Page 3 of Sam & Justin (Gomillion High Reunion #4)

“Yeah, been hooking up for a few months now.” He had a shit-eating grin on his face. “If we wanna get together later, we’ll figure it out.” He flagged down the bartender for another beer like his news was nothing.

“How come I’m only just now hearing about this?”

“Never asked,” he said with a shrug.

Guess he had a point. Most of the time, I didn’t bother asking him who he was seeing.

I figured if he had something worth sharing, he’d have shared it already.

It wasn’t like he was known for being particularly shy.

I’d heard more stories about his bedroom antics than I ever wanted to in the years since I met him at this same bar, shortly after I got to King’s Bay.

It wasn’t entirely one-sided either. He’d heard a lot about my ex when me and him started seeing each other.

He hadn’t heard a lot in the three years since we broke up though, mainly because there wasn’t a lot to tell.

“So, tell me about this thing with Lana? Serious?”

He shook his head. “Nah, man, we’re not serious. Just hooking up. She just got out of a shit situation last year, and she’s not looking for anything real.”

“And you are?”

“Not looking, but you know I’m not gonna turn it down if it comes my way.”

That was one area where me and Axel had always differed.

He was always there taking chances. I used to be like that when I was younger, but time had changed things.

I wasn’t the reckless little shit I’d once been.

Wasn’t sure I was even that guy when I was that guy.

I was just pissed at the world and kind of hated myself.

I’d grown out of that, and when I had, I’d left behind a lot of the other shit.

I didn’t have the same laissez-faire attitude toward life that Axel did.

Didn’t really know how the hell he did it.

He told me a little bit more about him and Lana.

He didn’t go into too many details, which was weird.

I was starting to think that things might not be as casual between the two of them as he was acting, but I knew better than to say that shit.

He’d figure it out on his own time. It was the same as with my clients.

It was important to let them come to the answers themselves.

But unlike with my clients, I didn’t have a reason to guide him toward the obvious conclusions.

“Anything new in your life?” Axel asked after we exhausted the subject.

“High school reunion’s coming up,” I told him with a frown. “Been thinking back to high school a lot.”

“Wasn’t that shit last year?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nah, I was a dumb kid. Took me five years to graduate.”

“You thinking of going?”

I sighed. “Not sure what the point would be,” I admitted. “Wasn’t really friends with a lot of people at my school, and I wasn’t a huge fan of Gomillion.”

He’d heard a few stories about my past. He’d been the one to pick up the pieces after I’d come out to my dad, when he kicked me out and told me I wasn’t his son anymore.

I hadn’t had a tight relationship with him even when I was younger, but it still hurt.

Axel had come over and found me drunk in the living room of my shitty apartment.

He made sure I didn’t drown in a pool of my own vomit.

I told him a bit that night. Hell, maybe I’d told him more than a bit.

Memories of that night were cloudy, but we’d come out the other side with an unshakable bond.

“I think you should go,” he said after a few thoughtful sips of his beer.

“Why the fuck would I want to go?”

“Show them that you’re not the same guy you used to be.

” I raised an eyebrow. “You told me that you were the kind of guy that no one thought would go anywhere, right?” I nodded.

“You’re not him anymore. You have your own fucking practice, man.

You went to fucking grad school, and you got your shit together. You even have a nice ass apartment.”

“I’m divorced. I spend my nights watching TV. I don’t remember the last time I’ve gone on a date.”

He nudged me in the shoulder. “You think you’d let your clients talk shit about themselves? Act like they haven’t done shit?”

I groaned. I fucking hated when Axel pulled that card on me. “So, you think I should go, huh?”

“I think you should go,” he confirmed. “Think you should go and show people that you turned out better than they ever thought you would.” He grinned a wicked grin.

“Then I think you should fuck some guy there. Have a one night stand with some guy you crushed on back in the day that you ain’t gonna talk to again, you know? ”

I laughed. “Always comes back to finding someone to fuck with you, doesn’t it?”

“Nah.” He took a sip of his beer, “But in this case? Fuck yeah it does.” I shot him a questioning look, because I didn’t see why it would get a fuck yeah on this one. “Look man, you don’t put yourself out there. Not since you and Tim split. Sometimes, I think you’re still hung up on that jackass.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not still hung up on Tim.”

He didn’t look like he believed me.

Maybe he was right. Maybe I should go to the reunion, find some hot hookup, and prove to him that I wasn’t still pining for my ex. Prove to everyone in my hometown that I wasn’t the piece of shit they all thought I’d grow into.

I kept thinking about it all night, and when I got home, I sent in the RSVP.

Looked like I was going back to Gomillion.