Free One Toe Out (A Complicated Love Story) by Desiree Day

at the Lenox Square Grill where Simone had a Steak Salad and J.T. practically devoured a Chicken Philly with Sweet Potato Fries. Aleesha had begged off J.T.’s offer to eat with them, claiming that she had errands to run and that she’d meet them at Neiman Marcus in two hours.
    Simone looked up from her salad. “Thanks,” she mouthed and J.T. winked at her.
    A couple of hours later, fortified and with their second wind, they continued on their shopping spree. J.T. took her to Prada, Fendi, Cartier , Abercrombie & Fitch , Kenneth Cole , Abercrombie & Fitch , Caché , Kenneth Cole , Louis Vuitton , Michael Kors , Nicole Miller , and finally Victoria's Secret .
    Exhausted, Simone leaned back against the passenger seat. “Oh my God that was so tiring. I’ve never in my life been on an all-day shopping spree. I really did shop until I dropped,” she said incredulously while still shocked at the amount of money J.T. had spent today.
    Aleesha was on her way to J.T.’s house, they had to use her BMW as a secondary carrier since J.T.’s SUV was filled with items.
    “ It was fun, I haven’t been shopping in a long time.” He took his eyes away from the road long enough to grin at her. “You’re pretty fun to hang out with.”
    “ Thanks.”
    “ I’m sure you probably didn’t get everything you wanted, so go back whenever you want to buy some more things.”
    “ Oh, I think I got enough,” she said with visions of all her purchases dancing in her head. She reached up and stroked her Gucci necklace, enamored with the dainty piece of jewelry.
    “ Are you sure you’re a lady? Here I am giving you free reign to shop with an unlimited budget and you’re turning me down, are you feeling okay?”
    Simone laughed. “I’m fine. I’m just getting used to all this money. I’m sure when it finally hits me, I’d go crazy.”
    J.T. groaned. “I’ve been warned.”
    Later that night after everything had been taken out of bags, untagged and hung up, and they’d eaten a light dinner, J.T. and Simone decided to hang out. Simone loved the time they spent at home without having to pretend to be something they weren’t.
    “ Can I ask you something?”
    “ Sure.”
    Simone tucked her feet under her and burrowed even deeper in the luxurious leather chair. She momentarily ignored the movie because she knew that she could watch it any time she wanted, as well as thousands of others that J.T. had stocked in his library.
    “ So when did you know you that you were gay?” she asked and felt comfortable doing so. They had become friends.
    J.T. chuckled. “I know exactly when. I didn’t know what to call it; it wasn’t until years later that I knew what was happening.” He stretched his long muscled legs out in front of him. He grabbed a handful of peanuts and chucked them into his mouth. A gulp of beer washed them down. “I was thirteen-years-old and a new boy, Marcus Brown, had started at our school. He was cute, he had a low fade and was the color of cinnamon. The best part was that he was in my homeroom, and I would stare at him from seven thirty until eight o’clock when it was time for first period. I used to tell myself that I did it because he was new and I liked the clothes he wore, it wasn’t until I was sixteen when I would admit it to myself that I was gay.”
    Simone ached for teenage J.T. “Wow, that must’ve been confusing.”
    J.T. snorted mirthlessly. “Yep, here I was getting excited by my male classmates and having a crush on them and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.”
    “ Why not? It wasn’t that long ago, wasn’t your school gay friendly?”
    “ Not really, they made fun of the so-called flaming ones. The girls accepted them, but not the boys; they were bullied and beat up on constantly. I even joined in,” he admitted, now ashamed of his behavior.
    “ How could you do something like that? You were perpetuating gay hate and subsequently making it hard for not only you to come out but other