“Well, I live here, so it’s not that weird for me.” She pressed her lips together, holding in a gentle laugh. “Sorry. Yeah. We’re strangers now, and that’s weird.”
They were strangers now, and that hurt all over again, her saying it that way.
He’d done that. He’d ghosted her.
Impotent rage boiled inside him, at himself, at the situation.
Tell her. Just fucking—He sat down, braced his arms on his knees, squeeze his hands together until his knuckles turned white, and then looked up at her. “I went to see Evan. To talk to him about what you said, that I…checked him out.”
Her eyes flared, and she nodded, a tiny, short confirmation that she knew what they were talking about.
“I confronted him. Demanded to know exactly what he said to you. What right did he have to tell you my secrets, and he…didn’t buy that. It got heated.”
“Oh, Brent,” she sighed.
He shook his head. Yeah, he’d have to tell her about throwing the punch, but first— “I don’t know how to say this. I’ve never said this out loud to anyone. “He’s not wrong about me, Jess. I’m attracted to men. I always have been. You know that now, obviously.”
“I do.”
“I’m sorry you found out that way. I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage to tell you myself a long time ago.” He paused, and she didn’t say anything. She was just looking at him, but there was a gentleness to her expression that unlocked something inside him, and the rest of what he wanted to say suddenly spilled out. “It was something I just ignored as a fantasy for a long time. I need you to know, you were never any kind of beard for me. Not really. I loved you. Love you, still to this day. And I—everything we had together, it was real. Everything I said about how I felt about you, and wanted you, that was real. I’m attracted to men, but I’m also attracted to women—maybe not as strongly, I don’t know—and I have always, will always, be attracted to you.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip.
Maybe that had been the wrong direction to go. “Say something. Please.”
* * *
Jess didn’t knowwhat to say. She’d been prepared to be angry. She’dbeenangry. And hurt.
But now, looking at Brent, she just felt a lot of big, squishy feelings. Sadness and empathy. Gratitude that he’d finally opened up, albeit belatedly.
“It’s nice of you to think of my feelings,” she finally said. “This is a big deal for you.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’m proud of you. That took a lot of guts.”
“There’s more.”
She braced herself. “Okay.”
Brent took a long, sobering breath. “I told you we got into it a bit. We were both yelling. And then—I don’t know how it happened, exactly, but one minute we were snapping at each other, and the next… He kissed me.”
“Oh!” Her eyes were as wide as saucers, she could feel them, but…oh. It was a bizarre thing to think about.She’dkissed Evan.He’dkissed the hell out of her.
And then he kissed her husband.
She was supposed to be jealous, she was sure of it. So much anger had zinged through her over the past week, at the secrets Brent had kept from her.
But now, hearing this revelation—having him share this secret with her, freely—she wasn’t angry.
Evan kissed Brent.That image stormed through her mind. How big he was, how commanding.
Heat pooled low and hungry in her belly. Was it inappropriate to ask for details on that? On how it felt, and looked like, and how long it lasted. Was there biting involved, and maybe hair pulling …
“That’s all you’ve got to say? He made me drive all the way back to tell you, and you just say … oh?”
She blinked. “Uh… What else do you want me to say?”
