The Spiral Down (The Fall Up #2)(61)

She yawned. “Is it seriously four thirty?”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“I didn’t know you were going to be in town.”

“Yeah. We drove all night so I could spend less than eighteen hours with Evan.”

She pushed up on an elbow. “Eighteen hours?”

“I wanted to see him.”

“So, then what are you doing crawling into my bed in the middle of the night? Why aren’t you tangled up with your lover boy?”

I groaned and threw an arm over my face. “We had a fight. So I took off. Hitchhiked my way here.”

“You hitchhiked!” she shrieked, sitting straight up.

I laughed, dragging her back down. “Technically, I paid a cab driver. But, for the way he watched me in the rearview mirror like he was Buffalo Bill and wanted to wear my flesh as a new set of pajamas, it feels like I hitchhiked.”

She blew out a relieved breath as Sam chuckled behind her.

“Why didn’t you call Carter?” she asked.

“He’s babysitting Robin.”

Sam laughed. “I bet he is.”

Levee and I both turned to look at him, but he waved us off.

“Nothing. Bad joke. Sorry. Can you get to the part where you tell us what happened so she can fix it, and I can go back to bed?”

Rolling my eyes, I propped myself up on an elbow so I could see them both. “Evan’s bisexual. Apparently, he’s dated a guy before.”

“Oh my God,” Levee breathed.

“I know. It’s terri—”

She interrupted me. “Fantastic!”

“And sleep is out.” Sam mumbled, rolling out of the bed. “I’ll make the coffee.”

I wolf-whistled as he walked from the room in only his boxers and a T-shirt. His response was to flip me off over his shoulder.

Pushing off my chest, Levee bent her knees to sit cross-legged beside me. “Please, God, tell me you aren’t freaking out about this?”

“I’m in your bed at four thirty in the morning,” I stated.

“But why? This is the best possible scenario.”

“Are you kidding me? This is horrible. Levee, he’s been with men before.”

“Aaaand?”

“And he’s been with men before. I might as well just draw a number and wait for my turn at the deli counter.”

She slapped my chest. “Don’t be a dick. I happen to know you’ve been with your fair share of men.”

“Right, but I’ve never been with a woman.”

She squinted at me in disbelief. “I’m sorry. What? I’ve seen Evan. No way he’s a transsexual.”

I curled my lip. “No. He’s hung like a horse. He’s just bi.”

“So, not a woman?”

“No.”

“So, what does you being with a woman have to do with this?”

“I’ve never been with one.”

She tipped her head in confusion. “Did he ask you to be with one?”

“No!” I snapped, having lost my patience with her inability to follow the conversation.

“Then I officially have no idea what the hell you are talking about.”

I groaned in frustration. “There’s a reason I seek out straight men. I need to be special, Levee. I don’t want to be another notch on someone’s belt,” I said, imploring her to understand.

She didn’t. “And he’s made you feel like just another conquest?”

“Well, no.”

“Then what?” she shouted, having lost her patience as well.

I rolled off the bed and began pacing a pattern around her bed. “You don’t understand.”

“Not at all,” she replied, propping herself up on the pillows and folding her hands over her swollen stomach.

“I need him to be straight.”

“No. You need him to be gay. You’re gay, Henry. This isn’t exactly a newsflash.”

I nibbled on my thumbnail. “Right. But, if he likes all men, how will I know that he truly loves me? I mean, he could leave me tomorrow and just move along to the next guy. Or, f*ck, even woman.”

“That would be more likely to happen if he were straight though.”

I shook my head. “No, you don’t understand. Shit, I’m not explaining this right.”

“You want to find King Kong,” Sam declared, appearing in the doorway with two steaming mugs of coffee.

I tapped my finger on the tip of my nose. “Yes! That!”

He rolled his eyes and passed me a mug.

“You don’t have enough body hair for King Kong. Too much manscaping,” Levee said, taking the other cup from him as he settled next to her on the bed. “Ew…decaf.” She passed it back.

He threw his arm around her shoulders. “King Kong was a gorilla, but he fell in love with a woman and ultimately fought to the death for her. She was his one and only mate despite their vast differences in basically every other way—including species. If you forgo the battle with the T. rex and stegosaurus, I can see what you’re going for here.”

“Thank you, Sam.” I smiled proudly.

“You’re also a delusional idiot who believes wooing a straight man into bed will ever turn into anything more than sex.”