Richie narrowed his eyes. “You’re not going to give me any details?”

“Not a one.”

“Which means that things were really serious and you don’t want to disrespect her by gossiping.”

John narrowed his eyes right back at Richie and slightly nodded his head in Crash’s general direction. “Maybe you can sympathize?”

Richie’s eyes narrowed even further and John heard the unmistakable sounds of Crash shuffling from one side to the other.

“Welp,” Richie said, a smile breaking out over his face. “I suppose the public’s not going to defend itself.”

He stepped aside and swept his hands toward the door, waving John into work. John knew that as soon as Crash left, he was going to get an earful for that insinuation. He also knew that he was going to have to come up with the most tepid version of the facts surrounding his relationship with Mary. He didn’t want to actually give up any of the dirt, but Richie was known to steal all of John’s writing utensils and bogart the air-conditioning unit until John told him what he wanted to know.

It was a good night was what John decided on. We hooked up. We’re seeing each other again tonight.

There. That would quell Richie’s insatiable curiosity. And then John could get to work.

Richie shooed Crash off to work, whispering something in his ear that made him go electric pink again, and then closed the door to their office, whipping around and narrowing his eyes at John.

“Give it up. I get that you didn’t want to spill in front of Crash. But come on. It’s just you and me now. Gimme every dirty detail before I explode from curiosity.”

It was a good night. We hooked up. We’re seeing each other again tonight. John opened his mouth. “I’m such a goner,” he said instead and pushed his fingers against his forehead. It was just a habit, though, because there was no headache brewing there. No tension. No fear or anxiety. Nope. The only thing rising inside of John at that particular moment was joy.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Richie asked, his arms crossed over his chest and his back against the door.

John dropped his hand and sighed. “It’s a good thing. It’s a freaking great thing.”

“Yes!” Richie did three quick karate punches and a sloppy roundhouse kick that came shockingly close to John’s nose in their cramped office space. “Yesyesyes! Finally! I knew it. I knew last night was the night. I will gladly accept flowers, gift certificates, a night out on the town, you pick.”

John laughed and shook his head at his irreverent friend. “I’m sorry. You want me to get you a gift because things with Mary finally started happening?”