Another Dance by L.A. Ashton

Author:L.A. Ashton [Ashton, L.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, lgbt, Reporter, journalist, figure skater, dancing, angst, international, men with pets
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2019-07-07T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Five

THERE SHOULD BE a manual on how to behave after exchanging orgasms with a famous person.

It felt like something that changed a person—like it was viewable from the outside to everyone who might pass. The truth of the matter was it wasn’t visible from the outside; it was only Kaito’s insides that were a writhing wreck, and he was the only one who noticed.

He and Beverly, that is.

“Just ask him on another date.”

Kaito sighed where he stood, leaning heavily against the wall. Below him, his five black cats munched in unison at their newly poured lunch.

“Great idea,” he said, not turning to look at her. “I’ll offer to pay for his ticket from Spain too.”

Beverly rolled her eyes. “You know he spends plenty of time outside Spain.”

He hadn’t told Beverly the explicit details of his misery. He tried to keep his complaints vague and full of his normal self-loathing. There was something embarrassing about the struggle he was having. Embarrassing and…shameful.

“You’ve spoken to him since, right? Let me see the messages. You’re dense, so you probably didn’t even notice when he was flirting.”

“I have spoken to him, but I don’t want to seem clingy.” Kaito lurched away from the wall and joined Beverly on the couch.

It had been a couple weeks since Kaito’s…encounter with Cristian. A couple weeks of him pinching and slapping himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, a couple weeks of incessantly checking his phone and inbox for messages, and a couple weeks of Kaito wondering what the hell that encounter even meant.

Beverly stared at him, waiting. He realized too late that he’d been nervously running his palms over his thighs. “Everything I do feels creepy now,” he mumbled.

“Explain.”

He was supposed to be good with words, but for a long moment, they didn’t come. “All the normal things feel investigative. I go to check my Twitter feed—now I see what Cristian is up to; I see where he’s headed next; I wonder if I might bump into him; I wonder if he’s bumping into anyone else—”

“Wonder if he’s bumping uglies with anyone else.”

“Thank you, and yes. But those things are none of my business. I formed a connection with him, but it wasn’t a real one… My soul just wanted it to be.” Kaito flopped his head back against the couch. “What happened at the banquet doesn’t entitle me to any of Cristian’s time.”

“You’re right! But I don’t think asking for a date from someone who obviously enjoyed your company is being entitled. It’s being…hmm…a normal human being?”

Kaito went silent. He didn’t tell her about the things he saw on social media that twisted his stomach into knots of dread, or the rush of fear and jealousy when another reporter tweeted about having just interviewed him. It was as if their intimacy had unlocked something dark in Kaito—he had had Cristian, in his way, and now ill-formed rapacity sought to undo his rational thought.

He didn’t want to tell Beverly, because he didn’t want to reveal his ugliness to her.

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