Page 124 of Faithful

My heart sinks and simultaneously does a little flip in my chest. I’m nervous and excited and terrified. “Hey, um, thanks for… calling.”

“It’s safer if we chat outside social media platforms… if you know what I mean.”

I find it funny that Kai told me the same thing once too. That was back in my stalking days. “Totally.” I get behind the wheel and shut the door.

“Is this a good time?”

“It is.”

Silence.

“Look,” I begin, cranking up the heater. “I know this is out of the blue and I’m sorry, but I’m not certain who else to ask.”

“Uh-huh.” Danny chuckles, but there’s no enthusiasm in his voice. He’s clearly uncomfortable talking to me. Hell, I'd be uncomfortable talking to me, too. Yet here we are. So I better use this opportunity before it’s lost.

“That’s you?” Danny asks. His question is more of a statement. “In those photos? The ones TMZ published right before Christmas?”

Time to leave the closet for good, Dylan. “Yeah, it’s me.” I wait for more. But Danny has always been a respectful dude and he chooses not to pry into my private affairs.

“I heard from Finn,” he simply says, “that you and Kai have a thing.”

“It’s not a thing.”I fucking love him.

“Okay.”

“I need to talk to him, but he’s shutting me out. I’ve been at his place and at his mom’s place and I’m out of ideas at this point.”

“And you want me to do what exactly? Set you two up on a blind date?”

“No, just tell me where I can find him. I’ll handle it from there.”

Danny takes a long moment to think my request over. “He’s in Utah now. Said he needed space. He’ll be back next week for rehearsals. Tuesday. I’ll text you the address.”

“Thanks.”

“But don’t come in the morning. You’re gonna get him all riled up, and we’re gonna be the ones dealing with his mood swings. Evening is better.”

“Can you let me know the time?”

“Sure.” He clears his throat. “I don’t mean to be nosy, but if he doesn’t want to talk to you, maybe he has a good reason.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“I don’t know what to think, to be honest with you. You had a girlfriend in high school.”

“Yeah. And you thought Buddhism originated in China.”

“Man.” He sighs into the phone. “I feel really weird getting in the middle of this, whatever it is you and Kai have going on.”

“Please. This one time. I promise. I won’t ask anything ever again.”

“Damn you, Dylan. But I swear if this comes back at me, I’ll cut your balls off.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the last part. I need my balls.”

He chuckles. “And I’ll pretend this conversation never happened.”

* * *

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