“Julian! I’m talking to you!” Constantine put his hand on my shoulder just as I pulled my keys from my pocket with shaking hands and managed to unlock the glass door. I pushed it open and flipped on the light as I wentinside.
“Con, I can’t talk now,” I said. “I’ve got to get ready for Lina Davenport,and…”
Con closed the door behind himself and locked thedeadbolt.
“And first you have to explain what the hell is goingon.”
“Do I?” I scrubbed both hands over my eyes. “I really think it’s self-explanatory.”
“You’re dating the man in thewoods.”
I dropped my hands. “Could you make him sound slightly less like a killer from some 80s slasher film? His name isDaniel.”
Con raised one eyebrow. “Fine, then.Daniel.”
“Is it really so hard to believe?” I demanded, then I paused. “No, you know what? Don’t answerthat.”
Quiet Doctor Julian Ross andDaniel Michaelson, the guy who’s fleeing a criminal pastanddodging child supportanda Russian agentandlooks just like the guy from America’s MostWanted?
Blond Adonis Daniel Michaelson, andJulian Ross, the mousy guy who can’t reach the high shelves in his own kitchen and has never before expressed an original thought inpublic?
I could imagine exactly how that looked, and it wasn’tpretty.
“Since when do you keep secrets, big brother?” Con demanded. He sounded almost hurt, and Isighed.
“Constantine, really. If I told you or Theo that Daniel and I were hanging out, you’d tell Mama. No, don’t make that face, you totally would. Not intentionally, maybe, but it would have slipped out. And youknowthe next time she was pissed at Theo and telling him to be more like me, he’d totally have thrown it outthere.”
Con pursed his lips, which was as good as an admission. Our little brother, Theo, was a hothead and Con was absentminded at the best oftimes.
“I wanted something to be…mine.” The words came out and startled me with their truth. Daniel wasmine. I was the only person in O’Leary he was friends with. And I had no clue what made me so special, or if it was just dumb luck that made his path collide with mine last May, but I liked having this special, secret part of my life. I liked having someone who didn’t see me as old, reliable Doc Ross, when I was only twenty-fucking-nine.
Con scratched his chin. “Not gonna bejustyoursanymore,” he saidsadly.
I exhaled softly. “Daniel’s going to bepissed.”
Con’s lips twitched. “You don’t think he’s gonna enjoy having folks speculate about when you two will get married or what you’ll name yourkids?”
I wasn’t sure what expression showed on my face, but it was probably something close to terror, because Con continued quickly, “I’m kidding. People aren’t likely to talk to him. I know Si and Everett like him, but he’s not exactlyfriendly.”
“You’ve got to tell people to stay quiet,” I begged, dropping into one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting area. “Just fornow.”
“I can try,” he said dubiously, sinking into the chair opposite me. “But they’re gonna be more eager than ever to know what makes him so specialtheDoctor Julian Ross is dating him, when no one even knew the dude wasgay.”
Heh. Yeah. Funny thing, Con. That’s because he’snot.
“They’re gonna want to know how you got together,” Con continued, “and whether it’s serious. And that’s just the people in town. Mama is… God. She’s gonna birth kittens when shehears.”
“Iknow.”
“Like, she’s not gonna know whether to give you her pissed off face or her disappointed face or her you-made-me-cry face.” Con stared into middle distance, like he was seeing it all unfold in his mind’s eye. “She’s gonna tell you Dad would be rolling in his grave.” He shuddered. “It’s gonna bebiblical.”
“Thank you, Constantine,” I snapped. “I’m aware.” My roiling stomach was proof ofthat.
The look he gave me was positively condescending. “Nah, bro. Youthinkyou know, but you’ve always been her favorite. Hell, you’ve always been thistown’sfavorite. The responsible Ross brother, right?” He smirked a little. “Well, take it from Constantine-the-Hellion, the higher you are, the harder you fall. People are still talking about shit I did in highschool.”
I rubbed at the headache forming behind my eyes. “I haven’t done anything wrong.” Not that anyone knew of,anyway.
“Yeah, I doubt Mama will see it that way. But listen to me.” He grabbed my wrist, forcing my hand away from my head, and I looked up at him. Like most other adult men in O’Leary, he was several inches taller than me. “When she gives you shit, and she will, push back. Hearme?”
