Page 75 of Lust

“Going by the good mood you’ve been in the past few weeks, I like him already.”

I can’t help grinning, a big, goofy grin, the sort only Luke can put on my face.

And really, it’s nice having this kind of conversation with Mom, when she’s healthy and in good spirits. Reminds me how far we’ve come from the bullshit Dad put us through.

*

“You guys gonnamake out as soon as I leave?” Matteo asks as he packs extra clothes into his bookbag.

Luke scoops some pad thai out of his container with chopsticks. “You think we’reonlygonna make out?” he asks before taking a bite, which makes Matteo laugh.

“Knew I liked this guy.” Matteo has quickly warmed up to Luke, and even now, on a Tuesday night, I know he’s made plans so we can have our space.

“You can stay, though,” I say.

“So you guys have to creep over to the showers and sneak around? Please. No. Besides, I’m really into this new girl, Lena. She’s a lot of fun, so for the same reason Luke would rather be over here, I’d rather be with her. And I don’t need to be around you now that I know about these mystical powers you have…” I tense up, thrown by the comment, before he goes on, “…to sway the straights into needing it up the ass.”

“What—I did not ever say that,” I tell Luke, hoping he knows I wasn’t going around blabbing about our private conversations. And especially not anything to do with powers. Or him bottoming.

Luke chuckles. “Relax. When you went downstairs to grab the Asian fusion, I may have mentioned I thought I was straight before I met you. But now I know I’m definitely not.”

“You don’t have to call your bi hookupStraight Boyin secret anymore,” Matteo says with a wink.

So clearly Luke told him about the nickname too.

“He’s not a hookup,” I snap.

“Ooh, careful,” Matteo says. “I was just gauging where you’re at, but you need to cool it down around this guy, or he’s gonna know you caught some serious feels.”

“Shut up,” I say, but Luke’s smirking.

Like he doesn’t already know.

“Okay, I’m done ragging on you,” Matteo says. “I’m gonna head out. If I stick around much longer, you might use your evil powers to rope me into a threesome.”

We all laugh, and he tosses his bag over his shoulder, leaving Luke and me to ourselves.

“You told him about Straight Boy?”

He shrugs. “Just as a funny thing. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be uncomfortable with that.”

“I’m not,” I assure him. “Just not something I thought you’d be chatting with Matteo about. When he said that about magical powers, I was worried I’d said something—”

“Oh, trust me, I knew what you were thinking, and I was trying to psychically project to you not to blurt anything out.”

I let out a nervous chuckle. “Well, I like that you and Matteo get along. Wish Alexei was this cool about us hanging at your place.”

“Guess I’m more likable than you,” Luke says with a shrug. “Or maybe it has something to do with when you were an asshat to me during those pickup games.”

“Yeah, but Alexei and I have always been cool with each other. We’ve hung out because of the games, and also had some classes together. It’s weird suddenly being on his shit list.”

“He’s nice when you come over.”

“He’spolite,” I clarify. “But he feels off, and like he wants to go somewhere else, and not in the way Matteo is trying to get out of our hair.”

“I’m confident that if you guys hang out enough, after a while, he’ll get used to you again. And he’ll realize you’re really good to me.”

“I am really good to you,” I say, which makes him smile, but just as quickly it fades and he groans.

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