Chapter 17

But Aaron was happy. He said so. Everything I ever wanted.

Only for now, though. Only until Xander left. They both knew this parting wouldn’t be as easy as the first time Xander left town.

“Just think about it,” he said, matching Aaron’s smile. “No reason for you to make a decision now. We haven’t even had dinner yet.”

“How did you choose New York? I always wondered about that instead of Vegas or Los Angeles.”

“Honestly?” His smile widened. “It seemed less fake. I spent so many years pretending to be something I’m not, the last thing I wanted when I moved away was to end up in a city where appearances are everything.”

“Eddie was pretty upset when you left for New York. I think he felt betrayed that you moved so far away.”

Mention of Eddie was sobering. “Yeah, well, considering how things turned out between us, maybe that was for the best. If we’d stuck it out together, he would’ve learned the truth sooner, and that would have made things even uglier than they are.”