Page 52 of Cross the Line

“Not for the Lions. You saw me play as a kid, and even a few high school games, but you’ve never been to one of my college games.”

“That can’t be possible.”

“It’s not a big deal. You were busy and it’s just, whatever.”

Except it doesn’t feel like whatever. It feels like the exact opposite. Theo opens his mouth, maybe to apologize or get Alec to keep talking, but he’s interrupted by the arrival of their food. As the tray passes through the window, Alec snatches his Coke like a goblin, lips curling around the straw as he chugs.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he mutters after a moment, turning his eyes on Theo with a playful smirk. “Pass over a fry and no one gets hurt.”

“Who’s gonna hurt me?” Theo asks, pretending to think it over. “You’re the size of Rio.”

“Fucking excuse you?” Alec lowers his soda into the cupholder. “I’ll show you small, you fucker.”

Above them the neon lights from the restaurant flicker, the sounds of people around them talking dim to background noise, and the only thing Theo has eyes for is Alec and the way he’s trying to crawl over the center console. Alec looks happy, relaxed even, and Theo knows he’s completely screwed, because he wants to do anything and everything to make sure Alexander King never stops smiling.

“Open the door,” someone bellows. A very loud, familiar someone.

Theo wastes no time hurrying to the front door before Jason bangs the damn thing down. Swinging the front door open, he’s met with the sight of a smiling Jason, a six pack of beer under one arm and a pizza in the other.

“Well, hello there, stranger. Long time no see.”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Theo protests even as he knows it has, at least for them.

“Not that long,” Jason mimics. “You skipped Friday night pizza two weeks in a row and were busy all weekend. That makes it thirteen days since we hung out. Thirteen, dude.”

“You counted?”

“Shut up and let me in,” Jason grumbles good-naturedly. “A man notices when his best friend disappears.”

“I didn’t disappear. I replied to your text messages.”

“Yeah, in one word replies, with punctuation. I let you have some time to figure it out, and now it’s time for the big guns. I’m bringing out the contract.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m so serious,” Jason says, moving past Theo to head inside the house and deposit the pizza and beer on the coffee table before pulling his wallet from his back pocket. He flips open the worn brown leather of his trifold wallet, thumbing through pieces of paper and money. He’s the only person Theo knows who always has cash. He’s pretty sure it’s because he’s addicted to the vending machines at the high school, but it’s endearing just the same.

Shoved beneath his driver's license is a folded up piece of paper that Theo hasn’t seen in over a decade.

“You did not keep that.”

“I did.” Jason grins, looking satisfied as hell with himself. He unfolds the paper, clearing his throat before reading it, “I Theodore James, promise not to be a giant dickface?—”

“I didn’t write dickface,” Theo interrupts.

“It's a dramatic reading. I'm giving it flair.” Jason smirks. He clears his throat again, starting from the beginning. “If you insist on historical accuracy, I’ll read it as you wrote it. Okay, here goes. ‘I, Theo, promise not to shut out my best friend, even when I’m scared. Signed, Theo and Jason.’”

There’s something burning in Theo’s gut, but whether it’s love or guilt he can’t be sure. Jason had made him write and sign that when he’d found out Theo had been scared to come out as bisexual. He’d thought it was just Jason being dramatic as always, and the idea that he kept it and has been holding onto it for thirteen years is more than Theo can bear.

“I wrote that when I was sixteen, Jason.”

“Yeah, well, apparently it's a good thing I kept it, isn’t it? Now pop open a beer, eat some pizza, and tell me what’s going on.”

“You could’ve just called me,” Theo says.

“And given you a chance to pretend to be busy? Not a chance. You can’t avoid me for two weeks and not face the consequences.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Theo lies like a goddamn liar.

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