Free Scorched (Sizzle #2) by Sarah O'Rourke Page B

finger to his left.  “Look, I had to sleep in my car in the garage last
night because I was too afraid to go back into the lion’s den, guys.  I don’t
want another night like that.  Besides, this isn’t even my fucking war to
fight. This is your battle, Kemo Sabe, so I suggest you take your ass
home and suit up for the game.”  Taking a hard look at his normally pristinely
dressed employee, he shook his head at the man sitting next to him now.  Nobody
would accuse him of being a fussy dresser today.  Clad in baggy jeans sans belt
and an oversized red flannel long sleeved shirt, Nick Santino had completed the
ensemble with a battered baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.  “What the hell
are you wearing anyway?” Devil asked.  “You going for that fresh-from-the-forest
lumberjack thug look?”
    “Shut up,
Devil,” Nick grumbled under his breath, reaching for the glass of Shiraz he’d ordered
from the bouncy scantily-dressed waitress that had been by their table earlier. 
“I’m trying to fly under the radar.  That’s kind of hard to do wearing a Gucci
suit.”
    “Well, trust
me, nobody’s gonna recognize you right now,” Molly’s brother, Grant Ramsey,
chuckled, eyeing the younger man sitting across from him.  “Exactly who are you
hiding from, though?  Based on what Dev here has told me, I don’t exactly think
Armando is combing the streets for you.  Besides, I’m fairly certain Mannie
might revoke your gay card if he saw you in that get-up.  Redneck gangsta
thug is not in your color wheel, my friend.”
    “Look, I’m
not exactly trying to hide from anybody.  Not really,” Nick muttered
into his glass.  “I’m just not necessarily trying to draw attention to myself
right now, thank you both very much.  I’m just not interested in advertising my
presence back in Atlanta.  At least not until I figure out how to explain to
Armando about my fucked up family.  Besides, I was actually really comfortable
for a change on the flight into town.  I told Mannie that there was something
to be said for casual clothing, but he insists that clothes make the man.”
    Devil snorted
as he tilted his beer in the direction of the other man.  “Son, at this moment,
you’re damned lucky I like you.  Otherwise, I’d have taken out a damn billboard
over your head the second you deplaned over at Hartsfield-Jackson and pointed
the four Musketeers your way.  Despite your well-thought-out disguise as a
straight man, I don’t think it’d distract them for long.”
    “I might not
fool the man I love and his three best friends, but it’s not them I’m trying to
avoid.  It’s the rest of Atlanta that I’m trying to dodge.  Being stopped
twelve times a day and congratulated on my upcoming nuptials was fun as hell
when I was positive I had a groom waiting in the wings for me.  Now, not
knowing if I can even begin to gain Armando’s forgiveness….I don’t exactly feel
like playing the gushing gay groom of the year, you know?”
    “Ohhhh,
you’re gonna fix this,” Devil growled back, leaning forward to clutch
his highball glass of scotch with one hand.  “That’s not negotiable,” he
informed the younger man while he waved one hand in the air, signaling the
waitress for a refill.  “Seriously, I’m going to have to insist that you pull
your shit together and commence kissing whatever you need to kiss to get
Armando from my house back into YOUR house,” he informed the younger man while
he waved one hand in the air. 
    “You think I
don’t want that?” Nick asked, sounding desperate.  Running a hand down his
unshaven cheek, he shook his head.  “I’ve called his cell at least fifty
times.  I’ve left him over two dozen voice mails.  And that’s not even
mentioning the texts I’ve sent.  Devil, he won’t talk to me.  For God’s sake,
YOU, my boss, picked me up from the airport while my boyfriend did what? 
Nursed his grudge toward me?”
    “And a killer hangover from