Page 84 of Common Goal
“She is,” Eric agreed, “but her wife wouldn’t like that.”
“Ah.” Kyle found he wasn’t too sad about that. “Did your ex get some of your art collection in the divorce?”
“We split everything fairly. There were a couple of pieces that she liked more than I did, so she took those. I let her have most of the furniture from our old house. I wanted to start fresh.”
“That must have been rough.” Kyle had never been part of a breakup that hadstuffinvolved. He couldn’t imagine having that stress heaped on top of heartbreak.
“It wasn’t so bad. Holly and I are both pretty low-drama. She comes from money anyway, so the financial side wasn’t as big a deal as it might have been otherwise. I was pretty indifferent to splitting everything up.” He huffed. “I guess I was pretty indifferent to the entire marriage, especially for the last few years. We both were.”
Kyle had only been in relationships that burned white hot, then extinguished quickly and—for himself, anyway—unexpectedly. “So it wasn’t a surprise? The divorce?”
“Not really. Again, I wasn’t really paying attention, so if it came as a surprise it was only because of that. Holly wasn’t angry with me. She sat me down one evening and gently pointed out that there was no reason for us to stay married.” He smiled wistfully. “She was always so organized. She presented a very compelling argument, and when she was done I told her she was right. We hugged, and the next morning we started the process.”
“Wow. I don’t think that’s usually how divorce goes.”
“Probably not. We’re still friendly, though. And she has a new boyfriend. Nice guy.”
They walked in silence for a moment. “Would she be surprised if you had one?” Kyle asked. “A boyfriend?”
Eric took his time answering, as if he’d never considered the idea. “I think she would be very surprised.”
“Does that matter to you?”
“I honestly don’t know. I do care what other people think, typically. And I don’t like that kind of attention.”
“Right,” Kyle said tightly.
“If I were in a relationship with a man, someone I was in love with, it might be different, I guess. Maybe I wouldn’t care what other people think, if I felt that strongly about someone.”
If. If Eric met someone who met his standards. Someone he could be proud to introduce as his boyfriend. Someone who wasn’t Kyle.
Kyle forced himself to ignore the bitterness that had crept in. “Feel free to introduce me as your friend-slash-sex instructor,” he joked.
Eric did that small, half-suppressed smile thing that Kyle loved. “I really do appreciate your...assistance.”
“It hasn’t been a chore.” The truth was it had been the best thing in Kyle’s life lately. He was halfheartedly finishing his final essay for a class he barely cared about, and dragging himself to a job that would be a lot more fun if his boss gave a shit about the bar or any of his staff’s suggestions. On top of that, he hadn’t been hooking up with anyone besides Eric for reasons he didn’t want to examine, and he was facing another lonely Christmas in Manhattan.
As if reading his mind, Eric asked, “Do you have plans for Christmas?”
“Nope. Just watching movies or whatever.”
Kyle could tell Eric was carefully trying to find his way to the questions hereallywanted to ask. “Do you talk to your parents much?”
“Not really.” They stopped at an overlook, and Kyle braced himself for the question he knew was coming.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to talk about it, but...” Eric started. “Your family. Is it because you’re gay? Is that why they’ve...”
“Cast me out?” Kyle finished for him.
Eric’s eyes looked so sad. “Yes.”
Kyle sighed. “Not officially, no. At least, it’s not the only reason. I think it’s part of the reason, no matter what they say.” He ran a fingertip over the ridges of his coffee cup sleeve. “I guess I’ll never really know.”
Eric was quiet, his gaze fixed at the street below, and Kyle knew he was trying not to push for more information. For some reason, Kyle wanted to offer it up voluntarily. It had been a long time since he’d told anyone about the most shameful chapter of his life.
“I caused a bit of a scandal, back in little ol’ Shaw, Vermont.” Kyle worked hard to keep his tone breezy, as if this wasn’t killing him to admit to someone as impressive as Eric Bennett. “I was in a...relationship...with a man who was my boss at the time.”
“Oh.”
