Page 138 of Once in a Lifetime, Part 2

Steve turned to Mano, eyes burning.

“Mano, please…” Ody stepped between them, one hand reaching back toward him. “Steve, just sit down.”

Mano’s jaw clenched. “I’ll let you talk to your friend.” He shot Steve one last look, then turned away.

Ody shut his eyes and sat down on the lounger. Steve dropped into the one across from him.

“It’s been… hard.”

“Which part?” Steve asked. “Figuring out you like guys, or admitting you’re cheating on Anna with him?”

Ody looked away.

“The more I think about Serifos…” Steve exhaled through his nose. “You played all of us, didn’t you?” He let out a quiet, bitter laugh. “The restaurant… when you drove him to the ATM. That was bullshit too, right?”

“I couldn’t…” Ody looked at him. “I couldn’t just say that I—”

“Liked a guy?” Steve cut in.

Ody’s mouth parted, then closed again.

“I don’t care about that. I care about the lying. About Anna. About us. I thought we were better than that.”

“We are,” Ody said, his eyes fixed on him.

“Are we?” Steve shot back. “Because you’ve been lying straight to my face. Every day it’s something new. Yesterday you were ‘dizzy.’ Before that, something else.”

Ody leaned forward, dragging a hand down his face. “What was I supposed to do? Tell you I was seeing Mano? You didn’t even like him when you met him.”

Steve didn’t answer.

“What if you walked away?” Ody said, his voice low. “I was scared you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. I know what I’m doing is fucked up. I feel it every day.” He swallowed, his gaze dropping. “But with him… I feel like myself.”

Steve glanced down, then looked back up at him.

“I’ll talk to Anna,” Ody said. “I tried… I just couldn’t. But I will.”

“What about Chris?”

Ody hesitated. “I’m not ready yet. Please… don’t tell him.”

Steve tensed. “No. Don’t do that to me, Ody. I can’t keep something like this from him.”

“I’ll tell him myself,” Ody said. “I just need time. Let me sort things out first.”

Steve stared at him. “You’ve been ‘sorting things out’ for two months.”

Ody exhaled. “I need to talk to Anna first. Please.”

Steve held his gaze. “Fine. I won’t tell him. But when we’re back in Athens, you talk to Anna.”

Ody nodded. “I will.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“Because you matter too much. You’re like a brother.”

Steve’s jaw tightened.