Page 72 of Starfish and Coffee
“No problem.” Jamie pushed past Matt, practically vibrating with excitement as if he had just fallen into gay heaven. “You just take all the time you need. I got this.”
Alex let Holly squeeze his hand as he walked past her. Then he followed Matt out back as the sinking feeling in his stomach grew. He was practically hyperventilating by the time they closed the door and stood on the back steps facing each other.
Matt folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Alex as he asked, “Did you sell me out for this place?”
Icy-hot dread washed over Alex. He stared at Matt and realized it was happening, this time a thousand times worse because it was going to ruin the good memories too. Whether it was more anger than fear that had him almost vibrating from the sickening feeling surging through him Alex wasn’t sure. The only thing hewassure about was Cecilia Tarrington had waved her magic wand of hate and was working to systematically ruin the last vestiges of happiness Alex was trying to cling to where Matt was concerned.
“Is that what she told you?” Alex shot back.
“Yeah.” Matt nodded, the same level of fury pulsing through him, only his anger was directed entirely at Alex. “Then I looked up her bank accounts because I didn’t want to believe it.Not you. I may have been a piece of ass or an experimental phase, but I was never a checkbook to you. At least I didn’t think I was. I guess I was wrong.”
“Listen to me, Matty.” Alex reached out instinctively, but Matt shoved his hand away before he could touch him. “It was never about money. I’ve made mistakes. A fuckload of them, but I wouldn’t have sold you foranything. I bought this place to hide. To prove I could make something of myself. I made her give me the money because there was nowhere else to get it.”
“That doesn’t really make it better,” Matt countered, his eyes narrowed in furious betrayal. “You still exchanged me for the cash to buy this place, and you know what the bitch of it is, Lexie? I would’ve bought you ten restaurants. Hell, I would’ve bought you a hundred of them. All you would’ve had to do was ask.”
“I DID NOT SELL YOU OUT FOR THIS PLACE!” Alex screamed at him. “I ended us because I was scared! I was young and stupid and scared of you hating me when your mama cut you off, and the entire world turned against you for loving me. I didn’t want you hurt. I was protecting you.”
“The money’s mine,” Matt said with a bitter laugh. “She can’t cut me off. My father knew what a controlling bitch she was. He put it all in my name. She gets an allowance from me.”
A pained, hysterical laugh broke out of Alex as he shook his head. “Of course she does. That just makes it all perfect. I’ve been dying for the last six years for nothing.”
“If you’d have asked, I would’ve told you. We used to talk. We were—” Matt’s voice broke, his steely veneer peeling before Alex’s eyes. “We loved each other, Alex. We talked about shit. I remember because I have relived every moment of that year a million times in my mind trying to figure out where it went wrong. Why would you push me away at the exact moment when we should’ve been fighting for a future together? We were right there. The bullshit would’ve blown over.”
Alex put his hand over his eyes, realizing he was going to come apart right there on the back steps of the restaurant. It was all so unfair; he almost couldn’t breathe past the injustice of it.
“I’m sorry,” Alex finally whispered in a choked, miserable croak of anguish. “I don’t really have an excuse. All I can do is apologize—for everything.”
“I’m sorry too,” Matt said in a soft, bitter voice that spoke of a loss too difficult to comprehend. “Because we could’ve really been happy together if you’d been willing to stick it out.”
Alex was almost relieved when Matt walked away. With his soul torn open and bleeding, he didn’t want to stand there and see the last remnants of love for Alex fade out of Matt’s eyes.
He was crying, but he didn’t care as he pulled open the door to the restaurant once the low hum of Matt’s Bentley started up. He walked past the kitchen to the front of the restaurant and went on a search for paper and pen.
The dining room became eerily quiet as Alex worked on writing out a sign with shaking hands and tears running down his face. Then he grabbed the tape dispenser and made a show of taping the sign to the front door.
It said two words—GONE FISHING.
“It’s nine in the morning,” Daryl said in a stunned voice as he came up behind Alex who was sticking an extra piece of tape to the bottom of the sign just to make sure it stayed put because he planned to be gone for a while. “Isn’t that a bad business practice?”
“The man I have loved almost my entire adult life just left believing I sold him out for this restaurant,” Alex growled back at Daryl. “Ask me if I give a shit about bad business practices? The way I feel right now, it can rot to the fucking ground!”
Daryl took a step back in horror. “The man you love?”
“That’s right. The man I love,” Alex repeated as he took a menacing stop toward Daryl who was suddenly looking at him like he had an infectious disease. “Holly’s not the one who’s gay.I am. I was born gay, and I will die gay. She has rainbow stickers on her car because she hates that I have to listen to narrow-minded, bigoted assholes like you spew hateful bullshit on a regular basis. So if you’ve got a problem with who I love, you can suck it, Daryl!”
Alex turned around, leaving Daryl shocked speechless as he stormed into the back to gather his things. He passed Holly and Jamie, both standing there with wide eyes. Holly’s hand was over her mouth, and her face was pale.
“Dude,” Jamie started as Alex took his keys off the shelf in the back. “You know you just came out to the entire restaurant, right? ’Cause, like everyone heard that.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Alex grabbed his baseball cap and put it on backward. “I’m gonna go get drunk and catch some fish.”
“Alex,” Holly finally whispered as she stared at him in anguish. “You shouldn’t go out alone.”
“Yeah, I should,” he said with a sad smile as he reached out to her. “I’ll be fine.”
Holly squeezed his hand tightly as she bit her lip and her eyes grew watery. “Maybe you could fix it.”
“Nope, it’s over. His mother’s convinced him I sold him out for two-hundred grand and a seventy-hour-a-week job.” Alex sighed as he looked toward the back door. “Now I gotta go find a reason to keep breathing. The ocean’s usually a good place to start.”
