Barry nodded and we walked over to a seating section that wasn’t too crowded and took a seat. “Okay, what’s going on, kid?”
“I want Aiden back.”
“Jesus Christ. I thought you were getting over him.”
“I can’t and I don’t want to, Barry. I haven’t been happy since we broke up and that was the biggest mistake of my life. I let him go because I was afraid. I’ll never forgive myself if I lose him forever.”
“Macio—”
“I don’t need your permission, but I do want your support. I’m going to pursue Aiden. I’m going to get him back.”
Barry was quite for a few seconds as he studied me. “You’re serious.”
I nodded. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
“I can tell. I see that look in your eyes and I know what it means. Macio… you know I’m with you every step of the way. But you have to know, if you two somehow get back together and it gets out, it’s going to be some tough storms coming your way. So, I need you to really… I meanreallythink about this.”
“I did.”
“Think about it some more and if by tomorrow your mind is unchanged… then we take whatever comes our way head on, fair?” Barry asked.
“Fair. But just to let you know… my heart is what’s unchanged and that’s why my mind is made up. But I’ll give you the twenty-four hours you’re asking for. After that, I’m going back for my man,” I said. I was determined to get Aiden back by any means necessary. I was sick and fucking tired of living my life in fear of what others thought of me. My family included. The shit that happened with Rupert gave me an epiphany. He lived a lie. His wife had no idea he was bisexual and I was sure she didn’t know that he wanted to sleep with me, his number one client.
I was going to tell Barry about what Rupert had done the night before, but decided against it. I said last night that we could and should forget it ever happened. In spite of that lapse in judgement, Rupert was an amazing publicist and he was fair by me. He messed up, but he deserved a second chance. I messed up and I only prayed that Aiden would give me a second chance. If I wanted Aiden to forgive me, I had to be able to forgive Rupert.
When Rupert met us at the airport with a nervous expression on his face, I was happy I’d kept what happened between us a secret. Barry greeted him as he normally did and I saw the nervousness fade from Rupert’s face. When Barry made one last trip to the bathroom, Rupert turned to me.
“Did you tell him?”
I shook my head. “Like I said last night, it never happened. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Okay… thank you.”
“Just don’t try that shit again,” I warned.
He looked at me and nodded.
We sat in silence until Barry returned, then the three of us took our luggage and boarded our plane heading for New York. Not only was I excited to kick some ass and defend my title, but I was looking forward to flying to L.A. afterward and claiming my man.
My ten-day road trip felt more like ten months because I was still reeling from the acknowledgement that I wasn’t over Macio and might never be. New York was my final stop and I was beyond ready to conclude my interview with the starting lineup of the New York Knicks and get back home. I had been looking forward to the interview before things blew up in my face because I wanted to showcase the men’s charity work and good deeds for their community. I still wanted to do that, but I also wanted to get the fuck out of Dodge before I ran into someone I didn’t want to see.
I wasn’t ignorant of the fact that a major fight was going on in the city that never sleeps and I saw several members of the press who covered the fights in the same hotel I was staying at. The last thing I wanted was a run-in with Macio or anyone on his team. I kept my head down and made a beeline for the exit when it was time for me to head over to the basketball game. The plan was for me to watch the game, interview the starters, and head back to my hotel early so I could get some sleep before I needed to head to the airport for my ass-crack-of-dawn flight.
The game was a nail-biting, buzzer-beater win over their biggest conference rival so the guys were too excited to talk about their charity work directly after the game as planned. They talked me in to going out to dinner with them and promised I could conduct the interview over steaks and seafood. I was famished and it sounded like a good time, so I gladly went along. The interview went great and I had a better time than I would’ve ever predicted, but it was really late when I got back to my hotel room.
I was too wired to sleep once I crawled between the sheets, so I decided to get a head start on writing my article for the following week’s edition of Ringside. I laid everything out and then went into the hallway to get a bottle of lemon-lime soda from the vending machine near the elevator.
“Damn it,” I said when I saw it was out of order. Going downstairs to the one I had seen on the main floor seemed like such a pain in the ass, but I was thirsty and tap water didn’t sound the least bit appealing.
I trudged down the few flights of steps, rather than take the elevator, and entered the ground floor near the hotel gym. I could hear the whirring of the treadmill and the fast footfalls of someone who sounded like they were running from their personal demons. Hell, I knew that feeling all too well and commiserated with the person. I couldn’t help but glance inside the gym when I approached it and then stopped dead in my tracks, certain my eyes were playing tricks on me.
It wasn’t just anyone running from their demons, it was Macio – my tormentor and the other half of my broken soul. He must’ve sensed he was being watched because he looked in my direction. The cartoon-like widening of his eyes when he saw me would’ve been funny if I also didn’t notice the signs of distress written all over his beautiful face. I realized how true Kathy’s words were and it broke my heart.
I wanted to go to him, to offer some comfort, do something, but I wasn’t sure what he would accept from me. His actions four months ago said we were over and I had no reason to believe he felt any differently until he stopped the treadmill and crooked his finger for me to come to him. My body went to him on its own accord, as if drawn to him like a magnet.
He stood before me with his body glistening from sweat and his gym shorts riding low on his hips so the top of his V was on display for my lonely eyes. “Aiden.” There was so much feeling in that one word – relief, hope, and the same longing that had rocked my world for the past four months. “Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
I closed my eyes and reopened them, sure that I had been dreaming once again. Then I felt his fingers caressing my face and knew he wasn’t a figment of my imagination or a vision that would vanish the moment reality pulled me from my slumber. “Tell me you’re real,” I heard myself say.
