Page 45 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
“To say the least. His wife wasn’t pleased.”
Shit.“Was he bi?”
Todd shook his head. “Might have been easier. He was closeted. Religious family.”
The guide gathered them back together and led them up a set of stairs to an alleyway and down the street—aboveground—to another section of the tour. Fazil used the single-file climb up the stairs to school his expression. He didn’t know what to feel.
Todd must have seensomethingwhen they hit open air. “You get it. Are you supposed to be angry about the cheating? Or happy the dude had the strength to be himself? I... tried to remain friends with both, but it was ugly. In the end, the whole group fell apart.”
At least the guy hadn’t played into the cheating-bisexual stereotype. Fazil stopped and his blood turned stone-cold. No,hewas a walking example ofthat.
Todd tugged him forward, his brow creased. “Z?”
“It’s nothing.” He drew a breath and hustled to catch up with the group. His innards twisted into pretzels.
Another set of stairs led back into the underground. Todd still had that quizzical look, and he clasped Fazil on the shoulder briefly.
Fazil pushed the count of how many times he cheated on Todd out of his head. “What else do you do for fun?”
This stretch of the tour had been a main street of some sort. Some of the building façades were preserved. Large mechanical pieces littered the floor. Todd took Fazil’s hand while they listened to the guide—the equipment had been part of an old elevator tossed out of a building that had crashed through the new sidewalks into the underground. When the guide finished, they moved in to inspect the debris and Todd answered.
“There’s a smaller group that goes hiking, but we haven’t met in a while. I hang out at some of the bars, but that scene gets old.” He shrugged. “I miss the gang. Haven’t gone out of my way to meet a new group, then work became hell.”
“That’ll do it.” He studied Todd in the dim lighting. Tall, handsome, with a mechanic’s body and the mind of an engineer. “I’m surprised you’re not dating anyone.”
Todd lifted a brow and squeezed Fazil’s hand.
“I meant before I showed up unexpectedly on your doorstep.”
Another shrug. “I’d been seeing a guy for a while, but we broke up a couple of months ago.” Todd paused. “When I found him lip-locked with my married friend.”
Ohshit.“Dude...”
Todd gave a bitter chuckle. “Right? I still don’t know whether to be pissed. Last I heard, they’ve moved in together and are doing just fine.”
That would turn anyone off of social circles for a while. “Gotta be rough.” At least Kris hadn’t cheated. She’d come to him and explained what was going on in her head. In retrospect, that had been a blessing, especially since it had matched what had been going on in his. He stroked the back of Todd’s hand with his thumb.
“It was. His ex was super mad at me for the longest time. She was sure I’d known, except I hadn’t. Not at all.” He ran his hand over the front of an old building. “What about you? Hobbies other than playing in paper dungeons?”
He snorted. “Would you believe pinball?”
“Pinball? As in the game with flippers?” He mimicked pressing a button with his free hand.
“Yup. There’s a league in Pittsburgh.”
“Pinball... league.” Todd furrowed his brow. “Not words I expected to hear together.”
“It’s less exciting than it sounds.”
Todd tugged Fazil’s hand. “Come on. They’ll leave us behind. Don’t want to be eaten by a Grue.”
He mock-punched Todd in the arm. “Grue was from Zork.”
Todd smiled, pressed his index finger to his lips, and nodded to the tour guide.
Fazil rolled his eyes, but for the rest of the tour, they listened and learned and held hands. He fell back into the comfort, the ease of being with Todd. When they emerged back above ground after a quick perusal of the gift shop, he didn’t even care that they walked close—moved like a couple. Touched like a couple.
That was new. Maybe it was Seattle. Didn’t care. Helovedit. “What’s next on the agenda?” Still a few hours to kill before dinner.
