Chapter 22 #2
Emergency meeting at 8. Merrick’s new ads just dropped.
All hands on deck.
Michael
Need to talk to you. Call me when you can.
Kendra
Call me.
I pressed the heel of my hand against my eye socket. If I wanted to get back to Portland, shower, change, and make the meeting on time, I had to leave now.
The door to Taylor’s bedroom opened behind me, and I turned to see him shielding his eyes against the bright light streaming in through the window. “What time is it?”
“Just after six. I … um … I have to go.” I held up my phone. “Emergency meeting.”
He ran his fingers through sleep-mussed hair. “Okay, yeah. Let me get dressed and grab my keys.”
Twenty minutes later, we were in his car heading south. Taylor had thrown on a pair of grey sweats that hung low on his hips and a Marauders hoodie, while I was in yesterday’s clothes, wrinkled from the night they’d spent crumpled on the floor.
“Where should I drop you?” He turned onto the street where my apartment was located.
“Not here,” I said, my words coming out sharper than I meant for them to.
I rubbed the back of my neck and tried again, my voice softer this time. “Could we maybe go a few streets over? The office is across the street, and I don’t know who might already be there.”
A muscle jumped in Taylor’s jaw. “Where?”
“Spring Street should be fine.”
We drove in awkward silence until Taylor pulled over in front of a row of brick houses. “This okay?”
“Perfect.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to him. For a moment, we just looked at each other. Then I leaned in and kissed him quickly. Desperately.
When I pulled back, his eyes were dark with longing.
“I’ll call you later,” I promised.
He blinked and turned his head away. “Yeah. Okay.”
I opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk, the cool morning air hitting my face. I bent down to say another goodbye when—
“Sebastian?”
My stomach dropped. I straightened up too fast, nearly hitting my head on the doorframe, and turned to see two men walking a small, scruffy dog on a leash.
“It is you,” David Reyes said as they drew closer.
My face went instantly hot, and immediately my brain started firing through a thousand different excuses for why I was getting out of a car this early on a Sunday morning, very obviously still wearing yesterday’s clothes, on a residential street several blocks from where I was staying.
Nothing came to mind as my mouth opened and then closed.
David’s gaze tracked from me to Taylor’s car idling at the curb, lingering for a beat on the driver’s side where Taylor sat frozen, then back to me. I watched surprise cross his face, followed by a moment of confusion. Then his features settled into something that looked a lot like understanding.
Shame flooded through me, hot and immediate. My hands began to shake, so I shoved them into my pockets, hoping he wouldn’t see.
The other man looked between us, his expression open and friendly. “Oh, you’re David’s new colleague.” He stepped forward and extended his hand. “I’m Marius, David’s partner.”
“Hi, um. Yes. Hello. Sebastian Carruthers.” I shook his hand and then took a step back, colliding with the door.
“Nice to meet you,” Marcus replied warmly. “David didn’t tell me you live around here.”
“Oh, no. I don’t,” I said, my face burning. “I was just—”
“Out for a morning walk before the madness later?” David offered smoothly, his eyes holding mine.
My shoulders sagged in relief at the plausible excuse. “Yeah. Figured I’d get some air before we lock ourselves in for the rest of the day.”
“Same here.” David looked past me at the car, then back, the corner of his mouth lifting. “I totally understand.”
The long pause that followed felt deliberate.
“Last week was brutal,” he continued, his tone carefully neutral. “I’m not surprised you wanted to take some time for yourself.”
It was an out. An excuse. A way for both of us to pretend he hadn’t seen what he'd obviously seen.
“But nothing I can’t handle,” I managed.
Code: This isn’t my first rodeo—with a difficult campaign or hiding my sexuality.
Marius’s phone dinged, and he pulled it out of his jacket pocket. Smiling down at the screen, he nudged David’s arm with his elbow. “Food’s ready. Want me to run ahead and get it?”
David nodded and smiled at his boyfriend. “That’d be great. Thank you.”
Marius turned to me. “Nice to meet you, Sebastian. You should come over some night when you’re not both chained to your desks.”
“Nice meeting you, too.”
I didn't acknowledge the invitation.
Marius took the leash from David and started down the street.
A beat passed before David said, “We’re grabbing dinner at that Thai place on Congress tomorrow night if you and your …” He left the statement hanging, an invitation for me to fill in the blank.
“Best friend.”
He smiled slightly, though it looked a bit sad. “Right. Well, if you and your best friend want to join us, the invitation is open.”
Shame churned in my gut. Taylor was sitting right there, hearing me deny what he really was, while David stood there offering us a chance to be open the way we were with Bell and Ethan. Two more people we could be real with.
But I didn’t know David all that well. Certainly not like Taylor knew Bell. I felt like I could trust him, but until I knew for sure, this wasn’t a risk I could take.
“Thanks, uh. Maybe next time.”
He shrugged. “Sure.” He turned to go, but then paused. “See you at the office?”
I nodded. “Yeah. See you there.”
I watched him walk back down the sidewalk until he disappeared through the door of a narrow townhouse three doors down. I ducked back into the passenger seat and pulled the door shut.
“Taylor.”
“It’s fine,” he said, his voice flat.
“It’s not fine,” I argued, frustration bleeding into my voice. At myself for being such a coward, or at him for not fighting me on this, I wasn't certain. Maybe both.
He blew out a breath and finally glanced my way. His expression was exhausted. Utterly defeated. “What else were you supposed to say, Seb?” He shook his head. “Besides, it’s not technically a lie. You are my best friend.”
“I hate that I had to say it like that.”
“I know.” His hand covered mine for a moment before sliding away. “But you did what you had to do. That’s the deal, right? This is what we agreed to.”
“That doesn’t make it any less fucked up, though.”
Taylor was quiet for a long moment, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. “He seemed nice. David.”
“He is.”
“That’s good.”
The conversation died off, neither of us working to fill the silence. It was the kind of quiet heavy with everything we weren’t actually saying.
I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Fuck. I really needed to get going.
“I should—”
“You should go.”
I stared at Taylor's profile, willing him to look at me, but he kept his attention fixed out the windshield.
“I’ll call you later?”
“Sure,” he said, but the words felt hollow.
I hesitated, my hand lingering on the door handle, searching for something to say that would fix this.
“Go, Seb. You’re going to be late.”
With a heavy sigh, I pushed open the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk again. I stood there for a moment, hoping Taylor would roll down the window and offer some parting words that would assure me we were going to be okay, but he just checked his mirrors and pulled away from the curb.
I watched his taillights disappear around the corner. When I turned toward my apartment, my feet felt heavy. Wrong. Like I was walking in the opposite direction of where I was actually supposed to be.