Page 26 of A Matter of Time

When he’d told me he was coming out to his family, I had eagerly gone along with him to offer support and meet them for the very first time. It had been a disaster. Not only did he chicken out, but he also told them I was just a friend. He ended up dancing with a girl his parents had invited, all night long. I was left alone at the table, and when I confronted him, he told me that I couldn’t possibly understand since I was an orphan; I had no familial obligations.

Later that night, on the curb in front of his place, he asked what we were doing. Wasn’t I coming in? He wanted to get in bed with me. I asked him how stupid he thought I was. I could see the writing on the wall. I was not partner material. He agreed but quickly went on to say that once he took his place in the family business, he would be able to set me up in style. Apartment, cash allowance, car…he would keep me very comfortably. I was so glad we were at his place so I could leave and thrilled that we’d never exchanged keys like he wanted. We were done. I had obviously been suspended in some dream state for the entire duration of our relationship. I was very thankful that the drugs or trance or alien mind meld had worn off so I could get back to my life and pretend Kevin Wu had never happened to me.

“Jory.”

I turned and waited while he caught up with me.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to Evan. It’s his birthday.”

He looked confused. “Jory.”

“What?”

“I wanna see you.”

“Here I am.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

I shrugged and turned to go.

He grabbed my arm. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Jory, I⁠—”

I peeled his fingers off my arm and got a few feet away before he caught me again and held on while he stepped around in front of me, blocking my escape.

“Don’t be a jerk just because you can. Please let me see you.”

“No.”

Furrowed brows. “Jory,” he argued. “C’mon, please don’t⁠—”

“Let me go, Kevin.”

“Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t call as soon as I got back from Hong Kong, but⁠—”

“It doesn’t matter.” I brushed his hand off me.

“Why doesn’t it matter?” He had miscalculated, and there was the first glimmer of concern in his eyes.

“It just doesn’t.”

He grabbed my arm fast, holding tighter this time. “Jory, just calm down, all right?”

“I’m calm, you’re the one who’s bein’ weird.”

“C’mon, J. All I did was think about you while I was gone.” His voice was rising as he spoke.

“That’s crap. The only thing you thought about was the stuff I did to you in bed.”

He smiled slyly and stepped in closer to me. “There was that.”

Not having had a lot of partners, Kevin was much less experienced than me. My lovers numbered in the high double digits, and I had learned something I liked, or something someone else would enjoy, from each and every one of them. What I had learned from Kevin was that I didn’t want to do the one-night stand thing anymore. Orphans wanted homes, and I was no exception. I wanted to belong to one man, just like every woman in every Hollywood three-handkerchief chick flick I had ever seen. I was done sleeping around. That was another reason I felt bad about Nick. I’d been drunk and messed up on my own resolution.