Page 34 of Pain

"There is?" Xander feigned shock.

"Maybe it's you who needs to get laid," Dyson teased.

"You're not kidding. It's been months. Maybe we should hit the club tonight."

"Can I bring a date?"

Xander sighed. "You have a date?"

"Yeah, but he'll be good going to the club if you want to go find someone to play with."

"Play with? I want to fuck them, not pull out my Lego set." Xander laughed.

He sighed. Not even the thought of picking someone up at the bar appealed to him. He was in a rut, and nothing was pulling him out of it. "Go on your date, I'll be fine. I'll binge watch something or other and try not to think about how you're getting lucky and I'm not."

"Jealous? I can ask if he's got any friends."

"And they would all want relationships. You know that's not me. I want twenty minutes and a fake name."

"Then you need to get on Grindr." Dyson laughed.

"Fuck, and risk having Bryon find my profile? No thanks." Grindr was sadly one of the main apps that pedophiles used to pick up young boys. It was amazing how the online and digital world held so much less appeal now that he knew how much bad came from so many of the social media sites. If he ever had kids, he wasn't letting them near a phone or a computer until they were thirty.

"You sure you don't want to go out? It's really okay. We didn't have solid plans. He just wanted to hang out."

"Nah, I'm good. You go have fun. I'll be fine. I'll work on the fire pit out back and just be lazy."

Dyson stood. "Alright, but call if you change your mind. I hate to see you waste a Friday night."

"Won't be the first time." Xander tossed his feet up on the couch where Dyson had been sitting. "Give me a call tomorrow."

"I will." Dyson waved as he took off out the door.

Xander reached for the remote, looking for a movie or something to watch. It was only two in the afternoon, which meant he had a very long and quiet night ahead of him.

He was almost asleep when the sound of his cell phone echoed from the table across the room. Forcing himself up, he nearly tripped over the shoes he'd left beside the couch as he tried to reach his phone before it went to a message.

"Hello?"

"Xan, it's Matt."

"Hey, what's up?" He hadn't said more than hello to him in passing since the night they'd had a beer at his house.

"I was wondering if you're busy." Matt's voice cracked, and he sounded upset.

Xander was paying full attention now. "I'm not doing anything. What's wrong?" He prayed it wasn't bad news about Faith.

"I just got a call from the detective working on Faith's case. They found a body, but it wasn't Faith, but there was a bunch of girls' clothing with it. Some of it matches the description of what Faith was wearing. They want me to come down and look at photos. I really don't want to go alone, but I don't want to make my sister go through this with me. Do you think you could go?"

"Of course, I'm on my way right now. I'll pick you up in ten minutes." There was no way he'd make Matt go through this alone.

"I can meet you there." Matt sounded nervous.

"No, you don't need to be driving right now. You're on my way. It's nothing to pick you up. I'll be there soon."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Xander was already slipping on his shoes. "Matt, don't assume anything okay? Don't let your mind get ahead of the facts."