Chapter 13 Daniel #2
Being obedient for a change, Elliot did as I asked and walked in there.
As he did, I noticed the way he scanned the room, like he was searching for something.
For what? I wasn’t sure. Neither was I about to ask.
Once inside the bathroom, I went to grab the first aid kit while he walked over to Claudia’s side of the sink and scanned her perfumes and creams. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked charmed, like a kid in a candy shop.
His eyes went big as he went over the jewelry and perfume, and it was only after I called him to come and sit on the edge of the bath that he did.
“Now, let me see that cut again,” I said after crouching on the floor in front of him.
Elliot reached his arm forward, and I grabbed his wrist before taking off the towel. Carefully, I examined his thumb up close, glad to see the bleeding had stopped.
“It might sting a little,” I warned before applying antiseptic on the fresh cut. Elliot winced after I sanitized the wound, and to help him ease the pain, I gently caressed his skin. He relaxed at my touch, and I smiled at him.
His skin was soft like velvet, and I wondered what touching his body in other places would feel like.
Was his chest as smooth? His abs, his legs…
his other parts. I swallowed hard, heat pooling in my lower stomach at the thought of smoothing the pads of my fingers along his skin, discovering him through my touch.
Thankfully, I snapped out of it fast enough and reached for the Band-Aids.
“Does she know?” Elliot asked while I peeled the backing paper off the bandage.
“Who?” I innocently asked, clueless as to what he meant.
“Claudia. Does she know you like men, too?”
Elliot’s question sucked all the air out of the room, and shocked, I paused with the Band-Aid in hand.
The way he added the word “too,” as if to soften the blow of his immense question, was thoughtful, but it did little to ease my growing panic.
Aside from myself, no one had ever questioned my sexuality, and until I met Elliot, I hoped no one ever would.
And yet, here we were: I was crouching on the bathroom floor while he sat on the edge of the tub, eyes locked on me, as he patiently waited for my answer.
He also didn’t ask if I was gay, as if already knowing the answer to that question.
He asked if my wife knew, and for a moment, I considered brushing the whole thing off, but I didn’t.
For a change, I didn’t feel like I needed to lie.
Not meeting his eyes, I brought the Band-Aid to his thumb, pressed my lips together, and shook my head as I covered the cut.
“Is it something new?” he went on asking while I kept my eyes down. “Am I the first man you—”
“No,” I admitted out loud, the word barely leaving my mouth.
My heart rate escalated immediately, and I felt as if the room was closing around me when Elliot took my hand in his and held it close.
“I’m the same. I’ve known ever since I was little.”
Only then did I have the courage to look up and meet his eyes, and once I saw the absolute acceptance in them, I felt relief.
However, relief would be too little to describe this incredible sense of freedom that came with a simple admission of the truth.
But this feeling was soon to pass as I remembered my situation.
“No one can know,” I pleaded while shaking my head. “Elliot—”
“Shhh.” Cupping my face in his palms, he slowly made me stand up with him. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” he whispered, voice so tender I could hardly cope with it.
My heart raced at his closeness, and before I knew it, I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch.
“I’m sorry.” I covered his hand with mine, my heart torn between what I wanted and what I could never have.
“For what? You did nothing wrong, Daniel.”
“For dragging you into this… It’s wrong.”
It was weird how, despite never saying things specifically, they were still so clear—my feelings for him, that was.
“There are many things that feel wrong, even though they aren’t…
especially love. But it doesn’t mean they’re wrong, just complicated,” he said in the softest voice, which felt even more endearing because of the French.
Us speaking a foreign language provided me with another layer of security.
A sort of guarantee that no one but us could understand this conversation.
What was more, it made me believe we were in a whole other world, and I cherished this feeling from the bottom of my heart.
But mostly, Elliot had just proved to me that we didn’t only share a language, but a whole lot more.
“And you claim you aren’t intelligent?” I asked, my voice so weak it was hard to hear even in a quiet room.
Elliot chuckled, sounding so full of life, before he moved a bit closer. I worried he was about to kiss me when—
“Back in France, I was involved with a man, and it ended badly. So bad that I needed a fresh start in a place no one could even understand what I was saying… until I met you.” His brilliant eyes softened at that last word.
“But thinking back on what happened there brings me great sorrow, so I try not to. If that’s okay with you? ”
Even though I had about a million questions to ask him, I didn’t and instead nodded.
“Of course it is. Your past is yours to keep, Elliot.”
“Thank you.” He planted a kiss on my cheek, making my insides melt. He lingered for a bit before moving his lips to my ear. “Now you know my secret, too.”
In his own unique way, Elliot had just formed an alliance between us.
After turning my world upside down, my French prince pulled back and checked out his thumb. “Looks like I’m ready to go back to cooking now,” he said cheerfully, then glanced at me. “Do you want to join me, or…”
“I think I’ve had enough cooking for one day.” I smiled at him.
Thankfully, Elliot didn’t push me further and left the room, leaving me with so many thoughts I feared my head would burst. The most concerning one being—
Have I completely fallen for him?