A car pulls up, and I check the details. “This is us.”
“Where does Tripp live? Out near Summerlin like some of the other guys?”
“Nah, he’s off the Strip, overlooking the Wynn golf course. You’ll like it. It reminds me of your stuffy and uppity apartment back in Philly.”
Anton groans.
“Oh, sorry, must not be mean to the apartment.”
“No, you’ve reminded me I still have to find a place.”
“Nowhere meet your standards of pretension?”
“Exactly,” he says dryly.
We get to Tripp’s building, where the concierge waves us through to the elevators, and when Dex opens Tripp’s apartment door with a wide grin, I cut him off at the pass.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you won, we lost, wah, wah, wah. Dex Mitchale, you know Anton Hayes, right?”
“Only on the ice,” Dex says. “Hey, man.”
Anton lifts his chin.
“Where’s Tripp?” I ask.
“Getting drinks,” Tripp calls out from his bar area, and I follow his voice.
I round the corner and glare at him. “I only have one thing to say to you.”
“What did I do?”
“What didn’t you do? Seriously, how are you still single when you’re so fucking flexible? It was like watching a contortionist on ice tonight.”
Tripp preens. “I was on fire, wasn’t I?”
“Put that in your Grindr profile. Fill up your photo reel of game shots.”
“He doesn’t have a Grindr profile,” Dex says and then lowers his voice like he’s letting out a big secret. “I’m starting to think Tripp’s a virgin.”
Tripp gives him the finger. “Fuck off. I’m just over the whole hookup scene.”
“That’s why you need a boyfriend,” Dex says. “And to get a boyfriend, you have to use Grindr.”
The rest of us crack up laughing.
“Yeah, that’s not what Grindr’s for,” Anton says.
Tripp cocks his head at Dex. “Why would I want a relationship when I see what Jessica puts you through? Speaking of which, I’m surprised she even let you out tonight. Two nights in a row?” He mock gasps.
“Eh, that’s chicks though,” Dex says. “Guys all want the same thing. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I were gay.”
Anton scoffs, Tripp throws back a shot of dark liquid, and I sigh. Dex really is a walking himbo.
“Gay relationships aren’t much different than straight ones, dude.” I shove him.
“What would you know?” Anton asks. “Have you ever had an actual relationship?”
“Don’t go proving Dex’s point, asshole.”
“There it is,” Tripp says. “I was beginning to think we were in an alternate universe. For a couple of seconds there, I thought you two might be friends, and what in the world is that craziness?”
“I think Ezra invited me here to induct me into your weird club because I came out to a fan tonight,” Anton says. His voice stays steady, but I don’t miss the nervous way he swallows. It makes me want to protect him or some shit, which is new.
“Really?” Tripp asks. “That’s so awesome. I’m happy for you.”
“I think I’m happy for me too? Though, now all I can picture is it getting out and the media jumping on it even faster than this ridiculous bromance story they’ve got going with Ezra and me.”
“Oh, and the worst possible thing that could be said about you is that you’re in any type of relationship with me,” I say.
The three of them answer “Yes” at the same time. Okay, rude.
“Let’s take this to the roof,” Tripp says and hands out our drinks. “On second thought …” He grabs the bottle of whiskey and brings it with us.
We head up his stairs and out onto his terrace. He has the penthouse, and the lights from the Strip give the whole place ambiance.
Tripp has outdoor couches and one of those small, automatic gas fire pits to sit around.
Anton sits next to me on a couch, Tripp takes the opposite one, and Dex throws himself in one of the single chairs and places his feet near the fire.
“Your shoe will catch fire again,” Tripp warns.
“Again?”
“He never learns,” Tripp says.
We talk and joke around for a bit, trading the kind of relaxed conversation I have with these guys. The problem is, I’m not used to having Anton stretched out beside me, and my gaze keeps straying to his powerful thighs. His arm muscles when he takes a drink. The dark way he watches me every time I open my mouth.
We trade smiles a lot for two people who supposedly hate each other.
Dex sits up suddenly, and I look for a fire to put out, but instead, his gaze moves between Tripp and Anton. “You two should hook up. It would be perfect.”
I almost choke on my drink. The way Tripp and Anton are avoiding eye contact is way too entertaining. It helps distract me from the way I want to point out Anton already has someone to hook up with.
“Can’t,” Anton says, turning his glass nervously in his hands. “I’m kinda seeing someone. Sort of.”