Go
Go!!
Anosanim had been hard on Ritek because he’d been disappointed in Ritek’s behavior. He’d hoped for better, had wanted to be friends. But Ritek kept making the wrong move in the wrong way at the wrong time. He’d thought, however, that Ritek had been acting out of a seducer’s arrogance. He’d assumed that Ritek’s ego was at the root of it all, not any actual interest in him.
But if Ritek was jealous - - well, it didn’t excuse everything, but it was a better explanation.
Softening his tone, Anosanim said, “No. I don’t intend to see him again. Socially, of course, but not more intimately. We’re not as compatible as I had thought that we might be.”
Ritek’s composure was back. His tone was what Anosanim would’ve described as “cool” before meeting Xio Voe. “He’s not well-suited to you.”
“What I’d like,” Anosanim said, “is to find someone I’m compatible with first, and then engage in sex. I think that the sex will be all the more enjoyable with someone who knows me.” Talin was so happy with Hitari, Anosanim thought that it might be nice to have someone, too. Someone to be close with. He suspected that he and Ritek had a lot in common; they could become very good friends, he thought, if Ritek would stop all of this arrogance and posturing. “Sex is easy to find. True companionship is a lot more valuable to me.” He might care more about sex if it weren’t as readily available, but as things stood, he found the notion of a steady partner more appealing than the notion of a short-term fling. He was so busy that he preferred to spend his time wisely, and he’d rather invest in a long-term relationship than scatter his time broadly with various brief affairs.
Ritek’s mouth firmed. “I wish you well in that.”
All right, then. “Thank you.” If Ritek wasn’t interested in an emotional investment, then that was his choice. With their positions clarified, it was now abundantly clear that they had no further purpose in conversing any longer. What they wanted was at odds. Anosanim turned to go.
“Your Highness.”
Aha. Hiding his smile, halfway through the office door, Anosanim turned back. “Yes?”
The muscles in Ritek’s jaw bunched. “I would like very much to take you to dinner. At your convenience.”
