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had only just arrived home after finishing with a client and was glad to have the night to himself.
    “Hey. What’s up?” Calder greeted as he answered the call.
    “I have an idea.”
    “Oh, here we go,” Calder teased.
    “Pfft. I’m making my own firm. Well, I’m going to freelance at first to try and build up my reputation outside of Sybil Industries, but I’ll be working on my own company in the meantime. Making sure I get all the legalities right.”
    “Oh, that sounds like a good plan,” Calder mused. “Make your own name instead of working for someone else’s.”
    “I still have lots to learn about getting this off the ground, but I’ll go to a few IT security conventions. I can learn from the best if I attend some of them. There’s one in Seattle that looks promising. It’d be an easy drive up from here.”
    “That sounds fun.” In reality, it didn’t. Calder had never cared much for conventions and crowds, especially working them as he usually did. Worse yet, there would be a bunch of tech nerds there—hardcore nerds whose language Calder didn’t speak rather than movie buffs and gamers, who he could relate to. But Justin had always been passionate. Right now, Justin needed support more than anything.
    “A little intimidating but fun,” Justin agreed. “I don’t do too well in crowds.”
    “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Calder assured him. “You can do it.”
    “Thanks. How was your day?”
    “Oh, you know, same as always. I just got back from a short job. I love the work but I kind of wish the firm would let me choose more of my own clients, you know? It feels like I’m always working. I don’t have much time for anything else.”
    There was a pause on the other end of the phone.
    “Justin?”
    “No, I’m here, sorry.”
    A prickle of annoyance rippled across Calder’s skin. Being friends with Justin was great, but definitely was not without its challenges. Here he was trying to talk about his own day and Justin was already distracted. While Calder had a lot of patience and knew why Justin acted the way he did, it was only human to be frustrated sometimes.
    “Right. Anyway.” Calder’s tone was clipped.
    “You should definitely come out like we were talking about before,” Justin spoke up. “That’d be the vacation you’d need, yeah? And we can hang out like old times.”
    Calder relaxed slightly. In that moment, despite his annoyance with Justin, he yearned to see him. He did miss all of the adventures they used to have when they were teenagers. They had been so close.
    And it sounded like reconnecting was just the thing they both needed in their lives right now.
    Calder made a note to ask about time off at work.
    “Oh, I’ve totally got to show you OMSI, which is the coolest museum you’ll ever go to,” Justin gushed.
    “What’s there to see?” Calder asked, then smiled when Justin launched into the entire experience. It was hard to stay mad at Justin very long whenever he got excited. He was just so cute.
    A random flash of the cute Justin stretched out rather suggestively across a couch crossed Calder’s mind. It had been so sudden that it jolted Calder. Images like these had happened throughout the years. How could they not? Justin was attractive and Calder wasn’t blind to it. Still, in all the years they had known each other, they had kept it in their pants. It was better that way.
    Or was it?
    Calder shook his head, trying to rid himself of such a thought. It wasn’t the first time he’d had it, and it wouldn’t be the last, but it was something he had to keep stuffing deep down inside.
    Calder quickly threw himself back into the conversation to keep himself distracted, his heart pounding the whole time.

6
Justin
    G etting his feet back on the ground after being fired turned out to be trickier than Justin had thought. After walking into a couple of other tech companies he’d freelanced for in the past, he was getting nothing. Stony faces or rejections