Page 108 of Caught Stealing

“Funny, seeing as you rival me in notches onyourbedpost.”

“Cool it. Both of you,” Theo says, his gaze snapping between the two of us before landing on me. “So if you don’t remember, how did you find out?”

I stare at him. “You’re the one who told me.”

His eyebrows might as well hit the ceiling. “When did I—”

“At a gas pump somewhere near the Illinois and Kentucky border.”

From the look on his face, the lightbulb has just flicked on. “Oh, shit.”

“This is getting good,” Cam says as he reaches back into the bowl of popcorn for another handful.

“I know,” Oakley muses, and I don’t miss the smirk on his lips as he pops a kernel in his mouth. “Good thing Theo got snacks.”

I roll my eyes, ignoring the two assholes sitting here, and ask, “So you wanna tell me how you knew, but I didn’t?”

“You mean apart from you being obliterated?” he asks with a scoff. “It’s because I saw you, jackass. I was the one he was talking to before you so rudely interrupted, all so you could slam him against the wall and make out with him.”

“Damn,” Oakley mutters under his breath. “That’s ballsy, even for you, Hold.”

Uh, yeah. I’d say so.

My attention shifts back to Theo. “Then why didn’t you say anything the next morning?”

Theo shifts in his seat, and for the first time all night, he looks a little uncomfortable.

“I didn’t know you blacked out. None of us did.” Theo glances over at Cam and Oakley, both of whom have sobering expressions on their faces. “And to be honest, man…if you wanted to forget that night, we weren’t about to make you remember it.”

I should be grateful for friends and roommates who’d look out for me. Who’d let me chase my demons away in peace and without judgment. It’s the kind of friendship I never thought I’d find coming to college. But if I’d have known this information six months ago, who knows where this fucked-up situation between Kason, Phoenix, and I would be.

And that makes it really hard to feel anything except frustration.

Oakley lets out a low whistle as he settles back in his seat, wincing when his shoulder injury twinges slightly. “Well, this certainly explains the cock-blocking you received earlier this year.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I retort, but the snark doesn’t quite hit the way it’s meant to.

“Okay, so don’t kill me, but I still don’t see the problem here,” Cam says slowly.

My hands rake through my hair. “The problem is Phoenix doesn’t want Kason to find out.”

“And you do?” Theo asks.

I nod. “I’ve wanted to since the beginning, but I agreed to the rules Phoenix laid down for me, so it feels like my hands are tied.”

Camden frowns. “So why wouldn’t you just tell Kason yourself? Like a double secret?”

“You can be so thick sometimes, Cam,” Theo mutters with a shake of his head. “Phoenix and Kason have been best friends for half their life. So is it really so difficult to understand that Phoenix is keeping it from Kason because he doesn’t want to hurt him or risk losing his friendship over a dude?” His eyes shift to me. “Am I close?”

Spot-fucking-on, actually.

“Add in the fact that all the lying he’s been doing to his best friend is tearing him apart, then yeah. You’re close.” My head hangs, and I drop it to my hands. “I didn’t know this would happen. But the whole time I was supposedlywithKason, I felt this pull to Phoenix. It was magnetic, and I couldn’t explain it, let alone stop it. Couldn’t keep myself from wanting him, despite knowing full-well the situation I’d be putting the both of them in by acting on it. And now, I think it’s too late. We’re in too deep.” Swallowing hard, I fight the emotion that might as well be suffocating me. “I’m the rift between them, and if it’s big enough for him to lose Kason, I don’t think Phoenix will forgive me.”

Theo cocks his head and asks a question I honestly hadn’t even thought of.

“But what about you, and what you want?”

“I…I don’t want to lose Phoenix,” I answer truthfully. “But I can’t keep going on like this either. I can’t keep watching as the guilt eats him alive.”

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