Page 12 of Getting Hitched
Mason and Jack were seated at the kitchen table with cups of coffee. The bag of putrid clothes was gone, and the floor was clean. Everything smelled like lemons.
“Thank you for cleaning up.”
“You’re welcome,” Jack said. “Look on the counter.”
A bottle of whiskey sat next to the coffee pot, along with a mug and a plate with a cinnamon roll and two sausage patties.
“It’s not pancakes, but we were supposed to go to brunch in a few hours.”
“Oh, fuck.” Gray had forgotten they were going out with Henry, a kid Jack had mentored while he was at a local youth shelter, and Andy, the shelter director. It had been far too long since Gray had seen them, though Jack had kept him up-to-date on how Henry was doing with classes and work, and he knew the shelter had received a grant to fund an expansion.
“You don’t have to come,” Jack said. “They’ll understand.”
“No.” Gray joined them at the table with his doctored coffee and his plate. “I’ll come.”
Mason frowned at him. “You should sleep.”
“I think at this point I’d be better off if I just stay up until tonight, or at least until early afternoon when I can take a nap at a reasonable time. Otherwise my sleep patterns will just stay fucked.”
“What if you get called in tonight?” Jack asked.
“Don’t jinx me,” Gray said.
Mason and Jack talked, as he focused on his food, trying not to eat like a wild animal. He always woke up hungry, but when he didn’t sleep at all, he was twice as ravenous. He felt like he’d missed several meals during the night. The bear claw he’d gotten with his coffee last night was a distant memory. He took a sip of coffee and sighed.
“Good?” Mason asked.
He nodded.
Mason and Jack were both smiling at him, patronizing him more like.
“Did either of you stay up all night waiting for a drug sale only to find some men loading crates of food for a homeless shelter? No? Then don’t judge.”
Mason’s mouth dropped open.
“Oh my God!” Jack said. “Are you serious?”
Gray nodded. “Fucking right I am.”
They were both pressing their lips together, clearly trying not to laugh.
“Don’t do it.”
Gray’s annoyance seemed to be the tipping point. They both ended up facedown on the table cracking up.
“How?” Mason asked when the laughter died down.
“How did we get things so fucking wrong?”
Mason nodded.
“If I get a hold of my misinformant, I intend to find that out.”
“I can only imagine how pissed off you were,” Jack said.
Gray growled. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Just let me eat.”
Jack stood and kissed the top of Gray’s head. More patronizing, not that Gray really minded it.
