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“You have a lot of nerve calling me,” Laith snapped when he answered. He walked out of the shop and halfway down the street. “What do you want, Danny?”
“I was calling to see how you’re doing.”
Laith gave a humorless laugh. “Still suffering from that identity crisis?”
“Don’t be an ass,” Daniel argued. “You’d be buried deep in a closet if you had my dad for a father.”
“You’re right,” Laith conceded. “But I never would have stayed out of sight while those gorillas beat the shit out of you.”
“What did you want me to do?” Daniel asked with a bit of attitude. “Nothing would have been accomplished by both of us getting our asses beat.”
“You could have spoken up,” Laith said, not realizing until this very moment just how bitter he felt toward his ex. “You could have told the truth.”
“You’re impossible,” Daniel argued. “We’ve had this conversation more than once. My dad will disown me if he finds out I’m gay.”
“The way you disowned me.” Laith’s heart was heavy. He missed what they once shared, the rendezvous, the late-night talks, the secret smiles, but it was time he left his past in the past. The two of them would never have what Laith craved—an open relationship where they didn’t have to hide how they felt toward one another. It was a pipe dream that only served to keep Laith depressed as fuck.
That was what he’d thought he’d eventually have with Daniel, but that was never going to happen. As badly as Laith wanted to keep his sexuality a secret so he didn’t get kicked out of this new town, he desperately wanted to be himself, too. And being with Daniel went against the things Laith wanted out of life.
Laith took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t believe Daniel had the audacity to call him after everything that had happened. “I have to go, Danny,” Laith said firmly. “We can’t keep doing this to each other.”
“Doing what?” he asked. “Are you saying we’re over?”
Laith’s jaw dropped. “It was over the moment you hid in the shadows while I got my ass kicked.”
“They wouldn’t have killed you,” he argued.
“Could have fooled me,” Laith argued right back. “Those boots to my head and body sure as hell said otherwise.” He took a deep breath. “You know what? I’m not doing this with you. Goodbye, Daniel. Don’t call me again.”
Laith blew out several long breaths as he tucked his phone into his back pocket and then froze. He watched as two men walked hand-in-hand out of the diner, and it didn’t seem like anyone in the diner was ready to kick their asses.
One would think that after what happened to him, Laith would feel liberated moving to a new town. But when you were jumped and beaten for being who you were, just being yourself wasn’t easy to do.
“Everything okay?”
Laith screamed and jumped at the sound of Tillman behind him.
“Sorry,” Tillman said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It was just an aggravating call.” Laith quickly looked away before he drew attention to the two men who were smiling at each other like they didn’t have a care in the world.
Laith idolized them. He’d dreamed of himself and Daniel being that way in public. Stop it. You and Daniel are over. Move on.
“I was wondering, since you skipped eating today, if you wanted to go have dinner with me at the diner.”
“You have a store to run,” Laith said just as his stomach grumbled loudly.
Tillman laughed. “That’s it. I’m taking you to dinner. It’s on me.”
“I can pay for myself.” He didn’t want to owe anyone anything. Laith had been like that his entire life. He saved every penny he could, and right now, he had a nice nest egg from his work. Paying for his own dinner wasn’t going to break him.
“I’ll pay. It’s my official way of welcoming you to town, cub.” Tillman walked over and locked the door to The Sugar Well before pocketing his keys. “Besides, I’m starving and could really use the company.”
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a cub.” Did Tillman think that Laith was a hairy little twink? Did he think that Laith was gay? So far, things had been going just fine in Midnight Falls. He really liked the town and didn’t want to move away if anyone found out he preferred men.
But that couple that had walked out of the diner made Laith question what kind of town he’d moved to. He was just too afraid to bring them up. Laith was just starting out here and didn’t want to rock the boat.
Laith hesitated but then nodded. He could use the company of a friendly face and a good meal.
