Page 15 of Depths of Desire
“You alright?” he asked finally.
I nodded, but it was probably too quick.
He didn’t push right away. He just watched the fire for a moment, mouth twitching like he was considering what to say. He wasn’t bothered by this. If anything, he looked like he was having fun. Then he tilted his head slightly and gave me a look that was too careful to be casual.
“So,” he said, “are the rumors true?”
My eyes locked onto his. I didn’t flinch, but something in my chest drew tight.
I leaned back a little, letting the heat of the fire touch my legs. “Which rumors?”
“You know,” he said and then added quickly, “I’m not judging or anything. I just…I’ve heard things. About you.”
“People hear all sorts of things,” I said. “Doesn’t mean they matter.”
He blinked, caught off guard. “I didn’t mean it like?—”
“I know what you meant.”
Another pause.
I could feel him waiting for something more, something real. I stared at the fire instead.
I wasn’t angry. Just tired. Tired of people turning my life into questions for their curiosity. Into headlines. Into whispers.
“It’s not relevant,” I said finally.
Lennox frowned. “How is it not relevant?”
I looked over at him. Not sharply, but steadily.
“Because none of it has anything to do with what I’m trying to do. The tabloids only care about a story. About headlines that make people click and argue in comment sections. They don’t care if it’s true. They don’t care if it costs you your focus or your career.”
He looked at me, eyebrows drawn.
I kept my voice even.
“I’m not here to satisfy anyone’s curiosity. And I’m not here to be a headline.”
We sat with that for a minute. The fire cracked louder for a second before settling again. Outside, snow slid off the roof in a soft rush. Lennox looked at his hands, folded in his lap, probably regretting asking me anything at all. I had that effect on people. They always ended up sorry for trying.
Then I added, quieter, “But yeah. It’s true.”
Lennox didn’t say anything right away.
I didn’t look at him.
It didn’t matter what he thought. Not really. I wasn’t here to be accepted or approved. I wasn’t here for whatever reaction he was trying not to have.
I had already gone through the christening by fire with my parents. I’d seen what cold disdain and tightened jaws looked like. I knew what it was like to be looked at and ignored at the very same moment.
“If you’re worried about sleeping in the same bed…” I started, agitation itching my just a little too uncomfortably.
Lennox threw his head back and laughed so loudly the walls rang. “Christ, no,” he said. “I’m not worried about sharing the bed with someone.”
I nodded, but even I could tell it looked stiff.
“Don’t you want to know about me?” Lennox asked, the same old cheerful guy that he had been a few minutes ago.
