Page 4 of Evading Exodus
“Aww,” Acecooed after I ended the call. “Your mom is so cute.”
“Yeah.” She really was. “I like her.”
Chapter 3: The Conflict
(The Third Plague: Gnats)
“Seth! How the hell are you?” Jake yelled towards the front door. Ace whipped his head around to see who Jake called to.
“Damn,” he muttered, his smile fading. “Excuse me a moment, Dare.” He walked over to the bar and placed a hand on Seth’s shoulder. They exchanged surprised hellos and hugs. A gangly young boy trailed in Seth’s wake. As I watched the exchange, I felt a tug of recognition, even though I couldn’t see the man’s face. I’d dated a Seth from my first job after I’d graduated, and this friend of Ace’s had a similar build. He’d had a seven-year-old son from a failed first marriage—Owen, if I remembered correctly, would be about thirteen now.
“Uncle Aaron,” the boy said.
“Owen! Look at you!” Ace replied, balling his hand for the requisite fist bump all the kids were doing these days.
“Shit,” I mumbled.Mystery solved. I got up, wondering how this would play out. My heart still held a grudge all these years later; my gut churned with the potential threat to our budding relationship.
“Dare,” Ace said, putting his arm around my waist when I stepped to his side. “I’d like to introduce you to—”
“Seth,” I said, finishing his sentence while returning the embrace.
“Darren.” Seth’s gaze locked on Ace and I standing together. We stared at each other a moment before I turned to Ace.
“You know each other?” Ace grinned. “That’s great.”
No, it really wasn’t.My face heated in more than embarrassment.
“You could say that,” Seth replied drolly. “We worked together at South Kingston Memorial.”
“We did more than work,” was my blunt response.
“Owen,” Jake interrupted. “Let me get you a soda at the bar.” Jake pulled Owen away, probably sensing the rising tension among us, while I looked smugly at Seth.
“So Seth, are you out of the closet now?” I buzzed angrily.
“Closet?” Ace squeaked; I flushed.
Goddamnit. Obviously, not out of the closet.Seeing Seth dug up a whole lot of anger I thought I’d buried, and like an idiot, I’d spilled beans I shouldn’t have.
“Closet...” Ace repeated. “Seth? Something you want to tell me?”
Seth hung his head. “Remember Diane?” Ace nodded. Seth swept a hand at me.
“Oh,” Ace responded, followed by, “Seriously! Are you seriously telling me you and Dare dated? You, who I’ve known since we were toddlers, dated a man when you aren’t remotely gay.” We both nodded, and I cringed, remembering what “dating” had been like with him. “Well, this is certainly awkward.”
“Yes, Ace,” I said through gritted teeth, “it is, and now, I’m going to go before I say something else I might regret later.” Probably about the fact that Seth used my mother’s name as a substitute for my own.Really?I shuddered.Who does that?
Ace peered at me with concern. He glanced back at Seth and shook his head. “I’ll walk you out, okay?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” I muttered and headed for the door.
Outside, Ace pulled me to a stop and put his arms around me. “I want to hear it from you. Tell me what happened.”
“We met at the hospital. It was my first full-time job after graduation. Thought I could take on the world, you know? I’d been there a year when Seth first approached me. He came on to me. God—I was so naive. We dated about nine months before he dropped me like a hot potato. For a girl! After we broke up, I couldn’t take seeing him at work anymore, so I quit and got a job at Miriam Hospital.”
“I’m sorry,” Ace apologized.
“Don’t be. You didn’t dump me.” I kissed him quick, a peck to reassure myself we were still together. “You know, considering all the stories you've told me these last two weeks, you haven’t mentioned him before.”
