Page 51 of Head Over Feels
Colelaughed and slid into the hot tub next toSteve. "Thankyou.It'ssurprising how physical working around the ranch is."
Steveasked a couple of questions about the animals.Callistened avidly but didn’t speak.He'dloosen up eventually.Ittook him a while to warm up to new people, andColecould be a lot.
Whenthe small talk wound down,Steveturned to me. "Okay, spill.Tellus everything."Heglanced over atCole. "I’msure you’ve heard all of this already, butCalandIhaven't even gotten the lowdown fromFelix'sovernight withMalcolmonWednesday."
Cole'seyes lit up, and he turned his head to regard me thoughtfully. "Youknow,Steve,Felixwas extremely cagey whenIasked him about that very topic yesterday."
Fan-freaking-tastic.Irolled my eyes. "There'snot much to tell.Itwas raining really hard, andMalcolminvited me to stay over soIwouldn't have to drive home when the streets were flooding."ButIcouldn't keep a straight face and ended up smirking into my margarita.
Colepointed at me and shouted, "Hah!Iknew it!"Heturned toSteve, and they high-fived.Crap,Ineeded to warnJasonandWillbefore they came home.
"Well?Howwas it?"HadSteveandColeinched closer to each other?Theywere bonding, weren’t they?Thetwo of them sat side-by-side, staring at me expectantly.Iglanced over atCalwith a pleading look, but he just grinned and shook his head.Themargarita seemed to be helping him relax aroundCole.
Isighed. "I'mnot sharing any details, butIwill say it was definitely worth a repeat."
Stevemade a whooping sound.Coleraised his eyebrows.Heturned toSteveand to his credit also includedCal. "Youguys haven't seen the guest cottage whereFelixandMalcolmare staying, but there are two bedrooms."Hefaced me again, andSteveandCal’sheads turned with him.Itwas creepy. "Ihope you're only using one of them,"Colesaid.
Ishook my head. "Wewere too exhausted last night to even think about anything like that."
Stevegroaned.Heturned toColeand flipped his hands palm-up. "I'veonly knownFelixfor about a year.Ithasn't been long enough for me to teach him everything."
ColepattedSteveon the shoulder. "There'sstill time, don't worry."
Iwas feeling attacked, butIdidn't quite know why. "What?"
Calkicked me under the water. "Dude, evenIknow this one.Youhad a traumatic day.Youshould have toldMalcolmyou wanted to sleep in his bed so you wouldn't have to be alone."
Colenodded rapidly and pointed atCal.Cal’sface turned pink.
Well, heck.Theyhad a point.
Stevesaid, "Youcan still use that tonight."Coleclinked glasses with him, chortling.
Caltook pity on me. "Okay, now we've gotten that out of our systems, tell us about the bomb."
AfterI’drecounted the events of the previous day, my visit to the police station, and this morning’s conversation withTrent,Iwas done with talking.
Stevegot out to refill everyone's margaritas, thoughCalswitched to water.Stevewas climbing back into the hot tub whenColesaid to no one in particular, "I’vebeen thinking about those two guys making a love connection over the glitter bombs."
Uhoh.IhopedColewas not about to start up with the matchmaking again.
Hecontinued, "It'sjust too bad for them—and for all the guys you've been out with really—that there isn't a dating app specifically for people who have, you know, out of the ordinary interests."
Stevestarted to say something, butColeheld up a finger. "Idon't meanBDSM.Obviouslythere are already apps for people who are into that.I'mtalking about a dating app for people who might not feel comfortable in ordinary social situations.Orwho’ve been rejected by so-callednormalpeople for their interests or hobbies.Peoplewho collect things, or who like to cosplay.Sci-fi nerds.Wouldn'tit be useful for those people to have their own dating app?"
"Whoa."Stevelooked over atCal.
"Whoa."Cal’seyes went wide, and they grinned at each other.
"Noway!"Igasped.
"What?WhatamImissing?"Coleasked, starting to catch our enthusiasm.
"SteveandCalare both into technology.Calis a programmer andStevedoes tech support and sales.They'vebeen looking for an idea for an app to develop together."
SteveandCalbegan to volley ideas back-and-forth, discussing things like search parameters and other apps they could look at for inspiration.
"Iwant in."Cole'svoice cut through their chatter.
