Page 110 of Galen's Redemption
“Ready?”
Galen took a deep breath, then blew it out. “As I’m ever going to be, I guess.”
Robert gave him a squeeze and opened the door. The familiar scents of the grill, the fryer, and the food washed over Galen. His stomach rumbled again. God, he missed Lincoln’s cooking.
“Robert! Come here. I want you to meet two amazing guys.”
When Galen stepped from behind Robert, Noel’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak to Galen. He gestured to a handsome black man, who gave a big grin. “This is Terrell.” Then he indicated a young white guy, who reminded Galen of Captain America, with his blond hair and chiseled chin. “And this is Colby. They just got back from… I’m sorry,where was it?”
Terrell turned in his seat to face Robert and Galen. “We just got back from South Africa. We’re headed home and had a layover here. Saw the ad at the airport and got the munchies.”
“They’ve got a blog! I want to get upstairs so I can read all about the places they’ve been, the things they’ve seen, and the people they’ve met.”
Colby snickered. “If it helps, you’re a lot friendlierthan some people. And knowing T, you’re definitely going to end up on the blog too.”
“Hell, yes.” Terrell winked at Noel. “You’ve made us feel very welcome. Thank you for that.”
“It’s not every day we get celebrities in here.”
“Hear that, T? He says we’re celebrities.”
“Cheese boy, he doesn’t know the half of it. If he only knew what we did when we were in Coffee Bay. It was so damned nicethere.”
Colby rolled his eyes. “Nice. Way to be descriptive, T.” He turned his attention to Noel. “Picture it. Nguni cattle grazing on the rolling green hills, which end at the beautiful ocean. Me and T, laid out on the beach, soaking up the sun. It was, like, perfect, you know? The scent of the water, the clear blue sky, the warm breeze caressing our bodies. God, it was like heaven.”
“Really?You’re gonna get all poetic and shit? It was nice.”
“Poetic? Dude, that was what you wrote on the blog! I’m pretty much giving him word for word what you said.” Colby gazed affectionately at Terrell. “I’m so damned glad they renewed the grant. I can’t wait to see where we’re going after our break.”
“Me, too, but it’s nice to be home for a while. I want to see how Moira is doing and what’s upwith Percy and Gina. And think about it. We can stop in and have dinner at Papiano’s to see who’s doing who now.”
Terrell snickered. “It’d be nice to see everyone. Sure, let’s do that!”
“Noel, order up.”
“Oh, that’s your dinner. Let me go grab the plates. I’ll be right back.”
Noel rushed to the counter, leaving Galen to wonder when the axe was going to fall. He said something to Lincoln, wholooked up, his eyes glinting. Though it was cold outside, Galen swore the temperature in the diner dropped into the arctic range. Galen wondered, if he was so cold, then why was he sweating? What were they waiting for? If Lincoln was going to blow up, why not do it and get it over with?
Oh, of course. The customers in the diner. How funny was it that Galen felt he should thank two men he didn’tknow for keeping Lincoln from tossing him out. Noel and Lincoln spoke, their eyes darting in Robert and Galen’s direction. When Robert reached out and took Galen’s hand, he felt he could breathe again.
Lincoln looked up, then nodded to Noel, who came back to the table and began putting down the food. As he’d done before, Noel ignored Galen’s presence.
Terrell lifted the bun on his burger. “OhGod. I’m glad you remembered not to put cheese on my stuff.”
“T has… issues with dairy.”
Terrell scowled. “Why don’t you tell all my secrets?”
“You mean, how you get when I touch you on your—”
“You say one more word and your ass is in trouble.”
Colby reached across and took Terrell’s hand. “Baby, as long as I’m in it with you, that’s perfectly okay with me.”
“Oh my God, you guys are toodamned cute.”
Galen could practically see the hearts in Noel’s eyes when he looked at Colby and Terrell, but they flicked in his direction and what he saw there was unreadable. Noel stepped away from the table, a wide grin on his face.
