"Was it a lie?" I asked later, after I got calmer. After we both got calmer.
He looked taken aback, as if I was about to accuse him of mortal sins, hands pausing in the air as he tried to fetch a warm robe for me. "What is?"
"That you..." I fiddled with the edge of my clothes, feeling embarrassed even as I asked it. "That you couldn't come with me today..."
Oh gosh--now I sounded like a spoiled man who felt petty because his boyfriend didn't accompany him for an outing. So mature, Val.
"No," he grabbed the robe from the drawer and draped it over me, as he looked me straight in the eyes. "I might not tell you everything, but I wouldn't lie to you."
"So...you're really in a conference?"
"Yes," he stroked my cheek slightly, before pulling me to my feet. "I was escaping the luncheon."
Ah, right. It was right at lunch break. I felt like I heard something about him wanting to take me to lunch before I cut him off and went inside the chamber.