Just as he’d predicted, Roan appeared a little after eight thirty, dark circles beneath his eyes as though he hadn’t slept last night.

“You all right?” Cam asked, concerned, watching Roan closely.

“Yeah,” Roan said on a slow exhale, wiping his hand over his face. “Had to go pick up my sister last night.”

Cam stood up straight. “Everything okay with her?”

Roan grabbed the carafe and poured a cup of coffee, wiping his hand over his hair, brushing down the spikey strands. “No.”

The finality of that one word surprised Cam. Roan’s sister had been in and out of drug rehab for the last three years. While Roan’s family—all except Roan’s mother, who’d abandoned the family when Roan was a teenager—and friends banded together in an effort to help her get clean, she hadn’t been as on board with the plan as everyone else. And now, it appeared she’d relapsed. Again.

“Where is she?”

“My dad’s house.” Roan sipped his coffee and leaned back against the counter. “I told her I’d stop by later today to talk. She’s pretty fucked up.”

Cam was close to Roan’s family because he and Roan had been best friends since elementary school. He’d known Roan’s sister, Cassie, almost her entire life. She was four years younger than Roan, the youngest of three children, the baby of the family.

Cassie had taken it hard when their mother had bailed on them, blaming Roan for her inability to remain in a house where the devil lived. The devil being Roan because he was gay. Cam still remembered that day, the day she had packed a suitcase and walked out, telling Roan and Cam that they’d burn in hell for their sins.

The only thing they could figure was that she’d been eavesdropping on their conversations. At the time, Roan had been interested in a guy at school, and they’d talked about it a few times.

Apparently she hadn’t been exaggerating, because she’d left and she’d never come back.

Although Cam had known her leaving had hurt Roan, he hadn’t been sorry to see her leave.

“Want me to go with you?” Cam offered.

“Not this time. She doesn’t want anyone to see her this way, and I can’t say I blame her.”

Cam understood. “Well, if you change your mind, just let me know.”

Roan nodded, then pushed away from the counter, once again running his hand over his short hair. “You stay with Burgess last night?”

“Gannon,” Cam corrected. For some reason, he didn’t like the way Roan used Gannon’s last name. It seemed oddly impersonal. “And yes, I stayed with him.”

Roan turned to look at him, and Cam saw the worry in Roan’s golden eyes. “Y’all gonna make a go of this?”

Cam shrugged. “One day at a time.” He hoped like hell things continued the way they had been going, but he’d long ago stopped trying to predict the future. In turn, he’d also stopped getting his hopes up, because it never seemed to work out in his favor.

As far as he was concerned, they would continue to take things slow. Although slow at this point was relative. It was still to be seen where this was going, because Cam still worried that their differences would eventually interfere and they’d be forced to look at things a little more rationally. Right now, the sex was going to steal the show, and though they’d probably be able to ride the tide of sexual attraction for a while, there was no guarantee that it would last.

Always the pessimist, Cam thought.

“For what it’s worth…” Roan turned to face him fully. “I’m happy for you.”

Cam wasn’t sure if there was something else Roan wanted to say, but when he left it at that, Cam offered a smile. “Thanks.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m gonna pass off one of my afternoon appointments to Teague,” Roan said, holding his coffee cup in both hands. “I’m exhausted and I’m sure tonight’s gonna be another long night. I think my stepmother is hoping for an intervention. I figured I’d catch a nap in a bit if I can.”

“No worries. And if Teague can’t get it, I’ll cover for you.”

Roan nodded, then, with coffee cup in hand, headed toward the back door. “I’m gonna go check on Hudson. Be back later.”

Cam watched his friend walk out, saw the tense set of his shoulders, and wondered what else was bothering Roan. For the past few weeks, he’d been acting strangely. Though strange for Roan wasn’t exactly foreign. However, the guy who was usually quick-witted and even quicker to laugh now seemed to be weighed down by something. Whether or not it was his sister, Cam couldn’t say.

He only hoped that Roan would talk to him if he needed to. They’d always been close, but now that he thought about it, that relationship had been a little strained in recent weeks.

The reason for that … Cam had absolutely no idea.

But now he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Roan forced himself to walk away, not to look back at Cam.

His heart was in his throat, his chest aching.

He hoped that he had managed to mask his true feelings back there, but he was so damn tired he wasn’t sure. Between his family problems and Cam sleeping with Burgess…

Roan groaned, thrust his hands through his hair once more.

Having to deal with his sister, his family… It wasn’t easy, but it never had been. Last night, he’d been content to sit on the pier and drink himself stupid with Teague, but before he could do that, his phone had rung. His stepmother had called, insisting that Roan come over to talk to Cassie.

So he had. He’d pushed aside his own issues and made it his mission to deal with Cassie and her problems.

And now, he felt as though he had to do it without his best friend. The only thing he wanted to do was to walk into Cam’s arms and let him hold him for a few minutes, to tell him everything would be all right.

Not that he’d ever done that before, but it wasn’t the first time he’d thought about it.

And now he might never have the chance. Cam was with Gannon, and with every passing day, the more they spent time together, the happier Cam seemed to be. Sure, it looked as though Cam was attempting to play it safe, but Roan could tell Cam was falling—hell, he could already have fallen—in love with Gannon.

Not that he was surprised. From what Roan knew of him, Gannon seemed to be a good guy. It was evident he cared about Cam, and Roan couldn’t fault him for it. As much as he wanted to interfere, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. One minute, he felt as though his heart might shatter in his chest; the next, he was scolding himself because he couldn’t really be in love with his best friend—or so he wanted to believe.

Yep, he was confused.

Above all else, he truly wanted his friend to be happy. Roan was the idiot who’d kept his feelings to himself. All these years, he’d feared ruining their friendship, making Cam hate him. Keeping his mouth shut had been the only way Roan knew to make sure things didn’t end up awkward between them. Had they made a run at it and things didn’t work out, Roan couldn’t have lived without that friendship.

So maybe it was better this way.

Cam was happy and Roan would eventually move on.

Maybe.

“What are you doing?” Milly asked, closing the door when she stepped into Gannon’s office.

Gannon stopped pacing. “Nothing. Why?”

“Because you’re making me dizzy with all this back-and-forth. And you’re making the guys nervous. What’s wrong?”

Gannon sighed, then moved around his desk and stood beside his chair, gripping the headrest to keep from pacing again. “I need to remind Cam that I’m going to Singapore on Friday.”

“Why? Well, other than the obvious and it’s nice when one boyfriend tells the other boyfriend his plans.” Milly smiled.

Gannon wanted to smile, but he couldn’t. “He freaked when I went to California,” he reminded her.