Rock Bay 2 - Letting Go (8 page)

The thought was sleep-induced and hazy, and Drew couldn’t help but be relieved. He lay there silently for a few minutes, happy to be on his own, before his mind woke up all the way and realized that Brock would
never
wake up in the middle of the night to go home to his wife. He was up to something. There was about zero chance of it being something good.

Drew dragged himself out of bed and pulled on jeans and his running shoes. If he knew Brock, there was only one place he could be.
Fuck
.

It took a long time to start his car in the chilly evening. Probably because he hadn’t used it since the last time he’d gone to Astoria, days before. Drew had originally thought it would be faster than jogging down to Lex’s shop, but it was getting to the point that he might have to make a run for it. Then the car started. Drew gratefully gunned it out of his parking spot and sped to the coffee shop on the corner of Old Main and Marshall. Drew was sure that was where he’d find Brock, pissed about Tally and ready to start a fight.

There was no Tally when Drew got there, only a police car and an ambulance, Brock in handcuffs, and a stretcher getting loaded in the back of the ambulance.

“Lex?” Drew shouted. Brock looked up. “Wha’ the fuck you doin’ here?” he slurred. “Is that Lex? What did you do, Brock?” One of the police officers got in his way.

“Sir, we need you to step back. Mister Barry is on his way to Ocean Beach hospital over in Ilwaco. You can meet him there.”

“What happened to him?” He kept moving forward. The police officer held him back.
“There was an altercation. He received a blow to the head. The hospital will have more information for you.” Drew looked at the stretcher where Lex was lying, still and unresponsive.
Where is Tally? I have to call Tally.
Drew followed the ambulance, making calls to Amy and then the only place he could think of where Tally might be instead of Lex’s.
This whole fucking thing is my fault.
He wished he could’ve left well enough alone. Tally and Lex had been happy. Now they weren’t living together anymore, and Lex was unconscious and on the way to the hospital. And the whole fucked-up mess was his fault.
Way to go, asshole
. He vowed right then to fix it. As long as Lex was okay. Lex had to be okay.

Chapter Six

 

I’
M SUCH
an idiot
. Mason was mad at himself for

building that whole mystery guy thing up in his head. Sure, the guy was hot. Sure, they’d exchanged a few heated glances and one awkward hello, but he was
straight
. And he was friends with that douche who’d been making fun of Lex. What an asshole. Mason vowed to stop wondering and what if-ing about the guy,
Drew
, from then on. He would never want to be with someone who’d want to be friends with an asshole like that Brock guy. He couldn’t believe that Lex was with someone who was.

Part of him wished he’d stayed around and talked to Lex about it. Things had gotten so awkward after that scene outside the movie theater that he’d booked it home. He hadn’t wanted to be around for the showdown that was sure to happen. Later, he thought it might have been nice for Lex to have a friend there who wasn’t involved. Except he was involved. At least in his head, where he’d made up all these little scenarios about how it would be when he started dating the cute mystery guy. He’d told himself it was boredom, loneliness. Unfortunately, it was Mason reacting to how much he was attracted to myster—Drew. Drew. He had a name. A cute name, at that.

Not thinking about him anymore. Not doing it. He’s an asshole. Or friends with an asshole. I don’t want any part of that.

Mason made himself lie down, thankful at least that his shift didn’t start the next day until afternoon. He’d have time in the morning to go for a jog or do some dishes. All the things that he rarely had the energy to do. He turned his phone to silent and closed his eyes, used a few breathing techniques that he’d learned in a yoga class in Seattle to relax, and soon, due to yoga breathing or maybe just pure exhaustion, he fell asleep.

He got up in the morning to a text from Amy. It had come an hour or two earlier when he was still asleep.

Lex is in the hospital. He’s okay, though. Asshole Brock hit him with a bottle. He’ll go home later today. I called in sick so you’re on Phyllis watch.

Wait, what? How had they gone from drunk Brock and Lex at home to them being in some sort of brawl that involved bottles?

WTF?

 

He texted back. There was a long wait, then his phone beeped. He’d been about to call.

Sorry. I was up all night. Tired. It’s a long story. Explain tomorrow. Lex is fine. Please watch Phyllis.

Phyllis. The nurse who wasn’t. They’d had a few near catastrophes even in Mason’s short time at the hospital over Phyllis not doing her job. Mason knew Amy desperately wanted to get her fired and replaced with someone else, but there was some complicated political reason she was still there that he didn’t even want to deal with. Something to do with a cousin on the medical board or something.

Yeah, hon. I’ll watch Phyllis. You sleep. Keep me updated.

Mason dragged himself out of bed. He felt even worse about the night before after hearing what Lex had gone through. He planned to text Lex the next day, as soon as they were both home, to see how he was doing. Hopefully Tally was taking care of him. Mason hadn’t gotten the best first impression of the guy. Maybe he was wrong, though.

Work was long. It always was when he had a shift without Amy. He liked the other nurses, but they were professional. It wasn't like it was between him and Amy. He considered her a friend. They could joke with each other and be dumb, and it made the day go quicker. She was also far better at dealing with Phyllis than he was. Mason ended up doing half of the things that Phyllis was supposed to do. He couldn’t wait till Amy returned.

“
L
EX
?” Drew knocked quietly. He wasn’t sure if Lex would be sleeping, or still on pain meds, or about ready to go nuts, like he would be if he’d been on apartment lockdown and mainly bed rest for two days.

“It’s open.” Lex’s voice sounded bored and weary.

Drew tentatively turned the knob to Lex’s apartment and stuck his head in the door. Lex was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels. “Daytime TV sucks,” he muttered. The television went blank with a flick of his remote. “What are you doing here?” Lex didn’t look too thrilled to see Drew. He wasn’t exactly hostile either; Drew took that as a good sign.

“Um, hey. How are you?”

Lex shrugged. “My head hurts, and I hate sitting still. On the plus side, I just broke up with the guy I love. I guess you could say I’m fantastic.”

Ouch
. “I’m really sorry, Lex. That’s why I came here—to tell you that.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too. This isn’t how I imagined shit would be right now.”
Drew sighed and sank down onto Lex’s leather ottoman. “Listen, I feel like it’s my fault. I asked Tally to get involved with Brock. I should’ve dealt with my problems on my own.”
“What
was
all that? Why do you need to be friends with Brock?”
“I’m not really friends with him.”
Actually, I kind of hate him
. “Reality sucks. I got most of my business clients through him. I’m not in a place where I can afford to start over.”

Lex looked at Drew quietly for a moment. Drew’s collar started to feel tight. “I don’t think you’re in a position where you can afford
not
to start over. We aren’t twenty anymore, Drew. Do you want to be playing this game when you’re forty? Fifty?”

“No.” He didn’t want to play it tomorrow.

“Then it might be time to cut the cord and deal with your losses. You never know. The people around here might be more reasonable than you think. They’re all adults. They don’t have to do exactly what Brock says.”

Drew and Lex both knew that was a lie. The people were sheep. If Drew was blackballed, he’d be blackballed but good.
Shit
.

“So are we doling out advice here?” Drew asked. He was tired of talking about his problems; it was time to focus on someone else’s.

Lex’s face grew wary. “What?”
“Defensive, much? You know what. He loves you so much, Lex. That whole thing was my fault. Why are you punishing him?”
Lex coughed. “Is he downstairs? Did you talk to him?”
Drew was a bit afraid to talk to Tally. He hadn’t seen him since the emergency room. “Travis is covering closing tonight. I think Tally’s pretty mad at me. I haven’t tried to talk to him. I’m pretty

mad at myself, to tell you the truth. And I think I might have ruined things with—”

Shit
. He forgot Lex and Mason were friends.
Mason
. Every time Drew even thought his name, he had to smile. Too bad Mason probably thought he was the biggest asshole in the world and would never in a million years talk to him.

“Ruined things with who?” Lex smiled the first smile Drew had seen on him since he’d walked in. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

“Not really.” Drew already felt dumb for his anonymous crush. Why make it worse by admitting it to someone who actually
knew
the guy.

“C’mon. I’ve been cooped up here for two days. I’m going nuts. I need some entertainment. What’s this drama?”

If he was going to put it like that.
“I have a crush. I know Tally had to have told you that.” Lex nodded. “So this crush, this guy that I didn’t even know, well, I met him finally.”

“That’s good!” Lex’s face crunched in confusion. “But why is it ruined.”

“Because it turns out the guy is your friend Mason, and I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m an asshole.”

“Because of the other night?” Lex considered it. “Hanging out with Brock doesn’t make you the best candidate for awesome boyfriend—but then again, look what my awesome boyfriend did.” Lex rolled his eyes.

“So he is still your boyfriend?”

 

“I didn’t say… oh. I guess I did. Wait, you’re changing the subject.”

Drew grinned. “I tried.”
“You really have a thing for Mason?” “I’d like to see if I could have a thing for

Mason. We don’t even know each other. Just had a few really intense strangers-in-the-night moments.”

“I’ll text him,” Lex offered.
“No!”
“But how will you know if he’s—”

“You didn’t see the way he looked at me the other night.” But Lex wasn’t listening. He leaned over and snagged his phone from the top of his coffee table. Before Drew could react, he was typing into his phone and holding it over his head.

“This is dumb,” Drew muttered.

 

“
No
, it’s dumb for you not to take a chance. Maybe he likes you too.”

 

“I didn’t even know he was gay until the other night.”

Lex smiled. “You’ve been hanging out with Brock too long. You have a lot to learn.”
Lex’s phone beeped a few minutes later. Drew had been trying to hold a conversation, but it hadn’t been very successful. Instead of actually listening to what Lex said, he’d been mentally tapping his fingers.
Please say yes, please say yes, please say
—
“Oh….” Lex looked embarrassed.

Fuck
. “See? I told you.”

“He just said he’s not dating right now, which is true!” Lex shifted uncomfortably on his couch.
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, I looked like an asshole the other night. I didn’t stick up for you guys and… just never mind. Listen, I have to go. I just wanted to stop by.” Drew stood and adjusted his jeans. He looked everywhere but Lex’s uncomfortable face.

“Okay,” Lex answered softly. He picked up his TV remote and fiddled with it.

Drew had to get out of there. He did this half wave, half god knows what and turned with a quiet “See ya” at the door, and then he was out in the hall feeling like an idiot for getting rejected by a guy he didn’t even know.

He really likes you. You should’ve seen his face.

M
ASON
cringed at the text. He’d felt bad turning Drew down flat when he knew that Drew was standing there waiting for the text. Part of him also had a hard time letting go of that fun fantasy he’d had. But Drew wasn’t a fantasy. He was a real guy, and real guys were trouble. Especially for Mason.

No way, Lex. He’s friends with that guy. He’s not out. Too much drama.

 

He wants to come out. It’s a work thing.

 

Would you accept that from Tally? Are you even talking to Tally?

Mason got silence for that text for a long,
long
time. He figured he’d really pissed Lex off, and he wouldn’t hear from him again. It wasn’t until Mason was driving home from work that he got Lex’s reply. Instead of a text, though, it was his phone ringing.

“Hey,” he answered. “I figured you were mad at me.”

Lex sighed over the phone. “At myself mostly. I’m not talking to Tally. Not really. I mean, he tells me what’s been going on in the shop while I’m stuck up here looking like Frankenstein. It’s awkward.”

“And?”

 

“And I miss my boyfriend.” Lex paused.

“Fuck. I hadn’t even admitted that to myself yet.” “So what’s the holdup ?”
“Why won’t you take Drew’s number?” “Not the same thing. I don’t want to get into