Page 111 of First Puck

“We were out of bacon. Sorry, I didn’t think it was going to take so long. The street was full of all those thirsty bitches who were out for their bougie coffees and shit.”

“Why didn’t you call? Or just text me something? I thought you’d left me.”

It was only after the words came out that I realized I sounded like a whiny boyfriend demanding he stayed around all the time. I felt too beaten to even correct myself. There were so many things I wanted to be with Brad, and so many things I didn’t. Lance had told me not to worry and just be myself, but Brad hadn’t liked me until now, so it seemed like ‘myself’ wasn’t enough.

“No, my phone just died, sorry.” He shook his head. “Dude, look, there’s not a single fucking chance I’m ever leaving you again. We’re going to the Wranglers together. You’re stuck with me from now on.”

He thrust a fork at me with a pleased smile, and I took it, unnerved.

“Alright, get comfy. And prepare for the best breakfast of your life.”

“Is this the same breakfast you always make?”

He paused, shrugging. “I mean, not quite. There’s an extra special ingredient.”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked between him and the plate. “What is it?”

He came in close again. “Love!” he said before he burst out laughing

My heart simmered as he easily pushed away all the hurt which had built since I woke up.

I couldn’t look at him as I adjusted myself, my back resting against the headboard as I crossed my legs, pushing the duvet down around my hips.

I’d thrown my clothes off when I came back to my room, and Brad whistled appreciatively as he ran his hungry gaze over my chest, down to my abs.

“Wow. I know I say it literally all the time, but I can’t believe I didn’t see how hot you are. Like, I thought you were handsome and all that, but your body is seriously sexy. I’ve got a semi just from looking at you.”

“How do you expect me to eat when you say stuff like that?” I groaned.

“Sorry! Okay! I’ll wait until you’ve finished to tell you how much I love you.”

I choked instantly. I kept pretending I was coughing, so I had an excuse for the shock of trying to adjust to him saying that.

I didn’t want him to see how much it meant to me, not yet. Because it could just be Brad getting excited about something new before he lost interest.

That had happened with everything else in his life—apart from hockey.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his whole face lit up, patiently waiting for me to stop choking on my own feelings.

“Okay, so…” he started as he offered me coffee, “I figure what we should do first when we go home is get everyone together—I mean family, not the school guys—and tell them we’re in love. Like, we don’t need to make a big deal out of it; I don’t want a party or anything. We’ll just tell them we’re together and then go hang out in the garage or whatever. You know, like we usually do.”

My mouth dropped open as I took the coffee from him. He just beamed at me like coming out was the easiest thing in the world.

Just because my parents knew I was gay, didn’t mean Brad’s family did. I’d asked my parents to keep it a secret for so long because I was sure I knew how everyone else in town would react.

And after years and years of fighting my feelings and being scared of everyone’s perception of me, Brad just wanted to come straight out and tell everyone with no thoughts.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t you want everyone to know how we feel about each other? I thought you’d be happy.”

“We haven’t even been together for a day!”

“Well, I don’t think we should waste any time.”

I went completely still, blinking at him.

He just said it so simply, like all the years of my struggling could have been solved if I’d just been as happy-go-lucky as him. Brad was just so positive he couldn’t see a way it would ever go wrong.

“So, you aren’t happy about it?” he asked.

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