Page 59 of What You Own
The blond with him—William—was all smiles as Tommy introduced him. His mom’s brother. But he’d called Bobby “uncle” too, and Bobby didn’t look a thing like the gangly blond he was with.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” William said. “This is my partner, Bobby Chandler.”
My vision grayed out a minute as the world tilted. Partner. Bobby was gay? For real?
Bobby blushed. “Actually, we all went to high school together,” he said.
“You did?” William’s mouth moved, like he’d started to ask and realized something. His smile dimmed a little, and I had to wonder what all Bobby had told him about his reckless youth.
“Yeah,” I said, almost growling the word.
Bobby leaned down and whispered something in William’s ear. William nodded solemnly, then clapped Tommy’s shoulder. “What do you say you and me go check out the food table?”
“Yes!” Tommy said.
The pair moved into the crowd, leaving Bobby uncomfortably close to us in the crowded lobby. Adam stayed behind my arm, stiff and quiet. I didn’t try to not glare at Bobby. I had too much hate in my gut for him and his old pals.
“I know this isn’t the time or place, but I may never get another chance,” Bobby said softly, hard to hear over the other chatter. His eyes glittered, like he was actually upset or something. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” I repeated, and the word tasted bad.
“More than I can ever say. I won’t try to explain, because it’ll sound like excuses, and I don’t have any good ones. Alcohol, peer pressure, you name it. But what I did to you—what I helped do—was wrong.”
“You mean what you got away with.”
Bobby flinched. “Yeah.” He looked ashamed, and I didn’t much care. He could rot.
“How long have you known?” Adam asked, his voice all quiet and curious.
“That I’m gay?” Bobby said. “I think I suspected in high school, but didn’t really know until freshman year of college. That’s when I met William.”
“Does he know?”
“About my part in the bashing? I told him. We had a big fight, almost broke up, but we worked through it.”
“Good for you,” I said with a heaping helping of sarcasm on top.
Adam nudged me in the ribs, which was annoying, because I didn’t owe Bobby anything. Not politeness, and sure as shit not forgiveness.
Bobby gave me a long, sad look that I didn’t like. “Anyway, I won’t take up your time. I just needed to say that I’m sorry. So sorry. Especially to you, Ryan. If anyone did something like that to William, I would run them down with my truck.”
My heart fluttered, and my stomach soured. I willed him to stop talking, but something told me he’d said too much. Adam was looking at me sideways, mouth flat, eyebrows pressed in that deep V he got when he was thinking hard. “Thank you for the apology,” I said, even though I didn’t really mean it. He was not forgiven, and I just wanted Bobby to go away.
“Yes, thank you,” Adam said.
Bobby didn’t add more or try to shake our hands. He slipped away, and I wanted to shake myself off like a dog does when it’s wet, to get the feeling of Bobby off me. To get rid of the phantom aches in my ribs, the pain in my wrist, the stabs of gravel under my knees. My insides turned to jelly, and this was a really bad time for an anxiety attack.
Adam figured out the problem pretty fast. He took my hand and wound a path to the private hallway, right down to the empty office next to Lou’s. He shut the door behind us, then wrapped his arms around me, breathing hard himself. I held him tight, needing to feel him—his heartbeat, his warmth, everything, alive and safe. Not bleeding and unconscious in an alley.
I took deep breaths, trying to calm my galloping heart. It was racing like a spooked horse, and I wasn’t much different than one. Seeing Bobby dragged up everything I didn’t want to think about until after tonight’s performances, and now it was on Adam’s mind too. Dammit.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Adam said.
The comment surprised a bark of laughter outta me. “No kidding. Tommy’s been comin’ here for over a year, and I never knew he had a gay uncle.” That was stupid. I had no reason to know such a thing.
Adam seemed to know what I meant. “Small world.”
“Guess so.”
