“Hey, Eric,” I said, going into a side hug. Tristan must have filled him in on where we were hanging out. He looked like he’d just finished working out at the gym with a slightly sweaty green tank top and bright pink Adidas shorts, matching the pink-and-blue sneakers he had on.

“What’s up, dudes?”

“Nothing much,” I answered after he made his round of hugs. “Just telling Malik here how not all men are complete and utter garbage bins. Some—okay, most—are, but there’s a small handful out there that aren’t, and it’s worth it to keep looking for them.”

Eric dipped his head from side to side. “Eh, I don’t know. In my experience, every single guy I’ve dated has had some kind of major flaw.”

“Yeah, but you’re also extremely picky,” Tristan pointed out. “Remember that one time you told a guy it wasn’t going to work because he showed up to the first date wearing mismatched socks?”

“It was one of the reasons. But as soon as he started talking to me about his obsession with collecting quarters, I knew it was a no go.”

“Says the one who collects bookmarks,” Tristan shot back.

“It’s a small collection. And so what? Bookmarks can be works of art. What the hell am I going to do with a rusty quarter from Colorado?”

That got us laughing. Jake jumped in, cutting through the chuckles. “I used to collect teeth.”

We all froze. He blinked, seeming confused at our reaction.

“Teeth?” I ask, suddenly concerned about the man who just had me stuffed down his throat.

“What? No, I said tees, as in T-shirts. From wherever I went traveling to, either with my parents or with a school field trip or with friends, I’d always buy a T-shirt from there to bring back home. Teeth? Jesus Christ, I’m not Jeepers Creepers over here.”

That got even more laughter from the group (and a flood of relief washing through me). I dramatically wiped the nonexistent sweat off my brow. “That makes much more sense.”

He smiled at me, nudging me with an elbow before taking a drink. I noticed Tristan’s attentive gaze picking up on it. I’d likely have some explaining to do later, except there wasn’t really much for me to explain. Jake and I were just friends with a couple of great benefits between us. Nothing that deserved a long talk or explanation… unfortunately.

“Alright, now that we cleared that up, I’m going to get us another round of drinks. What do you all want?”

I mentally took down the drink orders and turned to head to the bar, leaving Jake to go into further detail about his T-shirt collection.

What an interesting man he is.