“Okay… can you elaborate on that?”
Her tone was a bit off, but Denny had limited time, so he pressed on.
“Everything was really good all weekend, but then on Saturday night he put me to bed and I asked him to come stay with me until I fell asleep, because I felt…” He sighed. “I felt really sad.”
Sammie made a sympathetic noise. “Oh, honey, of course you did.”
“He came to bed and then at some point in the night I woke up for a bit and he was still there, so he must’ve fallen asleep next to me. But then in the morning he was gone and he was really acting weird the rest of the trip, up until I dropped him off at the Hare.”
She hummed. “Okay. I assume you tried talking to him?”
“Of course, we talk about everything. He acted weird and gave me answers that didn’t really say anything real and… I felt like he was lying to me but I don’t know what about.” He sighed. “And that’s not Jo, is it?”
“It’s not. He might lie by omission but not actually lie to anyone.” She was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Honey, what did he say exactly before you dropped him off?”
“Well I asked him if I like, groped him in my sleep or something, because that seemed like something that I might’ve done to upset him, nothing else came to mind. He replied that I was being silly and that I wouldn’t stop being straight even when drunk or something.”
Sammie let out a long breath. “Okay, sweetheart, this is not something I can really talk with you about without Josiah’s consent. But you need to put your thinking cap on. There’s a reason why this is happening, and you need to use your brain. You’re a smart man, you can work it out.”
“What?” He felt more confused than ever. “What do you mean?”
“I need to go, unless you want me to cancel this interview? I’ll be home in a month, and if you still haven’t figured it out then, I’ll tell you what I think is happening.”
Something lurched in Denny’s chest. “It’s not anything bad? He’s not in danger?”
“No, he’s not in danger. Give him time, think about what happenedexactly, and how he reacted. Then talk to him. And call me if you need me. I got to run, honey.”
“Okay. Thanks, Sammie.”
“Love you, bye.”
He put his phone on his desk and closed his eyes. He didn’t know what she was talking about, but it wasn’t good.
After one final meeting, this time in-person at the office, Denny called it a day and headed home. He ordered enough pizza to sustain himself and not to have cook in the morning, and made himself drink water instead of beer.
He tried to make sense of what had happened. His thoughts kept circling around Josiah and the relationship they’d had for so long. Janet had liked Jo, but Denny’s mistake rebound wife Stacey had hated Josiah to a point where it had become a point of contention in their marriage. She’d been wrong in all the ways, but he’d been going through a crisis that not even Josiah and Sammie could’ve helped with.
Making another mistake by marrying a woman he wasn’t in love with hadn’t helped, either. At least there had been a pre-nup. He had given her enough money to buy a decent apartment and she’d kept all the jewelry and her sportscar, so he hadn’t exactly been unfair.
But the words she’d spat at him most often when they fought came back to him now.
“You’ve never loved anyone as much as you lovehim!” was one of her favorites. There was also the one that included a slur about Josiah’s sexuality and interests, which had been the final straw. Besides, that hadn’t been true. Josiah wasn’t “hung up” on him of all people, he’d been with Ben back then.
Kristin loved Josiah even though they didn’t meet that often. Every time they did, the fact that they were happy to be around each other was obvious. He wanted to call her now, ask for her opinion, but it was too soon, wasn’t it? She’d packed her stuff and left while he was gone only the day before yesterday.
Denny really,reallywanted a drink.
He settled on the couch and closed his eyes, trying to look at every detail of those words that bothered him so much. The way Josiah had blushed when Denny had asked if he’d groped him. He looked at the ceiling, frowning. Wait, had Jo groped Denny instead? Wasthatwhat this was about?
He closed his eyes again. No, it couldn’t be that. About five or so years ago, after Ben had left Josiah, Denny had had the honor of picking Jo up from the alley between the Hare and the building next door. He’d been so drunk Denny had half-carried him up the stairs to his apartment.
It was the last time Denny had seen him drunk, but he remembered the way Josiah had murmured incoherent words as Denny had undressed him to push him into the shower to get the trash stink off him.
Josiah had sobered momentarily and groped him a little. He’d slurred something about them being single men and all that. Somehow, to Denny’s surprise, Jo had remembered that the next day.
They’d had a talk, Jo had apologized, and Denny had told him he got it. Because hehadunderstood. Jo had been dumped. People got needy and Denny had been safe. They’d never talked about the incident again, because there had been no need. They were both fine with what had happened.
The more Denny thought about the whole situation now, the more certain he was that neither of them had touched each other inappropriately. Even if Josiah had been drunk, which he hadn’t been, or high off his ass, which, again, he hadn’t been, Denny couldn’t see Josiah doing anything drastic enough toanyoneto justify his weird behavior.
