Page 13 of Angel

Noel pouts at Sebastian. Well, I think he’s trying for a scowl, but it definitely looks more like a pout.

Ever since Noel’s boyfriend, Bellamy, moved to the city, the two of them have been attached at the hip. He even wants to bring Bellamy to our standing monthly brunch dates.

But these brunch dates are sacred, damn it. It’s been the four of us for years: Sebastian, the leader; Noel, the bad boy; Hayden, the golden retriever; and me, the sassy one.

We’re the original members of The Camboy Network, this thing Sebastian put together to help content creators pool resources. It’s grown since then, evolving into a studio and production company. But the four of us have been friends and camming collaborators since long before any of that happened. Long before Noel started dating Bellamy, and even before Sebastian started dating his boyfriend, Christian.

“But Bellamy doesn’t have any friends here.” Noel protests.

Sebastian levels a stern look at him. “If I can live without Christian for a couple hours on a Sunday, then you can live without Bellamy for just as long.”

Noel’s scowl deepens, but that only makes him look poutier. I’m almost tempted to reach over and pinch his cheek. But I don’t have a death wish.

Noel is secretly a squishy marshmallow on the inside, but his outside is genuinely prickly.

Sebastian turns away from him, discussion about boyfriends at brunch obviously closed, and redirects his attention to me. “So, Rhys, how was your dad’s birthday party?”

I whine, slumping in my chair. How was it? Exactly how I thought it would be and entirely unexpected at the same time. “I don’t know. Fine, I guess?”

Hayden shoots me a sympathetic look. We already debriefed when I got home that day—when I snuck out of the party after running away from Angel. I still can’t quite believe that whole conversation happened. Like, wha…?

“Were your parents bad?” Sebastian’s brow furrows in concern, and I can already tell that his mind is whirring. Sebastian is the problem-solver of the group. He’s never faced a challenge he couldn’t find a solution to.

“They were fine,” I say, waving my hand dismissively. They will be what they are. There’s no changing that. “It’s…”

I sneak a glance at Hayden who gives me an encouraging nod. I told him all about Angel and we engaged in the requisite internet stalking. A lot of his photos are old or he’s standing at the back of a group. They don’t do justice to the yummy teddy bear I sat next to on my childhood bed.

I take a deep breath so I can let it all out in a dramatic sigh. “There was a guy.”

Sebastian’s eyes light up. Even Noel cocks an eyebrow in interest.

“A guy?!” Sebastian leans forward, pushing his empty plate out of the way so he can plant his elbows on the table. “Who is he? What’s his name? How do you know him? Does he know about what you do?”

Hayden snickers at the barrage of questions Sebastian throws at me.

I lift my hands, as if I can physically fend them off. “Whoa. Chill. It’s not like that. Angel is straight. I think.”

That word comes out a little strangled.

He said he wasn’t gay. My gaydar was a flat line almost the entire time we spoke. Okay, there were those couple moments when the video of me and Hayden popped up where the needle wiggled, but that’s clearly within the margin of error. And listen, I’m the last person to make assumptions about someone based on their appearance, but he doesn’t look gay at all. He looks completely, entirely, one-hundred-percent straight.

Straight and narrow, in fact, if that little gold crucifix he wears around his neck is any indication. It must have been tucked under his shirt at the party, because I didn’t notice it. But it was in almost every picture Hayden and I found online.

Everyone in the old neighborhood is Catholic. Some, like my family, are the Christmas and Easter types. But there are definitely pockets of more devout families. Angel’s must be one of them.

But what kind of dutiful, straight, Christian boy asks about doing gay porn? About gay for pay?

And the way his ears went red-hot. How still he got when that damn video started playing. Jesus. It was a good thing my jeans were so tight, or else the bulge between my legs would’ve been obscene.

Sebastian’s head is cocked to the side. “You think? Meaning he might not be straight?”

I wince. I probably shouldn’t be talking about Angel’s sexuality behind his back, right? And it’s not like I’m going to see the guy again, so who cares if he’s straight or gay or whatever?

Hayden reaches over and rubs my arm in a comforting gesture. I lean into the touch.

“He asked whether a straight guy can do gay porn,” I say.

Noel chokes on the Bellini he’s sipping. “Jesus fuck. You can’t spring something like that on us without warning.”

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