The Gay Man's Matchmaker

Chapter 24

When we got over to Chris’ he was still crying, but not as hard as I heard on the phone. His eyes were bloodshot and were puffy and red, as was his nose, and he looked like he was fighting a killer headache, which probably had a lot to do with the tequila. His blonde hair was matted down and unkempt and he needed a shave. I wasn’t used to seeing him in such a condition. He was still in yesterday’s clothes and immediately retreated into the bathroom, saying he needed a shower. The lost feeling he put out was palpable, and I felt very bad for him, and I never feel sorry for anyone! When we heard the shower turn on, I turned to Vic, who looked like she could skin Warren alive with her eyes if he was here, and offered my best apologetic smile. And let me just say that I’m sure it wasn’t convincing, since I never, ever use it.

“I really had no idea, Vic.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” she sighed. “He wouldn’t have told you about what happened in Seattle.”

Lauren sat next to me on the long couch, along with Joey. She looked like she could use a drink, and I knew what she was thinking. We both felt guilty for what happened for different reasons. Lauren and Tommy became friends with Jake and Warren while hunting for perfect date, from what they tell me. I’d never met them before, though Lauren said they were at Kelly’s the night Joey came back into my life. I’d asked her why they didn’t try to wrangle one of them into a date. She said Tommy tried to talk Jake into it, but he freely admitted to playing the field with no plans to settle down. When he showed up with Warren one night, they pegged him for another player, so they didn’t bother trying.

“What did happen in Washington?” I asked Vic.

She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight, like she was trying to erase a bad memory. I knew she didn’t want to talk about it, but it seemed like it was all connected somehow. My knowing Chris was coincidence … that was true. But my knowing him and Tommy knowing Warren brought them into contact with each other. And Vic was wrapped into the mess somehow.

“I’d rather wait until Chris is ready to talk, if you don’t mind,” she finally said. She looked up at me imploringly.

“Okay,” I nodded.

We waited for Chris for over an hour, hearing the water run the whole time. I remember thinking he must be turning into a human prune. I looked over at the door a few times, hoping to hear the water turn off and Chris emerge, but he didn’t. Finally I got up and stalked over to the bathroom.

“Kee!” Lauren chastised me. “Give the guy some privacy!”

“He’s been in there for an hour and a half!” I argued. “I’m thinking it’s time we check on him!”

Without waiting for an answer, or an invitation, I opened the door. Chris, thankfully, made my job easier by leaving it unlocked. Joey followed me as I walked in and we both gasped when we saw Chris shivering under the now-cold spray of water. He was scrubbing at his already raw skin with a bar of soap while his teeth chattered. Joey grabbed a towel while I shut the water spray off. He handed the towel to me and I wrapped it around Chris, trying to help him out of the shower. He didn’t seem to have strength to get his leg over the side of the tub and slid down the wall, sobbing as he did. I could see he was completely shell-shocked from whatever he’d been through.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said trying to soothe him. “You’ll be fine.”

Joey and I helped him up and out of the tub and into his room, where he went on a sniffling autopilot, finishing drying himself off and getting dressed. I kept a sort of watch from the doorway, not invading his privacy but making sure he didn’t need anything. He put on sweatpants and a mismatched sweatshirt before he came out. It was fucking heartbreaking to watch, I tell you! When we got him settled on the loveseat with Vic while Lauren, Joey and I faced them from the couch.

“What happened last night, Chris?” I asked softly.

He bit the tip of his finger and huddled into his corner of the sofa without speaking.

“Kee, settle down,” Vic said.

“No,” I replied. “He’s my friend and it’s my fault he was left alone with … that guy! I want to know what happened!”

Joey put a hand on my shoulder and tried to give me a quelling look, but he should fucking know better by now!

“I …” Chris started nervously. “I … don’t want to talk about it.”

I fumed in my seat but I tried really fucking hard not to show it! Hell, I could see he was at the end of whatever rope he’d been holding onto for dear life. I’m not an idiot! So I calmly (as calmly as I can, anyway) looked in his eyes and held his gaze. He wanted to look away, but he was like a deer caught in headlights. Finally, he sighed and nodded.

“He took me … home to … his place,” he said softly.

Son of a bitch! But I kept my opinions to myself for the time being, just gesturing for him to continue.

“I had too much to drink,” he said in a slightly stronger voice as he kept talking. “I guess one thing led to another … and things went too far.”

“Let me get this straight,” Joey said pinching the bridge of his nose. “He takes you home, when you’re falling down drunk, seduces you … and ‘things went too far’?”

“I’ll kill him,” I muttered.

“It’s not his fault,” Chris said.

“Look …” I started.

“No, listen to me,” he said softly. “What happened last night,” his voice cracked, “was a mess. But it was closure.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, letting him off like that!” I shrieked. Yes, I do shriek sometimes. Fuck off! I don’t need you to tell me it’s stereotypical.

“Really,” he insisted. “That’s the way I want it.”

“But …”

“No, Kee. I appreciate your loyalty, but in this case, it’s misplaced.”

“I don’t agree,” Vic said.

“You know it’s not entirely his fault,” Chris told her. “We both know how I treated him for six years.”

“How?” I demanded, folding my arms like a pouty kid.

“I …” He took a deep breath then let it out and launched into the whole story, leaving nothing out, describing the way he led Warren on and ignored his requests for some attention and affection. Victoria grudgingly backed him up on it, adding that she’d known about the relationship but thought Warren was too good for Chris … at the time, she’d stressed, with a scowl. Chris also related a detailed description of his last conversation with him in Seattle. But Vic countered with an account of what Chris had gone through since Warren left, from his conversation with his parents to what happened after … including being cut off, evicted from his apartment and laid off from his job.

“So you see,” he concluded, “I’m not blameless.”

I looked at Lauren as we heard the story and I could almost read her mind. She and I had that weird cosmic thing going on sometimes. As shitty as Chris treated Warren, it in no way gave him a pass to take Chris back to his place while he was plastered and fuck him through the mattress! That’s like, illegal, isn’t it? If it isn’t, it sure as fuck should be!

“Well,” Lauren said. “I won’t lie and pretend that what you did wasn’t bad. It was.”

“Horrible,” I couldn’t resist adding. “But not an excuse for what he did.”

Chris shrugged dejectedly.

“Look at it this way,” Lauren tried. “If you were sober and he put the moves on you, would you have slept with him?”

Chris shook his head. “I could see in his eyes he didn’t really want me anymore,” he whispered. “He was so cold to me.”

“So you see why Kee’s concerned then,” she sighed. “Chris, you were an asshole to him. But you had already bowed out of his life. And anyway, he had six years to tell you to shit or get off the pot.”

“Succinctly and disgustingly put,” I said wrinkling my nose. “He didn’t have to stay with you for so long. I know I wouldn’t have.”

“The point is,” Lauren leaned in and looked at Chris earnestly. “You’re not that guy anymore. And whether or not Warren can forgive you for the past, he had no right to take advantage of you that way.”

“But I changed him!”

“He chose to change himself!” Victoria exploded. “So did you. Choose to change yourself, I mean. The difference is that you did it for the better.”

“That’s right,” Lauren said. “You can’t change the past, but if you choose to dwell in it, you’ll completely miss out on the future.”

I could tell she’d gotten to him with that remark. Is it any reason why I love this woman? (In a purely platonic way, of course!) She can cut through the bullshit faster than Tommy can go through a case of beer. And that’s fucking fast!

“Okay,” he said softly. “But I don’t want anyone to … avenge me.” He speared Kee with a pointed look.

“But …” I whined. I wanted to take Warren’s nuts off, dammit!

“I mean it … pal,” Chris smiled.

He has a cool smile when he actually uses it. I blinked owlishly at first, surprised. Then I said, “Well. Okay. But if he tries anything again …”

“He won’t,” Chris assured me. “He doesn’t even know where I live now, so how can he?”

“He said he did.”

“He was ling,” Vic rolled her eyes. “And if he values his balls, he won’t try to track him down!”

“A little protective, aren’t you?” Chris teased her.

“That’s what friends are for,” she grinned at him.

But I still knew I would have it out with Warren one day. In fact, I would make sure of it!

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A/N: To see it all from Chris and Warren's POV, go on over to "Which Way the Wind Blows".