Page 98 of The Last Good Man

He refuses to answer.

“It doesn’t matter either way. I’m just curious.”

“You want us to be friends?” he asks.

“Yeah. Why not?”

He shoots me another look.

“You’re setting me up,” he says.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

He dismisses me with a gesture before he speaks.

“I fucked someone when I got out of jail. Now stop the presses…”hesays.

“When was that?”

“A few weeks back.”

“That’s it?”

“I fucked her more than once.”

A pang of jealousy zips through me.

“So you’re seeing this woman.”

“I’m not seeing her. She’s married. She’s also an old flame. Her husband and I can’t see eye to eye.”

“Oh… So you have a problem with a woman’s other men?”

“No. I don’t really care,” he says.

“You have a problem with my ‘boyfriends’,” I say.

“It’s different.”

“How?”

“I care about you.”

“So you care about her too?”

The back-to-back questions and answers suddenly stop as he ponders his words.

“I don’t want her to be with me. But I want you. It’s that simple.”

He peels his eyes away from me.

“Was that her on the phone?” I mutter.

“No. That was work.”

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