Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle. Jeffrey Round

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СКАЧАТЬ do I know what he feels for me? Maybe Bill doesn’t even know what he really feels.”

      “Does he know your middle name? Has he memorized lines from your favourite movie? Does he make camp references to your mother’s side of the family in public or whisper your secret nickname in stirring undertones during sex?”

      “Well, the latter, at least.”

      Donny paused. “Really?”

      “I’ll never tell you what it is, so don’t ask.”

      Donny snorted. “As if I need to ask.”

      “You might be surprised.”

      “If it’s not ‘Beercan,’ I will be.” The cigarette noises started in earnest again. “Remind me — how long have you two been dating?”

      “A little over a year.”

      Donny whistled. “A little over a year! And how many times has he slept over at your place in that time?”

      “You know Bill doesn’t sleep over.…”

      “So therefore none.” The tone said it would brook no opposition. “And in that time you’ve slept over at his place, what … twenty-five, maybe thirty times?”

      “Something like that. Maybe less. It’s only on the weekends when Ked stays at Kendra’s place....”

      “There are fifty-two weekends in a year … you see what I’m saying?”

      “No, I don’t actually.”

      “I’m saying that out of consideration for you he could have split the difference and stayed at your place some of those nights.”

      “It’s not important to me.”

      “Apparently not. Out of curiosity, how long was your last relationship?”

      “With David Bonner?”

      “You tell me. I don’t keep track of your boyfriends.”

      “Three … maybe four months.”

      “Right. I seem to recall he was CEO of some import firm. Very successful, too. What happened to him?”

      Dan lifted his arm from his face and looked out. Rain clouds had gathered. “David was insecure. Apparently my size bothered him, because he felt I was out of his league. I told him size didn’t matter but ...”

      “The second gay lie!”

      “What’s the first?”

      “Take your pick: I’ll love you forever or I won’t put this on the Internet. Ba-dump. What happened to him?”

      “I got tired of telling him it was all right. It was such a drama just to get him into the bedroom. I eventually stopped returning his calls.”

      Donny made a flushing sound. “What about before that? Who came before David?”

      “Perry Donaldson. That only lasted a month.”

      “I remember him — the accountant. Also very successful. Nice guy, but a terrible pianist. What happened there?”

      “Perry had a huge hang-up about his mother. He could never see me on Fridays because that was their night to speak on the phone. She hated that her only son was gay and he was tormented by guilt over it. I told him if he wanted to see me then either he had to set his mother straight or stop complaining about her to me.”

      “And he didn’t?”

      “No and no.”

      “So he got the big flush too?””

      “Yeah … I guess so.”

      “And what about Gordon, that nice banker in Rosedale?”

      “I never dated him.”

      “No, but you were friends. Good friends, in fact. Why haven’t I heard you talk about him in a dog’s age?”

      Dan hesitated. “We don’t really … talk anymore.”

      Donny jumped on this. “Why?”

      “It got too difficult. He was always too busy to do anything.”

      “I think you said you saw him flirting with Bill.”

      “That too. It pissed me off. I don’t think that’s acceptable behaviour from a friend, no matter what anybody says about the gay moral code.”

      “And I say you’re right. No one should flirt with your man in front of you. Behind your back’s another story, but I’m not telling that one right now. Are you seeing a pattern here, Danny Boy?”

      “No — should I?”

      Donny sighed. “I’ll say. You date these highly successful guys or become friends with them till they piss you off, then they all get the royal flush and you withdraw your affection. It’s how you punish people who get close to you.”

      “I don’t think that’s — am I really that complex?”

      “No, you’re that simple.”

      Dan felt the sting. “Well, what would you suggest?”

      “Get some loyal friends and a lover without hang-ups? I don’t know.” Donny exhaled impatiently. “Did you ever get close to any of them? Close enough that you thought you might have been in love?”

      “Not really. But I was fond of them.”

      “Ah! The big revelation — you were fond of them. How sweet.” Donny was silent for a moment. The cigarette started up again. “Just out of curiosity, will you tell your therapist about your Brazilian weekend adventure?”

      “No! Are you crazy? I tell him I dream of cuddly bunnies, not urges to kill myself. I want out of those fucking sessions.”

      “Can I assume that if you lie to your therapist, then you probably don’t trust him?”

      Dan tried for a confessional tone. “You’re the only one I trust,” he said, but Donny resisted the efforts to pacify him. “I hope you realize that’s a compliment.”

      “Oh, I do! And I’m sure you’re fond of me, too.”

      “I resent that ...” Dan began, but Donny cut him off.

      “And now for the question du jour, Mr. Sharp. Apart from that little mishap on the boat between Bill and his dear friend Thom, do you still cling to the pathetic fiction that you have an exclusive relationship with Miss Doctor?”

      Donny had never pushed him this far before. He seemed to be going for broke. Dan’s voice hardened. “I don’t hold proprietary claims to his body, СКАЧАТЬ