I blanched at the very mention of it. “Of course not.”
Sam pinned me down with his intense gaze.
“Does he know that?”
I blinked. What did he mean?
“I am here, aren’t I?”
“You could be here for a lot of reasons. Technically, you’re here because of the rescue.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I should have left by now if that were the only reason.”
Sam didn’t budge.
“I’ll ask again—does he know that?”
I shifted in my chair uncomfortably. “Yeah… I mean… I think so. We’ve come very close to kissing.”
“Kissing and sex are not the same as a marriage, Reed. I think you need to tell him that. Dr. Park is a man of principle. Perhaps a bit too rigidly so, but he is the one who married you, took the decision unilaterally. For a man like him, who doesn’t speak his feelings, who follows the law to a ‘T’, it couldn’t have been easy. And I don’t think he knows exactly how you feel about the whole situation.”
Oh.
“We have noticed that you don’t wear a ring. He does.”
Oh, fuck.
My stomach sank to the floor.
I had been such a bloody fool.
“Go talk to your man.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I left the cafeteria feeling all kinds of fucked up. What did I say to Daniel? Would he even listen?
What if he thought I was just trying to bed him all this time?
I swore.
Sometimes I could be so simple-minded.
5
Daniel
I’d always known I was drawn to men. Growing up in a hippie family in sunny California, I was supposed to embrace all that. My parents wanted me to express my feelings freely and be “in touch with my soft side.”
Tough luck.
I was wired differently. I’d rather die than admit anything to anyone.
Being the station doctor here at Waypoint Research Station had been the perfect escape. Here, I was untouchable. Everyone respected me and didn’t dare try to be chummy with me. I knew everyone’s secrets, after all.
During late nights in our dorm, Viktor often confessed how he felt about Sam. He just didn’t realize how much I actually related to him, how much I understood what it was like to fall in love and know that it was never going anywhere.
And now it was clear to everyone what kind of man I was.
I should have annulled the marriage long ago.
