Page 17 of His Hungry Wolf

“No, it was true… Look, there’s a reason why I broke up with Sheryl and with Angie, and with Margo. There’s a reason why I broke up with all of the women I dated.”

“Why’s that?” I said unintentionally holding my breath.

“It was because I was interested in someone else at the time,” he said looking at me vulnerably. “And I don’t want to freak you out because time has passed. Things have changed.”

“Why did you break up with them, Merri?” I asked suddenly really needing to know.

He took a deep breath. “The reason I broke up with all of them was because I was having feelings for someone else. And I want you to know, it’s not the same now.”

“Who Merri?”

“You, Claude,” he said staring at me with his gentle grey eyes.

My heart pounded looking at him.

“Two burgers, medium,” Mike said drawing our attention.

“Thanks, Mike,” I told Titus’s soon to be stepfather.

“Yes, thank you,” Merri said looking away.

Neither of us looked at each other for a while. Readjusting our plates, Merri broke the silence.

“I’m gay. I wanted you to know that. I thought it was important that I put that out there.”

“How long have you known?” I asked unsure what else to say to my ex-best friend who just declared that he had had feelings for me.

“How long have I known that I’m attracted to guys? Or how long have I known that I wasn’t interested in women?”

I chuckled. “Both.”

“Well, I knew I was attracted to guys when I started picturing Bobby Tilway naked. He was my best friend in elementary school. Believe me, no one wanted that,” he joked. “And I knew I wasn’t attracted to girls freshman year of college.”

“What was it that told you?”

Merri moaned. “Ahh, you’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Say what?”

“Fine. I knew I wasn’t into girls the day I saw you at tryouts. I had had a few girlfriends in high school. But when I saw you, I realized what I was supposed to have been feeling.”

“Wow!”

“Have I freaked you out?” Merri asked vulnerably.

“You haven’t. But it explains a lot.”

“I bet it does,” Merri said holding his cheeks as his fair skin turned shades of red. “Listen, I’m sorry about that.”

“About what?”

“About all of it.”

“You couldn’t help the way you felt.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t always handle it with your level of grace.”

“Are you talking about when you flipped out on me?”