The Arrangement by Felice Stevens Page A

did a reverse look-up of Carter’s telephone number, which proved to be a bust. As suspected, the phone was registered to his office and therefore provided Reed no personal information. All it did was make him more anxious, thinking up reasons why Carter could only meet him for one weekend a month.
    It all came back, Reed decided, to that conversation he’d overheard the last time they were together. In their time apart, Reed had built up an entire make-believe world for Carter, one that most likely included a wife and child. Reed imagined Carter living a closeted life and using this one weekend away to live out his true need to be who he really was.
    As quickly as he built up that fantasy, Reed shot it down and dismissed his crazy thoughts. All it proved was he spent too much time watching made-for-television movies. Carter was simply a busy man who didn’t want or have time for a relationship. Maybe the person he spoke to was his mother. Reed imagined Carter had a nice family with loving parents.
    It didn’t stop him from wishing, however, that they could have a little bit of time together like a couple instead of spending their entire weekend holed up in bed. God knows he wasn’t complaining about the sex. When they were together it was all he could do to keep his hands off Carter, but it would be nice to go out to dinner and walk the streets of the city. Pretend what they had was real when it was anything but.
    By the time their allotted weekend arrived, Reed had worked up a plan that in his head seemed plausible, but now that he was close to bringing it to fruition, had him worrying about Carter’s reaction. Would he be okay with it or dismiss it outright? What if he got angry and told him to go home for the weekend? Even worse, Carter could end their arrangement altogether. The thoughts tumbled through his mind, making Reed dizzy and ill with anxiety.
    But first he had to do his shift at the bar, where hopefully he could forgo thinking about Carter, if only for a few hours. Unlikely to happen, but Reed forced himself to sit down, relax, and do some deep breathing, ultimately centering himself and gaining some control.
    The weather refused to cooperate and outside sleet pelted down from a stark night sky while the blustery raw wind howled. At his last glance through the front windows Reed watched as people’s umbrellas buffeted about, blown inside out, and he was grateful to be inside, warm and dry. The few desultory customers who had showed up nursed their drinks as if deciding whether to stick it out or give up and head home, hoping for a better tomorrow.
    “Go on, get out of here already.” Vernon gave him a nudge. “I know you got plans; I saw your bag. You’ve been pretty useless here all night, anyway.”
    “I haven’t done anything.” Reed poured a few glasses of beer and gave them to the guy waiting at the bar. “Here you go. That’ll be eleven dollars.”
    Vernon snorted. “That’s the point. You ain’t done nothing. All you do is bounce up and down, talk under your breath, and keep checking the clock. It’s like standing next to someone who’s gotta go to the bathroom but can’t.”
    With a guilty smile, Reed handed the customer his change, then turned to talk to Vernon directly. “Am I really that antsy?” At Vernon’s pointed look, Reed felt his face burn and dropped his gaze to the floor, mumbling, “I guess you’re right.”
    “It’s that guy again, am I right? The one you left with last month? He’s your boyfriend, ain’t he?”
    From the first, Vernon’s acceptance of his sexuality surprised Reed; he’d expected to have to hide being gay, figuring Vernon, being older, would automatically be conservative and disapproving. But Vernon’s daughter had come out several years ago as a lesbian, and she was his whole life; Clara could do no wrong. If Clara was a lesbian, Vernon told him, he had no problem with Reed being gay.
    “Not really.” How the hell could he explain it to