The Pride Trilogy: Kyle Callahan 1-3 Read Online Free

correspondent is,” he said slowly, causing Kyle to blush. “I know what a good one is, too.”
    Kyle started to protest in defense of his boss, but Danny cut him off with a wave of his hand. “It’s great she’s learning Japanese, it really is,” Danny said. “She’ll be able to tell her bosses to fuck off in their own language, maybe do a proper bow with it before they fire her.”
    “She’s learned her lesson.”
    “Several times.”
    Danny saw the hurt on Kyle’s face. “I’m sorry. I know you’re devoted to her, but she’s not the one you’re marrying. And she’ll get over the trauma of standing three people to the side, back row I’m sure, at the opening bell of the Stock Exchange. She can be your best man . . . or best woman or however it’s done with gay people.”
    The two men had been talking about marriage since the law passed in New York. They’d been cautious, not wanting to get caught up in the emotions of the moment. They decided against rushing down to City Hall as they thought many couples had without really thinking it through. But they were in negotiations, so to speak.
    Danny began hanging his shirts in the closet and putting his underwear, socks and sundries in the top dresser drawer.
    Kyle rolled his suitcase into a corner by the nightstand on his side of the bed. He tended to vacation out of his suitcase and was never in a hurry to unpack. This was not their apartment, and he figured the task of hanging up shirts and pants could wait until morning. His real concern was his camera. He’d upgraded to a Nikon D3100. At $600 it wasn’t all that top of the line, but it was the best he’d ever had and he was extremely protective of it, treating it the way a violinist might treat a Stradivarius. He had been in love with photography since his father gave him a new camera for his fortieth birthday. Late in life to find a passion, but not too late.
    Kyle checked his camera to make sure he had the battery charger and the USB cable to upload photos to his laptop. He’d checked at home before they left, but these were the sorts of small details people tended to run through their minds over and over: Did I turn the stove off, did I lock the door? Once he confirmed he had not forgotten anything, he sat on the edge of the bed and took out his phone. He scrolled through his emails and saw that Danny was right, as he knew he would be. Seven emails from Imogene, all stealth with subject lines like, “HAVE A GREAT TIME!” and “TAKE LOTS OF PIX FOR ME!” She had never accepted that all-caps was bad form. And below the screaming demands that he enjoy himself she would type something frantic, urgent, or personal-time-interrupting. Kyle had been onto this trick for years but she still thought he fell for it.
    He decided to keep his promise to Danny and leave Imogene’s emails until the morning, when he could respond to them calmly, reassuring her that the earth had not shifted beneath her feet the past twenty-four hours. He was just about to turn off his phone when he saw the alert for a text message. Odd, he thought, looking at the time stamp. It had come in at 10:00 p.m. but they’d been on the road then. He hadn’t heard any alert, and he never had his phone on vibrate. The text was from Teddy Pembroke, Pride Lodge’s jack-of-all-trades. Teddy had been with the Lodge for fifteen years and was the only person other than Sid and Dylan who lived on the property.
    The text read: “Let me know when u arrive. Things have gone wrong. Acceptance.”
    “Hmm,” Kyle said, staring at the message, then looking at the nightstand: 11:30 p.m.
    “What?” asked Danny, zipping up his now-empty suitcase and sliding it under the bed.
    “Teddy texted me.” He showed Danny the message. “Is it too late to call?”
    “Yes,” Danny said, glancing at the clock. “And what’s with the ‘acceptance’?”
    “It’s a quote, from the book they use in Alcoholics Anonymous. Kind of a mantra for him. I