Free Happy by Chris Scully Page B

better question is why are
    you so worked up over the sex life of some guy who married your ex-
    girlfriend?”
    “Ex-fiancée, actually.”
    It was Louie’s turn to be blindsided. “Your ex-fiancée married someone
    else and you went to the wedding?”
    Peter shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about Elena right now. “We
    parted as friends. And you didn’t answer my question: why do you think
    he’s sneaking around?”
    Louie jammed his hands into his shorts pockets, looking distinctly
    uncomfortable. “Okay, I might have seen something online recently,” he
    muttered.
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    “Where?”
    “Peter, I may not agree with his choices, but I’m not going to out
    the man.”
    “But—”
    “Some people have secrets.” Louie’s eyes bore into his. “You just
    have to accept that.”
    SIX
    Louie rose early the next Saturday morning so that he could get his run
    in before Peter arrived at nine thirty to accompany him on his apartment
    hunt. He really shouldn’t be looking forward to it so much. Especially not
    after the way Peter had toyed with him last weekend. He had no time for
    people like that. But the memory of Peter’s warm body pressed against his,
    the brush of fingers on his neck, had haunted him all week.
    As disturbing as he found it to be fantasizing over Demetra’s boyfriend,
    there was also something liberating about having a straight friend. He could
    crush all he wanted and not have to worry about the drama and heartbreak
    of a relationship. He’d had enough of that for a while.
    He had just made it back home and was standing in the kitchen guzzling
    a glass of water before jumping in the shower, when the unmistakable groan
    of the front door opening filled the silence. The painted wood always swelled
    in summer and stuck in the frame a little. It took a good push to open or
    close, and ended up sounding like something out of a haunted house. It had
    given him away a few times growing up when he broke curfew.
    He ducked his head out of the kitchen, surprised to find Demetra
    creeping down the hallway with her shoes in hand.
    “Oh.” A wash of crimson licked up her neck into her cheeks. “You’re
    up early.”
    Louie stared pointedly at her wrinkled sundress—the same one she’d
    had on last night when she left the house. “I could say the same about you.”
    Her bedroom door had been closed, so he’d just assumed that she’d come
    in late and was still in bed. Where had she been all night? With Peter? The
    thought made him frown. Shit, he had to move past that. “Someone had a
    late night.”
    “What are you? The curfew police? I get enough of that from Mom
    and Pop.”
    “Out with Peter?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
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    “The girls and I went out to a club. I ended up crashing at Steph’s
    house for your information.” With a haughty toss of her head, she marched
    past him on her way upstairs.
    He followed. “Dee, is everything okay with you and Peter?”
    Demetra halted with one foot on the stairs. “Sure. Why?”
    “It’s just that you guys don’t seem to spend much time together.”
    “And you’re such a dating expert?” she challenged.
    “No, I guess not.” He didn’t exactly have the best track record. If he
    was lucky, he’d gotten to see Aaron once a week, and always at Louie’s
    apartment or one of the safe places on Aaron’s list. The perils of dating a
    man in the closet.
    She fisted her hands on her hips. “Peter has a tricky schedule. It’s
    difficult. Our relationship is just fine. But, since you’re so interested, we
    have plans this week. Would you like to tag along? Would that make you
    happy?”
    No. It wouldn’t make him happy. The more he thought about it—and
    he thought about it far too much—they seemed like such an odd pair. He
    and Demetra might not be very close, but he knew his sister; she was flighty
    and immature, a little on the wild side. Peter was stable and responsible. Not
    her