I had to smile as he started listing everythingout. “Um, all of it?”
Dare shrugged. “You guys can keep playingit like roommates if you want to, since that’s what you kind of are anyway. Idon’t think anyone needs to know anything else. I’m not sure it would even comeup. It didn’t with most of the other places.”
I slowly nodded as Dare turned to focus onthe road as the light turned green. “I just wasn’t sure.”
“We want two bedrooms anyway, and we’re notmarried, so there’s nothing on the applications that will make them curious. Ithink we just keep looking like friends out searching for a new place.” Ryanwas still half-turned in his seat watching both of us.
“You’re probably right.” After Ryan tellinghis parents and Sean starting to get curious about my life, I was probablyobsessing.
Some of the apartment managers we’d metlately had looked at us funny and some hadn’t seemed to think anything wasweird about two guys and their friend looking at apartments.
The guys kept looking at me like they wereconcerned. “What?”
Dare met my eyes in the rearview mirror andgrinned faintly. “You seem worried.”
Did I? “Sean’s been asking questions. Maybeit’s making me overthink things.”
Dare didn’t understand why Ryan sighed andshook his head, so I started filling in the gaps. “Sean is my assistant atwork. He’s great at his job, but he’s…”
I wasn’t sure how to describe him, but Ryandidn’t have that problem. “He’s an ass. Total gossipy drama queen.”
Dare chuckled. “I’m assuming he’s gay? Isthat common? I pictured you as having some secretary named Bambi or maybe anolder iron-fisted lady named Agnes.”
“I wish.” Either of those would have beeneasier. “I think someone in HR thought putting the only two gay guys in thefirm together would give us something to bond over. He just thinks I’m boring.”
Ryan snorted. “He likes to get in themiddle of the office drama and thinks his way is the only right way to be gay.”
Dare almost choked as he started to laughand cough at the same time. When he finally caught his breath, he glanced backat me in the rearview mirror. “So I take it he and Ryan don’t get along?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I keep them veryseparate.”
I’d always gone to the office functions bymyself, but Ryan had come in a few times to meet me for lunch or when we’dneeded to go over his portfolio and make changes. The office knew him as myfriend and that was it.
Dare grinned at Ryan. “What happened? Therehas to be a story there.”
Ryan scoffed but finally relented andfessed up. “Sean hit on me when I went in the first time. Let’s just say he wasnot happy when I told him I wasn’t interested in him.”
I chimed in. “By the time they met, I’dalready overheard Sean telling some of the other admins how boring I was.” Ryanhad taken immediate offense to that and declared Sean persona non grata.
Dare was trying not to laugh, but hecouldn’t hide how funny he thought the whole thing was. “That guy thought hehit the lottery with a nice, hot, smart gay guy as a boss and then discoveredgay boss had a hot best friend and neither were interested in him. That had tobe such a letdown.”
Ryan shook his head. “He’s hot, but notworth the drama.”
I had to grin that time. “He’s also abottom who kind of plays the submissive type without actually meaning it.”
“Ah, so he hit all the wrong buttons foryou two… not being honest, too much drama, not being able to keep his mouthshut, not being a Dom, but also not being a sub either.” Dare clearly thoughtit was hilarious.
“Yep.” Then I shrugged. “But he’s usually agood admin, which is what matters. He heard me talking to you earlier in theweek, so I think that’s got him curious. He’s been popping into my office atodd times lately, and when I told him I needed to take this afternoon off, he askedif I was moving in with my boyfriend. He doesn’t even know if I’ve been datinganyone, so he was clearly fishing.”
“And you ending up as the topic of officegossip would be bad.” Dare didn’t seem to mind that, so I nodded.
“Yeah. I’m not sure how I want to describeus yet, but that’s mostly because I’m private at work.”
“You’re privateeverywhere.” Dare’steasing was accompanied by a huge grin that said he didn’t mean anything by thecomment. “And like I said before, I don’t need you guys to buy a huge billboardand announce it all over town. We’ll figure it out.”
Knowing how sincere he was when he saidthat made me even more comfortable. We’d figure it out. “I might tell some ofmy ladies eventually because they’d think it was great.”
Ryan chuckled. “Oh yeah, but they don’tseem like the type to screw you over.”
