Page 42 of Fair Catch

“I…uh,” I stammer, looking for a way out of this nightmare I just landed in. “Obviously that…I don’t…it was…not anymore. B-before, I mean.”

I’m all sorts of embarrassed, mortified, and flushed, and all I can do is hope that whatever rambling just left my mouth did something to help the situation.

From the way Hayes is looking at me, as intensely and intently as ever, I realize it most definitely didn’t. What’s worse is this little revelation might’ve made this entire night—and all the progress we’ve made as roommates—a moot point, and he could very well go straight back to loathing me because of it.

But a slow smirk pulls at his lips as he raises the beer the rest of the way to his mouth and finishes it off. Then he proceeds to floor me further by opening his mouth and saying the filthiest, most seductive thing I’ve ever heard.

“And who says you’d be the one doing the fucking, there, Kase?”

I damn near choke on my spit at the comment, and I know for a fact my face has instantly turned cherry fucking red. Every brain cell I have left is telling me to abort or combust from embarrassment on the spot, and I quickly make an attempt to turn the conversation back to him, hoping like hell he won’t heckle me too much about my blunder.

“How is it for you?” I ask, still coughing a little from the choking. “Attraction, I mean.”

The glimmer in his eyes is more than enough to know he’s debating on letting me successfully change the topic, and honestly, I think I’m due to live in embarrassment for the rest of the night.

But he surprises me for the hundredth time tonight by simply answering my question instead.

“I’m somewhat in the middle. I can look at some people and find them aesthetically attractive, and some people I don’t. Again, like Quinton. But regardless of that, there’s nothing sexual about it for me,” he affirms, circling back to his statement earlier. “Now, that’s not to say that I couldn’t form some kind of emotional connection with someone I didn’t find aesthetically attractive at first. It can grow as you become emotionally connected. That’s actually what happened with the last guy I was seeing. In the beginning, there wasn’t a whole lot that drew me to him regarding his appearance, but then we really got close and both those types of attraction sorta smacked me upside the head.”

I’m well aware I should be focusing on the things he’s currently teaching me, but my brain screeched to a fucking halt when he saidthe lastguyI was seeing.

Because…guy.

“I didn’t realize you’ve been with guys too,” I say, my stomach twisting a little with a whole new kind of nervousness. Especially after thatfucking commentthat is now making me wish someone would just take me out back and put me outta my misery.

“Like how I casually slipped that in there for your dirty little fantasies?” he asks with a wry smirk. “Demi has no influence over the gender you’re attracted to, onlyhowattraction forms. You can be bi, gay, trans, hetero, pan, whatever it may be, and still be demi.”

“Right,” I whisper.

Truthfully, I’m still stuck on theguycomment, much to his obliviousness, because he keeps on chattering away.

“Realizing I could be attracted to guys was a shock for me, and I really wasn’t expecting it. Just goes to show that there’s no timeline for discovering this kinda thing. Some people go through their entire lives without understanding themselves to the fullest. Hell, if Camille and I hadn’t broken up, it’s likely a part of myself I never would’ve realized either.”

Nodding while my heart rate finally slows down, I offer, “If Phoenix and I didn’t have our blow up last year, there’s a damn good chance I wouldn’t be learning all this right now. Regardless of if it applies to me or not.”

“Nope, you’d still be living in your old apartment with your bestie and completely missing out on the world’s greatest roommate,” he teases, smirking again. “And sexiest, apparently.”

I will myself not to blush as I mutter, “Someone thinks pretty highly of themselves.”

“I mean, I did take you out for a night of fun to cheer you up. And it was to two of my favorite, most secret spots,” he points out, a winning grin on his face. “That’s gotta earn me some brownie points in the roomie category.”

“After the stunt you pulled in the bathroom, anything is an improvement.”

“Funny, considering you’re the one who was doing all the pulling that morning.”

It comes out so casually, I almost miss it.

Almost.

Sighing, I grumble, “You’re never gonna let me forget about that, are you?”

He shrugs off-handedly, deciding that’s a good enough answer as any before nodding to my phone. “Now, pull up that app and let’s get to swiping. We’re not gonna let one ghostly asshole ruin the whole bunch.”

All I can do is stare at him while I pull out my phone and hand it over, wondering when the enigma that is Hayes Lancaster will stop surprising me, because that’s all he’s seemed to do tonight.

At every fucking turn.

Eleven

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