Chase didn’t respond quite as quickly, but about five minutes later the phone rang again.
“What’s up, boss man? Enjoying your vacation?”
“How’s it going, Chase?”
“Same as always.”
“Good to hear.” He paused, weighing his next statement carefully. He didn’t want to start shit with Chase, especially since he couldn’t be there to deal with the aftermath. Not that Chase was the type to cause trouble. The whole thing suddenly made him nervous, having never had to call out his friend like this before.
“Uh, Chase, you haven’t happened to meet Samantha yet, have you?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve talked to her a few times.” He cackled. “You weren’t kidding about her. I can see why you’re keepin’ her around.”
Nick gritted his teeth, which delayed an appropriate retort.
“It’s probably working to your advantage that you’re stuck in bed all the time, am I right? Does the cast get in the way, or is she pretty flexible? She looks pretty flex—”
“Chase!”
“What?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“What?”
Nick growled. “You can’t talk that way. Not about Samantha.”
“Why? Because she’s yourgirlfriendnow?” Chase cackled again and then made a whip cracking noise. “I see she’s already taken ownership of your balls.”
“She’s not my girlfriend, and my balls are still intact. She’s a good friend who’s helping me out through all this so keep your dickheaded comments about the whole thing to yourself.”
“What the fuck did I say?” Chase demanded.
“You know what you said,” Nick retorted, although he didn’t actually know what Chase had said. He just knew it was bad. “Word travels fast, even when I’m not there.”
Chase made another whip cracking sound.
“Would it kill you to keep things professional?”
“Since when does what I say behind the scenes matter?”
“Since now! It’s inappropriate,” he sputtered, recalling Sammie’s words from their first interaction.
Chase groaned. “Ahhjeezus. You must’ve hit your head pretty hard. It’s obviously turned you into an uptight prick. Or is Samantha still not putting out? Can’t imagine you’ve been able to take her on all of those dates. You must be jerkin’ your jimmy constantly—”
“Chase!” Nick bellowed. “That’s enough. Consider this your formal warning. If I hear about any more unprofessional comments, there’s going to be hell to pay. And don’t think I won’t do it either.”
Chase scoffed. “Dude. Who the fuck are you anymore?”
“Just remember what I said,” Nick warned. “I’m not fucking around. Things can’t stay the way they were anymore. It’s causing problems for the restaurant.”
Chase scoffed again. “Yeah fucking right. We’ll see how appropriate things are once you’re back on your feet.”
“Formal warning,” Nick threatened.
“Pfft, whatever. Later, douche bag.”
Nick tossed the phone down and groaned.
