Read Take This Man for Free Online

he’s gay.” Elyse didn’t understand it. How
could a man as intelligent as Jason, as worldly and aware, be so damn stupid
when it came to Cooper Caddiman?
    She
pressed on. “Don’t you think he owes it to his wife to tell the truth? So she
doesn’t think it’s something she did wrong?”
    “He’s
not blaming her,” Jason insisted. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, and pushed
the remainder of his sandwich aside. “I told you, he’s trying to keep things
friendly.”
    “It
won’t stay friendly if she learns the truth from somebody else. If Coop can’t
tell her he’s gay, does it mean he can’t even admit it to himself?”
    Jason
gave a defeated sigh. “I didn’t say we’d worked everything out.”
    “I
know you don’t want to hear all this,” Elyse told him. “But remember, you asked
me to come along to help you keep your head on straight.”
    “I
know.”
    “I
just don’t want him to think he can keep you on the side, his dirty little
secret. You deserve better.”
    “I
know. But it’s not that easy—”
    “You
keep saying that. But you did it. Other people do it. It’s not like he has to
worry about losing custody of his kids. There are no kids. This is his chance
to be up front and honest, finally , and he’s—”
    “I
know. I know.” Jason held up his hand to forestall her from saying more.
    “Sorry.” Shit . She’d told herself not to harangue him. But damn it, she was
worried. She didn’t trust Coop.
    “No,
don’t be.” Jason smiled, but it was strained. “You’re right. Which goes to show
it’s a good thing you came along with me.” He frowned. “Coop and I have a lot
to discuss over dinner tonight.”
    “Come
to think of it,” he said a moment later, his face enlivening with mischief, “I’m
not the only one who met with an old flame today, am I?”
    Elyse
groaned. Jason had texted her this morning while she was having a weak moment.
She confessed in her return message to running into Adam.
    “It
was awful,” she admitted. “We were horrible to each other, nearly had a public
fight.” She let go a breath. “He thinks we’re a couple. You and me.”
    Jason’s
eyes widened. “Well, you told him the truth, didn’t you?”
    “ No .”
Elyse got pissed off all over again, remembering Adam’s accusations. “He thinks
I dumped him because you have more money. Like I’m some greedy bitch. The
stupid ass. He thinks I’m the bad guy,” she said. “Can you believe that?”
    If
she expected Jason to look outraged on her behalf, she was disappointed.
    “And
you think he is.”
    She
blinked in uncertainty. “Well, yeah.”
    Her
friend let go a sigh. “Maybe there are no bad guys. Just a lot confused people.”
    But
Elyse didn’t buy that, and said so.
    “I
was there, too, honey,” he reminded her. “But you don’t hate my guts.”
    She
lowered her eyes to her half-eaten hot dog. “That’s different.” I wasn’t in
love with you.
    “You
should have told him the truth about us, Leelee.”
    “Come
on,” she scoffed. “I’m not going to out you at a burger joint in the middle of
town.”
    “What
do I care? Tell the whole world I’m a big ol’ queer—it makes no difference to
me.”
    And
that was the difference between Jason and Coop. Jason lived in the truth, while
Cooper huddled in the closet. Her friend had suffered for his honesty—his
family had not dealt at all well with the news of his sexual orientation. In
fact, they dealt with it by pretending they never heard it. Though not actually
banishing their son… why, after all, cause an unpleasant scene? …they
distanced themselves from him as much as possible. Which was fine with him.
    Elyse
felt humbled, thinking about the choices Jason had made to become his “authentic
self.” Compared to him, she seemed backward, bogged down by memories of the
past and fear of the future.
    Too
much thinking. Her head was starting to throb. She finished off her meal in a
few quick bites while Jason stole