Scott clutched his forehead. “Why? Why would you do that when you so obviously like him?”
“I didn’t want him to know about the tax evasion.”
“You mean the bill you could’ve easily paid.”
Thomas’s nostrils flared. “He would’ve asked questions. Questions that I don’t want to answer.”
“Questions like what?”
“How I became this rich. The real reason, not the reason I told him.”
Scott glanced Thomas’s way. “And what did you tell him?”
“It was a lottery win.”
“And what’s the real reason?”
Thomas stiffened his jaw. “I’m not comfortable discussing it.”
Scott bit his tongue to stop himself from asking about the court case Tim had hinted at.
“I texted Russell to say I’d moved back, but he ignored me. Then I invited him to the auction, but he brought aguest…”
“A guest?” Scott asked tentatively.
“Some guy he’s mucking about with.” Thomas shrugged. “I had my chance with him, but I didn’t…”
“Didn’t?”
“Trust him enough. With all of me. This Thomas, the one from before, and every Thomas in between. It’s my fault it wasn’t more than two sexually compatible people messing about with toys and coming a lot.”
Scott reached over and squeezed Thomas’s thigh. “I’m sorry, and I really do mean that.”
Thomas nodded, then shifted in his chair to face Scott. His face stayed blank. “But maybe there’s still hope.”
“Hope?”
“He texted me. We were texting for a few hours.”
Scott beamed. “See, told you my plan would work.”
“We reminisced, talked about better times.”
“That involved dildos and fleshlights.”
“Something like that.” Thomas’s expression remained unreadable. “He wants to meet.”
“Don’t be too eager,” Scott warned. “Play it cool.”
“I told him I was too busy at the moment.”
Scott nodded. “Good plan.”
“He asked me what I was doing, and I replied I was filming amateur porn for your profile so you can earn 100K.”
“Wow. Okay.” Scott blinked a few times in quick succession. “And how did he respond to that?”
“He hasn’t replied yet.”
