Page 148 of In Plain Sight

“Trust me when I say you don’t want to know,” I cut in.

Cass studied me for a moment, then nodded. “Roger that.”

Dev pulled out his phone and checked something. “Jesse and Sebastian are here,” he said to no one in particular.

“I’ll go let them in,” Cass spoke up. “Let you weirdos finish whatever you were talking about.”

Luka glanced at me, his expression tight.

I tried to keep my emotions off my face and project calm to him, even though my nerves had been battering the hell out of my stomach since we got there.

We decided to tell everyone right away instead of dragging it out and waiting until the last minute. Waiting would give us a chance to chicken out, and this wasn’t really something you dropped on people at the end of a party when they were about to head home.

Jesse and his boyfriend were the last to arrive. It was now or never.

Luka and I turned our attention back to the conversation, which had thankfully shifted away from tongue texture.

I tried to follow what people were talking about, but it seemed like there were three separate conversations going on, and I’d missed the start of all of them. Instead of trying to catch up, I greeted Jesse and Sebastian, only half aware of the conversations around me, and focused on not freaking out.

There was no right time to do this, and waiting for the perfect segue would only prolong things.

Instead, I waited until there was a break in the conversation.

“So, um,” I started when everyone fell silent for a few beats. “I wanted to talk to you guys about something.”

There were only nine people in the room, but it felt like I was standing in front of a massive crowd with how bad my nerves were right then.

“Or not really talk to you about something, more like say something. Or explain something,” I babbled like a moron.

“Is everything okay?” Dev asked, his face full of concern.

“I’ve never heard you talk like that.” Asa studied me closely. “You don’t babble or stumble over your words, ever. You only talk when you’re fully in control and know what you want to say.”

“I’m definitely not in full control now.” I tried to smile at Asa, but it probably looked more like I’d smelled something foul. He was right. One of my many coping mechanisms was to shut up when I felt like my words weren’t coming out right or I wasn’t sure what to say. It avoided unnecessary conflict and embarrassment. Two things my introverted self hated.

“But are you okay?” Nate asked, echoing Dev’s question.

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “It’s just… I guess I kind of have an announcement.”

Luka slipped his hand into mine. We agreed that I’d do the talking since I’d known everyone longer, but even after spending hours running through this moment in my head and practicing what I’d say, I was flubbing it at every turn.

I held his hand tight, grateful he was taking the initiative and helping me out. We’d be here until New Year at the rate I was going.

“Wait,” Isaac said, his gaze flicking between our hands and our faces. “Are you two…”

I nodded, glancing at Luka. His cheeks were a bit pink, but that was the only outward sign that he was probably internally panicking like me.

“Really?” Cass looked between us.

“Yeah,” I muttered.

“How long have you been…” Dev glanced at his brother, who looked just as perplexed as he did.

“Officially, just over a month.” Luka squeezed my hands so hard my fingers cracked.

“And unofficially?” Asa asked.

Out of everyone, he was the only person who didn’t seem to be in shock.

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