“Rome. He wouldn’t have come, man. He brought all that equipment to your house. What doctor would do that for a person who’s not even technically their patient? No doctor I’ve ever encountered. The idea of you getting hurt bothered him. I could see it before he was able to school his expression.”
“He did seem pretty nice when I got nicked by that bullet and he stitched me up a few months back,” Quick said softly, grasping at straws, needing to cling to a sliver of hope.
“Okay, then,” Duke said excitedly. “You deserve someone, Rome. I thought it’d be a woman, but I think this would be real good, man. To at least explore a little. Vaughan and me both like Dr. Chauncey, too. If he stirs something in you that’s been dormant for years… don’t fight it. The doc is a solid guy, and since you hate going to the doctor so much, or getting checked out when you’re injured, don’t you think it’d be a good idea to date a surgeon?”
“Everything doesn’t work out all the time, Duke. We all don’t get a happily ever after ending. What? Did you think we were all going to double date and eventually do a double wedding, where we all go down to city hall in cheesy ass tuxes and get our gay marriage licenses?”
“I think it’s just ‘marriage license,’ no need to add ‘gay’ before it.” Duke ducked and rubbed the back of his head, trying to hide his smirk.
“Shut up. No joking. Just tell me what to do, then. I asked him if he liked what he saw and… he told me to… he told me to grow up.”
Duke was trying so hard not to laugh, but after a few horrible hiccups, the laughter burst through. “You mean he didn’t fall at your feet with smooth lines like that?”
“Shut up, you asshole. I thought men liked to be direct and straightforward. So that’s what I was aiming for.”
Duke only laughed harder. Quick was two seconds off Duke’s ass when his doorbell chimed, alerting him his takeout Thai was there. Although Quick wanted to put on a pair of boxing gloves and spar a few rounds with his smart-mouthed best friend, this is truly what he’d missed the most. Him and Duke shooting the shit and talking trash while ribbing the hell out of one another.
After sharing half his dinner, Quick and Duke got off the subject of football and got back to a topic that was more pressing. “You still didn’t say what I should do.”
“Well. In my opinion.” Duke wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I think you should go big or stay home. You know the saying, right?”
“Yeah, I know the saying. Go big, but big like how? I mean, I know what women would want as big. Jewelry, quality time, compliments, candy, whatever. I don’t think the doc would go for that. So big like… fifty yard line tickets or something?”
His best friend was looking at him like he’d just said the stupidest thing in the world. “You wanna get him football tickets?”
“Sure, why not? That’s fuckin’ huge. Those seats are hard to get. I’d be grateful as hell if someone got those for me.”
“I know that, but that would probably benefit you more than him. Do you even know if he likes football?”
“All men like football,” Quick said confidently.
“Stop being ridiculous.”
“You’re the one being ridiculous. You think just because he’s gay that he might not like football.”
“I’m not saying that at all, I just think you might want to go a different route before you buy those tickets, bro. Get to know the guy a little better. Hey, he might not even be an Atlanta fan.”
True. Not everyone makes good choices. “Okay. Then give me some suggestions. It’s obvious I’m going to have to apologize and atone for how I treated him in the beginning, or he’ll stay skeptical. I gave him the impression that I was a bigoted, heterosexual homophobe and now he won’t take my advances seriously. You’ve been dating the past few months. Without grossing me out or being too detailed, what’s something nice you’ve done to apologize for a screw up?”
“Don’t know. I never screw up.” Duke shrugged simply.
Quick stood up, throwing his hands in the air. “You’re really annoying me, Duke.”
“Alright, alright.” Duke was so good at ruffling his feathers. He’d been doing it for over twenty years. “Being completely honest. Vaughan was pretty pissed about our last bust. He said I wasn’t being careful with my health after I’d promised I would.”
They all took their promises very seriously. Quick kept quiet, intrigued to hear how Duke made up for a broken promise.
“That was the first night we didn’t go to bed at the same time.”
“Duke,” Quick warned on a snarl.