Page 60 of Tempting Him

That's not what he meant at all, but he's not about to come out to my dad.

"It'll never be the right time. Me and my wife had Jay when we were pretty young, then we thought when we had his sister that we'd be more prepared, but we weren't. It's hard no matter when you have them," he says with a laugh. "But worth it."

"I'm probably too old now," Alek admits.

"Nah," Dad answers with a chuckle. "Oh. Lanie came by looking for you a couple times. Didn't you two used to date?"

My head snaps up and my eyes lock onto Alek. He doesn't look in my direction, but I know he's aware of my gaze.

"Oh, we went out a few times. Nothing serious."

"She seems pretty serious about you. Said to let her know when you were back in town."

Alek quickly changes the subject, and I finish my beer.

I can't help but dwell on the fact that Alek dated women. He said he was into men. Strictly men. He didn't say he was bi, so if he's dating women, he's farther in the closet than I thought. He's acting like he's straight. I'm torn between feeling bad for him and being annoyed.

Does he plan to fuck men on the low but date and eventually marry a woman, just for appearances? Because his parents led him to believe he had no other choice? That's fucked up.

By the time I snap out of my own thoughts and listen in to the conversation, it takes a few seconds to catch up.

"So, if you were dating Lanie, how did Piper fit in? She hung around for quite a bit."

"Cal, I'm not sure we should talk about this here," Alek says, eyes bouncing to me.

"Oh, Jay's not gonna judge you. It seems like you two may be cut from the same cloth." Dad laughs, and it's then that I notice his eyes. He's drinking more than he planned, too. Dad doesn't drink often, so he's probably gonna regret getting so comfortable with his boss later.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head out," I announce, not wanting to hear about Alek's dating past, and thinking they might be more comfortable talking about things without me here.

"You sure?" Dad asks.

"Yeah, I can hang out with Bryant."

"I'm not so sure it's safe for you to drive right now," Alek chimes in. His faux concern about driving while barely intoxicated is actually jealousy. He doesn't want me hanging out with a guy he thinks I could be into.

"Oh, that's right," Dad says. "And you had one more beer than you planned. You should stick around a while."

"Dad, I'm fine. I don't feel drunk or even tipsy. I'm okay."

Alek gives my dad a look, and I swear to God if my dad wasn't here, I'd have plenty to say to him right now.

"Just go up to my room and hang out for a little bit. I'll be up soon."

I grit my teeth. "Fine. I can text Bryant from there, I guess." Dad turns to talk to the waitress, so I whisper to Alek. "Maybe he'll come visit me here. Give me a goodnight kiss."

I wink at Alek as his nostrils flare, then turn to get my Dad's attention. "Okay, see you soon, Dad. You don't care if I invite someone over, do you? We'll just be watching TV."

He waves a hand at me. "Yeah, that's fine. Just no funny stuff. I don't want to walk in at a bad time."

I laugh before looking at Alek. "We'll probably be on the balcony." Then I leave, a grin on my face.

24

Thirty minutesinto being in my dad's room with absolutely nothing to do but text or call friends—most of which go unanswered, because they're all probably having fun, I get up and search for the remote to the TV.

Dad's room is smaller than Alek's but bigger than a typical single-bed room. There's a mini-bar, small balcony, and a separate bedroom from the living area and kitchenette.

Just as I'm thinking I can probably leave without my Dad knowing, my phone starts ringing. When I look at the screen, I see my dad's face.

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