Page 23 of The Prodigal Son

I know I’m not supposed to, but I picture Theo anyway. His lips, his mouth, his body. With my hands gliding down her back, I hook a hand under her ass and lift her up so her legs wrap around my waist.

Carrying her to the bed, I toss her on the mattress and rip my shirt over my head. She’s smiling as she reaches for me.

“I knew I was wrong about you. I kneweveryonewas wrong about you.”

There’s a giggle in her tone that makes me pause. Hovering over her, I stare into her eyes.

“How were they wrong?”

Her smile fades as she lifts onto her elbows. “Well, you know…”

Ice shivers its way down my spine.Fuck.

The problem is that I do know. Fucking everyone knows—unofficially, of course. It doesn’t mean I like to be reminded about it right before I’m about to have sex with a beautiful woman.

When she sees my expression change, I sense her panic. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I thought…”

“It’s fine,” I say as I climb off her and pace away from the bed.

“I didn’t want to push you into doing anything if you didn’t want to. But my parents told me about how you were a part of that Harmony-whatever program. I just thought…”

“It’s fine, Gabby,” I say coldly. “I was only a kid. That was a long time ago,” I add with annoyance.

“I shouldn’t have brought it up,” she replies sadly.

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

I want to feel bad, but I’m so fucking sick of this. My participation with Eternal Harmony was over fifteen years ago, but it keeps popping back up in my life. When do I get to move on? When do I get to live this life they were so insistent that I live?

I drop onto the other bed and run my hands through my hair. Her eyes still bore into me and I can feel it burning.

By the time she opens her mouth to ask a question, I’m not surprised because I can feel it coming.

“So does that mean you’re not…”

“No, I’m not.”

“It’s okay if you are.”

No, it’s really not.

“Let’s just get to sleep. It’s late,” I say as I drop back onto the pillow. I’m so tired and ready to put an end to this day. I’ll sleep in my clothes if I have to.

“We can still do it if you want,” she murmurs sadly, and I close my eyes to keep from wincing.

Maybe I should. If I had any good sense, I would take this beautiful woman to bed and fuck her like any normal straight man would.

But I don’t.

Because I’m not.

Seven

Isaac

Climbing on the tour bus, I can’t get the sound of Jensen’s voice out of my head. Deep, smooth, and sexy.

He was definitely flirting with me. There are times I lie to myself and pretend a straight guy is into me for the fun of it, but by the end of the evening, it was obvious.

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