Page 25 of Pretty Poison

“Ask me,” Asher said.

Rocky swallowed hard. “About what?” He’d perfected the dumb blond act for when it suited him. This was one of those times.

Asher shook his head. “I’m not playing your games.” Then he continued shoveling food into his mouth while staring at the baseball game on TV like it was the most enthralling thing he’d ever seen. “Why are these green beans so good?” Asher asked a few bites later.

“They’re swimming in a pool of bacon grease and onions.”

Asher grunted. “What about this macaroni? What’s this crunchy stuff on top?”

“Breadcrumbs and butter,” Rocky replied. “Trish makes the cheese sauce from scratch. I can’t imagine how many batches of macaroni and cheese they bake in one day.”

“I’m guessing the cheese sauce isn’t made with Velveeta.” The processed cheese product was one of Asher’s favorite things in the world.

“Hell no.”

“I won’t hold it against her when she can make something this good.”

Rocky chuckled. “I’ll be sure to pass along your praise next time I see her.”

Asher’s phone rang, and Rocky muted the volume on the television.

“Duggy Bear,” Asher said into his phone instead of his typical greeting. Of course, Duggins would interrupt their dinner. Tim Duggins had made no attempt to hide his attraction to Asher in front of Rocky, but his husband had seemed blissfully ignorant of the other man’s feelings. He’d taken advantage of every bad thing that happened in Vegas to drive a wedge between Rocky and Asher.

And you let him win, dumbass.

“Yeah, I made it to Savannah okay,” Asher said.

The remark caught Rocky off guard. Asher had been here for a few days and hadn’t told Duggins? He glanced over at his husband, but Asher’s face was an impassive mask. Also odd. Where was the smile that usually tugged at his lips when talking to his best friend? Why weren’t his eyes dancing with laughter? Had something happened to drive a rift between them? Rocky’s mind spun with all the things that might’ve happened to cause friction between the longtime partners. He didn’t like a single one of them.

“It’s not been without hiccups, though,” Asher said.

Rocky faced the television and tried to appear as if he were caught up in the game. He couldn’t have told anyone what inning they were in or what the score was, even though the information was right there on the screen.

“My rental house wasn’t ready, so I crashed with Dandridge for a few days.” Asher stopped and listened to Duggins’s reply. “Yeah, I kind of wore out my welcome with his fiancé. The guy seems nice enough, but he didn’t seem keen on juggling his routine. Huh?” Asher asked. From his periphery, Rocky saw his husband glance over at him. Was he figuring out how much to divulge to Duggins? “Luckily, I ran into Ford this afternoon, and he’s letting me stay with him.”

Rocky turned his head and met Asher’s gaze. Rocky fell into them, tumbling ass over head just like Alice down the rabbit hole.

“Yeah, he’s here now,” Asher said.

“I live here,” Rocky snarled.

“What’s that?” Asher asked. Rocky wasn’t sure who his husband was talking to until Asher grinned and added, “Duggins says hello.” Rocky held up both middle fingers. His husband smirked at the immature reaction. “Ford sends his best wishes.” Asher chuckled at Duggy Bear’s response. “Nope. Both of them.”

Rocky could hear Duggins’s laughter coming through the phone, and his appetite disappeared. He took his leftovers to the refrigerator, then headed into the home office he’d set up in the smallest of the three bedrooms. The space was barely big enough to turn around in once he’d installed a desk and some bookshelves, but Rocky liked the cozy vibe he’d created by hanging some of his mother’s photos and vibrant watercolor paintings on the wall.

Asher’s laughter taunted him from the living room, but Rocky was determined to drown it out and ignore both the man and the feelings he inspired. The only way to accomplish his goal was to throw himself into his work. Rocky powered up his computer and clicked on the icon for the software Avery created for the podcasters. It allowed the partners to upload documents, photos, and case-file notes so that everything was in one tidy place. The setup also linked the guys to all the search engines and databases they used to run background checks and investigate people. Since they were a team, each of them could access any of the uploaded files.

His favorite features were the chat boxes and link for teleconferences. Whenever one of them was using the program, their avatar showed up in the upper left corner. Rocky glanced up and saw that Felix was online. He clicked on the cartoon version of his favorite reporter and selected “chat” from the menu. Avery had made it possible to chat one-on-one or in a group.

Rocky typed,What the hell are you doing on here?He hit enter and the chat box changed from blue to green when Felix clicked it open. A reaction message let him know Felix was responding.

What the hell are you doing on here? Asher already pounded that cube steak?

Rocky buried his head in his hands. Damn Marla. He shook his head and typed a response.I bet she called you as soon as she got home.

Ha! You’re so cute. Marla called me before she left your street.

Rocky chuckled as he typed,I hate you.Bantering with Felix was exactly what he needed to decompress.