Sins & Mistrust (36 page)

“I told you everything would be okay,” I say with a smile.

“Yeah,” she responds sheepishly.

“Thanks again, man, for making sure she was safe. I promise from here on out, she’ll never have to turn to anybody else.”

Once we all say goodbye, they leave, leaving me with more to think about. Lincoln stayed in my driveway? He spoke with Troy? I don’t know what all was said, or what makes Troy believe Lincoln and I are in love, but I look forward to talking to him soon, and I also love the feeling of having a little pressure off my back.

“Hello?” Troy’s voice calls from the front door.

“Come on in. I’m in the kitchen,” I yell out.

I’m grabbing a couple bags of chips when he walks in. “What ya making?” he asks, sniffing the air.

“Burgers,” I say with a laugh. “Outside on the grill. I was just grabbing some chips.”

We both go outside and I drop the chips on the table and flip the burgers. It’s March now, and almost seventy degrees, so I figured it was a nice day to eat outside.

I put the patties in a pan, and bring them to the table with everything else. We both put together two burgers, a handful of chips, and begin eating. After I scarf down my first, I begin talking.

“Thanks for coming over.”

“Of course, man.”

“I wanted to talk to you more about what you said the last time you were here.”

He swallows his food, takes a swig of his Coke and looks at me. “Okay. Shoot.”

“When you asked if I was in love, I was honest when I said yes.” I pause. “I was referring to a woman.”

His eyebrows shoot up, and he begins laughing. “Wait. What?”

I smirk at him. “I’ve known this woman for a long time. She was a client for a while at first, but it turned into much more.”

“A client? You fell for a client? Ah, hell, man. No wonder you were so weird.”

“That’s not all.” I cover my face for a few seconds before resting my elbows on the table. “The client, she has a relationship with another guy.”

The face Troy makes is laughable. “What?”

“Yeah. She’s known Lincoln for a few years now.”

“Lincoln? Lincoln Cash?” he asks, ignoring his food.

“Yep.”

“Uhh…” I’ve made him speechless.

“Well, when she was still a client, she asked if I was willing to do a threesome with her. I said yes, and then she told me it was with Lincoln.”

Troy’s eyes don’t blink, and he takes another drink, never taking his eyes off me.

I sigh. “Troy, I’m bi. I have been my whole life.”

He puts his drink down and continues to stare at me. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeat.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Okay,” I say again. “Well, I met Lincoln on my and Nathalia’s first date, or appointment. Whatever. I was attracted to him in that moment, but it was obvious they had some connection. I just wasn’t sure what it was at first. Anyway, Lincoln is bi too, but he’s very open about it. Over time, we became close, but the situation was just awkward.”

Troy nods. “Right, she’s a client, you’re an escort. I get it.” He pops a chip in his mouth.

“Right. Well, I couldn’t have people know about my relationship with Lincoln, because, well, he’s a guy.”

He laughs. “Yeah. People might complain.”

“Exactly!” I exclaim, relieved that he gets it. “Anyway, Nathalia brought up the idea of her not hiring me anymore, but instead all of us being…together.”

His brows shoot up again, but he doesn’t say anything. He just motions for me to continue.

“I had to get away and think about stuff, which is why I went to Oregon. I knew I had feelings for her, but the feelings for Lincoln were just lust. You know? And, a relationship in general is a scary thing, but then you have another person, and it just seems like a mess.”

“Man, I feel stressed out just listening to this. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through.”

I let out a small laugh. “Yeah, it’s not been easy. Anyway, we tried. She was no longer hiring me, and we all became intimate, and it was fine at first. Then I had a client come into town early. She had been scheduled for a while, and I had to explain to them about that situation. Neither was happy, neither understood why I was still escorting, and they didn’t like that they were being hidden from you guys, my friends.”

“Makes sense,” he acknowledges. “So, why are you still escorting? Why didn’t you tell us? At least me and Jace.”

“I’m not escorting. I quit.”

“What? When?”

I shrug. “A little while back.”

“So, who were these ‘clients’ you talked about? Them?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so why didn’t you tell us what was going on? Relieve some of that pressure?”

I blow out a long breath. “I don’t know. I just was used to not talking about my life. I wasn’t sure what was going on, and to be honest, I’m still not sure. My job was on the line if people thought I was going around sleeping with men, even if I wasn’t. It was just a lot, and I didn’t want to bring you guys into my complicated life. You all had your own things going on. You know?”

He regards me for a while. “No, man. I don’t know what you mean. We’ve been your friends for several years now. We talk about our shit, man. We don’t keep that to ourselves. We celebrate together, we mourn together, we cry together, and we rise together. Never alone. I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t have you guys in my life. I get why you were concerned about your job, I do. But, you should know we wouldn’t have said anything to anybody.”

“You’re right,” I say after a long pause. “I should have told you.”

“Were you afraid of how we’d react? I know we can be a bunch of boisterous bastards, but come on.”

“I think it just got to the point of me being worried how you’d react after keeping it to myself so long. I never imagined I’d have a relationship with two people that I’ve have to talk about. If I had any relationship that was serious, I feel like I would have talked about it, but I haven’t had one in a while. Then, the first one I have is a three-way one, and…” I stop and just shake my head.

“We just want to see you happy. That’s all. Do I wish you would have just been honest from the jump? Yes. But, I do understand where you’re coming from.”

“Thanks for understanding and being so cool about all of this. I appreciate it.”

“I am a cool kind of guy,” he says with a smirk. “But for real, and don’t tell Jace this or he’ll never let me live it down.” He leans forward and looks around like he’s making sure nobody is around. “Lincoln is a good-looking guy.”

I bark out a laugh, throwing my head back and everything. That was not what I was expecting him to say.

“Yeah he is.”

He smiles wide. “I can admit when a guy is a good-looking dude. I’m just saying, I can see you two together. Now, I need to see this woman.”

I’m still laughing and shaking my head. “You will.”

“Alright, then.”

“You said you spoke with Lincoln when you came by here. What did you two talk about?”

He finishes chewing his food, takes a drink, and then answers. “I was walking to your door, and noticed him still in his car. The window was down, so I kind of bent down and said hi. He forced a smile on his face and said hi back. I asked if we had some sort of business or paperwork to deal with, since I thought that’s why he was here, but he just shook his head. I could tell he was upset, so I asked if everything was okay, and he just said you know how to get him worked up.

“I wasn’t in the mood to delve too deep in conversation at the time, but I could tell by his face, his demeanor, and actions, that he was acting the same way I was. I’m a man in love, Marc. I was worried about my status with Emilie, and was completely concerned that I might have lost her for good. He seemed to be feeling the same way. I took a guess,” he shrugs. “So, what’s going on? Y’all fighting still?”

A man in love.
Those are the words replaying in my head. Lincoln in love with me?

“Yeah, we haven’t talked lately.”

“Maybe you should.”

“I will. Nathalia said she’s going to set something up for all of us.”

He nods. “I’m glad you told me everything, but you still need to tell the others. I’ll keep it to myself, because it’s not my place, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Thanks, Troy. I’ll be sure to tell them soon. I have another surprise. This one nobody knows about, but I’ll tell you all together,” I say with a grin.

“Ah man, now it’s going to be eating at me.”

“Sorry,” I laugh.

“No you ain’t,” he says, throwing a chip at my plate.

We finish eating and hang out for a while, and everything is just as it was before. Normal. The way it should be between friends. I don’t know why I was so worried. I suddenly want to kick myself, but you live and learn.

He gives me a hug before he leaves, and I set out to call Nathalia and see what she has planned. We definitely need to figure this out. I don’t want to be without either of them anymore, but I’m still worried Lincoln isn’t up to it anymore.

Nathalia’s phone rings three times before she answers.

“Marc. I have good news and bad news,” she says immediately.

“Give me the good first,” Marc says.

“Really? Most people want the bad first.”

“Nathalia.”

“Sorry. Good news. I have a plan for us all to meet up together.”

“Bad news?” he asks.

“It’s gonna take a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“Two weeks.”

“Why two weeks?”

I move through my living area and into my kitchen to pull out a bottle of wine. “Well, Lincoln isn’t in Vegas right now.”

“Where is he?” Marc demands.

“California somewhere.”

I hear him huff. “Okay.”

“I also have to go to California in two weeks. I’ve made plans to meet with him there. You have to come.”

“That actually works out pretty well. My friends invited me to California for a trip. It’ll be around the same time. Where in California are you staying?”

“The L.A. area.”

“Okay, I’ll make it work, and if all works out, you’ll meet the rest of my friends there.”

I hear the smile in his voice.

“That would be great.”

“I think so, too.” He pauses and I take my large glass of wine over to the couch. “What are you doing right now?”

“About to drink my weight in wine,” I answer.

“Bad day?”

“Stressful.”

“I’m sorry, but I have some news.”

“Good?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then you can tell me,” I say with a laugh.

“I told Troy everything.”

“You did?” I gasp.

“Yep. It was definitely an interesting and surprising conversation, but he took it all in stride.”

“I’m so glad for you,” I squeal. “Was he mad at all?”

“I wouldn’t say mad. Maybe a little hurt that it took me so long to open up, but he understood.”

“Good. I’m so glad. I’m sure you feel a little better already.”

“I do, but I’m going to let you finish your wine and then get some rest.”

A giggle escapes. “Thanks. I’ll drink one for you.”

“Deal. Talk soon.”

“Okay. Love you,” I say, loving the way it feels to be able to tell him now.

“I love you, Nathalia.”

His voice drives me wild. I hang up the phone with a huge smile on my face, and the butterflies in my stomach won’t stop fluttering.