“One dick is just as good as the other,” Leroy says obstinately. Dear Lord, this keeps up there’s going to be measuring tapes and egos involved. Of all of the ways I imagined meeting Titan again, spending an hour talking about his dick to other men wasn’t it—at all. And for his part, Titan is enjoying this way too much. Which I’m finding annoying and I think it’s about time to put an end to that.

“It’s true, Leroy. You know what they say. Once you go black, you never go back.”

The crowd is silent for a bit with that and I feel kind of proud of myself. I chance a look at Titan and I see shock there but he’s so close to laughing. His eyes—deep pools of molten whiskey—are sparkling with it. Damn. Why does he have to be so sexy?

“Well.” The sheriff clears his throat but doesn’t say anything else. I’m pretty sure I’ve left him speechless.

“Darlin’, you know what they say about white men,” Leroy says. Man, he’s just a dog with a bone—so to speak. He’s refusing to give up. He should get an A for effort at the very least.

“What’s that?” I ask, almost afraid to hear it.

“Once you come back to white, you’ve never had a fit so tight.”

Well, shit. Score one for Leroy because I think he’s stumped me.

“Jesus,” Titan laughs.

“I don’t think that’s a thing, Leroy,” I tell him as delicately as I can.

“It is,” he replies, remaining stubborn.

Like a dog with a bone.

“If you’re so happy with his—uh… with everything,” the sheriff begins, “then why do you want a divorce?”

“Good question,” Leroy adds.

“Can’t wait to hear the answer to this one,” Titan agrees and the smugness in his tone makes me go further than I’d planned.

“I need a divorce…” I grumble stubbornly, while I come up with my reply in my head.

“On what grounds?” the sheriff asks.

“Grounds?” I echo… Hmm…

“Yeah. On what grounds do you need a divorce? If he’s threatening you I can step in,” the sheriff says—perhaps a bit too eagerly.

“I’m not threatening her, you—”

“Fraud!” I nearly shout before Titan can call the sheriff a name that will end him up behind bars.

“Fraud?” There’s a chorus of voices saying this to me, but Titan’s is the one that sticks out the most. I should probably think twice about attempting the path that I’m about to walk down. I’ve never been the type to do that, however—which explains so much about my life.

“Fraud. Titan lied to me,” I tell the sheriff and Leroy, and doing my best to ignore Titan completely.

“Lying is not really fraud, Faith,” the sheriff says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It is when they’re lying to you about who they are.”

“Darlin’, maybe you aren’t understanding about lying. You can lie, but it doesn’t mean fraud really. Just means you got hold of a snake in disguise.”

“It’s fraud when he’s pretending to be a man.”

“What in the fuck are you saying now?” Titan growls.

For their part, the sheriff and Leroy are looking at Titan in disbelief. That’s understandable. You can look at Titan and see he’s all man. This is going to be a hard sell. But seeing the look of incredulity on Titan’s face spurs me on.

“It’s okay, Big Daddy. Leroy and Sheriff Adams are my friends. I feel comfortable telling them your secret.”

“His secret…” the sheriff repeats, still staring at Titan like he can’t believe it.

“Titan’s really a woman,” I deadpan and I’m pretty sure you can hear crickets around me.

“I’m going to wear your ass out,” Titan groans and I ignore the full body shudder that gives me too.

“He’s a chick?” Leroy says and he steps closer to Titan, looking at him closely.

“For fuck’s sake. I am not,” Titan growls.

The sheriff is smiling. I’m losing him. I pat Titan on the arm, but quickly take my hand back. Mostly because Titan looks and sounds like a giant grizzly bear right now and I’m afraid to leave my hand around him. In fact, I take a few steps away from him.

Better to be safe than sorry.