“Can’t we talk about you?” Adam took a healthy swallow of wine.
“Not right now.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Probably not.” Grant cracked open the can and took a sip, frowning. He shoved up off the couch and disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a full glass of wine and what was left of the bottle.
Adam gave his best friend a worried look. “Has Oscar come back around?”
Grant’s ex-boyfriend Oscar had been caught on his knees with a dick in his mouth a few months earlier, and while Grant had been taking the breakup well for the most part, Adam wondered maybe if he’d been faking it all along to avoid talking about the betrayal.
“No.”
“Have you seen Robin?” Adam asked after their mutual friend and Grant’s sometime bedmate.
“Not lately,” Grant answered.
“You’re really not going to tell me what’s going on with you? That’s not very friendly.”
Grant licked his lips, chewing at his cheek like he was ready to answer Adam, but instead said nothing, staring straight ahead at Adam’s dark television.
“I don’t know what happened with Cooper,” Adam finally offered, sinking deeper into his couch.
Grant’s posture softened and he slid a little closer, offering the barest of touches in that casual and reassuring way he always had.
“You two went on your little getaway,” Grant recounted. “Then we all had lunch together, the three of us and Wyatt.”
Adam nodded.
“And then?”
Adam took another drink like the wine would make the truth easier.
“Cooper and I just want different things,” he finally said.
“That’s not an answer and you know it.”
Adam thought about the night Grant had just mentioned. Cooper had suggested that Grant take Wyatt into town to get a taste of things since he was getting ready to leave for school, and Adam had taken advantage of the empty house, inviting Cooper over and…
“He’s a good guy.”
“I know.” Grant made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat, catching on to the way Adam was deflecting the conversation.
“It doesn’t matter, though. He’s younger than me, than us. We just want different things.”
“What kind of different?” Grant pressed.
“Far more versatile than I’m used to, and maybe even open.”
Beside him, Grant smirked, sipping at his wine. “Versatile?”
“You heard me.”
“I have to admit I like the idea of you with your legs in the air, Adam. I bet it would humble you a little.”
Adam pursed his lips, annoyed. Bottoming had never been the problem. Much like he preferred men, he also preferred being on the receiving end of things. “Notjustlike that.”
Grant turned slowly, eyes wide, but expression close to neutral. “Not just like that?”