Page 34 of Perfect Blend

I unlocked my door for him and grabbed the peanut M&M’s from the back of my cupboard. He came in a few minutes later.

“I thought you’d be getting sweaty with Mikey after all the eye-fucking you two did on stage.”

I groaned and buried my face in the crook of my elbow.

“Peanut M&M’s? Shit must be serious. What’s going on, man?” He lifted my legs and sat at the other end of my couch, then dropped my legs on his lap.

While crunching on candies, I began the story. “So, have you ever heard of Discord?”

A while later, as my story concluded, the M&M’s bag sat empty between us.

“Let me get this straight. You discovered that the guy you’ve been talking to nearly every day for the past year is the guy you’re crushing on in person.”

“Yes.”

“A guy you are attracted to, can talk to, and trust.”

I shifted uneasily. “Yeah.”

“Why am I here and not him?” He looked genuinely confused. “I know you’ve been burned, but shit, D. If I found out that the guy I had the hots for was someone I could talk to about anything, I’d be doing naked cartwheels through downtown.”

I cracked a half smile. “I know Ishouldfeel excited. Hell, Iam. I really am. But it’s a lot.”

Bailey leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend. Someone you could share this stuff with so you didn’t feel like you had to talk to a stranger.” He shook his head. “I had no idea you had someone so important in your life.”

My heart dropped to my feet. “Bailey, no. That’s not why I went online. You’re the best friend I could ask for. I was embarrassed by what happened with Travis and didn’t want to admit it out loud. Or risk making you uncomfortable with how close your families are.”

“Fuck Travis and his family. I don’t care about them, and I sure as hell don’t care about how much my brothers want to kiss their asses. I care aboutyou, Dave.” He slapped my leg.

“Sap.”

Bailey offered a weak smile, but I could tell he was hurt. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt my best friend.

“For what it’s worth, I wasn’t convinced about you and Travis for the long term. Something was off there. But Mikey?” He shook his head. “You two have something. The way you’ve talked about him since he reached out last month—and how he looked at you when I met him—it was like he kept putting his hands in his pockets to keep from touching you every five seconds.”

I cracked a smile.

“Think of the tropical couples’ vacations we could do together if I ever get my own boyfriend.”

I tried to stay logical, but it was hard not to let my tired brain run away with fantasies of tropical drinks and tiny swim shorts. If I was already picturing a future with vacations, I probably wasn’t as freaked out about the whole situation after all.

“I should talk to Mikey.” I dropped my head back on the couch.

“You should talk to Mikey.”

I glanced at my clock. “He’s probably asleep. I’ll text him in the morning.” That would give me time to put my thoughts together so I could prove to him how excited I was.

“Let me know how it goes.”

I walked Bailey out. “Thanks for always being there.”

He pulled me in for a hug. “I’m happy for you, man. Mikey seems like a great guy. You’re lucky you found each other.” I caught the undercurrent of sadness in his voice.

“Hop on Discord. We’ll find you someone too so we can start those vacations,” I said as he walked to his car. I didn’t understand how Bailey hadn’t been snatched up years ago. If I didn’t think of him like a brother, he would have made a great partner.

As always, I felt a million times better after talking it out with Bailey. Which made it extra ridiculous that I hadn’t talked to him about all the Travis shit. Then again, if I had, I probably wouldn’t have gotten close to Mikey.

As I paced, I couldn’t shake how Mikey had looked so sorry. I should text him in case he was still awake. He had a long drive tomorrow, and I didn’t want him to stay up worrying. If he was awake, maybe me texting him would help him relax.

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