My anger rolls off of me in waves, and my fists clench down at my sides.
“Isn’t it kind of fucked up that the two men I’m attracted to and have tried my hardest at pleasing and being with, don’t share the same sentiment. Instead, they find each other, and I’m supposed to be okay with that?”
I almost feel bad for him, but he’s going around and lying.
“So, what? You were trying to keep us apart?”
“How would your job feel if they knew you were in a relationship with a man? You know how Kristi felt when she found out you were into men. I wonder how all the women you fuck would feel.”
“Fuck off!” I yell, backing him into the wall. “Why don’t you learn to keep your mouth shut? Because one of these days that mouth of yours is going to get you in a lot of fucking trouble.”
A slow smirk crosses his lips. “You do know Lincoln has a special relationship with a woman, right?”
He thinks his announcement is going to shock me, maybe he hopes it’s going to piss me off, but little does he know I share the same special relationship.
“I do know. I know her well, and everything between all three of us is just fine. I’m sorry you haven’t found someone to be with, but neither Lincoln nor I are going to be that person for you. I need you to quit trying to come in between us, and your threats against me about telling my job aren’t going to work. I’m not even escorting right now, so it doesn’t matter.”
I’m not exactly sure if that’s true. It very well could matter, but I don’t want him to think he has the upper hand. And until I figure out what I’m going to do about the client I’m still scheduled to meet, I don’t know what to tell my boss.
“I can’t believe you quit your job to be with two people, one of which I know will break your heart for sure. Lincoln can’t be trusted, Marc. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. He’s a brash bastard, and you’ll find out soon enough that he only cares about himself.”
Without another word I move past him and leave. Hopefully, we won’t hear from him again. This is too much drama for me and another reason why I didn’t mind avoiding relationships, because if you aren’t in a relationship, there’s no drama and no jealous exes. I hope Nathalia doesn’t have anybody ready to pop up at any time.
Hours later when I’m at home, I pick up my phone to call Lincoln. I figure I need to talk to him about James…Trystan, whatever the fuck he goes by.
“Hey,” Lincoln greets.
“Hey.”
“What’s wrong?” he asks, sensing the frustrated tone in my voice, I guess.
“You know how I was on the phone earlier today at Nathalia’s?”
“Mmhhmm.”
“Well, I was talking to the guy that I told you I had fooled around with before.”
“Yeah,” he grunts, starting to work himself up.
“He’s been trying to get me to go over to his place and I don’t know, fuck around, I guess. Anyway, that’s where I went when I left.”
“What the fuck, Marc?” he barks, cutting me off.
“Calm the fuck down, will ya? Let me finish.”
I hear him growl through the phone and then release a loud breath.
“Okay.”
“I went over to tell him face to face that the thing we had going on before was over. I mean, I hadn’t even seen him since the first night I met Nathalia.” Lincoln’s silent on the other end, so I continue talking. “Anyway, his name is James, or at least I thought it was. I found out his name is actually Trystan St. James.”
“What the fuck?” Lincoln rasps.
“Yeah.”
“Are you telling me you’ve fucked the guy that I let suck my dick?”
“What? No. Are you telling
me
that
you
fucked the guy that sucked
my
dick?”
“I never fucked him!”
“He says you did. He told me that you like fucking him too, but that you don’t commit and just get off on fucking with people’s emotions. He basically warned me off of you, saying you can’t be trusted, because you’re only looking out for yourself.”
Lincoln lets out a string of curse words. “That fucking son of a bitch!” he mutters a few more things and then seems to calm down. “Marc, I never slept with that guy. Ever. He sucked my dick, and I didn’t even return the favor.”
“I believe you.”
“Good,” he breathes a sigh of relief. “I believe you didn’t fuck him either.”
“Well, he knows about us and Nathalia. He tried to surprise me by informing me of your
special
relationship with a woman. I told him I knew her well and all of us were happy. So, you should just be aware that he has the piece of information.”
Lincoln’s quiet for a while. “You told him about all of us?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Nothing. Just surprised, I guess. That’s fine. I have a meeting with his dad soon. That’ll be fun.”
“Is his dad a manager?”
“No. He’s an investor in one of the clubs I own.”
“Oh. How many clubs do you own?” I ask, realizing I only know about the sex club and one other one.
“Six.”
“Oh.”
“I wish I could tell him what a fucking asshole his son is.”
“I take it he doesn’t know about you two.”
“I don’t even know if he knows his son is gay.”
I laugh. “Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ll let you go so you can get to your meeting, I just wanted you to know what was going on.”
“Thanks, Marc. I appreciate it.”
“Alright, talk to you later.”
“Yeah, bye.”
When we hang up, I decide I should send Troy and Jace a text. We’re all scheduled to be at the club this weekend, and they’ve been trying to get a hold of me to make sure I’m going to be there.
Me:
Hey, yes, I’ll be at the club on Saturday.
Instead of replying to my text with another text, Jace calls me.
“Hey,” I answer.
“What’s going on, man? We’ve been trying to get in touch with you since last night.”
“Not much, busy with…clients. You know.”
“Yeah, well, not anymore.”
I laugh. “Oh yeah. Mr. Monogamous now, huh?”
“Yeah,” he says with a chuckle.
“That’s good, man.”
I hear yelling in the background, and I’m pretty sure it’s Troy.
“Shut up, man!” Jace yells.
“What’s he yappin about?”
“Talking shit. You know how he does.”
“Yo, Marc,” Troy’s voice bellows through the phone. “You need me to escort you to the club? If I don’t, I don’t know if you’ll show.”
We all laugh. “Fuck off, Troy. I’m gonna be there.”
“Okay, man.”
Jace gets back on the phone. “He thinks he’s funny.” Jace’s voice lowers. “He’s over here making sure Adrienne brings her friend Emilie to the club.”
“What you say?” I hear Troy ask in the background.
“Nothin’, man. Chill out.”
I laugh. “He’s got a thing for Emilie, huh?”
“Yep, but he doesn’t want to admit to it. Lame ass. Anyway, Adrienne’s coming on Saturday, and Emilie too. So, if you want to invite someone to come with you, you can.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to do that,” I say with a short laugh.
“Always the bachelor, huh?” he asks with a chuckle.
“Something like that.”
“Alright, man. We’ll see you Saturday, then.”
“Sounds good.”
The week comes and goes quickly. The club ran smoothly while we were there, and I enjoyed myself, but couldn’t stop thinking about Nathalia and Lincoln. They spent that night together at Lincoln’s place, and weren’t aware of what I was doing, exactly. I said it was club business, which it was, but they probably could have gone with me. I just didn’t think that was best. Not yet.
November is fast approaching, but all of our schedules have been conflicting lately. Nathalia has to go out of town a few times, and Lincoln has six clubs to make sure are running properly, and I have the start-up of my own, and now we’re discussing buying property for another club. Lincoln mentioned moving his sex club, so if he does, I’ll see if we can acquire that building.
Jace and Adrienne have extended an invite to me for Thanksgiving at her dad’s house, but I won’t go. We haven’t discussed it yet, but I’m sure Lincoln, Nathalia, and I will do something together. If we’re all in the same town, that is.
My phone rings, and I notice the number is one I don’t recognize.
“Hello?”
“Marc? Is that you?” the female voice asks.
“Yes, this is Marc. Who is this?”
“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already? It’s Jordana!” she chirps.
My heart drops. “Jordana, of course I remember you. How are you?”
“I’m great, honey. So happy to talk to you.”
“Yeah, you too,” I manage to get out.
“I came back early, and I’ve already talked to Liz over at Elite. She told me to just give you a call.”
Fucking Liz. Of course she would say that. Liz and Jordana have known each other on a personal level for a long time. With Liz knowing I took a break, but also knowing Jordana is the woman I still have on my schedule, she knew I needed to talk to her.
“Wow, well, welcome back. How long are you here for?”
I pray internally that it’s only a weekend.
“I’m not sure yet, but probably a little while. I have some business to take care of here. My boss is here trying to get ideas for hotels and casinos, so he’s meeting with architects and I’m expected to be by his side.” She sighs. “But, the good thing is I’ll be able to see you again for a while. Yay!” she squeals.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What am I going to do now? She’s on my schedule. She’s been on my schedule for a long time now, and I definitely don’t have other appointments to work around, and Liz knows that, so I’m absolutely free. Except I’m not. I have Nathalia and Lincoln to think about.
“Marc? You still there?” she asks.
“Yes, sorry. Well, that’s great, Jordana. I’m sure you’re happy to be back.”
“I am! Can we meet up? Say, Friday the first? I’ll send you the address of the hotel I’m staying at.”
“Uh. Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Great! I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Bye.”
I hang up and try to think of the best way to handle this. Obviously, it’s best to be honest with them, but I don’t look forward to that conversation at all. Jordana was a regular. We had sex almost every time we were together, so I know she’ll want that again.
Fuck.