Read Bad Company for Free Online

than they were clearly going to get. Would it be so bad to let Kellan fake coming out?
    “How long are we talking?” Nate said.
    “I don’t think it should be longer than a month or two—hell, maybe Geoffrey will be kissing my ass in a week.”
    “What if he doesn’t give a shit? Then what are you going to do?”
    “Well, that’ll be my problem again, won’t it?”
    There were no more noodles to fish out of the bowl. “Two months.”
    “Deal.”
    Kellan had left most of the tofu swimming in the broth, and most of the vegetables and the noodles. He scooped out some and eyed them suspiciously before sliding them into his mouth. “How long have you been doing this vegetarian shit?”
    “Since I went to college.”
    “It’s a total crime. Man, your mom made the best sausage and beef lasagna in the world.”
    Back when they could afford it. After Geoffrey Brooks’s betrayal, Nate’s dad had lost his job. Too many times his mom or dad had sat in front of an empty plate at the dinner table, saying, “Go ahead, son, I’ll get something later.” Nate hadn’t realized until he was seventeen that they were taking food off their own plates to feed him.
    That lasagna had been amazing, and now his parents could afford it again. “Yeah.”
    “How is your mom?”
    “She’s fine. They live out in Catonsville now.” Nate couldn’t resist the chance to remind Kellan why it had been so long since he’d had Mom’s lasagna. “She used to ask me why you never came to the house anymore. She wanted me to tell you you were always welcome.”
    Kellan shifted his weight from foot to foot and dropped his chopsticks into the bowl. “I bet she didn’t wonder long.”
    “If Geoffrey could have seen your negotiation skills just now, convincing me to help you, he’d probably set you up as a vice-president tomorrow.”
    “Would that be with or without the blowjob part of the negotiation?”
    It killed Nate to admit it, but as long as Kellan had that stupid mistake to hold over him, he was always going to win. Nate folded his arms and nodded at Kellan’s bowl. “You done with that?”
    “Yeah. All done with seaweed and bean scum.”
    “Well, maybe tomorrow you can find a job and buy your own food. But don’t bring any meat into the house.”
    The downstairs door buzzed, the intercom giving Eli’s voice a rasp he’d never manage on his own. “Nate? It’s me.”
    Kellan snatched the bag holding the sweatpants off the counter. “Guess if company’s here I’d better go wrap up the one kind of meat you like.” The bathroom door slammed behind him.

Chapter Six
    Kellan kept the bathroom door open a crack as he pulled the baggy sweats up his legs so he could get a handle on who Nate’s company was. When Kellan came up with his plan, he’d never stopped to wonder if Nate already had a boyfriend. Nate wouldn’t have agreed if he did, right?
    The apartment door opened and a guy with a singsong voice and a British accent said, “What happened to you, Nate? Thought we were out on the pull tonight, you and me. Said we’d meet at J.J.’s.”
    “Christ, Eli, in three sentences you’ve gone from East London to Birmingham to Oxford. If you’re going to fake an accent to get laid, you might want to stick to one county. You’re not the only person who gets BBC America with basic cable.”
    Kellan did. Back in his bedroom suite, on the fifty-six inch flat screen. He even watched the channel enough to know what on the pull meant. Too bad Nate was about to get cock-blocked. This might be fun after the way Nate had to go and bring up Geoffrey again.
    “Yeah, like you’re the fucking expert, Mr. One Semester at Oxford.” Eli didn’t like Nate’s know-it-all shit any more than Kellan did.
    “Cambridge.”
    “What-the-fuck-ever.” Eli would make his point better if he didn’t whine.
    “I’d explain it, but we’d be here all night.” No wonder Nate lived alone. With a head that big there wasn’t room for anyone else.