“
Aren’t we waiting for Lori?” Jonah asked.
Toby didn’t turn around as he answered.
“Nah, she isn’t coming. We’ll meet up with her later today.”
Great. Lori was too pissed to see him and Toby was like
Antarctica. Jonah still wasn’t completely sure why they were so angry,
given the fact that Zev hadn’t told anyone back home about their
relationship. Well, there was one option; his old friends weren’t
comfortable with him being gay. Tough shit.
Jonah figured the best way to deal with the situation was to face it
head-on. But as soon as they got into Jonah’s car, Toby started fiddling
with the radio. Jonah decided to bide his time and wait for Toby to
finish what he was doing so they could talk. He almost lost his
composure when the other man landed on a Barry Manilow song and
kept it there. Toby had to be the only Fanilow under the age of fifty.
“So I’m guessing Lori told you about that guy in my apartment
last night.”
Toby’s posture immediately stiffened. Several long moments
passed before he answered.
“Yeah, she did.”
“Anything you want to ask me about it, Toby? Might as well get
it out there. No reason to walk on eggshells around each other.”
“Ooookay,” Toby responded, drawing out the word. He took a
deep breath and turned to face Jonah. “Did you stumble across a
clearance sale on jackass cream or something? Maybe they were
running a special on lobotomies?”
Well, that was an unexpected response.
“Huh? Whatta you mean?”
“What I mean, Jonah…,” Toby said in a louder voice, “is that I
know we’re all just a couple of bad decisions away from being one of
those weirdos who buys fake nuts and hangs them on the back of his
pickup truck, but you really managed to win the stupid cake last night.”
Okay, this conversation wasn’t going exactly how Jonah had
planned, but he still felt the need to defend himself.
“Stupid? Why? Because I’m gay? That’s not a bad decision,
Toby. It’s not a decision at all.”
Jonah pulled into a parking lot of a decent diner, turned off the
car, and turned to face Toby. The conversation was tense and awkward,
but at least Toby’s atrocious music was no longer making Jonah’s ears
bleed. Jonah would have preferred hearing his car engine drop out and
drag across the asphalt than another cheesy ballad.
“No shit, Sherlock. But cheating on Zev is a decision. A really
bad decision.”
Jonah’s mouth dropped open, and he snapped his eyes toward
Toby in shock. Holy crap. Toby knew about his relationship with Zev.
That meant Lori knew. As much as he hated being hidden from Zev’s
family and life back in Etzgadol, Jonah didn’t want the man to be
forced out against his will.
“You know?”
“Know what?”
“About, um, me and Zev?”
Toby rolled his eyes.
“Of course I know. Just because I was blessed in the looks
department doesn’t mean I was shorted anything upstairs. I’m not an
idiot, Jonah.
”
”
Cardeno C. (Wake Me Up Inside (Mates, #1))