Jealousy (17 page)

Peter looked at her carefully, then glanced at Justin and Kenny. 
“You look hot,” he said.  “Are you sure there aren’t going to be any straight guys at the club tonight?”

“
I doubt it.”  She assumed his answer meant that he approved of the way she was dressed.

Peter inspected Kenny
’s outfit next.  Heather thought it was strange and almost laughed.

“
How come you’re not wearing any makeup?” Peter asked Kenny.

“
I hate that stuff – on me,” Kenny said.  “I love it on Justin, but it makes my eyes all itchy.”

“
You should see him with eye makeup,” Justin said.  “Absolutely stunning!  It makes those gorgeous eyes look even more gorgeous, if that’s even possible.”

“
Oh, come on, Kenny,” Heather said, “I’ve never seen you in makeup.  Please, just wear a little?”

“
You see what you started,” he said to Justin.  “Now she’s never gonna leave me alone!  I’m not wearing makeup, Heather!  I don’t like it, especially dancing and sweating in a hot club all night!”

“
OK.  OK.  Calm down.”  She smiled and waved a finger at him.  “But, one day, I’m gonna get you to wear it, just for me.”

“
One day.”  Kenny pacified her.  “One day.”

Heather caught Peter staring at Justin
’s nipple rings which were clearly visible through his fishnet top.

“
Doesn’t that hurt?” Peter asked, with his face scrunched into a painful grimace.

Heather cocked her head to the side and wrinkled her brow.  Peter
had seen Justin without a shirt hundreds of times.  He knew Justin had piercings.  She didn’t understand why he was commenting on them now, after all these years.

Peter
had been acting strange since the accident.  First, there were the sprinkled-bits-of-niceness that infiltrated his normal curt-and-grumpy-self, and now the sudden interest in Kenny’s and Justin’s appearance.  Heather wasn’t complaining.  It was nice that Peter was finally taking an interest in anything other than the store, but she wasn’t quite sure what was going on in his head lately.

To answer Peter
’s question about Justin’s nipple rings, she decided to make a lighthearted joke and ran her hand across Justin’s abs.

“
What?  This?” she asked.  “Yeah, this hurts.”  She laughed.  “This hurts a lot!”  Then she slung her arm around Kenny’s neck.  “But not as much as this,” she said with a laugh, as she caressed Kenny’s perfectly round pecs that strained against his too tight top.

Kenny blushed slightly, dropped his eyes to the floor and chuckled softly.

Peter, on the other hand, didn’t find her musings funny at all.  He stiffened, snorted and snapped at her. “Are you going to be touching men like that all night?”

Heather flinched at his sudden change in attitude.  So much for the
“nice” Peter she enjoyed having around.  “Mr. Grumpy” was back.  And since when was Peter jealous of Kenny?

It was Justin who came to Heather
’s defense.  He put his arm around her shoulder in a protective embrace.  “No, Peter, she’s not going to be touching men all night,” Justin said.  “Why don’t you come with us if you’re so concerned?”

Peter shook his head in violent protest.
“I’m never going to a gay bar, so don’t bother asking.”

Heather knew he wouldn
’t go, but she was still disappointed. She hated that Peter refused to go to a gay bar with them.  He never gave an explanation, and she couldn’t understand why he was so obstinate about it.  She wasn’t asking him to go to any wild club or partake of any outrageous theme-oriented event.  It was just an ordinary night at an ordinary gay bar.  It was something that really bothered her, and although she knew that she could never change his mind, she still always asked him to accompany her, and always felt bad when he declined.

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Dinner at Il Mulino
’s was supposed to be a celebration. It was Justin’s and Kenny’s sixth-month anniversary together.

Justin was determined not to let that damn waiter ruin their evening.
All night he pretended the waiter’s flirtation with Kenny didn’t bother him, even though he was quietly seething inside. He didn’t doubt Kenny’s integrity when Kenny said he absentmindedly put the small card with the waiter’s phone number in his pocket. Kenny said he told the waiter that they were in a serious relationship and he wasn’t interested.  There was no reason for Justin to think Kenny wasn’t telling the truth, but insecurity and lingering self-doubt gnawed away at his self-confidence.

The waiter played him for a fool.  He waited until Justin was in the men
’s room before propositioning Kenny, and Kenny didn’t say anything about it until they were already in the car.  Justin wanted to go back into the restaurant and tell off the waiter, but Kenny stopped him.  There was no recourse for Justin’s bruised ego.

He drove out of the parking lot in a huff, and pressed his lips tightly together to silence a potentially vicious argument.  Humiliation was Justin
’s worst enemy.  It made him defensive and hostile, and he didn’t want to unleash his irrational behavior on Kenny. Justin felt it was best to cool off before explaining his anger, and hence, the silent treatment.

Justin trusted Kenny, but he was jealous
– jealous that the waiter hit on Kenny and jealous that Kenny didn’t immediately throw away the waiter’s phone number.  Justin also knew that his jealousy was fueled by the leftover baggage of David cheating on him, and that made him all the more angry.  Justin vowed to make it up to Kenny later, but right now he was ready to explode.  He clenched his teeth together so he wouldn’t lash out at Kenny, but it was hard to ignore Kenny’s pitiful desperate pleas for communication.

“
I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Justin said.

“
I told you I was sorry.  What else do you want me to say?”

Justin stared straight ahead
.

“
Honey, please talk to me.  I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Justin took his eyes off the road long enough to glare at the offending busi
ness card crumpled into a ball and tossed on the dashboard of the car.

“
Fine!  Kenny threw his hands up.  “If you don’t wanna talk to me, don’t fuckin’ talk to me!”

Neither one of the
m said anything for the rest of the drive to Heather’s house.  She was expecting them after dinner, and Justin wasn’t about to change their plans.  He was determined to salvage their anniversary.  He just needed a little time to calm down and deal with his emotions.

The horrified look on Kenny
’s face said that he didn’t expect to still go to Heather’s while they were in the middle of a fight.  But Justin ignored it, and walked briskly into the house and past Heather and Peter without saying anything.

Kenny chased after him. 
“How long are you going to keep this up?”

“
Not now, Kenny, please.”

“
Stop it!  Talk to me!”

Justin spun around and held his hands up in front of him. 
“Stop following me.  I need time to clear my head.”  He marched upstairs to the bedroom and left Kenny at the bottom of the steps staring up at him.

Chapter Thirty-Six:

It was the first time Heather saw Justin and Kenny argue, and it upset her.  She went to Kenny and put her hand on his arm. 
“What happened?” she asked.  “What are you fighting about?”

Kenny hung his head. 
“I don’t know if I should tell you.  I don’t wanna make him any madder than he already is.”

“
C’mon, let’s sit down.”  She put her arm around him and led him into the kitchen.  She looked closer at Kenny and could see a tear in his eye.  It tugged at her heart.  “What happened?” she asked softly.

“
He’s so mad, and he won’t talk to me about it.”  Kenny stared at his hands in his lap.  “I didn’t do anything.  I don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

She rubbed his arm. 
“I’ll go talk to him.”

She knocked on the bedroom door. 
“It’s me.  I’m coming in.”

Justin stood with his back to her, his hands on his hips, and stared down at the floor.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked.

“
I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“
What do you mean, you don’t wanna talk about it?”

“
Just what I said,” he spun around to face her, “I don’t wanna fuckin’ talk about it!”

“
Why can’t you tell me what happened?” She was persistent.  She wanted an answer.

“
What the hell is it with you two?  Can’t you leave me alone for 10 fuckin’ minutes?”

“
OK, calm down.”

“
Don’t tell me to fuckin’ calm down!”

“
OK!”  Heather rolled her eyes and shook her head.  She swore she’s had the same argument with Peter a dozen times.  “You know, Justin, you’re acting like a typical man right now.”  She waved her finger at him.  “You have a lot more testosterone in you than you think.”

He was appalled at her statement and gasped loudly.  He opened the bedroom door and gently pushed her through it. 
“Get out.  Just get out.  I don’t wanna talk to you right now either.”

She hung her mouth open in disbelief, insulted at his outburst, and withdrew from his touch
.  She stomped down the stairs and quickly re-joined Kenny in the kitchen.  “I can’t believe he just threw me out of my own bedroom!” she said.

Peter rushed into the room.
“You mean you’re the one he was yelling at?” he asked.

“
Yeah!”

Peter
’s face turned deep red.  She quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him from going upstairs.  “Don’t go up there,” she said.  “Leave him alone.”

“
I’m not going to let him blow up at you like that.  This is my fuckin’ house, and you’re my wife.  Who the fuck does he think he is?”

She wouldn
’t let go of his arm.  She couldn’t let him confront Justin.  “Peter,” she said, slowly and pointedly, “
do
not
get in the middle of an argument between Justin and me.”

“
If you expect me to let him yell at you and not do anything about it, you’re fucking crazier than he is!”

Peter pulled his arm violently out of her grasp.  It caught her off guard and she stumbled slightly.  Out of the corner of her eye, s
he saw Kenny jump in his chair.

“
Leave it alone,” she told Peter.  “Don’t get involved. He’s upset.  He didn’t mean it.”  She took Peter by both of his arms and forced him to sit at the table next to Kenny.

Peter clenched his jaw and glared at her, but otherwise remained silent.  He was fuming.  His eyes were ablaze and his face was beet red, but she didn
’t care.  She needed to keep him away from Justin.  Peter had a bad temper, and if he went at it with Justin, there’s no way it would end any other way than disastrous.  Things would never be the same.

Kenny folded his arms on the table and placed his head down. 
“What am I supposed to do?”

“
Give him some time,” Heather said.  “He just needs to calm down a little.”

“
Will you come upstairs with me and help me explain?  I’m afraid he won’t listen to me.”

She never saw Kenny so sad, and she felt bad for him. 
“You know how much I love you, Kenny, but I can’t do that.  I have no idea what happened between you two, but even if Justin’s a hundred percent wrong, I have to stand behind him.  I’m sorry.  I have to take his side,” she shrugged, “whatever it is.”

She heard the bedroom door swing open and Justin
’s footsteps descended loudly on the stairs.  She smirked at him as he walked toward the kitchen.  She was still annoyed at him for the way he spoke to her.

Justin walked straight up to her, put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her on the lips, but she abruptly turned her face away from him.

“What’s the matter?” He was hurt by her rejection.  “You don’t wanna kiss me?”

“
No.  I don’t.  Not when you yell at me like that.”

“
Oh, sweetie.”  Justin chuckled and put his arms around her, but she stiffened and kept her arms folded across her chest.

“
I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Justin said. “When I heard you say that you’d stand behind me, even if I was dead wrong, I felt so bad.”  He hugged her tighter and rubbed her back with one hand.  “I’m sorry.  You know I love you.”

Heather
melted at his touch, but she still wouldn’t unfold her arms. She wanted to maintain a barrier of self-righteousness.  “Don’t talk to me like that ever again,” she said.