Page 113 of Take You Home

Obie tries not to fidget.

“Holy crap,” Sasha says, swinging around to face Obie fully. “It’s Kyle. You’re trying to get your mind off ofKyleright now. What happened?”

“Is he all right?” Trevor demands.

“Did something happen to him?”

“Did you two get in a fight?”

“Why are‍?—‍?”

Obie drops his head into his hands, groaning. “I despise both of you with every fiber of my being.”

“But is he okay?” Trevor persists. When Obie glances up, he seesthat Trevor’s eyebrows are pulled together in honest concern. “Because, you know, we really do like him, Obie. And he seems good for you. Nothing happened to him, right?”

Everythinghappened to Chester Locke. That’s exactly the problem. “He’s okay, I promise. We just had a… disagreement this morning. It’ll be fine.”

Privately, though, Obie isn’t so sure. He still can’t believe how quickly everything spiraled downhill this morning, how Chester’s sleepy smiles and his fingertips drifting over Obie’s skin deteriorated so rapidly into Chester denying that last night changed everything between them.

How are they interpreting this so damndifferently?How could Chester just continue with business as usual, just stay somewhere they could never be safe and never truly be together? Does revenge really mean more to him than a new future, abetterfuture?

A future with Obie?

“Oh,no,”Sasha moans, grabbing one of Obie’s hands in both of her own. “What happened?”

Obie scowls. “Don’t want to talk about it.”

Trevor’s eyes narrow. “Did he hurt you?”

Emotionally, maybe.Outwardly, though, Obie just scoffs. “Trevor, look at me. Do you really think a stick figure like Kyle could hurtme?”

He doesn’t relent. “Then what happened?”

Wearily, Obie pinches the bridge of his nose with the hand that isn’t currently held hostage by Sasha. “If I tell you, will you let me do my misery bowling in peace?”

“Absolutely,” Sasha assures him, patting his hand. Trevor nods encouragingly, leaning in. “Come on. Let the professional humans troubleshoot your relationship problems for you.”

Obie scrubs a hand down his face, considering. Obviously, he can’t tell them about theactualfight‍—not without revealing his entiresordid history with Chester‍—but he can give them the broad strokes without much issue. “So Kyle hates his job and lives in an apartment he doesn’t like,” he says at last. “I told him that I wanted him to quit his job and move in with me, so he could be happy and safe and‍—and so I could take care of him. He… took issue with that.” He shrugs one shoulder. “That’s it, I guess.”

Slowly, Sasha and Trevor blink at him.

And then, in unison, they turn to each other. “Red flag?” Trevor asks.

“Definitered flag,” Sasha agrees.

“Red flag?” Obie demands. “What do youmean,‘red flag’?”

“We’re gonna paint a picture for you, okay?” Trevor says, spreading his arms out wide. “First, though, we need an example to use for our teachable moment.”

“Kill me now.”

“Hush,” Sasha scolds. “Now, give us the name of a friend you really care about.”

“Maggie.”

Sasha wrinkles her nose. “One who didn’t start World War I.”

“Ez.”