Harmless(22)

"Okay, let me be a little more specific," Cam stated. "I could tell that y'all are more than just friends who met in a bar." Cam used air quotes and everything. "How good of friends are you?"

God, Roan wished they could talk about anything else. He'd spent so long isolating himself, holding back from his friends, it was as though he'd ingested truth serum and he couldn't lie. He wanted to. Definitely. But he hated not being honest.

"I met him awhile back." That didn't seem to satisfy Cam, because he continued to stare at him expectantly. "What?"

"You met him and yet you never introduced me?"

Roan knew that Cam was a huge fan. Knew that he would've been beside himself to meet any of the Arrows players.

"I couldn't," he admitted before filling his mouth with food.

"Ahh."

Roan tried to say, "Ahh, what?" but his mouth was too full. It came out sounding garbled.

Cam chuckled. "So it was one of those relationships."

It took a minute, but Roan managed to swallow, then chased the lasagna with iced tea before answering. "There was no relationship."

"No?"

Roan shook his head. "It was one night. Nothing more." 

"Oh." Cam sounded disappointed.

Gannon picked up his glass, and Roan waited for him to speak. He could see the man's question in his eyes. "So you were seeing him?"

"No. I saw him. One. Night. I haven't talked to him since."

It was Cam's turn again. "One night? You had a smoking-hot"-Cam glanced sheepishly at Gannon, then back to Roan-"hockey player in your bed for one night and you just let it go at that."

"Not my bed. His," Roan clarified. "I met him at a bar, went home with him, end of story."

"So what was it like?"

Roan cocked an eyebrow. He'd never been the type to kiss and tell. Not even with his best friend. And quite frankly, Cam had never been the type to ask for details. Roan damn sure wasn't going to start sharing his personal life, especially not with Cam and his husband. But something passed over Cam's face, and Roan knew he was trying to get around to what he really wanted to ask.

So Roan waited.

They ate in silence for another minute or two and sure enough, Cam didn't disappoint.

"Was there a possibility of this going further? Or were you  …  uh  …  hiding from him too?"

Roan dropped his fork, pinning Cam with a glare. "I'm sorry, all right? Yes, I pushed you away, okay? I didn't want you to have to deal with her. She wasn't  …  Cassie. The drugs had turned her into someone else entirely."

Cam set his fork down. "I'm not talking about me," he clarified, his voice eerily calm despite Roan's outburst. "I'm as much to blame as you are, Roan. I should've been there for you. I should've pushed my way into your life, refusing to let you shut me out. But if there was something with this guy … "

"There wasn't, okay? Nothing worth talking about, anyway." And that was the truth. The night they'd spent together …  Well, it had been off the charts, sure. But sex was sex. It didn't matter that Roan had never felt as connected to anyone in his entire life as he had with Seg that night. They had agreed to one night. Roan only did what he'd promised.

"He came to the marina looking for you today," Cam stated.

Roan's eyes widened.

Cam nodded, as though answering Roan's unspoken question. "Dare was there. Told him that you were taking some personal time."

"How did he … ?" Roan stared at Cam, unable to finish the sentence.

"Know where you worked?" Gannon chuckled. "I'm pretty sure it was on the card you gave him."

"Shit."

"No," Cam countered. "Not shit. This guy's into you, man. He came looking for you. That's not a shit moment."

Roan shook his head in disbelief. "Probably only so he could get me to guarantee I'll never tell anyone he's into dudes."

"Closeted, huh?" Gannon asked.

"He's so far in he can't even see the door," Roan stated, hoping they didn't hear the disappointment in his tone.

"But if he wasn't, you'd be interested?"

Roan didn't answer that. "Dare didn't tell him about … ?" He peered down the hall.

"No. Of course not." Cam looked at Gannon briefly, then back to Roan. "Seg said he'd like to talk to you. Asked Dare to give you his number."

"I can't talk to him," Roan admitted.

"Sure you can."

Roan shook his head. "I can't." He got to his feet, suddenly no longer hungry. "I've got to focus all my attention on Liam right now. I can't …  I don't have time to deal with that."