Do I think he’d help us?Of course he would. He is a scrupulous human who would do whatever it takes to save innocent people. He’d hate it because it goes against the rules, but yeah…he’d do it.
“Look, DB, I think it’s a real bad idea to involve him with the Guardians’ work.”
“Because of your previous relationship or because of the conflict of interest?”
“Little of both, but mostly the previous relationship. I didn’t think we were serious, but for some reason he, um, fell in love with me. So I ended it. Kinda ungracefully.”
Wow, I’m a bad liar.
DB raises his eyebrow. “For some reason?”
I gesture at my beastly physique and again at his obvious beauty.
DB blinks at me, like maybe he just figured something out. “Yeah, that’s not good enough.”
“DB…”
He cuts me off. “I’ll make sure to tell the mother of the eighteen-year-old we found last week that you’re uncomfortable about working with a previous lover. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“DB.”
He shakes his head, unimpressed with my objections. “No, really. Your ineptitude around accepting love that is freely given to you—a pattern, by the way—will no doubt comfort her as she plans a closed-casket funeral.”
I lean back, counting the ceiling tiles. “Man, that’s not fair. You know what I just went through with Roly. I was willing, he wasn’t. That shit hurt.”
To recap: my most recent ex-lover, a man I could have easily fallen for, is now engaged to the brother of the ex-lover-who-got-away.
“Dude, how many times have I heard you complain about a friend-with-benefits wanting to get serious with you? You use Grindr and Scruff as dating apps, which is insane. You’re a serial monogamist who likes to pretend you’re not in a relationship. You got what you deserved with Roly.”
He’s not wrong.
“Hey, with the exception of Roly, I make sure they know from the beginning that it’s not a relationship.”
And hell, all of my old hurts are smacking me in the face today, aren’t they? I’d gone to just enough therapy to think I’d like to give a relationship a real go, so I started dating my buddy Roly. Turns out, we weren’t dating, we were fucking. Right as I was beginning to fall for him, he let me know, in no uncertain terms, that he didn’t do serious relationships.
It was a real chickens-coming-home-to-roost moment, and I haven’t been brave enough to try again.
“Mmhmm. You say the words, ‘not a relationship,’ and then proceed to act like the world’s best boyfriend, ever. I mean…you paid off that one guy’s medical bills and didn’t you buy some guy a car? That’s either boyfriend shit or sugar daddy shit.”
I push back from the desk, ready to stand and defend my honor. “I amnota sugar daddy.”
I’d be a damn good sugar daddy if I were.
DB snorts and gestures for me to sit. I want to crawl into a hole.
“Oh, I know it. You’re just a dumbass who’s afraid of commitment with a ton of broken hearts in your wake.”
Rolling my eyes, I toss it right back. “Big talk from a guy I’ve never seen go on a date.”
“You know why I don’t date, Thane. Don’t even go there.” His voice takes on a hard edge, which I decide to ignore.
“The right guy’s not gonna care about that, D. Promise you. And you know Odd—”
“Don’t fucking go there, Thane.”
The heat in his voice stops me cold. “Sorry, man. Look…I just want to avoid Ronan if I can.”
“Because he’s the one who got away?”
