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I have faith in you, Greg responded.
Maybe you should pray for Brody instead.
There’s a stretch of desert out that way mobsters used for getting rid of people.
Holden smiled and texted back:Don’t give me any ideas.
Holden:But murder would mean I’d only get to see you for conjugal visits, which wouldn’t be nearly enough. Love you.
Greg:My lips are sealed. Hang in there. I love you too.
“Come on, H-man. I know you’re texting her. Is she something special? Is that why you don’t want to brag? Or maybe I got the wrong idea. Maybe she’s just a piece of ass you’re just stringing along so you’ve got a regular thing when we’re in LA. That’s smart thinking, actually. We’re out here so much.”
“Brody.”
“Yeah?”
“Just shut up, okay? I said I don’t want to talk about it, and we’ve got three hours together in this car. Please leave it alone.”
If he’d hoped that would be the end of it, Holden was sadly misguided. Brody kept on badgering Holden, his references getting cruder and cruder as Holden struggled to keep his temper in check and ignore him. Holden would have liked nothing more than to text Greg, but he was worried Brody would see what they were saying or, worse, grab his phone, so he turned it off and stowed it in his messenger bag.
“I’ll bet you like the screamers,” Brody said as they exited the 405, turned north onto 14 and, left the LA Basin behind. “I can’t see you liking the trash talkers, the ‘come on, Ddaddy, put it in me’ bit—”
“That’s enough,” Holden said. “Yes. I’m seeing someone. Yes. It’s serious. And no, I absolutely don’t want to talk about it with you, nor do I want you to say another word about what you think I like or don’t like. Or what you like. Because you know what I really like, Brody? I like respect. I like people who treat sex like it’s something special, not like it’s some arcade game where you rack up points for how many orgasms you score. I also like people who can carry on a conversation without degrading or demeaning others. I like people who recognize that not everyone has to think the same way, or look the same way, or act the same way because they’re comfortable enough with themselves not to need everyone else to conform to their worldview. Because that’s what all your bluster and bullying comes down to, and I’d like it to stop.”
Brody shook his head. “I knew you weren’t one of us.”
“If you mean one of the bigoted assholes you’re friends with, yes, you’re correct. I’m not. But if you mean a professional who works for Far Sight and recognizes that we have a job to do, I am. One hundred percent. If you want to talk through some of the issues the sims are having and plan out a strategy for tracking down the source of the glitches, great. I am all for that. We make a good team. At work. But we are not friends. I doubt we ever will be. And I will not tolerate another comment or question about my personal life. Is that clear?”
“I was just being friendly.”
“As I said, we are not friends. We are coworkers. If you want to talk about work, we can discuss the sims. But my personal life is off-limits from now on.”
“Okay. Okay. If you’re gonna be that butthurt about it, fine. I was just joking with you. That’s just how I talk. I’m sorry if you thought I was giving you a hard time ordemeaningyour woman.”
Holden resisted rolling his eyes at the way Brody had turned things around so he was the aggrieved party, but at least Brody seemed to have gotten the message for the moment. Holden pulled his computer out of his messenger bag and opened it up. “Thank you. I’m going to take a look at some of the reports again. Do you want to talk through them or wait until we’re on base?”
Brody gave him a shrug. “Whatever. You’re the tech guy—those reports probably mean more to you than they do to me. Just give me the highlights.”
Despite continuing to give him occasional side-eye, Brody stayed remarkably quiet for the rest of the trip, and Holden was able to get some work done. Several times, he wanted to text Greg, but he held off. He might have established a truce with Brody, but he didn’t trust the guy farther than he could throw him.
Chapter nineteen
Greg
AlthoughmeetingupwithHolden hadn’t ended the way Greg would have liked, he felt giddy all the way home. Sitting in the back of his Lyft, he replayed the past month and couldn’t believe how perfectly things between them had worked out. From meeting at Neon to the flight into Denver and the snowstorm, those incredible days in the mountains getting to know each other, and now this.I love you. Greg had said those words before—he’d even said them to Wes—but looking back, he knew now that what he’d been feeling was wishful thinking. He’dwantedto be in love. He’d wanted to feel the way Luis and Darius did, the way characters in the rom-coms they watched seemed to feel. Nothing he’d experienced before came close to how he felt with Holden. They fit together so easily Greg could almost believe fate had brought them together.
You are the love of my life. Holden’s words sent another wave of giddiness through Greg. He wished he’d said it back because he was pretty sure it was true. He’d found someone who accepted him, who didn’t think he was too much work or came with too much baggage. Yes, they had a few things to work through, but those were logistics. Greg’s carrier had hubs on the East Coast; he could transfer to be closer to Holden. It was also possible Holden would want to transfer out West. They hadn’t had time to talk about it yet, but Greg knew with absolute certainty that it would work out for them.
His mother knew it too, and she’d said as much to Greg before sending him back to LA to be with Holden. “It’s the way we do things in this family,” she’d said. “We fall hard, we fall fast, and we fall forever.”
On a whim, he took a selfie and sent it to Micah.Looks like you’re not the only one who’s found his happily ever after.
He laughed when Micah sent back a string of heart and champagne bottle emojis and spent the rest of his ride home filling Micah in on the details. As the car pulled up in front of the condos, Micah texted:I’m happy for you, babe. You deserve it. Sounds like Jake and I need to head your way to check this guy out. Love you!
Greg:Anytime. Would love to see you.
Greg was smiling as he got out of the car and climbed the steps to his unit. The sun was shining, and it seemed to give everything an extra bit of sparkle and shine.I’m such a sap, Greg thought as he fitted his key into the lock.Next I’m going to be singing Disney tunes with a bunch of animated birds floating around my head.
