Chapter 4

“Hey, I’m going to spend the night at Dane’s,” Heath lied into the receiver, determined to keep his elderly parents from worrying. “Yeah, we’re heading over there now. Okay, love you. Stay safe.”

As Heath hung up the phone, he heard a slight cough behind him, the fake kind that people make when they want you to know they’re present.

“A little sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Dane asked from the cubicle entrance.

With a blush rushing to his face, Heath said, “I didn’t mean it that way. I didn’t want my mother to worry about me in the snow.”

Dane nodded, a giant grin on his face. “I forgot that you still live at home.”

“I finished my masters a little over a year ago, about two months before I started here. I have a ton of debt and I’m saving for a house.”

“I guess you don’t take too many people back to your place,” Dane said, that silly grin still there.

“I really haven’t had to worry about it much,” Heath admitted.

“Really?” Dane asked, a little puzzled.