Marie Sexton - Between Sinners And Saints by Marie Sexton Read Free Book Online Page A

dropped for a few minutes as they poured drinks and collected cash.
Once they were alone again, Max said, “I knew a guy once— well, I didn’t know him, but he was my roommate’s uncle, so I heard about him. Anyway, this guy was HIV positive and had a latex allergy.”
Levi whistled. “Brutal.”
“No shit. Talk about getting shafted. And not in the way he liked.”
Levi shook his head. “He says it’s not HIV.”
“Hepatitis?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who is this guy, anyway?” Max asked, looking around the bar as if Jaime might be there wearing a sign that read, I won’t fuck Levi Binder. “I want to meet him.”
“He’s not here.”
“Who is he?”
“None of your goddamn business.”
Max laughed. “Wow, he’s got you good, doesn’t he? Never had anybody say no before, Levi?”
Not very damn often, but Levi was saved from answering by another rush of thirsty patrons.
“So what you gonna do?” Max asked the next time they had a break between customers. “You gonna chalk this guy up as a nut job ’cause he actually can resist you or you gonna obsess on it ’til you can nail him?”
“I guess that’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Levi said.
“Hey, Zeke!” Max said, and Levi turned to see one of the owners enter the narrow space behind the bar he and Max occupied. “Levi’s got a puzzle to solve.”
Zeke was fifty, give or take a few years. He owned The Zone with his long-time partner Owen. Owen mostly handled the books and was rarely seen around the bar when it was open, but Zeke was usually around until two or three in the morning and had even been known to cover for some of the bartenders while they took quick breaks in the back room with willing guests. He was quiet and didn’t have much of a sense of humor, but he was damn easy to work for.
“What’s the puzzle?” he asked.
“Levi met some guy who refuses to be swayed by his charming advances and he can’t figure out why,” Max said.
Zeke turned to Levi with one eyebrow up and a knowing smile on his face, and Levi felt himself blush. “Must be losing your mojo,” Zeke said, and Max laughed. Zeke pulled out a bottle of Jaegermeister and poured three shots. “Is this really the first time in your life anyone’s ever said no?” he asked as he handed one to Levi.
“It’s not because he said no,” Levi said defensively as he looked down at the shot in his hand. He hated Jaegermeister, but when the boss handed you a drink, it seemed wise to drink it. He swallowed the alcohol, wincing at the licorice taste, and put the empty glass in the sink. “What confuses me is that he got all weird about it. He freaked out a little bit, like he was scared. And he said it wasn’t because he doesn’t want to, but because he can’t. ”
Zeke seemed to ponder that. One of Max’s regulars came up then, a doe-eyed man who may as well have had “dominate me” tattooed across his forehead. They put their heads together to talk. Zeke watched them, and when Max glanced his way, Zeke shrugged. That was the green light, so they headed for the back room.
“You know, Levi,” Zeke said when they were gone, “Owen dated a guy once, back before we met. This guy freaked out if Owen tried to go down on him. Turned out when he was twelve, he had a foster mother who liked to go down on him, too.”
“Oh God,” Levi said in disgust.
“Exactly.” Zeke wasn’t looking at him. He was staring into his still-full shot glass as if it was a Magic Eight-ball and was about to reveal the answer. “The thing is, sometimes he wanted it. Sometimes he wanted it so much, Owen said it was all he could think about it. So they’d try, and one of two things would happen: either he’d freak out halfway through and end up in tears, or he’d get off on it. Owen said him getting off was worse because then he’d feel guilty and ashamed, and he’d be depressed for a week. Sometimes more.”
“Jesus Christ,” Levi said, shaking his head. “What happened?”
Zeke