Blake
Okay. That didn’t go well.
I set my beer on the counter and started for the door, pulling my cell out when it buzzed in my pocket. I didn’t stop to read the message, though. I had to catch Ash.
I grunted at Ezra and stepped outside just in time to see Asher’s taillights fade in the distance.
Fuck.
I rubbed my hand over my scruffy chin, fixating on the web of mist clinging to the lamplight overhead as I tried to figure out my next move.
At that moment, I was more concerned about Ash’s abrupt departure than I was about Ezra. And I wasn’t mad at Ez for showing up out of the fucking blue. My friends should be able to drop by whenever they wanted, and the guy who’d been in my bed almost every night over the past week shouldn’t have felt like he had to leave…to protect me. I was the problem here. Me.
The last couple of weeks with Ash had been fucking magic. No, everything had been better in my life since I met Ash. More clear, more real, more honest. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I didn’t want to fuck this up. The idea of Asher fleeing to make things easier for me didn’t feel right. But I couldn’t do anything until I sent Ezra on his way, so I slipped my cell into my pocket, and trudged back to my apartment, shutting the door behind me.
“Hey, Ez. I need to go to—what’s that?”
Ezra had moved to the sofa. He sat perched on the edge of the cushions, holding a square piece of foil between his thumb and index finger.
“Looks like a condom wrapper.” He glanced up at me, widening his eyes in faux shock. “Good thing your friend didn’t see that. He didn’t look like the type who’d appreciate sexy evidence.”
I snatched the wrapper from him and examined it…as if condom packaging was somehow fascinating. “Where’d you find it?”
He pointed at the rug, then tipped back his bottle and belched, settling into the cushion a mere foot from where Ash had looked up at me with those big blue eyes and begged me to fuck him. He’d wiggled his perfect ass, bit his plump bottom lip, and said please…over and over. I’d suited up as fast as humanly possible, tossing the wrapper aside before sliding inside him and—
“My timing couldn’t have been more perfect,” Ezra commented, pulling me from my reverie. “You’re welcome. So…who is she?”
“Who?”
“The girl.”
“What girl?”
“The chick you were bangin’.” He motioned for me to sit down as he set his beer on the coffee table. “Wait. Don’t tell me. It’s one of the blondes we met at the bar last month. You sneaky bastard. No wonder I haven’t seen much of you. I should have known. Which one? The one with the tits or the one with—”
“No. What are you talking about? There’s no new girl,” I replied, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa.
“Oh! Katie’s back, eh? Nice.” He nodded to himself, adding, “She’s cool. I like her.”
Now, this was where I’d usually be frantically searching for an excuse or a half-truth to cover my tracks. Tonight, Ezra offered me a couple of different choices. It was too easy.
But it was wrong.
It felt cheap and dirty to hide behind misunderstandings and lies of omission. So I did something that should have scared the crap out of me.
I told the truth.
“Katie is cool, but we’re not together. I’m seeing someone new.”
“Oh? Nice. Who?”
And here we go. I licked my lips and swallowed hard.
“You just met him.”
Ezra gaped at me, then threw his head back and hooted. “Dude, you had me there for a second.”
I waited till he’d caught his breath and tried again. “I’m not kidding, Ez. I’m bi and I’m seeing a man. Ash.”
This time, he squinted at me, rolling his head from side to side like the angle might change my story. “For real?”
“Yeah. For real.”
The silence had a heartbeat. It was about to take on a life of its own when Ezra finally spoke. “I’m…huh. Okay. Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“Is this new? I mean, I don’t see it…at all.”
“Yes, it’s new and I don’t know what you see either, but I can’t worry about what other people think of me anymore,” I rasped. Surprised at the sudden ache in my chest, I added, “It’s been slowly killing me for years.”
“Years?” he repeated. “You’ve been into guys for…years?”
I nodded. “I’ve known I’m bi for a long time. You’re the first person I’ve ever told, though. Congratulations.”
Ezra gaped incredulously. “No one knows?”
I gave a tentative smile, plucking at the seam on the sofa cushion. I hadn’t planned on coming out tonight, and I wasn’t sure about the protocol. Or what to expect from my friends. Was this the end of something or the beginning? No fucking clue. And Ezra’s dumbfounded expression was amusing and nerve-wracking at the same time.