Wow. It had only been an hour since I’d last seen him. His assistant, no doubt, must have been busy in that time. Although, with references to both porn and my body in only one paragraph, I knew for certain Henry had penned the note. Or at least dictated it over the phone. I laughed at the idea of the poor front desk clerk having to transcribe that onto a card.
Tugging my tie off, I moved to the first bedroom and found a covered dish containing enough fruit to feed a squadron. I inspected the massive bowl before using my fingers to pick a piece of kiwi from the corner and then pop it in my mouth. I moaned before snagging a second piece and heading to the closet while shrugging off my white uniform dress shirt.
After hanging my shirt up, I decided against exploring the rest of the suite and instead opted for a detour to the massive glass shower with four ceiling-mounted heads that would no doubt make me feel as though I were in the middle of a rainforest. Yeah, I could get used to this gig.
I was dripping wet with a plush, white towel wrapped around my waist when I padded across the heated floor of the bathroom. I looked at the clock, and it was nearly eight p.m. Henry’s concert would be starting soon. The idea of seeing him in his element on stage was definitely intriguing, but Nikki hadn’t answered when I’d returned her call earlier. She met her girls for drinks every Thursday after work, so I figured she’d be calling back any minute.
I wasn’t sure what the hell I was going to say to her. Nothing had changed. But I was still desperate to talk to her. The way we’d left things was actually weighing heavily on my mind. Ya know, when I wasn’t thinking about Henry. I groaned to myself. What the hell was wrong with me?
Unfortunately, it would have taken far longer than a night to truly figure out that. Settling on the bed, I stared at the ceiling and shook my head, trying to clear my mind with no success.
I’d begun to doze off when my phone started ringing.
I immediately snatched it off the nightstand, but I couldn’t make out the caller’s name on the broken screen.
“Hello?”
Nikki softly whispered across the line. “Hey.”
I sat straight up and rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes. “Hey.”
“How’s it…um…going?”
I sighed sadly at the nervous shake of her voice. “I’m good, Nik. How ’bout you?”
“Honestly? I’ve been better.”
I collapsed back onto the bed. “God, I’m so fucking sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Evan,” she whispered.
“I know. But I still feel like I need to be apologizing. I hate that you’re hurting.”
She laughed without humor. “You always were a good guy.”
One corner of my mouth hiked. “Not good enough or we wouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, come on. I’m not sure I’m going to have many more compliments for you in case you’re fishing for them.”
I chuckled. “No fishing. I swear.”
We sat in awkward silence for several seconds.
“Evan…” she trailed off.
“Right here, Nik.”
She sucked in a deep breath before whispering, “When did you know?”
I closed my eyes in defeat. I knew exactly what she was asking. It was the same question I’d asked myself every day since we’d broken up. I just didn’t want to tell her. I also didn’t want to lie to her anymore.
“Your birthday.”
“Yeah. I figured.”
Fuck. The defeat in her voice was slaying me.
After pushing to my feet, I began to pace the room. “Listen, Nik, it has nothing to do with you. Nothing,” I swore. And it was the God’s honest truth. “It’s me. You’re amazing. I’m just not built to be in a relationship.”
“With a woman, you mean.”
I froze midstep. “What…what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Evan, just because you call him Shannon doesn’t change the fact that he’s a man.”
Her verbal blow caused me to physically stumble.
I’d made no secret about the fact that I was bisexual with Nikki. It had even been her idea to invite another man into our bed a few months earlier on her birthday. It was a night we had both thoroughly enjoyed. It was also the night I realized I didn’t mind sharing her. I would have died a slow, torturous death before ever allowing another human to touch Shannon. I did not share what was mine. But, that night, I’d sat on the bed, drinking a beer, and watched a guy she worked with named Neil repeatedly take her.