Page 64 of Just Past Two

Glad to hear it. His fingers paused above the keys as he considered how to ask her this. I lost my phone last night. I think it’s at the club. Will you call them and see if they found it?

Why can’t you call? He could almost see her raised eyebrow and pursed lips, the “don’t try and pull something over on me, Silas” face.

I don’t have a phone.

A pause on her end, and then more typing. Good reason. Okay, fine. Gimme a few minutes.

He waited impatiently, scrolling through his news feed absentmindedly and drumming his fingers on the desk. He was intending to go to work that morning, and had planned to spend the weekend making progress on his project, but searching for his phone was going to put a serious damper on those plans.

Dee’s message popped up. Nobody’s found it. Sorry.

He knew where he’d lost it, so either nobody had noticed it back there, or Matthew had picked it up. Silas breathed a heavy sigh. Maybe Matthew had taken it home and charged it. It was a long shot, but that’s probably what he would do in a similar circumstance. Can you call it, just to make sure I didn’t lose it here in the house? Or to see if someone else found it somewhere?

Sure.

Another wait. This one stretched on longer than the other wait. Stomach growling, he got up to get breakfast out of the fridge. Lunch. Whatever meal it was now, when it was after noon but it was the first meal of the day. He also set a kettle of water on to boil for the French press, because he needed coffee and he needed it now. When he returned to his desk with a plate of cold cuts and an apple, Dee’s message was on the screen.

Some guy named Matthew answered and said he found your phone. Wasn’t he the bartender?

Well, damn. Silas exhaled, not sure whether to be relieved or anxious, his stomach flipping irritatingly between the two. Yes.

I told him you’d meet him at the coffee shop on Bay Road at one.

I was going to go into work today.

Go after you meet with him. And you’re welcome.

Silas could almost see her annoyed face. Thank you, Dee. I appreciate it.

Care to explain why the bartender took your phone home with him instead of bringing it to the club lost and found? He imagined her smirking in front of her screen. Or maybe he didn’t have to bring it home with him, because you left it at his house?

I definitely did not leave it at the bartender’s house. He didn’t even have to lie. Have a good day.

Fortunately, she didn’t push the matter. You too, babe. Xoxo.

Well, so much for never seeing the guy again. Silas grumbled as he ate his meal, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach from his mixed feelings. He was looking forward to seeing Matthew as much as he was nervous about it. It didn’t have to be weird, though. People had one-night stands all the time. He was going to pick up his phone, thank Matthew for charging it, and then say goodbye. He could be at work by two.

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Matthew waited at the coffee shop for Silas, feeling unexpectedly nervous, which didn’t thrill him. He wasn’t the type of guy who got nervous about meeting up, especially when he wasn’t trying to impress the other person. They’d already had sex. What was there to be nervous about? He didn’t care what Silas thought of him, really. Silas was an uptight engineer who needed a good fucking to loosen up, and Matthew had done the best he could, but their encounter had ended when Silas slipped out of the room with barely another word. This phone delivery was an awkward coda on what would otherwise be a nicely concluded encounter.

Matthew looked up from his phone as soon as Silas entered the coffee shop. He hadn’t even had to look to know it was Silas, like he could feel the other man enter the room. How strange. That was some weird woo-woo shit right there. Silas was wearing a plain T-shirt and a pair of old jeans, and with his freshly shaved face, he looked totally different from the hipster-chic image he’d projected last night. Not bad different, though. Younger, more innocent-looking without the stubble, but completely debauched with a clear trail of hickeys visible above his collar. Matthew felt himself go hot at the memory of leaving those hickeys. Silas flashed him a tentative smile, which Matthew returned, holding up the phone.

Silas walked over to the table, but didn’t sit. “Thanks. I’m sorry to inconvenience you like this.” Matthew handed over the phone, and Silas put it in his pocket.

Was he just going to stand there? “Want to join me?” Matthew asked, gesturing to the empty seat opposite him. Sure, he wasn’t planning on making this a long visit, but it seemed a shame to let the guy walk away without even a conversation.

Silas hesitated. Either he didn’t want to see Matthew again and was just being polite, or this was keeping him from something important.

Matthew held up a hand, not wanting to force the guy. “Unless you’ve got something important to get to, I mean. Don’t let me hold you up.”

“No, it’s all right. I can stay a little while.” Silas jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the counter. “I’ll just go get something to drink.”

A few minutes later, he joined Matthew at the table with a cup of coffee. “I’ve never been here before. Is the coffee good?” He looked into his cup.

Matthew gestured at his own half-empty mug. “I like it. This is my first time here, too.”

Silas took a sip and nodded. “It’s good. Not too bitter.” He ran the tip of his tongue over his lips.