There were probably better places around town to have brunch, but Kris wasn’t the only one of his friends who had a soft spot for Hidden Creek’s retro pizza diner. During the day, the blue-and-yellow-neon lights weren’t so obvious as he walked up to the front entrance. But the mint-green Cadillac parked out front was gleaming in the summer sunshine and there were a few people hanging around taking photos as usual. It probably constituted as one of Hidden Creek’s only tourist attractions.

The bell tinkled as Kris pushed his way in on Sunday morning, sighing as the blissfully cool air hit his skin. He was a little early. Remi wasn’t noisy when he got ready for work, but Kris was a light sleeper so he’d been awake since about seven thirty. He had been eager to get out of the house and make the walk across town to spend some time with his friends. He figured their table would already be available at this time of the morning even if it was before their reservation.

However, it seemed he wasn’t the only eager beaver.

As he fanned his T-shirt away from his chest, his attention was caught by the hand waving in the air from a table at the back. Kris grinned, heading over before a server could come to greet him. Kris wound his way past the red leather booth seats filled with families and the jukebox playing ‘Rock Around the Clock.’

Chase jumped out of his chair to hug Kris hello. “Dude,” he enthused. “It’s so good to see you. How are you?”

He held Kris by the shoulders and studied his face. Kris rolled his eyes and huffed. “I’m fine,” he insisted. Although he couldn’t help but admit that having Chase fuss over him was nice.

The last few months had been kind to Chase. Since he’d been granted full custody of his daughter after her mom’s tragic passing, Chase had really stepped up. He was a top-notch dad, doing everything he could for Lyla. Kris suspected falling in love with a handsome hunk hadn’t hurt either. Hunter treated Chase like a prince, as he should.

As a result, Chase had put on a little weight and his face was quick to smile. Kris was glad they’d gone from being acquaintances at the bar to real friends.

Urgh, the bar. He tried not to think about it. He was slightly concerned the fire investigation report hadn’t come back yet. But then, it might well have and PJ was just neglecting to tell him. It wouldn’t surprise Kris. PJ didn’t generally think about his underlings at the best of times.

Today wasn’t about that, though. Kris was here to forget his woes and have some fun. He was glad only Chase had arrived so far. It would be good to have a few minutes to catch up, just the two of them.

“You look gorgeous, darling,” Kris said, deflecting the attention away from himself. Besides, it was true.

Chase grinned at the compliment. “Thanks,” he said. He was wearing a new-looking shirt and his tennis shoes were scuff-free and expensive looking. It made Kris feel a little self-conscious in Leon’s old T-shirt, but he had tied it at the back to make it more fitted and taken the time to do a full face of makeup. Nothing too over the top for daytime wear, but enough to make him feel like he’d made an effort for his buddies.

“How’s Lyla?” Kris asked as they sat back down at the end of their six-seater table.

Kris picked up one of the rocket-shaped menus to glance at the options for shakes. There was a raspberry one he normally liked getting when he visited here, but he might go nuts and try the banana one this time.

Chase nodded and sipped at the ice water they already had on the table. “Great. She actually has a playdate today with Gena Miller, her best friend. Little League is over right now, but they’ve been getting into swimming over the summer.” He shook his head. “She’s so fast, I can’t keep up with her.”

Kris could feel himself grinning at his friend. His pride was infectious. Kris wondered what it would feel like to have your whole life revolving around someone so important.

“So, Hunter’s out too?” Kris asked. Then he cackled at Chase’s blush. Even after several months, he was still like a teenager with a crush.

“What?” Chase asked, pretending to look at his menu.

Kris shook his head. “Nothing.” He winked. “You’re too precious, baby.”

Chase grumbled something under his breath. Kris suspected he was telling him to fuck off in the nicest possible way. That just made Kris snicker more.

“Yeah,” Chase said. “Hunter and Orion have gone over to Axel and Fox’s to play video games. I’m so glad he’s made some friends of his own from the gym. As much as I love doing everything together, it’s nice to have different news to share sometimes.”

“Gossip, you mean,” Kris said, waggling his eyebrows.

But Chase shook his head. “Not much gossip from all us happy couples,” he said slyly. He nudged Kris’s leg with his foot under the table. “That’s where you single guys come in.”

For a brief second, Kris was proud of Chase. He’d been so painfully in the closet until he’d met Hunter, he never would have dared played footsie with a male friend before. But Kris’s pride was hastily replaced with several emotions at once.

“Nope, sorry, no gossip here,” he said quickly and brightly. Then he purposefully buried his face in his menu. “Do you think the peanut butter cream pie would count as brunch? I could add cherries to it to make it healthy.”

The truth was, the mention of video games brought him right back to thoughts of Remi. They had both slept most of Friday, but, as promised, they had grabbed burgers and fries in the evening and eaten them outside while the sun had set. Then yesterday, after spending a couple of hours sorting out the last few bits of Remi’s ‘new’ house, they had indulged in a video game marathon, racing cars and blowing up aliens.

Kris still couldn’t get over just how much Remi had freaking loved the makeover. By the time the front door had opened on Friday morning, Kris had convinced himself he had made a terrible mistake and grossly overstepped his boundaries. But Remi had nearly fucking cried over it.

Kris wasn’t used to straight guys who showed emotion like that. It was goddamned refreshing. But after the burgers and games and just hanging out for almost thirty-six hours, it left Kris wondering.

Was Remi a hundred percent straight? The last couple of days had felt awfully date-like to Kris.

He tried telling himself that thoughts like that were merely wishful thinking. But he couldn’t deny there were moments that felt like something was going on between them. Moments that seemed to stretch out while Kris’s heart danced a jig in his chest before they were abruptly broken.

“What?” Chase gasped, his tone scandalous.

Kris glanced up from the menu. “What?” he repeated.

“You have a look on your face,” Chase hissed in delight and leaned in closer. “You ho! Spill!”

Kris was glad his vocab was rubbing off on his friend, but he wasn’t about to cave. “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” he teased, miming a hair flick.

Chase kicked his foot, making Kris jump. “You’re no lady,” Chase told him with a giggle. “Spill the T!”

“Ohh, there’s T?” a new voice cried.

Luckily, Kris was saved by the arrival of an excitable redhead in the petit shape of Hale McMillan. He skipped up to the table and threw one arm around Kris before he even got the chance to stand up. The other arm had a large grocery bag swinging from it.

Kris laughed. “No, darling, no T. She’s an angel, I swear.” He let Hale go and crossed his heart then pressed his hands together in prayer. “Chase was just trying to start gossip, the minx. Chase, this is Hale. Hale, Chase.” He waved his hands between his two friends. “Play nice.”

There had been a time Kris had idolized Hale when they’d been in the same class at school together. Hale had never really tried keeping himself in the closet and had been out more or less since freshman year. Kris remembered how he’d been green with envy as several older girls doted on Hale as the ‘only’ gay kid at Hidden Creek High. But Kris had been too terrified to come out himself until junior year.

He and Hale had enjoyed their last couple of years at school together, even tried dating for a hot minute. But they were better as friends. After graduating, they’d drifted apart, both kind of lost trying to find their place in the world. But since getting back in touch this year, it was like they’d never been apart. Kris was excited for Hale and Chase to meet and expand his friendship circle.

They were quickly immersed in introductions. Kris had told Hale about Chase and Hunter’s awesome three-legged puppy, Trooper, so Chase soon had his phone out showing them both pictures. At which point, Koby Duvall also appeared at the table.

“Oh, he’s grown, hasn’t he?” Koby commented on the picture of Trooper that Chase had up for Hale.

Koby was probably the least twinky of their little group and several years older than Kris. But he still fit in just fine from what Kris had experienced so far. Koby’s mom, Shelly, was Hunter’s next-door-neighbor and the breeder whom they’d got Trooper from. Shelly had apparently tried to hook Hunter up with her daughter, but when she’d discovered Hunter was with Chase, she’d settled for introducing them to her gay son instead.

It amused Kris that she’d treated them like children needing playdates, but as it turned out, Koby was pretty awesome. He had studied art at college and was now a semi-famous metalworks artist. Kris suspected Chase had hoped Koby and Kris would hit it off, but there hadn’t been that spark between them. As friends, Kris had warmed to Koby immediately, however. He was edgy in that give-no-fucks kind of way, as illustrated by his goth-inspired look and disregard for gender presentation.

“Ohh, looking like a queen, hon,” Kris cried as Koby gave them a twirl. Despite the heat outside, Koby was sporting black army boots, a knee-length black pleather skirt, like a kilt, and a black mesh vest under an open black fitted jacket that went well with his dark hair, lip ring and pale skin.

He too was a holding a tote bag. Kris frowned and glanced under the table. Sure enough, Chase had a bag with him that Kris hadn’t noticed before. Was he supposed to bring a change of clothes and they hadn’t told him?

Before Kris could bring up the question, Koby leaned down to kiss his cheek and hug him. “Hello, beautiful,” he murmured, rubbing Kris’s back. “Happy to see you.”

He spoke with such sincerity, Kris got a lump in his throat he had to swallow. By the time he did, Koby had kissed Chase and introduced himself to Hale, who he hadn’t met yet either, then sat down.

Koby had a way of taking up more space than his slender frame should. He leaned back in his seat, draping his arm over both his chair and Kris’s, then stretching his long legs out between Hale’s feet. It could have been easy to interpret it as arrogance, but Kris knew it was just Koby showing how comfortable he was with them.

“This place is hideous, isn’t it?” Koby commented warmly, his tone making it clear he loved it just as much as Kris and Chase. “Are we waiting on anyone else?”

“Gabe and Cas,” Chase said with a nod as he checked his phone. “But they’ve said they’re happy to share a round of Bloody Marys and mimosas with us, so to go ahead and order drinks.”

Kris licked his lips and glanced down at his menu again. He’d forgotten he was with people that didn’t know him all that well. But Chase just tapped the milkshake section and smiled when Kris looked up at him.

“I love the raspberry one,” Chase said. “Have you had that?”

Kris glanced at Hale and Koby, who didn’t blink an eye. “I thought I might live wild and try the banana,” Kris said. Then he batted his long lashes, always eager to make a joke to defuse any potential tension. “You know I love a hard, curved banana.”

Hale snorted. Koby licked his lips and grinned. “Good choice, darling,” he said smoothly. And like that, it was fine. Kris relaxed a little bit.

It was good to be among friends again.