Chapter 21

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“My mom didn’t want me to. I told her I wouldn’t. I wanted to. I told her you wouldn’t care. But then the other night…”

Danny nodded, kept at the hand rubbing. He hadn’t meant to hurt Ashok with them—he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone with them, but of course nor had he expected to come face to face with their ramifications—but he had said some things that, in hindsight, might not have come across as super supportive.

“Did you mean those things?” Ashok said. “About drag not being ‘your thing?’ About not wanting to be with a dude prettier than your wife? Was there really a wife?”

Danny nodded. “I was married right out of college. I was still a kid. I kind of just figured sublimating impulses in order to marry chicks was what everybody did. She was my best friend. She was pretty understanding, all things considered. But yeah, I was married.”

“Kids?”

“No. Kind of glad for that as it relates to the divorce,” Danny said. “Although, maybe someday…”