“Hi, Nick. It’s Liam,” I said. “Victor’s in the shower.”
“Oh, hey, Liam!” Nick’s tone was upbeat. “How have you been? Vic treating you alright?”
I decided not to unload my problems onto him. Besides, I didn’t want him to know that I’d already gotten on Victor’s nerves somehow. “Yeah, it’s been good,” I said. “How about you?”
“Fine as always. Liam, listen.” His tone became more serious. “When he gets out, can you let him know that he was right?”
“Right about what?” I asked.
“The arsonist,” Nick growled. “He resisted at first, but ended up spilling everything to the cops. Vic was right all along that something fishy was going on.”
Anxiety pulsed through me. Victor had told me about the arsonist targeting me, but I didn’t know if everyone knewwhy.I swallowed hard and bit the bullet. “Did he say why he did it?”
I pictured Nick shrugging as he spoke. “Said some animal attacked him, but there were no eyewitnesses or evidence. I mean, I don’t doubt something attacked him because he had some killer wounds, but still, its no reason to go setting buildings on fire, you know?”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to keep my voice from trembling.
“Anyway, just thought he’d like to know,” Nick said. “I’ll see you around, Liam!”
I was about to say my goodbyes and hang up when an idea struck me. “Um, hey, Nick, if you’re not busy, do you mind if I ask you something else?”
“Sure, what is it?”
Striding over to the picture frame, I made eye contact with the man next to Victor. “There’s, um. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but there’s this photo in Victor’s living room of him and a guy I don’t recognize. Do you know who he is?”
The other end of the line was silent for a moment. Then Nick spoke in a tone I’d never heard him use before. “Yeah, I know him. He’s Victor’s ex-boyfriend.”
The words struck me like a blow to the head. My jaw hung open in shock and I almost dropped the cell phone.
Victor was gay?
As my mind went black with this new information, I realized I’d been silent for too long. “Oh,” I managed to say.
“Yeah,” Nick continued. “They broke up a while ago, but Vic’s still having trouble getting over it, I think. He was depressed for a long time after it happened. Actually, the day he saved you from that building was the six month anniversary of their breakup. Kind of sad that he keeps track, huh?”
I was barely listening anymore. The news that Victor was gay sent me reeling. I never suspected someone as…Victor-esqueto be gay.
Suddenly I remembered our conversation the first night I stayed here, and how I’d stereotyped him as someone who wouldn’t drink champagne.
“Why? Because I’m big and burly?”
I groaned silently and ground my fist to my skull. I was so stupid. Being bisexual or gay was common in bear shifters and no one batted an eyelash, but with humans it was different. Most humans I met were straight, so I had just assumed Victor was as well. Now I felt like an idiot.
“Liam?” Nick’s voice shook me from my thoughts.
“Sorry, I just – I didn’t know,” I mumbled.
“Yeah,” Nick said with a small laugh. “Most people don’t think so either. Don’t sweat it.”
I slumped back onto the couch, still staring at the photograph. I blurted out the question before I could stop it. “Why did they break up?”
“Well, the other guy – Tristan – is the one who broke up with Victor,” Nick began. “Honestly, it was totally out of the blue. If they had relationship problems, they didn’t show it. They both worked at the station, and I guess me and everyone else thought things were great between them. They didn’t fight, they always seemed happy…” Nick broke off. It sounded like he was shaking his head. “No idea, man.”
“Did Victor say why?” I asked.
“No, wouldn’t tell us.” Nick sighed. “You know, that guy loves to keep things bottled inside, and one day its gonna bite him in the ass. I bet if he talked to someone about it, he would feel a lot better.” Suddenly Nick perked up. “Hey, why don’t you try to talk to him about it?”
“Me?” I squeaked. Victor was mad at me – getting probed about his relationship problems was probably the last thing he wanted right now.
