Page 100 of Say It Again

Daniel swigged half his drink.

“You do get to be with other men, correct?” Corey asked, raising one eyebrow.

“I don’t want to be with anyone else.” It was nothing to be embarrassed by, but his shoulders were trying to round protectively. He cleared his throat and squared them. “I only want to be with him.”

“You only want to be with….” Corey trailed off, staring for a long beat. “Wow, this man has figured it out, hasn’t he? He’s a whole lot sharper than I gave him credit for.”

Daniel finished his drink and winced, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“So, let me ask you a question.” Corey leaned over the table and furrowed his brow like he’d never had a more fascinating discussion. “What do you do?”

“What do I do? Like, for work? I dance—”

“No, not for work. While he’s out enjoying life. Fancy dinners, expensive hotels, parties, and shopping sprees. The list goes on.” Corey tapped a finger on the table in front of him. “What do you do?”

“Well.” Daniel swallowed. His words were suddenly oddly jumbled. “I don’t know. I guess I wait for him to come home, and then—”

“I’m sorry?” Corey asked with squinted eyes and an ear tilted toward him as if to be sure he heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, but you ‘wait for him’? Is that what you said?”

Daniel blinked. He’d also frozen in place. That was what he’d said, but when he replayed it, it sounded… sad.

“Oh, darling.” Corey rumbled in chuckles. “So while he’s out doing as he wishes, hopscotching the city. While he’s out fucking anyone he wants?” He paused for effect. “You wait.”

Daniel stammered around an argument, but it was like he was a different extra on a different set that’d been directed to please remain still. No talking. “H-he’s not. It’s not like that—”

“Countless men, every single week, yours truly included.” Corey pointed a finger toward his chest. “And you, Daniel Greene, wait for him.”

His inner voice was screaming, but he couldn’t make it make sense, and his tongue had been shocked still. No talking.

“What does he do when he finally gets home?” Corey cocked his head, his lips twisting into a crooked smirk. “Does he get to fuck you next?”

Daniel was suddenly drowning in the music. In the bass and the garbled screams from inside his head. No talking. You’re just an extra.

“And to be so pretty.” Corey grazed his fingers down Daniel’s cheek. “That’s the part that hurts me. You’re too pretty to be so loyal to someone who isn’t loyal back. Who can’t be.”

Daniel clenched his teeth tight to keep them from chattering.

“If you want my opinion?” Corey gently rubbed his arm and lowered his voice. “Whatever hope you’re holding on to, let it go. He won’t ever be loyal to you, love.”

It was happening. Three. Two. One. He hated it. Who he was. Too much. He was too much. Three. Two. One. Why couldn’t he have thicker skin? If he was going to panic, he needed to find a way to be alone. Three. Two. One. His heart was lumbering too loud to think, and his legs were cemented in place. He nearly tipped the stool over, but he did it. He stood.

“Taking off so soon?” Corey was grinning, polar white and uncomfortable. “Well, please give Aaron my love, won’t you? Tell him I can’t wait to see him next week.”

HE HAS figured it out, hasn’t he? Daniel’s body was flooded with a slow-burning rage that seared a little hotter the longer he stood at his front door. He couldn’t tell who he was angry toward. Corey for being right. Aaron for having figured it out. Or himself. Because what a fucking fool.

While he’s out enjoying life. You, Daniel Greene, wait for him.

Of course he’d been holding on to hope. Of course everything wasn’t fantastic. The question that rankled as much as it daunted: Was it time to let go?

He pushed open the door of their apartment, and Aaron shot up from where he’d been hunched over the kitchen island. If he looked tired before, he was absolutely fried now.

They both stared the other down in a clenched standstill, until Aaron finally broke the silence, his voice thick and stressed. “I’ve been calling you nonstop. Where have you been?”

He won’t ever be loyal to you, love. Daniel started toward the bedroom. “I don’t want to talk right now—”

“No.” Aaron blocked his path. “It doesn’t work like that. I’ve been sitting here worried half to death because you storm off, then refuse to answer your phone. Where the hell have you been?”

Daniel raked a hand through his hair and stepped around him. “Out.”

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