Tom was surprised by how glad he was to see everybody when they got to the bar.

He hadn’t realized that he’d missed them. He hadn’t even realized how much he’d liked them. But when he walked in—limping, with the help of Ross and his crutches—he was greeted enthusiastically by everyone, and he was hit by a punch of warmth right to the chest.

All of the men greeted him like an old friend. Well, Adam did because they were friends. And Luke did because Tom had seen Luke plenty of times over the years, stopping by to pick up Adam or whatnot.

But the others he’d only met a couple of times so far. Yet they all treated him the same as they treated Ross, whom they’d known for over a decade. It was surprisingly sweet, and Tom felt sort of like falling over with how much emotion it stirred up in him.

Huh. He hadn’t realized how lonely he’d been until now.

Ross and Lance helped him to sit on a barstool with his leg propped up, and the guys sort of stood around it so that nobody passing by would accidentally jostle his leg. The bar was crowded tonight, the music was playing loud, and there were even a few brave couples dancing out in the middle of the room, where Luke had an open space for just such a purpose.

Although, according to Luke, Paul and Davis were the ones who most often did any dancing, usually when Paul had to close the bar down and Davis stayed with him and helped him do it.

“I’ve got video,” Luke said, “but don’t tell Paul. He’ll kill me.”

Ross stayed close by all night, although he didn’t always talk to Tom, or Tom to him. They’d get pulled into conversations with others.

But it was surprisingly nice, to have Ross there constantly by his side.

Ross wasn’t actively flirting with him or driving him nuts, like he had the night they’d met. Probably because of Tom’s leg—Ross couldn’t make good on as many promises. Not that Tom wasn’t going to try to end the night with some kind of sex. But it was probably for the best that they weren’t as gung-ho about it this time around.

But Ross was still a warm presence at his side. He ordered drinks for Tom, made sure he had water, helped clear the way through the crowd when Tom had to use the bathroom. He would put his hand on Tom’s shoulder or touch the back of Tom’s hand where it rested on the bar, as if to reassure Tom that he was there and noticing him, even if they weren’t speaking directly to each other and were caught up in different conversations.

When they did engage each other, Ross was always making Tom laugh, teasing him. He sometimes called him Clark, which nobody else understood, and it made Tom blush fiercely, but it also made him warm all over, made him feel special—it wasn’t something that Ross was doing for show, it was a joke just for them, and not even just a joke. A sign of affection. A reminder that Ross had thought he was attractive from the moment he’d laid eyes on him.

Neither of them said anything about Ross being the one to patch Tom up, although they couldn’t really avoid the fact that Tom had been on his way home from Ross’s when the crash had happened.

That led to a whole lot of teasing.

“So when someone says sleeping with you is like being hit by a car,” Jake said, “I guess they mean that literally.”

Ross flipped him off while Tom laughed. Ross still felt guilty, Tom could tell, so he leaned into him, trying to give him support—to let him know that Tom understood, and didn’t blame him.

That seemed to relax Ross a bit. Physical touch in general seemed to help Ross out. Perhaps he was secretly a touchy person, or it could just be that the touch reminded him that Tom was well and okay.

Maybe it was being a doctor, or his single mom, but Tom hadn’t expected Ross to be quite so protective, or feel so guilty over Tom’s condition. Not that he was complaining about how thoughtful Ross was being. But Tom sensed there was some guilt there, and he wished he knew how to tell Ross that really, none of this was his fault. And even if it was, he’d done more than enough to make up for it.

At one point, Ross went upstairs to play a little pool with Travis and Preston. Lance followed to watch.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Ross asked.

Tom laughed. “Go, you’re not my babysitter.”

“I certainly hope not,” Ross replied, lowering his voice. “I’d hate to think you made out with your babysitters.”

“Seeing as they were all women, no. But if it was you, I’d certainly have tried.”

Ross chuckled, and Tom kicked at him with his good leg. “Go, have fun.”

“You two are cute together,” Matthew noted as Tom watched Ross go up the stairs to join the others. The pool tables were on the second floor of what had once been a small apartment, or so Adam had told him.

Tom nearly jumped. “What?”

Matthew nodded at the stairs. “You and Ross. We were starting to get worried about him, you know.”

“Worried?” Adam and Enid had been worried about Tom, of course, but Tom didn’t see any reason for anybody to be worried about Ross. He seemed to have figured out a good balance between work and social life.

Matthew shrugged. “I mean, it wasn’t anything that we could pin down, exactly. But we know Ross went through some stuff last year. He stopped coming over here, like, at all, and Adam and Eric — they’re the ones who see him the most — they said they hardly saw him.

“Things got really bad when his mom died six months ago. But they started to get better, too? He started spending a lot of time with Hank and Eric at their apartment. We all went to the funeral. He started coming back around here again.

“We’re not sure what happened before that; maybe it was just his mom being so ill, but yeah. We still kind of worry. You two seem really good together, so we’re glad you two have hit it off.”

Tom’s head was spinning. Ross’s mom had died only six months ago? He hadn’t said anything. Was that what he was holding back? Was that the odd thing that Tom had been sensing?

“I take it he didn’t say anything about his mom,” Matthew said slowly, in the tone of someone who is realizing that they messed up.

“I mean, from the way he talked about her, I got the feeling that she’d passed on,” Tom said. “But I had no idea it was still so recent. I thought it was years ago.”

Matthew chewed on his lip. “Yeah. He probably didn’t want you to realize it was so soon. It’s hard for him to talk about. They were super close. And again, something was going on during that time. I don’t know what it was, but he was almost a different person.”

Tom wasn’t sure what to think. “I’m glad you think I’m making him happy, but I promise that I’m not doing anything much. We’re just sort of hanging out. It’s casual. And I mean, we barely know each other.”

“I’m sorry; you shouldn’t let what I said make you feel pressured,” Matthew replied. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just think—you know, how people become couples and clearly they’re not right for each other, and nobody tells them? Or they’re obviously right for each other, but nobody says anything, so they spend a lot of time being unsure about it?

“I just wanted to let you know that you two seem to be good for one another. You seem really relaxed and comfortable with each other. That’s all.”

Tom rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just that—my job’s really demanding. I’m not sure that I have time for anything serious. Ross said that isn’t what he wants, but if you’re telling me…”

“I don’t know what Ross wants,” Matthew replied. “But if your work hours are the only thing holding you back, I think that’s a shame. We’re all pretty busy here. Adam and Luke have crazy schedules. Hank does too. I have to be up at four every morning to get down to the café and start baking and stuff, since we open at seven.

“If it’s a job that you love, you’re not going to stop doing it, and so why are you putting off finding a relationship? It’s not like your job’s going to change any time soon. You need to accept that you just have to find a balance between the two.

“You and Ross don’t have to suddenly move in together or something. I’m not saying that. But if the only thing holding you back from really pursuing something with him is your job, then I think you need to consider the fact that your job’s always going to be there. So why put off being with someone? You’ll have to take the plunge eventually, or give up on ever having a partner.”

Tom mulled that over. Matthew was right. Tom loved his job, and intended to keep being a paralegal, and hopefully working for Adam and Enid, for at least the next few years if not longer. This was his career and what he wanted to do.

But he also wanted to have a life partner. He wanted to have somebody to come home to. Someone to cuddle with, someone to be romantic with. He wanted friends, of course, but more than that, he wanted someone who made his heart beat fast, someone to share his life with, someone he could make smile—and making them smile was the highlight of his day.

He’d pushed it aside, thinking that he was too busy. That he’d find the time later.

But there wasn’t ever going to be a later. His career wasn’t going to get any easier. It wasn’t like this was just the summer rush or Christmas chaos or something. Being in the field of law meant constant high-stakes work, every day. No matter what time of the year it was.

And he did really like Ross—but was Ross willing to actually make things serious?

Was Ross just keeping things casual for Tom’s sake, or was he doing it for his own? Did it have something to do with his mom’s death?

Well, Tom wasn’t going to get any answers by just sitting around and wondering. On their way home, he’d ask Ross about it. And see what happened.