Page 10 of The Influencer

“I always assumed it’s a spectrum.”

“You really believe that?”

“Sure.” I stand, not minding the conversation, but if we’re going to have it, I want to keep myself busy, otherwise I won’t be able to stop staring at his chest. I start with the used tissues and a trash bag.

“I’m so gay, I’m practically a hetero woman,” he says.

“My brother’s gay.”

“I know.”

“I have a girlfriend,” I say with no enthusiasm.

“So I’m told.”

“What about you?” I ask. “You in a relationship?”

He laughs. “I don’t know what about what you see here makes you think I could possibly be in a relationship.”

“You never know,” I say, gathering up a few empty cans of sparkling water and tossing them in the bag. I gesture at the boxes. “You packing?”

“Unboxing,” he says just before sneezing again.

I take in the scene again. The boxes. The tissue paper and bubble wrap. The ring lights. “What is it you do for a living again?”

“I’m a dancer on Gideon’s tours.”

“And...?”

“And I do some collaborations on social media. I model. Among other things.”

Other things? “Uh-huh. What’s your handle?”

“My name. At Jade underscore Sloane with an ‘E.’”

“I’ll check it out.”

“Please don’t,” he says.

I glance over at him. The sunlight bouncing off his chest makes him look like a marble statue. “Why not?”

“Because it’s not meant for people like you.”

I’m bending over to pick up another Kleenex, but I straighten at that, shaking a stray strand of hair off my forehead. “What’s that mean?”

“Straight men.”

“Oh.”

He gives me a look like “told you so.”

“Well, if it helps, my girlfriend is waiting to have sex until marriage, so my eye wanders more often than not these days.” Why did I say that? What possible point was there in saying something like that? It makes me sound like the biggest asshole in the world. “I mean—not like I’d cheat on her because of that—I just?—”

Jade’s grinning, though. It’s this particular smile with just half of his mouth that’s half salacious, half taunting. “Curious?”

“Didn’t say that.”

“But you might be?” he asks.

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