Page 57 of Now Comes the Dark

An Unexpected Encounter

Roman remained at the table for a long time after Mallon had left, staring at the debris on his plate, his mind somewhere far away. All the things Mallon had told him tumbled through his head in an un-sequenced scramble. His marriage and children were the least surprising. Mallon had provided nothing but the barest scraps of information about his life in France until now. Roman hadn’t given it a huge amount of thought, but it made perfect sense that he’d had something to hide.

Roman had tried to steer clear of married men, especially the ones who were married to women, for the longest time. They were everywhere of course, on Grindr and other dating apps, even at The Viaduct, but he had developed a good instinct for spotting them. A few were honest enough to admit the fact straight up, asking for complete discretion in their initial contacts. Whenever it happened, he gave a polite rejection and blocked them from contacting him again.

Roman had old-fashioned values about marriage. He was fine with open relationships and couples who liked to pick up a thirdparty for a threesome, when everything they did was consensual and honest. It was the guys who cheated and played around on the side that he had the issue with.

The wives and partners of those men were not party to the arrangement. They waited at home, believing their stories of working late or drinks with the boys while their husbands took dicks in the vaults of The Viaduct or hooked up with some cutie they had met through an app.

Roman had always believed people could do whatever they wanted to while they were single, could fuck as many random strangers as they desired, but once they made a commitment to another person, they should honour it.

He didn’t have many rules in life, but avoiding married men was one of them.

There were always a few who slipped through. Some men were so practised at lying and deception, it was impossible to figure them out until it was too late. He’d had a thing with a nice guy called Paul about a year before. They had gotten together three or four times and had great chemistry, Roman had thought they had the potential to take things further. When he’d invited Paul to watch a mid-week game of football, he’d admitted he couldn’t. It was his husband’s birthday, and they were going to dinner. When Roman asked if they had an open relationship, Paul had to admit that they didn’t. His screwing around was entirely one-sided.

Though Roman had seen him around The Viaduct a few times since then, he’d given Paul a wide berth.

Married men always found a way to justify what they did.My wife doesn’t understand me. She doesn’t like sex anymore. No one understands bisexuality. This is the only way I can be my true self.Mallon wasn’t the first guy to tell him that he stayed in an unhappy marriage for the sake of his children.

Roman had managed to negotiate a simple and clean path, avoiding the pitfalls of horny husbands and their shitty excuses.

Until now…until Mallon.

The waitress returned to clear the table, breaking the spell of introspection.

“Can I bring you anything else?” she asked. “Dessert? Coffee?”

Roman was about to say he’d have the bill then changed his mind. “Can I have a double vodka with just the tiniest dash of Coke?”

“No problem,” she said with a jovial smile. “I’ll bring that right over.”

He checked his phone. There was a text from Ashley to say everything was fine with Patrick.Another one with his head up his own arse. He would stand by that lie for as long as he had to. Roman didn’t bother to reply. He had enough issues of his own to think about.

The waitress delivered the vodka, and he took a long, gratifying drink.

What now?

The obvious answer was to tell Mallon they were finished. They had no ties to each other. Mallon could piss off back to France and unpick the complicated web of his personal life—or stay here and find another fuckboy to satisfy his needs. There was no reason they ever had to see each other again.

Apart from one.

Mallon had said he was in love with Roman, and though Roman had avoided entertaining even the idea of love for Mallon in case it should end in disaster, he couldn’t deny he felt the same. He thought it was just sex, that he was infatuated with him and his beautiful cock, but the way he thirsted for him on the nights they weren’t together, how much he missed him when he returned to France, proved his feelings ran far deeper than anything physical.

Mallon’s confession had come as an even bigger shock than the news of his wife and kids.

Since they’d gotten together, Mallon had kept a tight lid on his inner self. Roman knew he liked good quality food and drink and loathed junk, but other than those things and sex, he had not expressed a great passion for anything. Roman knew Mallon was obsessed with his arse but had no clue if he was interested in anything else about him. He didn’t even know what kind of music he liked or what TV shows he was into. Mallon’s life seemed to revolve around two things—work and fucking.

And now he says he’s in love with me.

Roman took another good drink of vodka.

He picked up the key to Mallon’s apartment and turned it over in his hands. What was the significance of this? It was a bold step to offer an open invitation to his home. Until now, Mallon had given no indication he wanted Roman to be a more significant part of his life in Blyham.

It was a lot to take in. The family issues would have to wait. Right now he needed to get his head around his own feelings, what he felt for this sexy, fascinating and infuriating French man who had gotten under his skin.

He blew out a long breath. His intention had been to go straight home. He needed time to think and get his thoughts in order, but that seemed impossible. There were too many unanswered questions that would keep him up for the rest of the night. There would be no opportunity to talk things through with Ashley, either, not with Patrick lurking around the flat. Roman could do with his friend right now, but Ashley had made it clear that Patrick was his priority.

Fuck it. He couldn’t let this lie. He needed to talk to Mallon again…tonight.

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