Page 36 of Fighting My Demons

He is a jerk, but I would probably be dead or in prison without him.

“You aren’t seriously defending him?” Latham asks.

“You don’t know him the way I do, and he is my brother. You don’t have to understand it, and I am not asking you to.”

“But he ruins your life. He harasses you and threatens you. You just said it yourself that you couldn’t even date because of him,” Latham says.

I sigh but don’t bother answering.

“So, how many men have you been with?” Blaine asks, making me a little uncomfortable. “Can’t be that bad. Most people have ten sexual partners in a lifetime. I read that in Cosmopolitan.”

“They can’t have had a very long life span,” Latham chuckles.

“Not everyone is a man-whore like you, and I think it was referring to women. It is a chicks’ magazine,” Blaine says.

“So, how many? No judgment. Any more than ten you're a whore according to Cosmopolitan,” Xavier says. “That was a joke, by the way.”

“Oh, so it is more than ten? No judgment. I lost track of Latham’s toys, and Xavier was becoming a walking, talking STD when I met him,” Blaine says, and I flush scarlet, not because it is more than ten, but because my sex life really is pathetic.

“One,” I answer.

“Is that code for ten or a hundred?” Blaine asks, and I scrunch my face up.

“No, one. As in the number one,” I tell him, holding up my finger.

“You have slept with one person, and you're twenty-three?”

“I’m twenty-six.”

“Wait, is this boyfriend so? You were with him and him only?” Xavier asks, and I nod.

“And you were with him for two years, so you lost your virginity at twenty-three?”

“Yes, Clayton, and only Clayton. Can we change the subject now?”

“So, you never had sex until you were twenty-three? Like, did nothing with other guys?”

“No, I have been with other guys.I just didn’t fuck them, okay? Now subject change, please.”

“But why?” Blaine asks.

“Probably because I was busy studying and working and not lying on my back like you three.”

“I will have you know I am an active person in the bedroom and not a starfish. I am rarely lying on my back,” Xavier says.

“Dinner is ready. Come grab a plate,” Blaine tells everyone.

I grab mine and walk over to the dining table and sit down. Halfway through our meal, Latham asks a question.

“Can I ask you something?” Latham says, and I look over at him.

I nod, trying to swallow my food so I can answer.

“When I went over yours and your brother's family history…”

“I am still pissed off about that. Why would you even dig into my past?”

“I was curious when I found the gun in your handbag.”