“I know, but I feel like sex workers are more Jesus’s area than Siddhartha’s.” Lee passed a hand over his eyes and then looked at Zack. “Well, I suppose I’m glad you told me. I mean, it’s not a career path I would choose for myself, but I’m not going to judge you. Sorry for how I reacted.”

“That was pretty much what I expected, if it helps,” Zack said. “The horror, the disbelief, the five stages of grief. I’m used to it. You did pretty good.” Lee started to deny it, but Zack insisted, “No, really. Imagine if I told my parents.”

“Oh, they’d die. And they’d take you with them.” Lee gave a low whistle while pantomiming something dropping. When it hit the table, he imitated an explosion. “It’d be apocalyptic. Nothing left. Don’t ever tell them.”

“I don’t intend to,” Zack said. The waitress brought their beers. “Sadly, I’m not finished. This is one of those ‘in order to tell you this story, I must first tell you that story’ situations.”

“Okay,” Lee said, bracing himself. “I’m ready.”

“You’re really not,” Kira chimed in. “Trust me, it’s about to get weird.”

“Thank you. You know the guy I’m seeing? John?”

“Yeah, of course.” Lee gasped. “You haven’t told him what you do?”

“Quite the opposite.” Zack scratched the back of his head. “He used to be a client of mine.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he called in one day, and we got to talking—”

“—like you do when you’re a PSO,” Kira interjected.

“Like you do,” Zack agreed, “and at first it was just sex, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

“I’d rather not,” Lee said.

“Fair enough. But anyway, then we ran into each other at that club—”

“Oh, that’s why you freaked out that night!” Lee exclaimed.

“May I finish, please?” Zack asked. “Jesus, this is like the night I told Kira and Alexa all over again.”

“Sorry,” Lee said. “Continue.”

“Anyway, we met by accident, but then he asked me out on a date, and it turns out he’s really smart and sweet and gorgeous, and we’ve been seeing each other ever since. Oh, and if my boss finds out, I’m fired.” Zack held his beer up in a mock toast. “Also, I accidentally told John I loved him, and he’s been weird ever since. The end.”

It was Kira’s turn to look flummoxed. “Zack, are you serious?”

“As the grave!” he replied with a cheerful wink.

“Did he say it back?”

“No, but only because I stopped him. I said I wanted to forget it happened. I think that’s why he hasn’t brought it up since.”