Page 60 of The Best Bad Decision

They both started nodding, though.

“Women are hard.” Gerald glanced over at Paul and mouthed something that looked like divorce, before he turned back to me. “He’s had bad luck with dating.”

That was so true it was almost funny.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m glad he seems to appreciate how steady I am.” That seemed like the best word to describe me.

They nodded.

Okay, we were on the same page with something.

“He’s also very upfront with what he needs from a relationship, so that’s making it easier as well.” It was another ridiculous understatement but it made the men nod again. “I’m taking this seriously and I promise it’s not some kind of rebound thing.”

I didn’t think it was but I wasn’t sure I’d recognize if it were since I didn’t think I’d ever done that before.

They liked the answer, though.

They stood straighter and Gerald nodded as he continued taking the strange conversation seriously. “I’m glad you’re thinking about that.”

Good?

“I am.” That was the only answer I could give him but I wasn’t sure we were done yet based on the way they’d gone back to staring at me.

“But he’s a man.” Paul’s careful tone had me trying to keep a straight face. “He’s a man.”

Duh?

No.

Not helpful.

How straight did I look?

“I knew a lot of artists in college.” I wasn’t sure how much I had to say about my sexuality and how much was just them being nosy. “That isn’t an issue.”

“He knew artists.” Gerald’s tone was confusing but it made Paul nod. “Artists.”

Was that a code for something else?

I’d been aiming for sexually flexible but I was starting to worry about how they’d taken it.

“College.” Paul was returning the head nod, but neither of them made any sense. “Artists.”

Were we speaking the same language?

“I’ll let you both get back to your day.” Was I supposed to thank them for being nosy? “Thanks for checking in on me.”

Was that a reasonable response?

I still wasn’t sure as they both gave quick waves and headed back down the street, and I didn’t even know how I’d explain the conversation to Casimir. He was going to have a thousand questions but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to answer any of them.

Heading back inside, I tried to go over it in my head, but that wasn’t helping. “Well, at the very least, they wanted to make sure I knew Casimir was a man…because they didn’t want me surprised at finding a penis under his clothes?”

No…this wasn’t going to make any sense, so I was just going to do my best to distract Casimir and hope washing the car was as distracting as he’d said it would be.

****

“Try again, baby.” Straddling my lap, Casimir pinned me to the couch but I wasn’t sure my distraction had worked like I’d hoped. “What did they say?”