Opposites Attract by Cat Johnson Page B

mixture of regret and
relief.
    “ Okay,
spill. What’s going on there?” Antonio stood in the
kitchen, spoon in hand.
    “ Nothing.”
Nothing at all, sadly.
    Antonio
didn’t look convinced. “Come on. You could have cut the
tension in here with a knife.”
    Troy
grabbed his beer and dropped back onto the sofa. “You’re
imagining things.”
    “ At
least tell me who she is and why she had your chili. Which, by the
way, do you want any of?” Apparently Antonio wasn’t about
to have his questions put off so easily.
    “ No
thanks.” He didn’t seem to have an appetite, especially
not for the same food he’d shared just yesterday with Amy
before he’d made the huge mistake of kissing her. “Amy’s
watching the apartment for Maria across the hall.”
    “ And?”
Antonio plopped himself down in the chair and dug into the chili.
    “ And
nothing. She’s a lesbian, so that’s it. There’s
nothing going on, so can we stop talking about it and watch the
game?” Troy scowled at himself. Now he was sniping at his
closest friend. See, women just plain made you lose your head, didn’t
matter whether they were lesbians or not.
    Antonio
put his bowl down on the table and leaned forward, elbows braced on
his knees. “Troy. You saved my life, man. We’re like
brothers. You know you can tell me anything and it goes in the vault.
Now, I’ve known you for years and never in that time have I
seen you react this way over a chick. So yeah, I think something’s
going on. So why don’t you tell me what it is?”
    Troy
hung his head and closed his eyes. Antonio was a good friend and was
showing him much more patience than he deserved at the moment. He
finally raised his head and looked up at him. “We ate, had too
much wine. We started talking about some serious stuff. She got all
teary eyed and before I know what’s happening, my tongue’s
down her throat and we’re making out on the couch.”
    Antonio
let out a breath and absorbed the information in silence for a
moment. “Okay. So given what happened, what makes you think
she’s a lesbian? Because I gotta tell ya, I didn’t get
that vibe. And the way she looked at you…phew, I think you’re
way off there.”
    “ She
met Maria through her lesbian girlfriend Elena, she brought me to a
gay bar where she knew the bartender by name, the last person she
dated was named Whitney, like in Houston and she’s been to a
sperm bank to research having a baby.” Troy ticked off what he
deemed as his indisputable proof on his fingers, one by one.
    “ Whoa.
First, let me get over the image of you in a gay bar. Then, let me
remind you that she was sucking face, I’ll assume willingly,
with you last night. If I were a lawyer, I’d tell you that all
your evidence that she’s gay is circumstantial.”
    Troy
shook his head adamantly. “No, way. I’m not wrong about
this.” He sighed. “Believe me, I wish I was.”
    “ Do
you really? I don’t think so. I think you avoid getting serious
with women, all women all the time, and this is just another excuse.”
    Troy
frowned. “When did this become a therapy session? And what do
you know about women anyway? You’re married.”
    Antonio
laughed. “That’s a statement that could only come from a
single guy. Believe me, buddy, you think you know women until you
have to actually live with one. Then a whole strange new world opens
up. A world filled with hormones and bikini waxes.”
    Troy
laughed, but then asked his friend, more serious than he’d ever
been, “And? Is it all worth it?”
    Antonio
smiled. “Yeah, every moment.”

    In
Maria’s apartment, Amy paced restlessly. What had happened? Why
was Troy kissing her like there was no tomorrow one moment and
literally running out the door and acting all cold the next? It was
definitely possible that he did have a girlfriend and that thought
sucked big time. But what would suck even more would be if he just
plain didn’t like her.
    The
ringing of the phone jolted her out of