Read Marie Sexton - Coda 03 - The Letter Z for Free Online Page B

the painting. All the pictures are cool, but there’s one ’specially that I love. One that seems like it must have been painted just for me. Zach comes and stands behind me, so I can lean back against him. He puts one arm ’round my neck. I know Jared and Matt wish he wouldn’t be so obvious. I also know Zach doesn’t even realize he acts different than they do. It never occurs to him to worry ’bout what other people think, and I don’t care a bit. I’d never tell him to quit.
    His lips are just above my ear. “This is the one you like?” he asks quietly.
“Yes.”
    He’s quiet for a few seconds, while he looks at it. “It’s really pretty,” he says. That’s more than I expected. Expected him to say it was weird. “I don’t really get it,” he says, “but it’s nice.”
“Wish we could take it home,” I say.
    He glances around. “No price tags on the wall, which is a dead giveaway that it costs more than you and I make in a year.”
“I know. There’s a book too.”
“Why don’t you buy that then?”
“It’s a hundred bucks.”
    “Wow,” he says, which is what I thought, too, when the lady told me. “I’m sorry, Ang,” he says. And the thing is, he means it. That’s why I love him so much.
    We finally leave the gallery. Funny how hard it is to walk away. Zach promises me we’ll come back and see it again before we leave. We wander ’round a bit more, then finally stop for lunch. Matt and Zach are still actin’ weird, glancin’ at each other every minute or two.
“What’s up with you two?” I finally ask.
    They both look a little startled. They clearly have no clue how fuckin’ obvious they are, although in their defense, Jared looks surprised too. Like even he didn’t realize they were actin’ like two kids caught standin’ over a broken cookie jar.
    “What do you mean?” Matt asks, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Don’t gimme that,” I say. “What goin’ on?” I’m tryin’ not to laugh, but then I look at Zach. The look he’s givin’ me—I know right then it’s somethin’ I’m not gonna like.
“You remember the man we were talking to earlier, when you came out of the gallery?”
“Sure. Why?”
“We’re having dinner with him tonight.”
Seems kinda weird they decided to have dinner with some guy they just met, but what the fuck ever. Why should I care? “Okay,” I say.
We all sit there for a second. Jared looks as confused as I feel. Matt’s looking everywhere but at me. Zach’s eyes are on mine, but he looks scared to death. And then I find out why. He takes a deep breath and says, “That was Jonathan.”
It takes me a minute to process that. Zach and I don’t talk much ’bout his past, mostly ’cause I can’t fuckin’ handle it. Can’t stand to think ’bout the guys he was with before me. I know it’s childish, but it’s just the way it is. Still, I know ’bout Jonathan.
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” I say, and I know my voice is louder than it should be, and they’re all three motionin’ for me to dial it down a notch. “We’re havin’ dinner tonight with him ? The guy who left you? The guy who left Geisha ?” Because yeah, not only do I have the boyfriend who used to be his, I have the cat who used to be his too. And how fuckin’ weird is that?
“It was an accident—” Zach starts to say, but Matt interrupts him.
“Might as well tell him the rest too,” he says, and the look Zach gives him is pure venom.
“You mean there’s more?” I ask.
Zach looks back at me and says, “Did you happen to bring any nice shirts with you?”
    For a second I can only stare at him. I don’t even know what to say, and let’s face it, that doesn’t happen to me very often. But I finally find my voice again. “Zach, how long you known me? We fuckin’ live together. You think I even own anything nicer than this? You think I been hidin’ my ‘nice’ clothes in my closet, just waitin’ for a special occasion or