Page 27 of Sapphire Sunset

“NaserKazemi!”

“Connor, this guy, the one you’ve described to me, a guythis hot and interested only comes around every seventy-five years. Like a gayHalley’s Comet. You need to jump on this and ride it for as long as you can oryou will regret it for the rest of your fucking life.”

“A guy who gets awkward and tight-lipped after one kiss?That’s not a comet,Nas, That’s a light breeze offthe ocean.” Connor turned his back on Naser and made a beeline for the DietCoke he’d been drinking when Naser burst into their condo on a cloud ofself-hate.

“He’s not blowing you off. He’s afraid.”

Connor sipped. “Do you think he got in trouble with Rodneyover me? He didn’t get fired. I know that.”

“How?”

“I might have called the security department to see if hewas on the schedule still.”

Naser winced. “Okay. That’s kind ofstalkeryand weird. And possibly an abuse of your position.”

“I wasn’t trying to track his movements. I just wanted tosee if Rodney had fired him. I was after information, that’s all.”

“The information will come from texting him, Connor.”

Connor slammed the Diet Coke can down so hard it spewed afew droplets onto the counter. “Not if he sends me another thumb!”

“In response to a two-word sentence.Everything cool?What are you, straight?”

“Don’t be a heterophobe. We have straight people to thankfor a lot of things. Like BBQ. Las Vegas. Tube socks. Merle Haggard.”

“Merle Haggard?When have you ever listened toMerle Haggard?”

“Never. It’s country, right? Is she any good?”

“Heis dead.”

“Well, so what? Did his music die with him?”

Naser tossed the throw pillow he’d been holding on his lapto one side. “Stop talking to me about Merle Haggard and go text Logan, goddammit.”

“My head is spinning,” Connor moaned.

“You love it when your head spins. It makes you feel alive.”

“He made me feel alive, Naser.”

“No baby voice, Connor,” he whispered. “We talked about babyvoices.”

“We also talked about Bambi eyes, but you did them lastnight, like five times.”

“Fine. Speak your truth, even if you have to whine.”

“I wanted him to be dumb and married.” This wasn’t justConnor’s baby voice. This was his hungry baby who’d fallen out of the cradlevoice. “But he wasn’t. He was so sweet. And when I told him about the things Iloved, he listened. And he didn’t, you know, when he heard my little gay voicefor the first time, he didn’t…”

“I know, sweetie. I get it too.”

In the silence that settled over the room, Naser rose to hisfeet and shuffled toward Connor before curving a comforting arm around hisback.

“And his dick was the size of a python,” Connor whispered.

“You saw it?” Naser asked.

“I could feel it. There was no missing it. It was a giant,hissing python,” Connor whispered. “An anaconda that had swallowed a python.”

---