No Good Deed - Marie Sexton Page 0,53

he had on men and women alike.

Gray stopped at Jonas’s table but didn’t speak. Jonas had forgotten what it was like to have Gray’s full attention. The weight of Gray’s stare could almost be felt, like Earth’s gravity had suddenly doubled. Once upon a time, that stare had made Jonas weak with desire. Later, it had meant trouble as they’d raged at each other.

Now, six years later, Jonas found it no less unnerving, but he refused to be intimated by it.

“Well,” Gray said. “I’m here. What’s so damned important?”

“I thought it was time we talked.”

“First Warren and Phil. Now you. And yet the person who matters most hasn’t made a bit of effort.”

Annoyance flared up in Jonas’s chest, hot and bitter. “Bullshit. He’s tried calling you a dozen times at least. Charlie’s heartbroken, Gray. He came home in tears. And I know you don’t want that any more than I do.”

Gray’s jaw clenched, but he lowered himself into the seat opposite Jonas.

Jonas had planned out what he intended to say. That didn’t make it any easier, now that the moment had arrived. But this wasn’t about him. It was about Charlie, so he did his best to push their past out of his mind and squash his anger.

“I don’t blame you for being mad. But what happened between Charlie and me six years ago wasn’t his fault. I’m the one who pushed for it. I’m the one who wanted it. I needed it, to be honest. I’m the one you should blame.”

“He obviously didn’t say no.”

“So what if he didn’t? You and I were done, Gray. We both knew it. Charlie knew it as well as anyone. Hell, after playing counselor to both of us after every single fight, he probably knew it was over between us months before you and I were ready to admit it.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So it’s time to stop being pissed at him for something that happened ages ago.”

Gray crossed his arms. “Who says I’m pissed at him for anything?”

“Aren’t you?”

Gray’s only response was to drop his gaze and scowl.

“You and I were never going to last forever. I think we both knew that from the beginning. The real problem wasn’t that it ended, it’s that it didn’t end sooner. We let it drag on too long. We should have cut our losses and been done while we could still stand to look at each other, but for some reason, we just kept holding on and goading each other and fighting over every little thing.” He stopped, trying to weigh Gray’s reaction. The fact that Gray wasn’t trying to argue was telling. “We didn’t even pretend to love each other by the end. You were in love with Phil. And I. Well…” He swallowed, preparing himself.

But Gray beat him to the punch. “You were in love with Charlie.”

“Yes.” And God, it felt good to finally admit it. “He was the only friend I had there at the end. Is it any wonder that it turned into something more?”

“If you were so in love with him, then why did you leave? You don’t think it killed him, having you disappear like you did?” He finally uncrossed his arms and sat up, bringing himself closer to Jonas. “I didn’t understand back then. I was too caught up in my own bullshit to see it. But looking back, I think losing you hurt him more than losing Tad.”

Jonas fought back the lump that threatened to form in his throat as he remembered how much it had hurt to say goodbye to Charlie. “I didn’t want to leave him, but he was your friend, first and foremost. I didn’t want to put him in the middle. He would have had to choose one of us over the other, and I didn’t want to do that to him.” He leaned forward, desperate for Gray to understand. “I still don’t want to do that to him, Gray. He doesn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of our pissing contest.”

Gray nodded. “I guess we can agree on that.” And yet his shoulders were still tense, his jaw tight.

“So then what’s the problem?”

“I haven’t been staying away because I’m pissed at him. Pissed at you, maybe. But not at him. Believe it or not, I don’t really care that he’s fucking my ex.”

“Then why avoid him?”

“Because I didn’t want to complicate things! Like you said, he doesn’t deserve to be caught in the middle. How can I show up when I know you’ll be