Page 9 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

“Oh my god.” Gabe slaps a hand over his mouth. “Is that a dick?”

“It’s a cactus dick,” Dawson manages between giggles.

Gabe loses it then, a laugh bursting out of him. “That’s priceless. God, I love that so much. You took it home, right?”

“Took it home?” Dawson gives him an incredulous look as he pockets his phone. “I made sure it’s hanging on the wall.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did.”

Their laughter grows in volume, a few dine-in customers turning to see what the commotion is about. Gabe shoots them an apologetic smile, trying to tone it down.

“I don’t think Cal’s happy,” he points out. Cal is glaring at them from outside, his lips pursed in an unhappy pout. He clearly knows what they’re talking about—Dawson must have teased him about the painting a lot. It just sends Gabe into another fit.

Dawson throws a glance over his shoulder, waving at Cal. It just makes Cal glare harder. “Guess I better make it up to him,” Dawson says with a shrug.

“Another donut?” Gabe offers.

Dawson rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

“It’s good to see you happy,” Gabe tells him a couple minutes later when he’s handing Dawson the drinks and paper bags with the donuts.

“Thanks. I am,” Dawson admits, sounding almost shy. “It’s all so weird, still.”

“I bet.” Who wouldn’t find it weird if their asshole husband got into an accident, only to wake up with complete memory loss and a personality that’s 180 from who he used to be? “But weird doesn’t mean bad.”

“No, I know.” Dawson looks at Cal who’s picking up Donut’s poop with a less than ecstatic expression. “Doesn’t make it any less scary.”

“The best things in life usually are.”

“Thanks, Yoda.”

“Be nice to your barista,” Gabe warns. “Or you might end up with something extra in your drink.”

Dawson’s eyes narrow. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“You know what? I think I’ll leave a scathing review on Google.”

“Go ahead. It will get lost among the hundreds of raving ones.”

“We’ll see.”

By the time Dawson and Cal leave, Gabe is back to his high spirits, even though his mind occasionally wanders to the sad stranger from this morning. He’ll likely never see him again, so he can only hope the man will get all the good things he deserves.

Chapter 3

“How do you likeyour new job?” Ellis asks, propping his phone against a pile of files so he doesn’t have to hold it. He’s not normally one to make personal calls at work, but Jordan is technically his employee, so it counts as work-related, right?

“It’s alright. Not really different from what I did before.” Jordan smirks at him from the other side of the screen. “Just proves that I did everything for you when you were still here.”

“Fuck you,” Ellis says, fighting a smile.

Damn, he misses his best friend, with all his misplaced remarks and twisted sense of humor. Jordan’s had his back for the past seven years, always ready to step in when needed. He didn’t even hesitate when Ellis asked him to take over for him in Sydney.

“What about you?” Jordan inquires. “You look like shit.”