Facade

him.”
    “Strange that, coming from a man I just made love to,” Jonas said, trying to make light of the situation.
    “Ah, but you see, Joe. I don’t love you. I’ve known you for so long, I’m immune to your charms.”
    Jonas saw the smugness in Scott’s face and the way he was looking at Ally and realized something about his friends. “You set us up, didn’t you?”
    “Set up?” Scott replied, trying too hard to look innocent.
    “You know,” Ally intervened, “I think I’ll go help Nicky get dry. You two fight among yourselves.” She teasingly stuck out her tongue at Jonas and weaved around him to enter the living room carrying the clothes Scott had brought down.
    “Yes, set up,” Jonas continued after watching Ally leave.
    “Nicky and I? You introduced us and figured we’d like each other.”
    “Can’t take the blame for that, I’m afraid, Joe. Was Ally’s idea that you two deserved each other.”
    “Would you hate me if I said she’s probably right?” Scott took Jonas’s head in a vice grip and rubbed his knuckles over the top of his skull. When he let go, he looked at the startled American with a smug look. “Just don’t tell her that. I’d never hear the end of it! Seriously Joe, you know I lied when I said I didn’t love yeh, but you deserve someone of your own.”
    “That’s not easy in my line of work, and he’s….” Jonas pointed at the door. “I don’t know if he’s strong enough to deal with that.”
    “Only one way to find out,” Scott smiled broadly. “And pushing him away every time is not the way to go about it. Trust me.”

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    131
    Jonas raised an eyebrow.
    “Do you know how many great women I lost by telling them I liked blokes too and wasn’t about to give them up? Not that I blame them, of course, and it did bring me to Ally, but you gotta go for it, Joe. As it stands now, you don’t have him anyway, right?” Jonas chuckled. “So what did Ally say when you told her?” Scott’s eyes shone. “She said, ‘Okay, fine, but pick one guy and stick with him, wear a condom, and you’re letting me watch!’ I swear she didn’t even blink!”
    They were both laughing hard when Ally reappeared. “Think you can go in there now and not bite his head off?” she asked Jonas.
    Jonas nodded, but she held him back before he entered. “He’s vulnerable, Jonas. Don’t make any big decisions in there, just talk to him, okay? And I’d like to get him to a hospital so they can check him over but he doesn’t want to go. I’m worried he’s got some broken bones, but he says no.”
    “I’ll see what I can do,” Jonas said, calmer now, before opening the door hesitantly and walking into his living room.
    Ally had lit some lamps and it felt cozy, the rain still pounding incessantly against the large windows. Nicky was on the couch, legs up, and adjusting the draping of the large towel covering them.
    Jonas could tell he was only using his left hand, leaving his right one in his lap.
    “Need any help with that?” he asked gently.
    “No thank you,” Nicky answered, nose up in the air, but his lips thin from pinching them.
    “Ally says you hurt yourself.”
    “I’ll be fine by the morning, and then I’ll get out of your hair.” The rehearsed arrogance of Nicky’s expression and his own nervousness made it hard for Jonas to keep a straight face. Every time Nicky felt out of sorts, insecure, he returned to his “Prima Donna” persona as Jonas liked to call it, regarding everything with disdain and turning up his nose as if he was smelling something 132
    Zahra
    Owens
    foul. This time was no different. Jonas had caught him in the act of doing something that was frankly not very friendly, he was in an environment he had not been in before, and he was alone. He had no allies here, at least not in his mind.
    “You can stay as long as you need to,” Jonas stated. “Ally thinks you should see a doctor.”
    “I’m fine,” Nicky repeated.
    “Okay,” Jonas acknowledged. “Then can you explain to me what you were doing?”
    Nicky gave him a questioning look, without actually making eye contact.
    “Were you stalking me?”
    “I was doing no such thing!” Nicky answered with great indignation. When Jonas didn’t immediately respond, he added. “I simply came to pay you a visit.”
    “Visitors usually come through the front door, after ringing the doorbell. Some even call beforehand to ask whether it’s appropriate to drop by.” Jonas tried