His expression was hard to read, but I didn’t think it was going over well, pulling the conversation back to her… until he snorted harshly. “She’d be pissed.”
“Because you’re actually able to enjoy yourself with me? Or because you’re doing shit with a guy?”
“I mean, both, but the second one ain’t for the reason you’re thinking.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was…adventurous,” he said carefully.
“How so?”
“Do you really wanna hear shit like that?”
I snorted. “Oh, I see. You’re not protecting her image; you’re trying to protect my feelings. You know, you’re allowed to talk about stuff you did with previous partners. It’s not going to hurt my feelings. So why would you getting with a guy piss her off if it wasn’t about the gay or bi thing like I automatically assumed?”
He sighed. “Because she always not-so-secretly hoped one day I’d get into a threesome with her and another man…one where I, ya know…did things with the guy.”
“Ohhhh,” I said with a laugh. “She was one of those ladies, alright I got ya.”
“I can only imagine how pissed she’d be if she found out that after our relationship exploded in our faces, that’s when I ‘magically’ found a guy attractive,” he said with a frown. “Actually, it is kinda funny. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”
“As much fun as this is as a mental exercise, I would like to point out that I’m not comfortable being used, even by proxy, to piss off your ex-wife,” I said.
“Soon-to-be-ex-wife.”
“Bro, you guys are separated for whatever reasons are leading to your divorce. Might as well call her your ex and get used to it, unless?—”
He frowned, then flinched. “What, that we’ll get back together? Fuck that.”
“Hey, it happens. Sometimes two people hate each other because there’s still love there, but it can’t come out healthily. Sometimes that brings them back together.”
“I don’t hate her,” he grunted. “I don’t blame her for hating me, but I don’t hate her.”
“Hmm, then howdoyou feel about her?” I wondered.
“Tired,” he said instantly. “She was…is, just as stubborn and demanding as I am. She couldn’t, or I guess wouldn’t bend, not like you can sometimes… and get that fucking look off your face. I know a dirty joke before it shows up.”
“I was going to leave the comment about my body’s flexibility in my head,” I promised with a grin.
He snorted. “Everything was a fight, not the entire relationship, but the last few years. We didn’t wanna budge; we had to win. We started becoming that couple no one wants to go out with because we’d make shit awkward by arguing. She’d get nasty, and I’d get pissed. I thought maybe divorce was the only way we could ever be happy. Hell, I thought she wanted a divorce. Now it just feels like she’s doin’ whatever she can to make it suck for me. Like we weren’t angry enough before the divorce, it’s like she just needs to be angry.”
“Like I said earlier, sometimes anger hides how hurt someone is,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe that’s the case here.”
“Then she’s awfully fucking sad.”
I laughed. “And you must naturally be a heartbroken soul by my logic.”
“Fuck off,” he grumbled, pushing me off his lap.
“Ow!” I grunted when I hit the ground, turning to slap his leg. “Asshole.”
I wasn’t really mad; a bit of harmless pain was worth it to see that smug smile on his face. That at least meant he wasn’t wallowing in his feelings as much, which was far better than the alternative.
“Did you come out here to make sure I wouldn’t terrify the new idiot?” he asked and scowled. “Who apparently has more baggage than he should for this place.”
“Aidan,” I told him as I used his leg to push myself up from the ground with a grunt, “doesn’t need you terrorizing him, that’s true. But he also promised his reaction was because he was surprised and that he’ll be a good, professional boy after this. So I think it’s best if we all give him that chance.”
“And if giving him that chance blows up in our faces?”