Free Bowl Full of Cherries by Raine O'Tierney Page B

Livery.”
    “Fine. Sondra, Crowley, and I can go without you. It’s not like we need you there hating everything.”
    “Oh yes.” Rell sighed. “Because how would I stand out if I was hating everything just like everyone else in the club?”
    “Assuming we don’t run off the road again—”
    “Again?” Rell asked.
    “—we’ll be there about three-thirty or four. Make sure you’re not late.”
    “You want me not to be late, when you don’t even know if you’re going to make it or not?”
    “Be there, you prune,” Tyler demanded.
    “So random.” At that moment, his mother walked by and Rell waved at her, motioning to the phone. With a final little grin, Rell said, “So, you wanted to talk to Mom, right?”
     
     
    “W HERE ’ S C ROWLEY ?”
    “Hello to you, too, Tyler. You’re welcome for the whole picking you up thing.”
    Tyler grunted something that may have been close to a thank you and slammed the car door behind him. “I hate the snow and wish it would die.”
    “Good thing it’s all green grass and balmy weather in Susset,” Rell harassed.
    Tyler let his head fall against the window, and he sighed. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. Xondee drives like an insane person . Even in a blizzard. It took forever. It was cold as ass—”
    “In my experience, ass has always been quite warm.”
    “And now I’m riding with Mr. Comedian. For three more hours .”
    “Three if we’re lucky. Could be four or five.”
    “Where’s Crowley?”
    “I asked if he wanted to come and he said no. Kinda awkwardly,” Rell said honestly. All he’d done was walk in the room and Crowley’s face had gone nine shades of red. When Rell asked if he wanted to ride along, the other man had barely been able to stutter out an excuse. “Guess he hates you now, Tyler.”
    Tyler rolled his eyes pointedly. “Probably didn’t want to spend hours on end trapped in the car with you.”
    Yeah, that’s what Rell was afraid of. He just didn’t understand why . Everything had been going so well. Crowley even said he enjoyed hanging out with Rell. And then this morning, everything was awkward. Maybe he’d snored all night?
    “All seriousness, brother, how did you find such a cool friend?”
    “All of my friends are cool.”
    “If by all you mean none , or if by cool you mean dillfucks .”
    “If you and Crowley are getting along, maybe I should reconsider our friendship,” Tyler sniffed, probably joking. Hopefully joking.
    “And what’s weird, you’ve never even talked about him. I mean, until Mom told me to pick him up, I’d never heard of the guy. You….” With all the self-control he could muster, Rell schooled his voice. It was too easy to harass Tyler, and this wasn’t something he wanted to joke about. “Are you guys dating?”
    “Nope,” Tyler replied casually.
    “’Cause you know it’s okay if you’re gay, right?”
    “Oh, thank God you said so, Averell. Now I can finally come out of the closet.”
    “You don’t have to be a dick about it.”
    “Don’t say stupid things and I won’t be a dick.”
    “I just thought since you usually bring your girlfriends home… and Crowley told me he’s gay. And you did take a guy to prom.”
    “To make a statement. Susset can be so vanilla. But Crowley isn’t my boyfriend.”
    “Is he….” Rell didn’t know why he hesitated when he asked. “Is Crowley dating anyone?”
    “Nope,” Tyler said, and tolled his head to look at Rell. “Why are you so interested?”
    “Making conversation. Sorry. You want three hours of silence? I forgot my iPod.”
    “Got mine,” Tyler said, digging it out of the pocket. He had to stretch his legs almost straight, pushing up off the seat to be able to reach into the pocket of his skinny jeans. After a moment of grunting, he triumphantly produced an iPod that looked fresh off the assembly line. “Crowley’s never dated anyone.”
    “Wait, what?”
    Twenty-two years old, good-looking, cool, a talented musician.