Page 27 of Refurbished

“Yeah. He sent me up here to fill in for you.”

“Uh, Okay.” Odd. There hadn’t been any problems that I was aware of. Maybe we had an event coming up or something that I missed. It was weird that he pulled me from the door. West trusted me more than anybody else up front. I knew our customers and understood the appropriate clientèle.

I knocked softly on my boss’s door. “Hey, West?”

“Come in.” I stepped in, and the door behind me closed. A flashlight shone in my face.

“Who is he?” Spark said from behind the bright light.

I laughed hard. “Okay, you two. This is a bit much.”

“You have been grinning and smiling the whole night. Watching your phone like it holds all the answers to the universe. And you have the swagger of someone who got laid.” Spark said.

“And as your best friends, we happen to know you haven’t been laid in a very long time,” West added.

I loved these people very much, but they were too nosy for their own good. The unfortunate reality is that they weren’t wrong. Was I ready to spill everything about Eion? Did I have a choice? “There isn’t a guy. I didn’t get laid.” My voice went significantly higher at the end of the sentence. I had always been a terrible liar, and this proved it.

Spark started to laugh painfully hard, gasping to catch their breath. “You don’t honestly believe we would buy that, did you?”

“I had hoped.”

“You don’t have to tell us.” West said, “We really wish you would, though, because we can only gossip amongst ourselves so much before we will demand answers.”

“Tell you now or get an inquisition tomorrow?”

West nodded his head, “Pretty much.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Wait, wait. It’s the raccoon man.” West looked at me directly. My face betrayed me, and I knew it. The blush crept up my neck, and it was going to be impossible to keep this from them. I gave up easily.

“Yeah. It’s Eion from the Sanctuary. I really like him. He is an amazing man.”

“Did you get laid?” They said in unison.

“No comment.”

“I’m really happy for you, Angus. Anybody who puts a smile like that on your face is okay in my book. When do we get to meet him?”

“Here we go. You two would scare him away, I am sure of it. He is a nice, kind man.” I said, trying to be indignant about their inquiry.

“He must be really naughty then,” Spark said while sipping on their soda.

“Can I get back to work, Boss?” I looked at West.

“Not going to give us any more detail?”

“Not yet. It’s new, and it’s mine for now.”

“I can understand that. Oh, hey, look at that, you’re free to go for the evening. And weird, I don’t have you scheduled again until next week.”

I looked at my boss, blinking, unsure what to say. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, Angus. Go have fun with this guy for a few days.” West smiled at me. It hadn’t been that long ago that he was falling for Tyler. They had a solid relationship, and even now, he made sure to set aside time for the two of them.

There was a lump in my throat, and I had an idea. Would I be pushing my luck? He was a great guy, and he seemed to really like me. He said he was ready for more dates, but that didn’t mean it had to start tomorrow. I looked at the clock; it was 6:30 p.m., still early in the evening.

“Angus?” I realized I had apparently zoned out when he said I could take the time off because they had been talking to me, and I hadn’t heard it.

“What? Yes?”

“I take it you are about to leave for the next few days.”