Paul hated the next few days.

He regretted the things he’d said to Davis. He did, but… he also felt they had to be said. If only in a kinder way.

It was for the best, though, honestly. Davis would hopefully think on things and take what Paul had said to heart, even if Paul hadn’t said them in the nicest way. Either way, Davis would move on and forget him soon enough.

He just wished that he could split town right away instead of waiting the two weeks. Luke and the others could tell that something was up. If Lance shot him a worried look one more time, Paul would tear his hair out.

It wasn’t that he hated the attention. In fact, it was kind of flattering that they cared enough to worry that something was wrong. It was more that he hated getting attention and worry from people when he didn’t deserve it. He’d screwed over their friend—how were they going to react when they learned what he’d done?

The longer he stayed around, the higher the likelihood that one of them would find out. Knowing his luck, it would be Travis and he’d get the battering he probably deserved.

He’d have thought that they’d definitely know by now, but so far there hadn’t been so much as a whisper. Could it be that Davis hadn’t told them?

It didn’t help that Davis hadn’t shown up to the bar since their argument. Paul got sick inside whenever he thought about it. He’d said cruel things, but Davis hadn’t exactly been nice either—even though the things Davis had said about him were true as well.

Paul thought that Davis not being there meant that he’d said something to the others and was now keeping away, but it seemed that nobody else knew where he was, either.

“Hey, you got any idea where Davis is?” asked Mathew.

Paul looked up, thinking that Matthew was talking to him, but Matthew was looking at Adam, who’d just walked in—the last one into the bar, as usual.

“No, haven’t seen him in days.” Adam stopped at that, thinking. “Has he really not been into the bar since…”

“Saturday,” Travis added. “He came in at last call.”

“Hey, you closed that night,” Luke said, looking over at Paul. His look wasn’t… accusatory, just knowing. Too knowing for Paul’s comfort. “Did Davis seem off to you?”

“Another date had gone badly,” Paul said honestly.

“Fuck’s sake,” Travis growled. “When is he going to just give it up? Nobody ever found the love of their life or whatever idiocy he’s looking for by strangling it to death.”

“Yeah and nobody ever got it by being a blind idiot either,” Jake shot back.

“I’m sorry, who refused to accept the guy who was wooing him with cupcakes?”

“Who refused to see that their best friend was in love with them?”

“Okay, okay, break it up,” Matthew said, quickly getting in between the two men.

“And to be fair to Trav,” Lance added, “I wasn’t exactly helping the whole situation by letting him walk all over me.”

“You’re making me sound like a real catch, thanks babe,” Travis mumbled.

“Well it can’t just have been a failed date,” Adam said. “Davis goes on failed dates all the time.”

Paul could feel Luke’s gaze burning into him but tried to act normally.

“You never know,” Luke said quietly. “Sometimes there’s just that one straw that breaks the camel’s back, you know? He might just need some time to adjust, time to be alone. We all need that sometimes.”

“Davis? Needing time away from people?” Jake snorted.

Paul desperately wanted to ask them to change the subject, but he couldn’t. That would have raised too many questions that he couldn’t answer.

“I’ll check up on him,” Lance said. “I’m kind of tired anyway.”

“You okay?” Travis asked, protective instincts clearly kicking in.

“Yeah, I’m good, just got a bit of a headache. I’ll chat with Davis, see what’s up.”

Paul’s stomach tightened. Once Lance talked to Davis, the others would know what had gone down and Paul could count on his last few days being a special kind of hell.

“You good to stay until closing?” Luke asked.

Paul nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Okay,” Luke pointed at the others. “The rest of you ingrates better be out of here by then.”

“Even me?” Adam asked, flirtatious, teasing.

Paul felt sick again. That flirtatious smile that Adam gave Luke, the way that Luke smiled back, with soft warm eyes, Davis wanted that.

“You can stay,” Luke replied, “If you help me look at the tax paperwork in the office.”

“Slave driver,” Adam said with a groan.

Looking at Adam and Luke, Paul could almost believe that a relationship like that, could actually last. But when he thought about all the people he’d seen break up, including long time couples, and sometimes in bars while he was on shift—nasty things—he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it. Not yet, anyway.

Maybe Davis would find it with someone. A guy could hope, right?