Page 33 of Beautifully Devoted

“I wasn’t gonna say that, fucker.” I ball up a piece of paper from my desk and huck it at him. “But to be fair they are pretty important. You can’t procreate without them.”

“True, but the assignment was to pick the most intriguing part of the anatomy, not the most important, so you could pick the neck since it allows you to swivel your head, or the abs since they help with balance. Even if you stick with thumbs, since they can hold things, there’s nothing wrong with giving several different examples of things to hold.”

And now I’m back to dicks. Great.

Cam freezes for a moment, like someone has pressed pause on time. Then his lips morph into a mischievous smirk as he glances at me from where he’s reclined on my bed. “That’s the issue, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve got an example of what to hold, but you can’t write a paper about holding your dick.”

Sometimes I hate how well he can read me. “What makes you think I’d want to?”

“The red tint taking over your face.”

“You’re no help.” I spin back to face my desk and stare—again—at the blinking cursor. “You can go back to your room now.”

“Hey, come on. Obviously, it crossed my mind too or I wouldn’t have been able to call you out on it. I mean, your red face gave me a hint, but still.” I hear a crinkling noise as something hits the back of my head, and I realize he threw my paper ball back at me.

Maybe I should just say it. Tell him what’s really been on my mind.

“Yeah, but I keep thinking about it.” I swivel to face him. “I have been ever since I walked in on Liam and Cruz.” Somehow, I stop myself from saying anything more, giving him a chance to respond before I spew words I can’t take back.

“Yeah, I figured that rabbit hole might go pretty deep. Sounds like you need to get laid. Get your head—both of ‘em—off that hamster wheel.” Cam shrugs as if it’s obvious, and yeah, it kind of is, except for the whole with who thing.

“Not a whole lot of options for that right now,” I mutter.

“Wasn’t there a girl texting you a few weeks back?”

“For a repeat, which I don’t do. Besides.” I pick at a non-existent piece of lint on my shorts, so I don’t have to look at him. “Girls haven’t really got me excited in a while, remember?”

“You were serious about that?” I can hear the shock in his voice even if I can’t see it.

“Why would I lie about that?”

The lack of an answer has me bringing my eyes to his.

“You had just walked in on Liam and Cruz, so I thought that was something you made up to justify asking to see my dick.” His words are measured, like he chose them with the utmost care.

God, I hope I don’t regret this. “It was justification, but I didn’t make it up.”

Cam’s tongue darts out to swipe over his lip. “You aren’t interested in girls?”

“Let’s not get hasty.” I shake my head slowly back and forth, since it’s not like girls don’t appeal at all. “But the urge isn’t as strong as it used to be.”

“So…” He draws the word out like it’ll somehow cushion the blow of his next question. The one I’m pretty sure we’ve both been avoiding for weeks. “Are you trying to tell me you like guys, too?”

“Maybe?”

Cam’s so still I’m honestly not sure he’s breathing, but I’m not either as I wait for him to react.

He blinks, clears his throat, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob thickly as he swallows. When he finally speaks, I have to strain to hear the words. “Does that mean asking to see my dick wasn’t a cross it off the list sort of thing?”

“It was a cross it off the list thing. Then.”

“And now?” He swallows again, brown eyes regarding me warily.

Guess I’m really doing this.

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