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Blake snaps out of his stupor, barreling outside behind her with me hot on his heels. “You don’t understand, let us explain.”
“Please, Becca,” I plead. “You’ve got the wrong idea. Come back inside.”
“What did I get wrong?” She spins to face us so fast I crash into Blake when he stops short. “Are you two not together?”
Blake’s eyes dart to mine. “We are, but…”
A shrill cry cuts him off, and the three of us look to the street to find an older couple walking their dog, staring at us with jaws hanging open.
“Hi Jim. Hey Teri.” Blake waves awkwardly. Stunned, I start to mimic him, but a piercing pain in my side stops me from lifting my arm. I cut a glare toward Blake, whose lips are set in a firm line as he jerks his head to the front door.
“What?” I hiss.
His eyes drop down, and when I follow his gaze realization hits. I’m still naked, my half-hard dick pointing lamely toward Becca.Screw it.She’s more important than my dignity.
“Becca, please.” I try again as the couple staggers away, darting glances over their shoulders as they go. “You don’t know the whole story. Come inside so we can explain.”
She gives a subtle but firm shake of her head as a lone tear slides down her face, and my heart fractures inside my chest. “I know I’m the third wheel, that’s enough. I’m late.” She stalks to her car and locks herself inside, backing out in a rush as Blake and I watch in pained silence.
Please let this be a bad dream.
As her car disappears around the corner, my hope plummets. Deflated, I head inside and grab the boxers from where Blake dropped them on the floor. By the time he joins me on the couch, I’m decent, but nowhere near okay.
“It’s futile to think maybe she’ll come back, isn’t it?” he asks softly.
“I don’t know.” I rub my hand over my face, as if that might hold my head together. “She seems determined to believe she’s some sort of side piece. Fuck! That couldn’t have gone any worse.”
“Actually, it can.” He exhales heavily.
“What? How?”
Blake leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he wrings his hands together and shoots nervous glances my way. “Jim and Teri saw us.”
“Who the fuck are Jim and Teri?”
“They live one block over. Teri runs the bookshop in town, which means the secret’s out.”
I reach over and grab the hand closest to me, hoping it calms him. I hope it calms me down, too. “It was coming out anyway, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” His head falls to his chest. “But I wanted it to come from me.”
“I’m sorry.” Being outed by others is a fear second only to having those closest to you reject who you are. Despite how badly we screwed this up, he doesn’t deserve that.
“It’s not your fault.” Blake squeezes my fingers, though there’s no reassurance behind the gesture.Is he already giving up?“I should have come out the moment you moved in, before Becca was even involved. Maybe it would’ve prevented all this.”
He’s not wrong—not entirely—but I can’t blame him.
“And maybe it would've kept her from getting involved with us at all. Besides, I agreed to keep it quiet, which makes this just as much my fault.” I rub the lingering ache in my chest, trying to keep my shit together.
A shrill bell pierces the air, and Blake drops my hand to reach for his phone, sitting on the coffee table where he left it last night. His shoulders slump as he hits accept.
“Hey, Mom… That didn’t take long. Teri must have called you as soon as she walked in the door…”
His eyes fall shut as he takes a shaky breath
“There’s a perfectly good explanation… No, I’m not on drugs.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose.
