Chapter Twenty-One
Joey
He’s definitely not gay
It was well after noon when Theo left his apartment and I came back to my place to shower and get ready for rehearsals. But as I showered, I replayed our conversation in my head.
The one where I confessed again why I thought he was gay.
“You seriously thought I was gay, huh?”
I think I may have hurt his feelings. Or deflated his fragile ego. I mean, I did at one point have to show him how to act like an alpha. It’s not entirely my fault.
“There were certain tells,” I admit guiltily, pulling my wrinkled shirt on over my head. I guess it was a case of mistaken identity. My heart felt you and wanted to believe you were a hetero man, but there were so many arrows pointing in the wrong direction. It’s not only your friendship with Patrick, but then you never made a move on me, so instead of believing you weren’t attracted to me because of me, I assumed it was because I was female.”
“Wow, that’s crazy. Who knew I made such a great gay guy?”
Theo stands in front of his closet and pulls from the dress shirts hanging there, slipping it on his body.
He buttons the final button and rubs his forehead like this is causing him an insurmountable headache.
Theo slips on his shorts and walks toward me, cupping my face in his hands and pulling me into him. It makes me feel so good. Secure. Wanted. Understood.
“I certainly hope I dispelled all those myths by the way I fucked you last night and this morning.” He quirks an eyebrow, full of cockiness and sexy attitude.
The heat rushes to my face and between my thighs.
But I go with a snarky response and shrug my shoulders.
“Still not exactly convinced you’re not bi.”
I give a little shout of glee as he picks me up and throws me on the bed, and I end up in a heap on top of the messy, well-used sheets.
With every step he takes toward me, he emphasizes his reply.
“I. Am. Not. Gay. Or Bi. Got it?”
And then he lands on top of me, swiftly lifting me and flipping me on top of him as he rolls on his back. He combs my loose curls out of my face and stares into my eyes.
“Well, maybe I need more convincing…”
His expression turns serious.
“Do you think other’s think I am? Birdie said something about it the other day. No one has ever commented on it before.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Theo, I just misunderstood. I misread all the signals that lead me to believe that about you. For one, you’re living here with Pat and have a history with him, and you were talking about your ex, Al…what was I supposed to think?”
He kisses me square on the mouth before lowering his head to the mattress below.
“Okay, let’s forget about all of that. But we need to talk about the rest of this week. The rehearsals. The crew.Marlon. You and me together.”
Pushing up on my elbows, I place one hand across his chest, the warmth a contradiction to the cold blast of seriousness from his tone. I knew we’d have to hold this conversation, but I still wasn’t ready for it.
“How do you want to play it?”
I was leaving it all up to him. He has to take the lead. It isn’t my call because it’s his profession. His real job and his career. I’m just along for the fun ride.
He smooths back an errant curl and sighs.
