Page 121 of Rock Giant

“So, we’re just supposed to twiddle our thumbs for fifty fucking minutes.”They couldn’t even get on the bus, because it was all locked up, and Cave Troll presumably had the keys.

Paul stomped his way over to a nearby grassy verge and parked his butt.He did the hunched over the knees thing for a bit, before figuring what the heck and adopting a supine pose.The ground was hard, and the sky monstrously blue.His shades failed to take more than the faintest dazzle off the sun.He was thirsty, and the ground kept vibrating beneath him as if a mountain troll were taking a morning constitutional a few miles away.

Someone squatted on the grass next to him, and worse, didn’t fuck off when he failed to respond to their presence.“Not in the mood for company.”

“Did you guys have a threesome?”

“Fuck off, Ronnie.”He clapped his hand against the ground in dismay.

“Yeah, but you did, didn’t you?”Captain elastic grin settled in beside him, his skinny legs folding into some sort of esoteric yogic anomaly.“I thought it was a possible last night, and now, it’s the obvious explanation for why you’re all out of whack this morning.Emotional hangover: that’s the phrase.Luthor says lots of people get antsy after the fact.It’s all fun in the moment, and then their anxieties kick in, or they get jealous.”

“I’m not anxious, and my hangover is alcohol induced.”

He might as well not have spoken.

“I figured you’d been there and done that before, so it must be them not you having regrets, and hence getting you stressed out.”

Yay, psychic super sleuth strikes again!

How the fuck was it obvious that anything had happened?Other than when they got into the cars, he hadn’t even seen Jodi or Nash this morning, and he doubted either of them had had a heart to heart with Ronnie about what had gone down.The man was a walking security breach.Besides, if either of them had talked, Ronnie wouldn’t be here attempting to tease answers from him.Every bugger on the tour would already know every intimate detail of the encounter, right down to how many strokes it’d taken each of them to get off, and who they’d cried out to in exaltation as they came.

“Was it at least good in the moment?”

None of his business.

“I’m peeved that you didn’t offer me the chance to join in.Seems only fair.They’re a couple, we’re a—”

“We’re not a couple.”

“Fuck buddies.”

“We’re not fuck buddies.It was one time, Ronnie.Pretty sure I made that clear then.”

“I know but never say never.”

He sat and whipped the shades off.“Ron, no.I’m absolutely saying never.I don’t want or need you all over me like a rash.We’re not a thing.We’re never going to be a thing.You need to get this into your skull.”He made a half-hearted attempt to knock on Ronnie’s skull.The last thing he wanted was for anyone—Jodi—to think he had a side project.“The only person I’m interested in is Jodi.”God, it hurt to say her name.His throat closed even as he was trying to force out the syllables.“I got hitched to her for that reason.”

“Yeah, but she’s marrying the other dude.”

Paul pinched the base of his nose as his rising blood pressure caused a spike of pain to pierce his frontal lobe and exit through his nostrils.Cheers, Ronnie.I really needed that reminder.“Doesn’t mean I’m interested in your skinny arse as a substitute.”

“But you luvs me.”Ronnie made a dramatic swoon in his direction, clearly expecting to be caught.

Paul roughly shoved him away.

“Everything okay over here, kiddos?”Xane intruded, his long shadow falling over them both.Paul squinted, the sunlight hitting him right in the eyes, while Ronnie continued rubbing his arms and looking like a kicked puppy.

“Piss off, Xane.It’s none of your business.”

Xane’s pierced brow slowly arched.“That right?”He crouched, so he was on a level with Paul’s head.“I’m in a band with the pair of you.That makes any sort of discord my business.”

“There’s no discord.”

“Why are you fucking shouting, then?And why did I just watch you shove him off his feet?”

He wasn’t shouting.He may have very slightly raised his voice to make sure Ronnie got the message, and he might be on the verge of raising it a tiny bit more so that Xane got it, too, but he had not shouted.

Shouting would hurt his brain too much.