Page 41 of Tempting Him

I snort. “April.”

“Okay, closer to three.”

“And you just wanted to make sure things were running smoothly?”

“Something like that. If you haven’t noticed, I like to be in control, and I wanted to make sure we were doing everything we needed to do to the best of our ability. I trust Luther, which is why I brought him this time around. He’ll stay here once I leave to keep things in order. I also brought over a couple other of the more experienced personnel from Chicago.”

“You? Controlling? Weird.” He rolls his eyes. “So, Luther. I really like him.”

“Oh? Is he your type after all?”

A laugh bursts from my throat. “Stop. No. I mean, he’s a good guy. Seems to like you a lot.”

A genuine smile forms on his lips. “He’s been a mentor to me. The closest thing I have to a father figure now.”

“Does he know…” I pause. “Wait. Are you out? Like, do people know you’re gay?”

His lips flatten as he stares at me. He’s always gotten weird when I’ve inquired about his sexuality. Maybe he’s not out.

“Not many people know,” he answers.

“You’ve never had a boyfriend serious enough to show up to work for lunch or to take to work events?”

His brows furrow slightly as he chuckles. “No, definitely not.”

“I have a question, but I’m afraid of how you’ll take it.”

“Oh, great,” he says, sitting back. “Go for it.”

With a laugh, I say, “It’s not too bad. I’m just curious. Am I the youngest person you’ve been with or do you have a penchant for younger guys?”

Alek grimaces. “I hate how that sounds. It makes me sound like some sort of pervert, but no, I don’t have apenchantfor younger guys. You’re the youngest.”

“Ah, a first.” I grin. “You’re the first older guy I’ve been with.”

“Oh, so you’re not out seeking sugar daddies on the regular?”

“Mm,” I teasingly moan, shifting in my seat. “You wanna be my sugar daddy?”

He laughs. “No, you’re probably too expensive.”

“Hey, I know my worth.”

Alek shakes his head, a grin playing on his lips. “So, when did you come out?”

“Right before I left for college,” I say with a laugh. “I figured if my parents ended up being pissed, then I’d be living in another state soon and wouldn’t have to worry about it. But I was tired of not living my truth.”

He nods. “And how did they react?”

“Oh, they were surprised,” I say with a smile. “I’ll never get the looks on their faces out of my head. They were wide eyed and silent.”

“But they weren’t angry?”

“No. They questioned me a lot. ‘Are you sure? Are you confused? Are you curious?’ Stuff like that. But they accepted it and never acted weird again. Then again, I’ve been living here, so it’s not like they see me with guys or anything. I’m not sure how they’d act if I introduced them to a boyfriend.”

He soaks in the information with another nod. “And your friends? I’d think it would be hard to come out as a young person in school. People can be cruel.”

“Definitely. I didn’t come out right away. It’s not like I ever had to pretend to like girls, because I do. So for a while, they saw me with girls and assumed I was straight and I never said anything to suggest otherwise. It wasn’t until I found a guy I was attracted to and started hooking up with that I knew I’d have to tell them. Even then, it was only the people I was closest to. As far as everybody else, I just adopted the I-don’t-give-a-fuck-what-you-think attitude. If they saw me with a guy, then they’d know I also liked guys. A few people from the frat or the football team questioned me, but even then the answer was simply,I like bothwith a shrug.”

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