“Are you okay?” Vince asked. “Can I get you anything?”
“No,” I said honestly. “I feel really good.”
“Good,” Vince said. “Can we talk about—”
“How could you possibly think you’d get away with this?” Paul snarled at me, slamming his hands on the coffee table.
“Meep,” I said, because it was terrifying.
“Yeah,” Corey said. “Is that what you thought? That you’d get away with this? How could you have thought that? Are you insane?”
“It wa
sn’t about getting away with anything—”
“Did I say you could talk?” Paul asked.
“Yeah,” Corey said. “Did he say that? I didn’t hear it, and last time I checked, I had perfect hearing.”
“Hey, guys,” Vince said, voice calm and even. “Maybe we should just cool down a little bit. There’s obviously a good explanation for everything. It’s not going to do any of us good to yell.”
“Good idea, Vince,” Corey said. “I bet there’s a perfectly good reason.”
“Or he’s just full of shit,” Paul muttered.
“So full,” Corey said, shaking his head at me.
I gaped at them. “What the fuck is wrong with the three of you?”
“Says the guy that decided to tell everyone he was in a relationship with another guy so he could somehow keep a gay bar open at the request of a skeevy owner who has no scruples whatsoever,” Paul said. “Does that sound about right?”
“Ooh,” Corey said. “What you got now, pretty man? Anything? I don’t think you have anything.”
“Don’t talk like you know what this is about,” I snapped at Paul. “Because honestly? You don’t know shit about this.”
“Really,” Paul said, sounding dubious. “I don’t know shit.”
“It wasn’t like this hurt anyone,” I said, glaring at him. “Everyone knew exactly what this was. I didn’t lie to anyone involved in this.”
“That’s right,” Paul said. “So you just thought you’d drag Darren in on this, knowing how he felt about you. I know you, Sandy. Probably better than everyone. And I know that you’re not that cruel.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked. “Darren couldn’t get involved in this any quicker than he did. He didn’t even fucking hesitate. And how he felt about me? Are you out of your—”
“And why do you think that is?” Paul asked. “Why do you think he didn’t fucking hesitate?”
“No hesitation,” Corey said. “Not even a smidge.”
“Because he saw a chance to use me just like I was using him.”
“Jesus Christ.” Paul sounded shocked. “You actually believe that. You’re so goddamned stupid.”
“Hey,” Vince said. “There’s no need for name-calling. We’re all on the same side in this interro—I mean, intervention.”
“I have told you,” Paul said to me, “for years how Darren felt about you.”
“It’s not like that—”
“Have I ever lied to you? When it counted.”