During a lull in conversation, I looked up to see two more people approaching. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, because of course the fuckface slimeball had to be there.
“Lane…hey,” Jayden said, and Lane’s gaze snapped to him. The man with him had dark eyes, and his hair was tied back.
“Hi, Jayden. Salvador,” Lane said, his voice not holding any of the anger I felt rushing through my veins. This was the guy Jayden had fucked when he was with Lane?
“Good to see you again,” Salvador said, then turned to me. “And you’re Lane’s brother, Isaac, right?”
My body went stiff, white-hot anger shooting through me. I could see the gleam in Salvador’s gaze. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Everyone around us went quiet, looking confused. Lane had called me his partner, and now Salvador was calling me Lane’s brother.
“Stepbrother,” Jayden said in unison with Lane’s, “He’s my partner. That’s all that matters.”
No one spoke for a moment. You could feel the discomfort from some, confusion from others.
It was Dae who broke the tense silence. “You make a lovely couple.”
“They do,” Genevieve concurred. “I was just telling Lane yesterday how thrilled I am for him. He’s happy, and he’s creating some of the best art of his career.”
I placed my arm around Lane’s waist, squeezed him in support. “I’m incredibly proud of him, and his work, and I’m so damn lucky to have him.”
Jayden looked away, his jaw tight. A couple of people excused themselves, probably unsure what they thought of the bombshell Salvador had dropped, or tried to. But I didn’t feel any shame at being with Lane. It hit me then, that I had before. That regardless of how much I loved him and wanted to be with him, shame—not just guilt—had been part of what always held me back. And in that second, despite everything else, it was just gone.
We didn’t have room for it in our lives.
“You look good,” Jayden told Lane. “The paintings are incredible. I’m happy for you. If you’ll excuse me.” Anger in his eyes, he gave Salvador a parting glance, then walked away.
“I’ll be right back,” Lane said.
“I’ll go. If that’s okay.” Because as much as I disliked Jayden, the look on his face and his parting glance at Salvador suggested he hadn’t meant for that to happen.
Lane nodded, and I went after Jayden. I didn’t catch up with him until he was in the hallway, making his way toward the elevator. He must have heard my footsteps because he stopped and said, “I’m so sorry, Lane,” before turning around. “Oh. Totally not who I expected.”
“I’m full of surprises. What can I say?”
“I knew you wanted him from the first moment I saw you.”
“I’ve loved him from the start.”
“Ugh. I hated you from the start, but it’s hard when you say things like that.” Jayden sighed. “It’s clear what he means to you, and once I saw Lane with you, it was obvious he felt it too. I didn’t mean for that to happen…with Salvador. I’d previously told Sal about Lane’s asshole brother, Isaac. When I saw you tonight, it was clear you’re together. I pointed you out, but I didn’t expect Salvador to bring it up in front of all those people. Or hell, maybe I did and I’m lying to myself. Either way, once it happened, I realized how wrong it felt.”
Jayden was…maybe not as bad as I thought. He would never be my favorite person, but as we stood there, I thought maybe I understood him a little more than I had before. “Jealousy and heartbreak do those things to people. I wasn’t fair to you either.”
“You weren’t that bad.”
“I dreamed about stabbing you with a butter knife.”
“Ouch.” The elevator dinged, and two people got off. We waited until they walked down the hallway and into Genevieve’s condo, and then Jayden said, “I love him—Lane, not Salvador. But…we’re not right for each other. Even without you we wouldn’t be, but I do love him. You probably don’t believe me because of how I behaved and because of Salvador. It’s not an excuse, but I knew Lane didn’t love me…which was why when Salvador was there…”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what I believe, but I do know being in love isn’t easy. People are flawed. They don’t always do the right thing. You might be a little worse than most, but you’re still human. It’s impossible to do the right thing all the time.”
Jayden chuckled. “You know, if you weren’t with Lane, you might not be half bad.”
“If you hadn’t been with him, you might not be either.”
We were quiet then, neither of us knowing what to say.
“Tell Lane I’m sorry, and that I really am happy for him,” Jayden said, and I nodded.
He went for the elevator. I watched as he disappeared behind the doors, and then I went back to my man.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Lane
The news spread around that night. There were a few quiet whispers and questioning stares, but we didn’t let it bother us. Some people always found something to judge, or thought any experience other than theirs was wrong. There was nothing we could do about that, so we didn’t let ourselves try. We held our heads high and enjoyed being out together. Because while there were people who watched but quickly turned away when we looked at them, there were others who didn’t give a fuck, who were supportive. Yes, maybe our story wasn’t normal, but what the fuck was normal anyway? It was just this ever-changing thing with no true definition that people strived for.
Not long after Jayden left, Salvador did as well, not having gotten the response he’d tried for. He’d never really liked me—he’d fucked Jayden while knowing we were together—so maybe that was the reason; or maybe it wasn’t. I didn’t know and didn’t care.
“I told you Jayden wasn’t as bad as you thought,” I said to Isaac back at my apartment after he told me what Jayden had said.
“I guess you’re right every once in a while,” he teased.
“I want to go home…back to Atlanta. I don’t think I want to be in the city permanently. At least not right now.” Because while I didn’t care what random people thought, I did care about our parents, and I wasn’t ready to give up on them. They loved us. They would come around to accepting Isaac and me as a couple. I had to believe that.
“Whatever you want, but if you change your mind, say the word. I’m not tied to a place, Lane. Just a person.”
I nuzzled closer to him. “Who? No, wait, I’ll guess…”
“You’re a dork.”
“I know you are, but what am I?” I said playfully.
We left for Atlanta two days later. Weeks went by, and I lost myself to my painting. I had two pieces going on, one that Isaac saw and one he didn’t. I wasn’t sure exactly why I was painting it, or why I wasn’t ready to show him. It just didn’t feel right, not yet, even though it took over my thoughts nearly every second of the day.
He worked and complained about the messy apartment, and I worked harder to be better about it. Apparently, my habit of being naked helped him ignore my less than stellar qualities, he teased.