Free Rock Bay 2 - Letting Go by M. J. O’Shea Page A

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