Page 16 of Worth the Wait

Bowie looked toward him affectionately, if not sadly.

Jack was pretty sure his friends were fucking each other.

The waitress came and dropped their food, topping off everyone’s coffee before making a hasty retreat back to the kitchen.

“They want me to move.”

Joseph’s fork clattered against his plate, but he recovered smoothly, picking it up quickly and stabbing into a pile of scrambled eggs.

“Oh,” he said succinctly. “I hear they have tornados out there.”

“Not in the city,” Bowie corrected.

Joseph raised his eyebrows and shoved a bite of food into his mouth.

“You thinking about it?” Jack asked, slicing into his eggs Benedict. He glanced briefly at the empty seat beside him and wondered what breakfast foods Callum liked. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped out a quick text to ask him.

Me: When I make you breakfast for the first time, what do you want?

“Of course,” Bowie answered. “The traveling is exhausting, and the homes out there are insane. I could have a mansion for the rent you pay on that apartment you have.”

“But it’s Kentucky,” Jack said with a laugh, sliding his phone back into his pants.

“It’s a red state, you know,” Joseph added.

“I haven’t made any decisions yet, guys,” Bowie assured them. “There’s no exciting news we need to discuss yet.”

Jack chewed thoughtfully while he watched the way Joseph’s shoulders tensed. He’d inched away from Bowie and his movements were now rough and jerky. Everything about him radiated anger straight into the side of Bowie’s face.

“Are you guys fucking?” Jack blurted.

Two pairs of eyes snapped up and locked on his face. Bowie looked genuinely surprised at the question and Joseph looked positively mortified. Jack tilted his head to the side and looked between the two of them deciding that, no, they weren’t fucking, but Joseph definitely wanted to be.

“God, no. Joseph is my best friend,” Bowie said with a laugh, resting his head playfully on Joseph’s shoulder. Joseph closed his eyes briefly and opened them, forcing a smile across the table.

“Just friends,” he confirmed, shrugging Bowie off.

“What do you guys think about a trip to California?” Jack asked.

“What? To see Landon and Verity?” Joseph swiftly accepted the change of subject.

“Yeah.”

And Callum,Jack added mentally.

“I’d love to, but the idea of traveling for fun when I’ve been doing all this traveling for work is horrifying,” Bowie admitted.

“I’d go,” Joseph said with a shrug.

“We can think about it. I’ll mention it next time I talk to them. Do you guys still talk?” Jack arranged his final bite of egg onto a sliver of ham.

“I text with Verity sometimes, but not a lot,” Joseph answered.

“Work,” Bowie replied with a shrug. “I don’t talk to many people anymore.”

“No, you don’t,” Joseph acknowledged.

“I work a lot. Opening this office has been stressful.”