Page 61 of Breaking Free

I break off a piece of my toast and pick up a clump of eggs before tossing it in my mouth. He digs in, and while we’re silently eating, all I can think about is him saying he stayed at a friend’s house. Not that that’s not true, though we’re slightly more than friends, right? I can’t blame him. We’re having fun—secret fun at that, and nobody knows about me, let alone us. If there is an us.

I shake my head as I take another bite.

“You’re in your head again,” he says from the other side of the table.

“It’s nothing.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Campbell.”

I already miss the sound of my first name from his lips. Maybe the fact that he only calls me by my last name is a reflection of how casual this thing is. Last night he said he liked me, but you like your friends, too.

Annoyed with myself, I pull myself out of those thoughts, knowing he’ll never think of us as anything serious as long as I’m in the closet and lying to everyone. That’s on me, not him.

The doorbell rings incessantly, jolting both of us upright. My eyes widen as my heart beats so hard in my chest it nearly hurts.

Standing up, I creep over to the window and glance to the driveway and see Jayden’s car pulled up behind Dominic’s.

“Well, shit,” I say.

“Who is it?”

“Jay.”

He watches me closely, waiting for me to panic. “We can say I just stopped by for something. No big deal. Maybe I needed notes from chemistry class or something.”

The bell continues to ring, so I take a breath and walk to the door, pulling it open.

Jay looks confused and somewhat surprised that I even answered. “Hey,” he says, dragging the word out slightly. “Umm...is that Dom’s car?” he asks, jerking his thumb to what we both know is Dom’s car.

“Yeah.”

He peeks over my shoulder but can’t see where Dominic sits. “Okay.” Again, the word drags out, his eyes studying me and waiting for more.

“Wanna come in?”

I hear Dom’s chair slide across the floor and the clattering of dishes like he’s hiding evidence of our breakfast together.

“Sure,” Jay replies, his eyes landing on my neck.

I back up, allowing him inside before closing the door. My heart is still rapidly beating in my chest, ready to explode. I hope I’m playing it as cool as I think I am.

Dominic’s standing in the kitchen, leaning over the island with his phone in his hand. “Hey, man,” he greets.

Jay lifts his chin. “Hey. What’s goin’ on?”

“Not much,” Dom says casually. “Just needed some papers from Campbell.”

Jay’s eyes bounce between us, his eyes once again focusing on the slight hickey on my neck. It’s uncomfortably quiet as we all stare at each other.

With a short chuckle, Jay says, “What...is happening?”

I sigh. “Umm.” With a quick look at Dominic, I convey as well as I can that I’m about to tell him. Dom dips his head slightly in an acknowledging nod. “Me and Dominic are...kinda messing around.”

Dom’s lips turn up on one side, amused with how I worded it.

Jay laughs. “I’m sorry, what?” He looks to Dominic for confirmation, but all he does is shrug. “You’re kinda messing around? First of all, since when do you like men, and since when with y’all two, because I thought for a minute that y’all were far from friends.”

Dominic is no help as he just looks at me, waiting to hear my response, his eyes bright with interest and mirth.

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