling people on their bullshit. Frankly, I thought he got off on it, but I wasn’t ballsy enough to tell him that to his face. Colwyn could be a scary mother fucker when he wanted. “Chief doesn’t talk to people privately in his office unless they did something stupid. So, what happened?”
I sighed. “I tried to get out of working with Harlow.”
Slater snorted. “Bet that went swell.” I cut him a dark look. He just met my gaze evenly. “Well, why the hell don’t you want to work with Harlow? He’s quiet. Keeps to himself. Doesn’t bother anyone. Really, you think about it, he’s kind of the perfect person to be stuck with all day.”
I sighed. They really weren’t going to let this go. “We have…history,” I finally settled on.
“Hmm,” Colwyn hummed, sounding a little intrigued. “History. What kind of history?”
I scrubbed my hand down my face. “Can’t you two just leave it fucking be?” I asked, slamming my hand on top of the table. Neither of them even flinched. Not the least bit surprised by my outburst.
“Nope,” Slater said, popping the P. I glared over at him. He arched a brow at me. “Either you can tell us, or we can hound your new best friend about it.”
I sneered at him. “Harlow isnotmy fucking best friend.”
Colwyn snorted. “Well, that sounded full of hostility. What’s the story, Xavier?”
I grumbled under my breath about them being dicks and nosy ass pricks, but even still, neither of them let up. Goddammit.
“Christ. I bullied him in high school, okay? He’s gay, and I fucking gave him shit for it.”
“What an asshole,” Slater muttered, casting me a disgusted look for a moment. “You’re fucking gay. Why the hell would you target another gay guy? Hell, why the fuck would you even bully anyone at all?”
I huffed, leaning back in my chair and draining the rest of my beer. “Because I was a dick,” I told him honestly. Colwyn grunted in agreement. “And I was a closeted gay in high school, though I’m pretty sure Harlow saw through that. He called me out enough on my boners as it was. But my reputation meant more to me.”
Colwyn shook his head. “You and you dumb teens,” he grumbled. “I’ll never understand why you guys do half the shit you do these days.”
“Alright,old man,” I mocked, glaring over at him. I knew I was stupid back then. Young and dumb. More worried about what my peers thought about me than being true to myself.
I’d matured. I’d changed. And Slater and Colwyn both knew the kid I was back then was not the man I was now.
Colwyn snatched my beer away just as Joe set it on the table and knocked it back just out of spite. I scoffed. “Dick.”
He just grinned at me.
“So, what’s your plan here?” Slater asked, sitting forward, his eyes focused on me.
I shrugged. If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be sitting here contemplating my fucking life choices.
3
Harlow
