Chapter Twelve

 

Despite working late nights, I usually woke up with the sun, which was probably why I was a huge fan of afternoon naps. Today was no different. I heard birds doing their happy morning song outside, and blinked my eyes open, peeling my face off the pillow. Sun streamed through the window, and I saw a steaming mug sitting on the sill.

I twisted in the sheet and sat up. Duncan was sitting on the floor next to the bed, cross-legged holding a mug, shirtless in his dress pants, his hair loose and sexy. “Good morning. I made you tea, it’s on the sill. Your phone has been blowing up with texts.”

I smiled, happy to see him still here. The rich dude in my tiny apartment, sitting on the floor because I didn’t have any goddamn chairs. But he made me tea. And he looked comfortable and relaxed. “Morning,” I said. “Thanks.” I reached over and took the mug off the sill, then settled back against the pillows. “Did my phone wake you up?”

“The heat did, actually. Sorry, but I’m getting you an air conditioner, whether it makes you feel like a whore or not.”

“Okay.” I chuckled. “I won’t fight you. But I can get my own. I’m making pretty good money at Immunity.”

“You’d be making more at Elfy Choices.”

“You really want me to come back to work there.”

“You belong there. It’s yours. I weep whenever I see a stuffed mushroom.”

I snorted. “Be honest, Duncan. Do you really want to be fucking your employee?”

“Oh yes. Absolutely. Whenever possible. Here.” Duncan handed me my phone. “If we ever spend the night together again, you’re shutting your phone off.”

“If?”

He cocked an eyebrow, smirking. “When.”

“That’s better.” I scowled at my phone, flipping through messages. “To be honest, I don’t usually get this many texts. I only have three friends.”

Duncan chuckled. “I doubt that.”

“No, I’m serious. I’ve been hermiting-out for a while now. Some of them ditched me back when I was a dramatic nut. Others because I went into a cocoon the past year with school and shit. Friends drift when you refuse invitations for long enough.”

Duncan raised a brow. “I don’t believe you only have three friends. Name them. Quick, without thinking about it.”

“Sarah, Yvonne, and Doug. Well, Doug is a recent addition, but we hang out a lot now.”

“Doug…Corey’s Doug?”

“Corey doesn’t own Doug. He’s mine now too.”

Laughing, Duncan nodded. “All right.”

I frowned at my phone. “Robert…oh shit, he wants to know why I quit.”

“A lot of people want to know why you quit. You were quite popular at Mythic.”

I sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m in the naughty chair.”

Duncan chuckled. “I’ll smooth it out for you. Somehow.”

“Thank you. Ah crap.” I frowned.

“Something wrong?”

“My mother wants me to come to dinner. She’s relentless.”

“You don’t want to see your mother?”

I tossed my phone onto the floor and took a sip of tea. It was good, sweet with lots of almond milk, just how I liked it. “We had a big blowout a while back, that’s when I quit school. We haven’t spoken since. So no. Not really top of my to-do list.”

“Sorry to hear that. Is it something that can be smoothed over?”

I scowled into my mug. I hadn’t spoken about this with anyone but Sarah. It made me grumpy. “When I came out years ago she did the whole ‘I love you no matter what’ business. She didn’t like Corey, but I assumed that was just about Corey. He can be a fucking asshole…” I glanced quickly up at Duncan and flushed. “Shit. I actually forgot he was your nephew for a second.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed then he laughed. “I get it. Corey can be difficult. What happened between you and your mother?”

“After my life blew up a couple years ago, she told me she’d pay for school if I moved in with her. That way I could go full time, not have to work. I was all heartbroken and lost and existential at the time. And my remaining friends all told me it was a grand fucking opportunity and I should take it, even though I felt like a loser moving back home at twenty-five.”

“What happened?”

“Just what you’d expect. It’s true, you can’t go home again. We were at each other’s throats all the time. My mom’s this sweet little woman half my size, but man, can she get mean.”

Duncan looked amused. “Your mother was mean to you?”

I snickered. “Yes! She was mean to me.”

“Mean how?”

“She was just always on my case. Used to hide my keys if she didn’t think I should go out at a certain hour of the night, and then lie about it. I’d be tearing apart the house and she’d say ‘You must have dropped them somewhere’. Then they’d magically reappear the next day. She was trying to control me like I was a little kid or something. Oh! And one day she told me I breathe lazy.”

I could see by the tightness of Duncan’s lips he was trying not to laugh.

“I don’t breathe lazy.”

Duncan lost it in a puff of air and his head fell forward as he laughed. “No, Zach. You’re a very hard-working breather.”

“I am, right? Anyway, safe to say we were getting on each other’s nerves. So I told her I loved her and didn’t wanna fight anymore. I proposed that I cut my schedule and go to school part time. Then get a job bartending so I could afford my own place.”

“She disagreed?”

Pain and anger bubbled up at the memory. “She said I’d just be carrying on with men if I had my own place. At first I thought she was just worried I’d get distracted from school. But in the heat of an argument the truth came out. In short, she believed that with some good parental guidance and a little time, she could make me heterosexual. This was her plan. Then when I told her to screw, she appealed to me, to at least consider trying to meet a nice girl at college. That I wouldn’t know if I liked the opposite sex until I tried.”

“Oh.” Duncan sipped his tea. “I’m sorry, Zach. That must have hurt.”

“More like shock. I mean…it’s like everything she’d ever said to me about being gay, how she supported me was a lie. I told her I was definitely moving out now, and she said I could forget about getting any more money for school if I did.”

“Are you going to see her?”

“I don’t know. Not sure what she wants.”

“Maybe you should ask her prior to making a date what she wishes to discuss.”

“Good idea. You’re smart. Must be because you’re old.”

Duncan set his tea down and climbed onto the bed. He took my mug and set it on the sill, then pressed down on top of me. “This old man had a good time last night.”

A thrill ran through me, happiness blooming in my chest. I stroked his beard stubble, looking at the flecks of green and gray in his eyes. His eyes didn’t remind me of Corey’s anymore. They were all Duncan. “I had a good time too.”

“I have to go tend to business,” he said, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “Will you text me with your schedule? Days off?”

I nodded, smiling. I was half expecting him to pretend he’d forgotten about our dating conversation. “Yeah. Definitely.”

He kissed me quick and hard, then climbed off me, and I missed his weight and spicy scent immediately. I watched as he pulled his shirt on and buttoned it up. “I have to call Barry back. Richelle’s going to be taking over your role for the time being, but he thinks we also need a couple more elves in the garden now that it’s getting busier.”

“Robert said you’re having an engagement party for Corey in the garden?”

He glanced at me. “Yes. It’s a surprise. He’d never plan one for himself. He’s already complaining that he doesn’t want to do a lot of ‘stupid wedding stuff’ but I do love a party. And he’s the closest I’ll get to having a child, so I like to spoil him.”

I laughed. “Corey’s too old to be your kid. Unless you had him when you were…twelve or something.”

Duncan laughed. “Fourteen. But you know what I mean. He’s a grown man but still a kid to me.”

“Just so you know going forward, you don’t have to keep things like that from me. I know you saw me fall apart after I heard he was getting married, but I’m not pining for him.”

He sat down on the bed. “Okay. But just realize, he is in my life. He always will be. We see each other often. My brother…his father, well, they’re not exactly close anymore.”

“Yeah, I know they’re not. In fact, that’s pretty much the only thing Corey ever told me about his family, the shit show with his dad. He rarely mentioned his mom or anyone else. I didn’t even know you existed.”

“Well, I exist, and Corey and I are very close. You should be fully aware of that if you still want to…date me.”

“I definitely still want to date you. Are you still going to talk to him? I don’t care either way, it’s your call. But it sounds like you’re a little more worried about Corey’s opinion than I thought.”

He smiled. “Let’s wait until we’ve actually had a couple dates first, then if I feel like I need to tell my nephew about us, I will.”

“Want to make sure I’m worth it, huh?”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

I laughed. “Asshole.”

“I’m fairly sure you’ll be worth it.”

I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around him. “I’ll make sure I’m worth it,” I said, nibbling his neck.

Duncan shivered a sigh. His fingers caught in my hair and tightened. “All right, you nymph. If you keep that up I’ll never leave, and I have things to do.”

Reluctantly, I abandoned his neck. I grabbed my phone and sent Duncan a text with my days off. His phone bleeped in his pocket and he took it out, grinning when he read my text.

“Call me?”

“Absolutely.”

I wrapped the sheet around my waist, then walked him to the door. “I’m glad you were pissed off enough to come to my place last night,” I said as I opened the door for him.

“So am I.” He kissed me softly. “So very glad.”

My eyelids fluttered as I got lost in his gentle kisses. “If I’m bad are you gonna spank me again?”

His fingers gripped my face and he smiled, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t be bad. Trust me instead.”

“Okay.”

I kissed him again, and was getting a little too into it, because he growled and gently pushed me away. “Zach, I have to go. Damn you,” he said, but pulled me in again, attacking my mouth. Finally, he eased back. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay. You have my schedule.”

“Enjoy your day.”

Duncan left, and I leaned my back against the door and sighed like a Disney Princess.

I thought about what Duncan said about my mom, so after doing my weight workout, I picked up my phone and replied to one of her texts...making extra sure it was her I was replying to this time. ‘What is it you want to talk to me about?’

I went and got my running shoes on, and when I was about to walk out the door, I checked my phone. There was a new text and a voicemail. I read the text from my mom.

‘Nothing bad honey, just want to see you. I’m sorry for our fight. I shouldn’t have said those things. Please come by for dinner so I can apologize properly.’

I smiled. This made me happy. Happier than I’d expected. I’d pushed the whole thing with my mom out of my mind, kind of a survival tactic. But the idea that our relationship had been permanently ruined had been weighing on me heavier than I thought, because I immediately felt lighter.

Until I checked my voicemail, and jolted with shock at the sound of Corey’s voice.

“Zach, I just heard something I can’t believe. What the fuck is your damage? I thought you’d grown up, I really did. But I take a chance, reach out to you and try to be nice, and instantly you’re back to your little games. I tell you I’m getting married and you respond by immediately going after my uncle? My fucking uncle, Zach? I know you’re screwing with me to get a reaction. I know you’re not into Duncan. And quit trying to be besties with Doug, who you never fucking liked when we were together, so I find that suspicious. Cut the shit, I’m warning you. It’s been two years, grow the fuck up.”

My legs felt wobbly so I sat down on the end of the bed. I’d known there was a chance Corey might react badly if he found out about me and Duncan. But I hadn’t expected this. I tried to imagine how he could possibly be thinking this way about me. I’d changed. But I supposed he didn’t know that. Sure, I’d been a dick to him when he’d first come to Mythic, because I was surprised and embarrassed and defensive. But we’d had that talk about his engagement, and I’d been civil. Friendly. I didn’t even throw up on him.

Yes, I’d been out of control back during the early Corey era. Yes, I’d played games and tried to sidle up to people he knew so I could get close to him. And okay, yes, I’d stalked him a little before winning him over. Oh…and yeah, I cheated on him the night he was about to ask me to move in with him. Okay, I’d been a shit. But that was then. I’d worked so hard on myself. I wasn’t that person anymore. But clearly Corey still thought I was.

And how the fuck did he find out about Duncan already? It was doubtful Duncan had left my apartment and immediately called Corey. He’d said he wasn’t even going to mention it until we’d at least dated successfully for a while.

Doug.

My eyes narrowed. I had a jogging date at the pond with Doug in ten minutes. And that was convenient. Because I was going to kill him.

 

 

****

 

 

“It was Stewart,” Doug said, holding his hands up and backing away. “It was Stewart who told him, Zach, not me. So quit looking at me like Satan on steroids. This isn’t my fault.”

I turned away from him and faced the water, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Stewart, huh? Your boyfriend. Yet you had nothing to do with it. What happened to ‘We’re friends now, Zach, you can trust me!’”

“Look, Stewart saw you get in the car with Duncan that night too. Saw you sitting so close to him as you drove away. I didn’t tell Stewart about any of the talks you and I had, because you asked me not to say anything to anyone. I’m sorry, Zach. It really never occurred to me that he’d say something to Corey about it. But you know how close they still are.”

“Your boyfriend needs to learn to mind his own business.”

“I agree, and I went at him for it, believe me. But Zach, Stewart had no idea you’re actually into Duncan.”

“Well he shouldn’t have been making the assumption that I wasn’t! What was he thinking, that I’m a gold digger? First time I’m into a guy in two years and I have to defend that I’m actually into him?”

“I know. I’m sorry. He doesn’t think you’re a gold digger.”

“What then? Oh. Stewart still thinks I’m Corey-obsessed then, right? Why else would he tell him? Did he think he was warning him about me?”

“I don’t know what he was thinking. But even he didn’t expected Corey to fly off the handle the way he did. It’s possible Corey was overreacting because he just found out, and he’ll come to his senses and apologize to you. I doubt he really believes you’re doing this to get at him.”

“Oh, he believes that.” I sat down on a bench. “Believes it’s all about him, the egomaniac. He thinks I’m hanging out with you to get to him, too, by the way.”

“No he doesn’t. Come on.”

“He said so! You want to listen to the voicemail?”

“No thanks. I’ve been on the receiving end of Corey’s rants many times myself, I don’t need to experience yours. But I’ve also gotten apologies from him after the fact. When Corey’s emotional, and especially if he’s caught off guard, he says things he doesn’t mean. He was probably just initially freaked out about you and Duncan.”

“I know what Corey’s like, but why is this bothering him so much? He was fucking mean, Doug. Full-on dark-side Corey. Why would this make him so emotional? What is the big fucking deal?”

“Zach, it’s Duncan. They’re family. They’re close. Corey’s father pretty much rejected him after he got kicked out of med school, he calls Corey a massage whore. Duncan has filled that missing spot for Corey and—”

“Blah blah blah, yes, I know all about Corey’s daddy drama. But Duncan is not Corey’s daddy.”

“No, but he’s the guy who always accepted Corey and had his back, even when he made dumb decisions. Now that Corey’s in a stable relationship with Angelo, and has his uncle living nearby? He’s calmer and happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

“Well good for him, but I’m not big mean Zach trying to take Uncle Duncan away from him. Jesus, and he calls me childish.”

“You had to know this could happen, it’s Corey’s family member.”

“But that’s not the context I got to know Duncan in. He’s just Duncan to me now. Corey doesn’t have a damn thing to do with this. I got the job at Mythic before I had a clue who owned it, got to know Duncan on my own terms.”

“So fuck it, don’t let it get to you. I thought you weren’t talking to Duncan anyway. You quit working for him.”

I glanced at Doug. “He stayed at my place last night.”

Doug’s eyes widened. “He did?”

“We talked about dating, like actually dating. He planned to talk to Corey about it if it turned out we wanted to continue. That plan’s probably in the shitter now though.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you think Corey’s gonna talk to Duncan about me? Tell him I’m the evil slime of the universe? Duncan is forty-eight years old, Doug. You think he’s gonna want to deal with this drama?”

“Just try to put it out of your mind, none of this is your doing. And don’t call Corey back, that’ll just get him spinning again. Do you still want to run?”

“Yeah. Either that or drink tequila.”

Doug stood and pulled me off the bench. “Run, then. Come on.”

We did our run, then I went home and showered. Later that night, I worked at Immunity, and while I made a lot of money, my mood wasn’t what it had been the night before. Two guys asked for my number, one tried to kiss me, and one offered to pay to blow me. It left me with a sick feeling. The idiot who wanted to blow me didn’t want to take no for an answer, and I’d been so unsettled I actually got a ride home instead of walking the two blocks, fearing he’d still be lingering somewhere outside.

While I’d felt like the king-of-no-give-a-fucks and invincible my first night back, the atmosphere was already starting to chink my armor, and I wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake. I hated admitting that. But I was already starting to miss being surrounded by fairy lights and elves and butternut squash quesadillas.

But if I was going to make a decision that resulted in me dating my employer, I at least wanted to know it was going somewhere first. I knew Duncan was still dating other people, at least he had been recently, and there was no reason yet to assume that had changed. If I started back at Mythic and Duncan dumped me, seeing him even occasionally would be a bitch. Damn, I sure knew how to tie my life in knots.

I considered telling Duncan about Corey’s call, but decided against it. If there was going to be drama, I didn’t want him to think I was a part of it.

I’d agreed with Doug that I shouldn’t respond to Corey’s voicemail. But as I got ready for bed that night, it occurred to me that saying nothing could be interpreted as an admission of guilt. So I decided to text him.

‘Corey, I am not screwing with you, you arrogant bag of dicks…’

I deleted it. No, I had to keep a civil tone. Swearing at him wouldn’t help, even though I really, really wanted to. Fuck it. This was my chance to say everything I’d wanted to say for a long time.

I started again.

‘Corey, I listened to your voicemail. I’m sorry about whatever upset you but you couldn’t be more wrong about me. I’ve gotten to know your uncle through working with him, and whatever friendship we’ve cultivated has nothing to do with you. Not everything is about you! I’m happy that you’re marrying Angelo and I am not screwing with you. You’re right, it’s been two years, but I haven’t been sitting around scheming all that time in some shady basement with a corkboard full of your pictures. I’ve been working on myself, and I deeply regret how I treated you and what an ass I was. The entire thing is humiliating to me now, so the last thing I’d do is try to start shit with you. I’m not interested in interfering with your life, but I wish you well, and hope you’ll be happy.’

There. Sent. I’d said my bit. Corey Stengel could do with it as he wished.