Page 55 of Blaze & Ajax

“What do you mean?”

“You look… less stiff and pissy.”

Cueball’s amber eyes brightened as he took a bite of his lox and cream cheese bagel, but he said nothing.

“So? I’m allowed to have good days.”

Stone shook his head, scoffed, and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Don’t fucking tell me then.”

I forgot he could be as surly as me sometimes.

Maybe this was a good time to make those changes in myself, to open up more and let people in. Cueball and Stone were my friends. They hadn’t turned their backs on me, either, though I’d given them no reason to stick around.

“Fine, I’m… doing good. Things are starting to pick up, and I’ve been seeing someone.”

“Ajax?” Stone asked.

I choked on a bite of bagel, and Cueball patted my back as I drank down some coffee.

“What?” I squeaked when I came up for air.

Ajax and I didn’t talk about being exclusive, per se, and we never talked about what we would tell our friends or if we even would. Despite him telling me I was his, and he was mine, we still never said a word about it.

Stone shrugged, ignoring my sudden panic. “Just like Nacho and Pippin, you and Ajax are a couple of dumbasses who don’t realize the rest of us see you all as clear as day.”

“Yep,” Cueball added unhelpfully.

“How’d…”

Nacho and Pippin were obviously best friends, googly-eyeing each other every five minutes, while Nacho was obsessed with protecting Pippin. Yeah, they were clear as day, but Ajax and me? No way.

“You two have been at each other’s throats since that day you tossed a beer at Stix. That was like seven months ago, dude. Suddenly, you two aren’t fighting anymore, and Ajax isn’t all up in your face like usual. Not to mention, you freaked out a while back when Cueball accused you of being interested in Ajax. We just put two and two together. I mean, it wasn’t hard.”

Well, shit.

I set my bagel down on my plate and wiped my hands on the cheap, thin napkin.

“Fine,” I sighed. “You’re right. We’ve definitely had a thing going on for about two months now. It started out as a… spontaneous thing, but it’s grown since then. I… like him. And he likes me… I think, for some strange reason. We haven’t talked about telling anyone yet, which is why we’ve been silent about it.”

“Does he know?” Cueball asked. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“He knows.”

“All of it?”

I nodded. “He knows all of it.”

“Good. I’m proud of you.”

My face burned at the compliment. It was rare coming from Cueball. Hell, it was rare for me to receive one, period. Fuck, it was weird being all smiles and shy and shit. I almost wanted to revert to my dickhead ways, barely recognizing myself, but I couldn’t. I needed to suck it up and move forward, not backward.

“Knows what?” Stone asked.

“It’s… deeply personal. Not even Cueball here knows it all. Just… I don’t think I have the energy to talk about it again. At least, not right now.”

Stone frowned, but nodded. “That’s cool. We all have our secrets. Just know that I’m here for you. We all care about you for some god knows reason.”

“Yep,” Cueball agreed, still being unhelpful.

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