Page 72 of Ambiguous
But I think I like the possibility of being with Sam Stone more.
CHAPTER26
Sam
Jules saunters toward me, a huge smile on his face. He’s wearing a white dress shirt that has only one button done up—wait, that’s my shirt—and little white shorts with blue octopi on them.
How did I not know he has sexy knees? He has the sexiest knees. His legs are lean and perfectly proportioned.
“Sam?” Jules says, and my heart rate increases, all these feelings coming to me. Not because of his knees, but because he’s so lovely.
“Sam!”
I jerk to attention.
Terrill is standing in the doorway of my office, folding his arms over his chest. I’m embarrassed at being caught daydreaming, particularly because I can tell this isn’t a friendly chat. He wants something.
I blink, trying to clear my head.
“So, what’s he like?” he asks.
I furrow my brows. “What is who like?”
“Jules Hill.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from reacting visibly. He doesn’t know what I’ve been imagining. Or doing. “You met him.”
“I met him in a controlled environment. You’re getting a better feel for him.” He’s right about that. “Do you think he’s bullshitting us about getting the album done?”
“No. He’s working.”
“He came to visit you a while back.”
“Yeah,” I say. “He wanted to check in and show me the progress,” I lie. Because saying he wanted to give me back my pocket square seems weird.
“Why couldn’t he just text?”
Not showing you those. “Maybe he doesn’t trust the internet. Maybe he was in the neighborhood. Maybe he thought a face-to-face meeting would be more effective. I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
Terrill looks thoughtful. “Has he come here again?”
“No. But I’ve met him at his house and a few places for, um, work.”
His expression turns mean. “Uh-huh. He’s like you, right? He’s gay?”
I bristle. “I have no idea.”More like, it’s none of your business.
“So why does he wear women’s clothes? Lace and shit.”
“They’re not women’s clothes. They’re Jules’s clothes. He’s very fashionable.”
He rolls his eyes. “Uh-huh.”
What’s with the casual bigotry? “It’s not like what he wears reflects on you.”
“It’s just weird.”
I’m one joke short of getting sexually harassed. Terrill never quite crosses that line, because he knows as well as I do what is legal and what is not. But it’s clear he doesn’t like me and that my sexuality threatens him.
