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“Night, night,” I whisper into the darkness.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
* * *
It’s Friday—the last day of the conference. It’s been great. I haven’t had to come to all the lectures, and I’ve had plenty of time to do my own thing. Henry has been the perfect companion, although a bit of a drunk. But all in all, it’s been enjoyable.
We are at lunch, and I’m standing at the bar to order a lemonade.
“Hi, there,” Zavier says from behind me.
“Hi.” I smile. I’ve chatted to Zavier briefly for most of the week. He’s lovely. There’s a burning question about our conversation we had on the first day, and I know I’m never going to see him again to ask later. We order our drinks and wait.
“Can I ask you something?” I say.
“Sure.” He gestures to a seat at the bar, and we both sit down.
“You said something to me the other night and it stayed with me. I wondered if I could ask you what you meant by it?”
“I hope I didn’t offend you.” He frowns.
“No, not at all.”
“What did I say?”
“I told you that Nathan and I had been friends for years, and you said that it all made sense now.”
His tongue slides over his bottom lip as he watches me.
“What did you mean?”
“Oh, Eliza.” He frowns. “Pay me no attention. I was out of line for saying that.”
“No.” I put my hand on his leg. “I’m never going to see you again, Zavier, and I won’t tell Nathan that we even met, but I would really like to know what makes sense to you. Because so much doesn’t make sense to me. It would be nice to get your perspective on this.”
“I wouldn’t want to upset you.”
I fake a smile. “You wouldn’t.” My eyes search his. “Please tell me what you meant.”
“I think…” He pauses. I smile and take his hand in mine. “I think that perhaps Nathan wants children.”
I blink. What?
“He’s at an age where he has to…”
“Settle with a woman,” I whisper as I finish his sentence.
“I’m not saying that’s what he’s done, and he’s probably madly in love with you.”
I fake a smile as I process his words. “Tell me something, Zavier.” I pause as he watches me. “If you wanted children, what would you do?”
He inhales sharply but doesn’t answer me.
“Please?” I prompt.
His eyes hold mine and he squeezes my hand in his. “I would fall in love with somebody I trusted for a period of time to make that happen.”
“Is this a common thing?” I ask. “Like, in the gay world. Is this a thing?”
