“God, I want to kick your ass.” I snarled.
Sky looked over at me in surprise and chuckled softly. “I’d love to see you try.”
“Hmph. Not worth breaking a fingernail. I don’t see what’s so hard about being honest.”
Sky pursed his lips and set his phone on the table facedown before leaning on his elbows in a deceptively relaxed pose. “Gosh, I didn’t realize my life story meant so much to you.”
“It doesn’t. But your condescending frat boy blow-off is annoying and suspicious as fuck too. I wonder what you’re hiding.”
“Hiding?”
“Yeah, you heard me. If there’s a warrant for your arrest for outstanding traffic violations or a dead body in your freezer, you might as well come clean. Harry might be a softy, but he wouldn’t like the cops showing up to handcuff you during business hours. So whatever this fuckin’ secret is…spill it now or go find a part-time job somewhere else.”
Sky’s scathing once-over had a wicked bite. I braced myself for a verbal assault and even shifted in my seat in case he decided to knee me in the balls. But he didn’t move, and he didn’t speak. He just stared at me for a vampire-length eternity, then slid his elbows forward and raised his brows.
“I’m gay.”
Okay. I didn’t expect that.
At all.
I narrowed my gaze and cocked my head. “Gay,” I repeated.
“Yeah. Gay.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep. Are you disappointed?”
“Huh? No. It’s cool. I don’t care if you’re gay. I don’t think anybody cares anymore,” I huffed derisively.
“That’s naïve and almost…cute,” he said in a patronizing tone. “Lots of people care. My parents cared. They cared a lot.”
“Then they suck, and you’re better off without them.”
He looked away briefly. “Maybe. Doesn’t matter. It’s done.”
I nodded as though I understood what he was saying when of course I had no clue. “So what’s their deal? Are they super conservative or just super assholes?”
Sky shrugged. “Both, I guess. My family owns a huge cattle ranch. They have old money and old connections and a gay son doesn’t fit the macho cowboy mold. I knew coming out was a risk, but it still sucks to be right.”
“Oh.” I set my burrito on the wrapper and sipped my drink. I didn’t know what to say, but it seemed vaguely important to let him know that while I still thought he was an asshole, it had nothing to do with his gayness. “You’re a jerk. Not because you suck cock…I mean—I don’t know if you suck cock. Maybe you don’t, but—”
“I do,” he replied with a mischievous grin. “I’m actually an expert cocksucker.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Uh…good to know. But for the record, your parents are the real losers. I don’t get people who have kids and then turn them away when they dare to be themselves. There ought to be a law against that.”
“Yeah. But there’s not, so I’m on my own.”
“Do you have friends or other family to go to or…?”
“No.”
“What about your teammates? Don’t they have your back?” I asked persistently. And don’t ask me why, ’cause we both probably knew I should have dropped the questions a while ago.
This time when Sky smiled, it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “They don’t know.”
“Oh. Who knows?” I winced automatically and shook my head. “Stupid question. You don’t have to tell—”
“No one.” He paused for a beat, then added, “Just you.”
I pointed at my chest incredulously. “Me? That’s it?”
“Well, I guess a couple of other people know, like my ex and his boyfriend…and the ex who came before me. I guess that makes four people total.” Sky held my gaze as he bit into his burrito.
“Um…that’s cool. But why’d you tell me?”
“ ’Cause you asked,” he deadpanned, reaching for his soda.
“Not really. Okay. Maybe I did, but that wasn’t the secret I was expecting.”
“It’s the only one I got. Unlike you, I don’t have a weird hard-on for the Green Lantern.”
“Hmph. Well, your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks, but we don’t know any of the same people, so it doesn’t really matter who you tell.”
“That won’t be the case if you work for Harry.”
“I guess that’s true. So, what’s the story with Harry anyway?”
“There’s no story. He’s just the guy who married my mom.”
“So you don’t like him ’cause he’s your stepdad?” Sky asked conversationally.
“I like Harry fine. He’s just…really nice. Annoyingly nice, if you know what I mean.”
“No one knows what you mean.”
“Harry’s one of those weird people who’s never in a bad mood. Ever. He wakes up singing. He smiles at every random person he passes on the street, and he will literally give you the shirt off his back,” I groused, shaking my head in disbelief. “He’s the guy who buys every gift on a secret Santa wish list or the guy who ‘pays it forward’ in line at Starbucks. Nice stuff, but sometimes it’s overboard. For example, last week in the office, he overheard Sue in accounting tell me that her son’s bike got stolen. Harry had a new bike delivered the next day with a big ol’ red ribbon.”