Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Eric

I watched as Riley came back inside the cafe, dressed in his white shirt and khaki’s like some knight in Ralph Lauren.

Thankfully, his brief departure had given me much to think about, and I realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell him the truth, until I’d put it behind me.

I wanted to be respectable. I wanted to be clean for him.

Sunday Best, and all.

And I couldn’t very well go diving headfirst into a relationship with Riley, no matter how bad I wanted it, without cleaning out my closet first.

I needed to go home, make my announcement, and then I could process my next steps.

The road to salvation wasn’t going to be easy, but as Riley sat down, crossing his legs in front of me, I knew.

I knew that I was standing on the precipice of a new phase of life. The next phase of my life.

I’d been a groomsman, and I did know a thing or two about weddings, but I’d never considered the possibility of getting married myself. I’d only ever wanted a boyfriend, someone who I could be myself with, my true self.

Camming wasn’t who I really was. XxPrinceAyricxX was someone I had become through guilt and loneliness, and because of that, others responded to him. Because perhaps, they were guilty and lonely too, and I could never begrudge them for that. After all, they made me who I was today.

I only hoped that they would understand that I was ready to move on.

I needed to move on.

“Hey, I, uh, I know I just got here but, uh, I have to head out. I have some stuff to take care of. Can we reconvene? Another day?” I asked, both nervous as all hell but also feeling a sense of disappointment.

How had things become so complicated?”

“Yeah, uh, that’s probably a good idea. That was my brother, so I, uh, need to get going too.”

“Okay, yeah. Cool. That works then. We’ll be in touch?” I asked, hopeful.

“Of course,” Riley said, smiling. But behind his smile I could tell something was bothering him, but I didn’t want to press. Maybe it really was just stupid wedding drama. Been there, done that.

And with that, we parted ways. I climbed into my car and drove home. Walking through the door, I felt a sense of dread as well as relief. I knew what I needed to do.