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“Of course I did. When have you ever known me to miss a party?”

“Well, you’ve been walking around in a dream the last few days, so I wasn’t sure you were going to remember,” Dean teased.

Sloane smirked. “Isn’t that normal for him?”

Troy cocked his head with a grin. “Aw, Sloane, I didn’t know you paid that much attention to my day-to-day attitude.”

“You wish.”

“I might have a thing for grumpy, but I havegoodtaste in grumpy men,” Troy said.

“Hey!” Dean protested, curling an arm through Sloane’s protectively.

Sloane bent down, kissing the side of Dean’s head. “Ignore him. You know he’s prone to acting out when he has to stand still for more than a few seconds.”

Troy ignored the jibe if only because he’d watched Dean’s face light up at the small gesture of affection Sloane had given him. Then again, Sloane’s grumpy expression had softened considerably when he caught the look on Dean’s face.

“You two are so sappy,” Troy finally said.

“Damn right,” Dean shot back.

Troy wasn’t going to blame him, he was probably just as goopy and sugary when Oscar was up close and personal. It wasnice to see his friend happy, though, and he gave the other man a wink.

“Want to head in?” Dean asked, nodding toward the front door.

“Yeah, let’s get this party started,” Troy said.

As they walked through the front doors, Dean sidled up next to him.

“Oscar not coming?”

Troy pulled his phone from his pocket, seeing no new messages. “I don’t know, actually. I forgot to ask him this morning and haven’t heard from him since this afternoon. I mean, this isn’t really his scene.”

Troy shrugged to show he wasn’t bothered, but the look on Dean’s face said he didn’t believe him. With everything that had happened, Troy was willing to accept going alone for the evening. It wasn’t like he expected Oscar to suddenly be okay with being out to everyone overnight just because his brother had been okay with it. Troy would accept little steps at a time.

Troy walked into the main room and nodded in approval. “Wow, they did good.”

It was nothing extravagant, but the main hall's normally somber, deep wood had been softened with white and gold. Tables were laid out along the walls, with eight chairs at each. A dance floor had been set out near the back, where some people already gathered while quiet music played. People were still filing in, and most headed toward the back right-hand corner, where the bar was.

“Let’s go find ourselves a seat,” Dean offered.

Troy agreed, pulling out his phone to look at the lock screen again before pocketing it with a flicker of disappointment. Oscar would have been free from his desk by now. It wasn’t like Oscar wasn’t busy, but he’d remained oddly quiet for the past couple of hours.

As they found a table in the corner for the three of them, Troy couldn’t help but wonder if Oscar was avoiding him. It would be odd behavior for the normally direct man, but Troy couldn’t ignore how Oscar had once walked right out of his life instead of being with him and facing their problems. Was Oscar worried that after settling things with Gabriel, Troy would find a way to push Oscar to come to the Gala with him as a couple?

“You alright over there?” Dean asked.

Troy blinked as he realized he’d been quiet for too long. “Oh! Yeah, sorry, just tired and, well, maybe a little hungry too.”

“You know the dinner part of the evening isn’t for another couple of hours, right?” Sloane asked.

Troy snorted. “I’ll suffer.”

Dean leaned in closer. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” Troy assured him.

“You could try calling him,” Dean said softly.