IRL: In Real Life (After Oscar, #1)(23)

Shame.

Everyone around the table snickered, including Conor. But I could only stare dumfounded at the storyteller. Because now I knew why the story sounded so familiar. I’d heard it before. But from the other participant’s point of view. The other participant being Oscar Overton, my last regular fuck buddy.

What were the fucking chances this guy had dated Oscar as well?

That we’d both dated the same guy?

Now I knew why James seemed to have a problem with me. Things hadn’t ended well with Oscar. He’d been the one who’d wanted more—a relationship, commitment, emotions. I’d broken things off with him without discussion.

James caught my eyes and held them.

“Needless to say, it turned into a mess very quickly.”

“What did you tell the cops?” Conor asked.

“That’s where it went off the rails,” James explained, keeping his eyes locked on mine. “You see, Oscar—that was my date—thought it would help if he cut in to take full responsibility for what had happened. He told the police he’d leaned over to give me a—” He glanced around at the table and cleared his throat. “—a ‘sex act’ without my consent. I guess his assumption was that his confession would prove the accident wasn’t my fault.”

Conor groaned, his eyes shining with laughter. I found myself staring at him, unable to look away. He was stunningly expressive.

James continued, his own smile betraying his enjoyment of entertaining the group with the outrageous story. “Only, the police mentioned charging him with attempted sexual assault. So of course Oscar panicked. He tried to backpedal, which only made things worse. He wound up accusing me of attempted sexual assault, then realized what he was saying. He apologized and must have decided it was the witness’s fault for even bringing the idea of a ‘sex act’ into the conversation. So then he accused her of flashing her breasts at us, explaining that’s what had really caused the accident.”

At this point the entire table was laughing. I found myself chuckling as well. I could just picture Oscar on the side of the bridge waving his hands in the air wildly while attempting to concoct the best explanation for the accident. He was a character. For a split second, I realized I missed seeing him around. It was too bad things had ended the way they had. The guy was funny as hell and great in bed.

I glanced at Conor again. A crinkle of confusion marred his smooth forehead. “Wait, is this Oscar who you dated before Richard?” Conor asked.

James nodded. “Yeah. Great guy. Once we finally cleared everything up with the cops, we continued on to Anthony’s Nose and had an incredible date. That was the beginning of our dating relationship, short as it was. Now we’re just good friends.” His eyes turned to me. “Did he ever tell you that story, Wells? I mean, when you and Oscar were together?”

Everyone else turned to stare at me, but it was Conor who spoke. His eyes held a flash of surprise.

“You… you’re gay?”





9





Conor





I couldn’t keep the shock from my voice, although I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised or why it even mattered. I quickly moved to apologize for the blurted question.

“Don’t answer that. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

Wells’s eyes were like lasers on me, as usual. “It’s fine. I’m out. Been out for a very long time.”

I looked down at the table where my fingers were stroking the heavy handle of the knife at my place setting. My cheeks felt like they could be used to cook our dinner if the kitchen stoves somehow stopped working. Why was hearing him confirm his sexuality affecting me?

I was gay. So I couldn’t help but wonder if that made things weird between us, made a possible attraction even more… possible. Nope. No need to even think about something so ridiculous. I shook my head but kept my attention on my place setting.

“Conor.” Wells’s voice rumbled over the table to me. “Look at me.”

My eyes jumped up to him immediately, which only made my face redder. The man intimidated the hell out of me.

“It’s okay,” he said in a softer voice. “Really.”

I stared at him as if no one else was sitting with us at the long table. Why did he care what I thought?

“Me too. I mean, I’m gay too.” I heard James kind of groan and chuckle under his breath. My intention had been to… what? Offer some kind of quid pro quo to the stuffy executive across the table? But my words had come out sounding stupid at the very least and desperate at the most. “I only meant—”

Before I could finish, he cut me off with a grin.

Huh. The man could grin. Who knew?

“It’s okay, Conor. Really. But one word of advice? Stay away from men named Oscar unless you’re ready to tie the knot.”

James’s face dropped into a scowl. “God forbid someone wants to be loved instead of fucked,” he muttered under his breath so only I could hear it. I flashed a startled glance at him. “Tell you later,” he murmured.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear it or not.

Dinner continued with one of the Grange BioMed lawyers at the table sharing the story of his own date gone wrong until the awkward moments between me, James, and Wells had faded. I couldn’t help glancing back over at Wells every now and then as if seeing him through new eyes. But no matter how hard I tried to see him from a different angle, I couldn’t help remembering everything I’d read and everything my mom had ever told me about him: he was ruthless, cold, only ever in these acquisitions for the money.