“Uh… yeah,” he replied before ducking to splash more water onto his face.
“You might want to try to look and sound more convincing,” Mac pointed out. “Should you be here?”
“In the bathroom?” Kyrone asked, turning around.
Mac rolled his eyes. “At work. You’re on the floor first thing, but you look a state.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You know I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry before,” Mac said. “So something’s obviously got to you. Do you want to talk about it? Not here, obviously. In the office?”
Kyrone debated the offer. Unlike Dylan, he had no problem with Mac, but he also didn’t know the guy very well. Would talking to someone help him sort through his jumbled thoughts? Probably. But was it fair of him to tell anyone—let alone his sort of boss—details about Jared’s life? Not that Mac knew Jared and would almost certainly never meet him, but it still didn’t sit right with Kyrone.
“I found something out this afternoon that I’m trying to process, that’s all.”
“Something bad?”
Kyrone thought about that. “Unfair is probably the better description.” He stuffed his hands into his jeans’ pockets, hunching his shoulders as he heaved out a breath. “My boyfriend has a brain injury. You wouldn’t even know it to look at him, but things are tough for him, and they always will be.”
“That’s harsh,” Mac agreed. “I can see why finding that out would be hard to process. Do you need to take the night off?”
Kyrone shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I just need to put my game face on.”
“You’re looking a bit less puffy around the eyes than when you first came in,” Mac noted. “A bit more water might help.”
Kyrone glanced over his shoulder at his reflection in the mirror. It wasn’t quite so obvious that he’d been blubbering in the taxi anymore.
“And if you need to talk, the offer’s there.”
“Thanks, Mac.”
Mac nodded. “If you change your mind about being fit for work, let me know. It’s not too late to juggle things around.”
Kyrone smiled in appreciation and turned back to the sinks to splash more water over his face. He went for cold this time, which seemed to do the trick. When he looked up again, Mac had gone. He dried his face and then hightailed it into the changing room to switch out of his civvies and into his pole dancing gear. By the time he needed to get his booty out into the club, he was satisfied that no one would be able to tell he’d ever been upset.
It was a good night, better than the average Thursday. Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was three in the morning, and the club was starting to empty out. He ended his night on the floor by scoring a half dozen more private dances in that forty-minute stint alone.
Before getting showered and changed, he joined the line to cash in his dance chips, along with Dylan and Jag, who he’d been grouped with again.
“You’re still coming to the pub quiz, aren’t you?” Dylan asked him.
Kyrone nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“With your boyfriend?”
Kyrone grinned. “Yes.”
He really was looking forward to showing Jared off to his friends. Hopefully, they would become Jared’s friends too. He knew from joining the Navy that it was hard to start fresh in a new location. The difference was he’d been in close quarters with dozens of other Able Rates, and there had been a sense of camaraderie both in training and in service, which meant they’d become friends fast. Jared had moved a couple of hundred miles, completely alone. From the sounds of it, it had been pure chance that he’d run into Faye. It had to have been hard for Jared, but as far as Kyrone was concerned, it didn’t need to be tough for Jared anymore, and he definitely didn’t need to be alone.
“Have you decided if you’re coming?” he asked Jag.
“I’m not sure…” Jag said indecisively.
“Oh, come on!” Kyrone said. “It’ll be fun.”
“He wants you to meet his boyfriend,” Dylan said.
“I want youallto meet him. He’s a great guy.”
