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“Why didn’t you just go for it?” I asked.
“Because…I guess I just wanted him to have the freedom to have fun without having to justify it to me. He dated other chicks while he was there, you know? I was okay with that even though I never…not until X anyway.”
“That’s why Co
Alys nodded. “I tried so hard to get in touch with him. The more interest X showed, the harder I tried to get Co
“Too?” piped Lili.
“When Co
“Why though? Did X know about you two?” I asked.
Alys went from flushed to fry-an-egg. “Yeah. And…”
“And what?” Lili gasped.
“After Co
“Shut the fuck up!” squealed Lili.
“We were just hanging out at our place. It was when Co
“Really?” I asked. “Well, I guess it isn’t so weird.”
“No. He and Jace used to pound Sheri—”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” groaned Lili, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling.
“And since I loved them both and had already slept with both of them…I did it. We did it. Afterward, X told me he was bi.”
That did surprise me. “Come again?”
“X boinked dudes?” asked Lili.
Alys nodded. “It didn’t bother me. He told me he had no problem being with only me for the rest of his life, but he liked watching me with Co
“Which of them took it up the ass?” asked Lili. “Was it both?”
Alys heaved a sigh. “Co
“Co
“Please, you can’t say anything to anyone!” she begged Lili.
“Who would I tell?” demanded Lili.
“Lewis?” Alys ventured a guess.
“The guys knew?” I asked.
“Not about me, Co
“I’m not attracted to dudes. At all. I know some guys who’d surprise you to know that they are though.” The memory of Phil’s voice echoed through my head.
“So, what’s it like, having one in each hole?” chimed Lili’s voice, bringing me back into the present.
Alys wiped a few stray tears off her cheeks. “Intense at first, but you get used to it.”
Lili pulled an impressed face. “Huh. You’re kind of a slut now, Alys.”
“I know.” She heaved a sigh. “I’ve only fucked two guys. Granted, I had them at the same time—”
“Whatever. If you guys were in a three-way sort of deal, why did you go and marry X? You know Co
“Because I thought Co
“Did they make out and let you watch?”
“Jeez, Lili. Collecting for your spank bank?” I snapped.
“Maybe. Alys, you were boinked by two gingers at once. Did they suck out your soul to compensate for their lack of one between the two of them?”
“It’s possible. In a way, I needed Co
“Still?” I asked softly.
Alys swallowed thickly. “Always. It’s always been Co
“Me, too,” I told her.
“Me three,” said Lili. “As wack as that was, he loved you, Alys. You lit up his life for a year and a half. X adored you almost as much as Phil adores Ke
“Yeah…that’s a whole different level, isn’t it?” Alys sighed.
“So, what do you plan to do now?” I asked.
Alys shrugged. “Now that the two of you know, I was thinking of telling Co
“You wore him nicely enough,” drawled Lili.
“And then jump into something with Co
I nodded.
“Is Co
“No,” replied Alys. “I think he was just really open-minded and wanted—”
“You,” I said. “He wanted you, and he wanted to make you happy. So, he did what he had to, so he could be a part of your life in that way.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Rock stars.” Lili snorted. “Ke
Phil
Living with a life-coaching team for ten weeks had helped me locate the man I needed to be. It had taken a lot of effort and a lot of physical and mental exercise to figure it out, but I was already that man. He had always been within me.
This was the man Ke
That was the man who hugged David, Gustav, and Wendy good-bye. He was the one who signed the paperwork as he was leaving with his brothers from The Gentle Oak Rehabilitation Center for the airport.
Deep down, I had always been this man. Now that I knew that, I’d found the greatest sense of peace. My Baby Girl was right. I’d needed to find myself, so I could be half of the greatest whole in my universe.
With my cell phone now available to me, I did what any man in my situation would do. I called my woman.
It went straight to voice mail.
“She turned off her phone a few weeks ago,” Co
Couldn’t say that wasn’t a bit of a blow, but she had to do what she had to do.
“I tried to call Alys,” he admitted. “Same deal with her. Mama Sally told me they all just wanted to be left alone until they got back.”
That made me feel better, knowing Co
Ass-hat. He deserved it.
Back home, it was straight to work. Siggie, who was now officially Sheri’s second-in-command, drove us home to drop off our shit and then took us to the newly rebuilt studio. The warehouse had been gutted by Katrina—damn, that was nearly a year ago?—but thanks to Siggie, the most important shit had been saved. We’d had minimal loss, and we only had to repair damages.
“We tried to get everything back the way it was,” Siggie explained. “You guys will have to replace the furniture that was lost. But all the memorabilia was saved! And personal stuff, so…”
“Wow…” Devon said, looking at the production area. “You guys really went all out on this place. It’s fucking gorgeous.”
“Too fuckin’ right,” I agreed.
“Wait till you see the jam-out area!” said Flipper. “Magic happens there.”
Co