Hardwood - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,12

gaze to where his hand rests on his wife’s back. No wonder he was so nervous at the bar. I’d be willing to bet she’s the one who called and had him rushing out of there as well, not wanting to get caught trolling for extramarital ass at a gay bar. Why do scummy guys have to be so hot?

Luckily, I have years of practice keeping a smile in place regardless of how much I might be raging inside. It’s not like I even know the guy. We had a five-minute conversation, and I proceeded to fantasize about him returning to the bar this weekend and telling me he’s been thinking about me all week. Pathetic, I know. But he’s married, so whatever.

“Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge, it’s so nice to meet you.” I wave for them to have a seat, and as soon as they do, I launch into my spiel, barely paying attention to my own words as I recite them, studiously keeping my eyes off of Everett.

Valerie asks a few questions while her husband stays quiet, looking pale through the entire meeting. She doesn’t seem to notice anything off about him, so I ignore it, trying to get through this thing as quickly as possible.

“And all the grades will have a big spring concert that I think will be fun. I’ll be taking volunteers for solos and smaller ensemble songs as well, I think the kids will really enjoy it,” I conclude.

“That sounds fun, doesn’t it, Ev?” Valerie says, and then glances over at her husband. “Ev, are you okay?” Her eyebrows scrunch with obvious concern.

He clears his throat and gives a single nod, which doesn’t seem to pacify her.

I wrap up our meeting and they both get up to leave. Just as they step outside my door, he tells her that he needs to use the bathroom and that he’ll meet her in the next room. The click of her heels echoes down the hallway and seconds later, Everett steps back through my door, closing it behind him.

“Can I help you with something?” I ask mildly.

“We’re divorced,” he says, and I narrow my eyes suspiciously. “It’s true, you can check the paperwork we have on file. We have different home addresses, and her boyfriend is even listed as the third emergency contact.”

It will be easy enough to verify, so I assume he’s telling the truth. The tension eases out of my shoulders for a second before another thought occurs to me. “Then why were you so nervous when you recognized me? You went so pale. I’m surprised you didn’t faint.”

“She doesn’t…um, I’m not…” He stumbles over his words, removing his hat and running his fingers through his messy brown hair and then shoving the hat back into place.

“You’re not out?” I guess, and he gives a sharp nod.

I want to say a million things to him all at once— reassurances that he doesn’t have to come out on anyone’s schedule but his own, praise for the bravery it takes to embrace his sexuality later in life like this, a thousand different pieces of advice. But his expression is still tight, and his pallor still pale, so I hold back.

“I’d better go, I don’t want to hold up the next meeting,” he says, pointing over his shoulder toward the door.

“Of course,” I say. “But um…” I grab a pen and a Post-It note, quickly scribbling my number down and thrusting it toward him. “If you ever want to talk or anything.”

He stares at the paper for a few seconds before taking it from between my fingers, carefully folding it, and slipping it into his pocket.

“Thank you,” he says softly before turning and walking out.

“You’re welcome,” I say, mostly to myself as the door clicks shut behind him.

Chapter 5

Everett

When I stepped into Livi’s music classroom and saw Watson, I swear I nearly had a stroke. I was sure he was going to say something or somehow give away that we’d met before, and then I would’ve had to lie to Val about where I’d met him, and I’ve never been good at lying to Val. Well, aside from the whole I’m straight thing, but that’s more of a lie of omission since I don’t think I’ve ever actually said it, it was just assumed.

My relief was short-lived when he didn’t out me, because I could tell instantly that he was pissed. I’m not sure why I cared. After all, I hardly know the man. Just because we had a