Five Nights by Megs Pritchard

1

“Hi, babe, I’m home,” Lee called. Lee attempted to put his house keys back in his jacket pocket, but with a travel mug in one hand and a briefcase in the other, they slipped from his fingers and dropped to the floor. Lee automatically went to grab them, and in his haste, he lost his grip on both his mug and briefcase. All three landed on the floor, and he was still in the entryway of his house.

“Shit,” he whispered, then cringed, face scrunching up as he glanced up to see if Mark, his partner, had heard him. Mark hated it when Lee swore, and no matter how hard Lee tried, one would slip out occasionally. Mark believed only the uneducated should swear because they didn’t have the vocabulary for proper English.

He leaned down to pick up the dropped items when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his cell phone on the floor. “Oh, please don’t be broken,” he muttered as he gingerly picked it up. Biting his lip, he turned it over, and yes, the screen had a crack in it. “Shit!”

Lee’s stomach dropped, and he knelt down on the floor, his thumb rubbing over the crack. He pressed the button, and fortunately, the screen lit up. “Thank god!” Dropping his cell phone and cracking the screen was the highlight of a fucktastic day. Sighing, Lee dropped back on his ass and looked over the items that he’d dropped on the floor. The piece of shit briefcase had busted open and the contents now lay all over the stone entryway.

Leaning forward, Lee gathered up the items and shoved them back in, muttering under his breath. He clenched his hand into a fist and closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths. He needed to calm before he saw Mark. Mark didn’t like it when Lee was angry. He preferred Lee to be calm, which, at that moment in time, Lee was definitely not.

“Lee?”

“It’s okay babe, just dropped my briefcase. Say, how was your day today? I forgot to tell you about work. We won the contract, which is great. I can’t wait to get away for a week. Sun, sea, sex…”

Lee rounded the corner into the kitchen to see Mark sitting with a colleague from work. On the table in front of them were two half-empty glasses of white wine. The sun shining through the large kitchen window hit the table at just right angle, and the wine almost glowed from the rays that touched it. The entire kitchen glowed in the afternoon sun.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were here, Maddie,” Lee said, his face heating. His eyes bounced around the kitchen until they finally landed on Mark. “Sorry about that, Maddie. I’m not interrupting anything, am I? I didn’t know you’d be working from home today.”

Lee looked Maddie over and could admit that she was beautiful, but did nothing for him. But even as a gay man, he could appreciate her looks. Tumbling, curly blonde hair flowed over her shoulders and down her back, her hazel eyes widening as she looked from Lee to Mark. She always looked so prefect. Her clothes, her hair, her makeup. Lucky thing Mark was gay.

Lee took in Mark’s features. The thick wavy brown hair, dark blue eyes, with the black-framed glasses and tanned skin. Slightly shorter than him, slightly slimmer.

“You’re home early,” Mark said, standing and taking a step toward Lee. “Maddie was just leaving.”

Maddie was assisting Mark, and they often spent long hours in the office working on a project for work. Lee wasn’t surprised to see her in their home, especially as Mark liked to work at home when he could. Lee would have preferred it if Mark had given him the heads up to that fact Maddie, then Lee wouldn’t have been talking about his day.

“Oh, are you going, Maddie? You don’t have to leave because of me.” Lee glanced away, cheeks flushing with heat. Lee swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck, his chest tightening with embarrassment. “You can finish what…you’re…doing…” Lee trailed off. Staring at the table, he noticed that there was no paperwork covering it. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side as he continued to stare at the empty table. Maybe they had finished after all, and he wasn’t interrupting anything.

“I’ll go,” Maddie said, standing. “I’ll see you later, Mark,” she muttered as she glanced between Lee and Mark. “I’m sorry.”

Lee’s frown deepened. “There’s no need to apologize. I’m home early so we could pack for our vacation. You two finish whatever it is you’re doing.”

Maddie looked at Mark, their gazes holding. Lee fidgeted on the spot. Why were they looking at each other like that? Maddie picked up her bag, and with one last glance at Mark, swung off her seat to stand up.

“I need to go.”

Lee glanced over her very short skirt, then farther up, noticing some buttons on her shirt were undone. And it was transparent, so Lee could tell what underwear she had on. Not appropriate for work, so why was she wearing it? That was when noticed that her panties matched her bra. That skirt was far too short.

Maddie walked past him into the living room, where Lee spotted her heels next to the sofa, her jacket on the rug in front of the fireplace. Why was her jacket over there? And her heels?

Lee swallowed, his stomach dropping and his chest tightening. He could hear his pulse beating loudly in his ears. He panted, his gaze swinging back to Mark. “What the fuck is going on here?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “What have you two been up to?”

Mark stood, a hand out in front of him. “Nothing is going on, Lee.” Mark looked past Lee and said to Maddie, “We’ll talk later.”

“It fucking looks like something’s going on.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Lee.”

Mark stood in front of Lee, and Lee took in what Mark was wearing. A partially unbuttoned shirt and jeans. Mark never wore jeans when he was working. Was never casually dressed when his work colleagues were over or were due for appointments. Lee briefly closed his eyes. Just what the fuck was going on?

The way both Mark and Maddie were dressed spoke of something different than the words Mark said. Lee stared at Mark’s face, seeing now what he’d first missed. The swollen lips, the mussed up hair, the faint flush on his cheeks.

“You look…messy…rumpled.” Lee didn’t turn to acknowledge Maddie as she brushed past him to leave. He ignored her muttered apologies and remained focused on Mark. “The clothes, the room. You look like you’ve been fucking. Have you been fucking her?”

“I’ll speak to you later, Maddie,” Mark called after her.

“No, he won’t,” Lee shouted in response. To Mark, he said, “You won’t be fucking talking to her.”

Mark sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Let’s keep calm, shall we?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Lee looked from the kitchen to the rug and back again. “On the rug? You fucked her on our rug?” Lee’s stomach rolled and he hunched over, rubbing it with his hand. “I think I’m gonna throw up.”

Our rug. God, not our rug.

Lee grimaced, his lips pulling back as he remembered how they had broken their rug in. The wine, the candles, the fire casting a warm glow over their sweat slicked skin. He enjoyed their sex life. A normal sex life. He knew they hadn’t had sex in the past week, but they’d both had work commitments… Well, Mark had been working late. At least Lee knew why now.

Was he that bad? Lee stared at Mark, waiting for him to answer. “Well? What the fuck have you got to say? Start talking! Come on. Explain this to me.” Lee waved his hand at the rug.

“You need to calm down and stop swearing. Speak to me in a civilized manner, Lee.”

Lee gasped, his eyes widening in shock. “Civilized manner? You’ve been screwing your PA. How fucking original.”

“I said to calm down, or we won’t have this conversation.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what to do, you cheating cunt?”

“The name calling isn’t helping, Lee. Calm down, and we’ll talk.”

“A pussy. You’re ending our relationship, five long years, over a pussy.”

“Lee—”

“Okay. Explain it to me.” Lee took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Mark. His heart beat fast and hard in his chest, and he swallowed as he waited for Mark to talk.

Mark rubbed his nose again, exhaling hard. “We haven’t had sex. I wouldn’t do that to you. I don’t cheat, Lee.”

Lee waved an arm behind him, then pointed at the rug. “What was that, then?”

“We haven’t had sex, Lee.” Mark spoke in a softer voice. “I promise you.”

Lee closed his eyes, rubbing a shaky hand over them. Thank god! His legs were trembling, and Lee thought they might buckle. He reached his other hand out and grabbed the back of the chair closest to him. “I’m sorry. It looked… Shit. It looked like you two had been…”

Lee looked around the kitchen, seeing his items scattered around. Everything was okay. He was home, safe. He should have known Mark wouldn’t cheat, and certainly not with a member of the opposite sex. Mark was gay, like him.

Lee opened his eyes when he heard Mark exhale loudly. His face looked tense, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “You had reason to believe what you saw, Lee.”

“What?” Lee shook his head. What was Mark telling him? “You said you didn’t have sex with her. Was you lying to me? Just? Now?”

“No, Lee. We’ve never had sex. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“I don’t understand… What’s going on here, Mark?” Lee swallowed, his stomach in knots. He sat on the chair he’d been holding onto and looked at Mark.

Mark sighed and sat down next to him. “I was going to talk to you tonight,” Mark said, his voice steady. “I wanted to be honest about how I feel.” Mark stared at Lee, and Lee swallowed again, shaking his head. “Yes, Lee. I’m sorry. There’s no easy way—”

“Then don’t. Don’t do this to us,” Lee whispered. He rubbed his chest, an ache growing there, a heaviness filling it.

“I’m in love with Maddie, but I never cheated. I never had sex with her, but I am in love with her. I’m sorry, Lee, but it’s over.”