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Percy looked away again, then nodded. “It’s…” He stopped and bit his lip for a second. “I don’t like to talk about it. About him. But yes, it was not good. And I’m not offended. I just seem to be panicking a lot these days over totally normal things.”
Derek turned his body to face Percy better. “It wasn’t you, okay? I’m not being some martyr here. I have chronic foot-in-mouth disease, so just ignore me and go on if you trust me not to be a dick again.”
That startled a laugh out of Percy, and he looked over, shrugging. “I just think that sometimes I’m ready to…” Fall in love with a bright-eyed, gorgeous man who made Percy smile like no one else had? “…meet someone again. To maybe be a little vulnerable again. But I seem to keep meeting the wrong people at the wrong time. Or the wrong people at the right time. Either way, it ends up being wrong somehow.”
Derek’s face was drawn with the familiar pity Percy hated, but he couldn’t really blame the man for feeling it. “I don’t know what you’re going through. I mean, not personally. I’ve had a couple of relationships that lasted a few years, but the breakups were always amicable. Hell, one of my exes works up the street at the surgery center, and she and I have a monthly movie night…which also might be the reason I’ve struggled to keep people interested…” He trailed off with a frown, then quickly shook his head and snapped back to the present. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump that on you. Sorry.”
“You’re fine,” Percy said with a tiny, amused grin. “Fair’s fair, right?”
Derek shrugged, looking a bit like he wanted to argue that point. “My point is, I don’t know what you’re going through from personal experience, but a lot of people I love deeply have been where you are. I’ve seen how hard it is to come back from that and how long it’s taken them to give even a crumb of trust to someone else.”
And yeah, that was the problem. No one was going to settle for crumbs. Even if Wren ever wanted something serious with him, Percy would never be enough. “I’m just too much hard work.”
“The right person won’t see you as hard work,” Derek told him. “They’ll see you as worth it.”
He wanted to believe that, but it seemed far too much like a fairy tale than any sort of reality. All the same, he did like Derek, so he smiled in spite of his thoughts. “I suppose you’re right. And honestly, being single isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
“Nah. Just get a few cats—or one of those dogs that can fit into a laptop bag,” he said, leaning back with a playful grin. “You’ll be all set.”
Percy felt at ease for the first time in a good, long while. “Do you, er…I mean, if you’re ever not busy and wanted company, would you like to…well. I mean, I’m sure you have friends and don’t need more, but…”
“Hey,” Derek said, cutting him off. “My friend Delilah and I are going to the movies this Thursday. Wanna tag along?”
The movies sounded like both the best and worst thing in the world. Which was exactly what he needed. “Yeah,” Percy said with a small grin. “I think I’d like that.”
CHAPTER NINE
Bent over, arranging the array of cookies, Wren watched Anthony grab Luke’s attention out of the corner of his eye. He was the master of pretending like he wasn’t paying attention while also eavesdropping on conversations, something he knew he should probably work on, but he couldn’t help himself. He loved gossip.
Luke was friendlier to Anthony than he was to most hearing people. In fact, when he said that Anthony was working as his backup teacher for the ASL class, Wren had the urge to check him for a raging fever, but the pair got along really well.
“Did…ever find you?” Wren missed the name Anthony fingerspelled by the little centerpiece on the table.
Luke pulled a face. “No. Why?”
“He was having a problem with the class. It’s a long story.”
Luke’s glare only deepened, and in spite of the fact that it could have been any student in Luke’s class, he had a feeling he knew who it was.
Percy.
The man who had been avoiding both BrewBiz and Wren like it was his job. Wren ignored the little sting of hurt in his chest because he thought they’d gotten over whatever weirdness was happening since their hookup. Hell, Wren had been deliberately careful with him just to make sure he didn’t trigger any unwanted feelings or attention.
He was still dealing with the fact that he wanted more—he wanted Percy in ways he’d never wanted anyone—but that was the easy part. Wren was a master at internalizing his own angst, and people rarely ever took notice.
He turned his attention back to Luke, who was signing furiously, but his back was turned to Wren, and he caught almost none of it. When he stormed off, Wren saw the look on Anthony’s face and, against better judgment, set the cookie tray down and walked over.
He waved his hand in Anthony’s periphery and tried for a friendly smile when the man looked up at him. “Sorry.”
Anthony rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to be sorry every time you come within ten feet of me. I forgave you a long time ago.”
Wren didn’t need to pretend like he was unaware of the way he’d been avoiding Anthony—mostly from his own guilt and a little out of fear that he might make Anthony feel worse. But maybe that just made him gently narcissistic. God, was he really that bad?
“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked.
Wren shook his head. “Nothing. Why is Luke upset?”
Anthony’s face did something complicated, which told Wren that he’d been right. This was about Percy. “Nothing important. Just ASL class stuff.”
