Page 46 of Grave Misgivings
“So, uh, Katy said you weren’t dead set on a place to stay.”
Geo’s voice drops an octave. “I mean, Iwasgoing to stay at the hotel, but?—”
“You can stay with me. If you want, I mean.”
He lets out a breath, his voice dark and smooth, like my fucking coffee. “That depends...” he says cautiously.
“On what?” I ask.
“Do you... want me to stay? With you, I mean?”
I set my coffee down. Something about the tone of his voice feels different.
Like he means to say something else, but what, I’m not quite sure.
“I mean, I am like ten minutes down the road from your parents, and we both know you’ll probably be on edge if you stay with them.”
I shrug. It’s the truth.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he says quietly.
I suck in a deep breath, knowing I’m digging my own grave.
“Of course Iwant you,” I say, closing my eyes. “To stay, I mean. Do you... not want to... stay withme?” I try to feign nonchalance, but I fail miserably.
Geo is quick to answer. “I think I would really like to stay with you, actually.”
“Really?” I ask, the surprise in my voice evident.
“Yeah, I mean, otherwise it’d just be me and my boring self back at the hotel now that everyone on the fucking label has a boyfriend, except me.”
My blood chills, because his words are loud and clear. But I know he didn’t mean them like they actually sounded.
“Something in the water over at Casualty Records?” I say carefully.
“Apparently.” He sighs. “You know, I’m like, totally cool with that, right?” he says.
“Cool with what?” I ask, noting he sounds shaky. Nervous.
“The... gay thing. Just saying. I’m not like my parents.”
What the fuck?
Where did that come from?
Panic floods me as my eyes widen, did I...
Fuck, did I say something?
The fact I don’t remember causes a fresh wave of anxiety to swell in my stomach.
“I never said you were,” I reply defensively.
At first, I tried to keep my sexual confirmation on the down low, but after a year of Deb and Joel constantly trying to push me to date their daughter, I finally just had to tell them the truth, thatthatwas never going to happen. They weren’t thrilled with the admission, at first.
Debbie just didn’t acknowledge it. Joel gave me a bit of a wide berth, at first, but he came around a lot faster than I thought he would. My own parents were actually less accepting than Geo’s, to tell the truth, which is why I haven’t talked to them much over the years.
“I just... needed you to know that,” he says softly. “Totally cool with all of... that.” And then there is a tense silence.
