Page 23 of Stick By Me

“You’re not a full-blown fag, you’re bi.” I rubbed my forehead. What the fuck just came out of my mouth? “I’m sorry, that was stupid. Your father shouldn’t have said that.” I ran my gaze over the table, then the floor. What were we doing here? “I don’t want to be um…I don’t want to be gay.” So, that was the truth of it, and I was still attracted to women. Okay, when Archer wasn’t around, I was attracted to women.

He stared at me, hanging his mouth open. “It’s not a choice and you’re not gay either.” He planted his hand on my knee. “You’re not full-blown gay, you’re bi.” He sniggered. “Right? Or are you?”

My gaze found his. “I…yeah, I’m bi.” Or was I? Around him, it felt like maybe Iwasgay. “You’re confusing the shit out of me.” I swallowed hard. What would it be like to let my heart go? Would I fall in love with him? Or were my feelings based in lust? Picking up my beer, I downed it, letting the buzz of the alcohol calm my racing thoughts.

He sank back into his chair, studying me. “Let’s hook up. But not tonight. I want a real date first.”

Widening my eyes, my heart flipped in my chest. “Y-you want a date? With me?” I glanced at my beer glass. I was supposed to drive us home, but damn, I needed another one.

“Yes, then I get to show you what it’s like to date a guy and not just hook up with one, and we’ll see if hooking up will get the desire we have for each other out of our systems. If it works,then we can go back to being friends. Deal?” He quirked the corner of his mouth.

“Deal.” I held my hand out. What the hell did I have to lose?

Shaking my hand, his smirk widened. “It’ll have to be in two weeks though. We have away games next weekend in fucking Alaska.” He choked out a laugh.

“Alaska?” I lifted my brows. That seemed so far away, in time and in distance. My chest twinged and I rubbed the heel of my hand over it. Was it possible I already had feelings for him and not just in the carnal sense?

“Yeah, we play the Nanooks in Fairbanks. Two games, the usual.” He tilted his head. “I have a shit ton of schoolwork to get done before we go and then there’s practice.” He bit the side of his lower lip. “We can stay in touch though?”

“So, we’d have a date a few weekends before Thanksgiving. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I turned my empty beer glass on the table. He was probably heading back home for the holidays.

“We have games that weekend, so we’re all staying in town and me and the squad are cooking turkey.” He eyed me. “Why, you thinking of inviting me to meet your parents?” A soft chuckle rumbled out of him, and he sipped his drink.

“I, I don’t know. My mom usually makes a big dinner, and we get together with Remy’s family, but his mom is visiting his sister this year, so it’s just us.” Where was I going with this? “Would you want to come over?” My heart raced as I watched him, thinking on my invitation.

“Let’s see how the date goes.” He hung his head. “You’re not out to anyone, remember?”

I scratched my cheek. Maybe this was a bad idea. I was so messed up. “But if we’re just friends?—”

“Leo, let’s see how the date goes.” He squeezed my knee. “You okay to drive me home?”

My gaze snapped to him. “Yeah. You want to go now?” And then I wouldn’t see him for two weeks? My chest pinched.

Nodding, he said, “It’s been a long day and I’m kind of tired.”

“Sure, but let’s go and say goodbye to everyone.” I stood up.

After sayingour goodbyes and leaving Jonah to enjoy the man he’d met at the bar, I drove Archer to his house in my Infiniti in mostly silence. Had I made him angry by bringing up Thanksgiving and thinking we’d still be friends? I was usually a pretty level-headed guy, but he turned me into a blithering idiot sometimes.

His phone, sitting in the cupholder of my center console, directed me into a neighborhood of older homes, close to campus, all larger craftsman-style bungalows. “This isn’t too bad of a neighborhood.” I pulled to the curb and peered at a sprawling, single story brick home with a small front porch. Light spilled out of a large front window next to the door. “Looks like someone’s still up.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the guys are looking over game footage and strategizing.” He sighed, then twisted in his seat to face me.

“Listen, I feel sort of stupid about asking you over for Thanksgiving, you know, given the situation.” I rested my hand on the center console. “I don’t know what it is about you?—”

Leaning over, he clutched the back of my head and pressed his lips to mine, then slid his tongue inside my mouth, claiming me fully.

I drowned in his kiss, chasing his tongue with my own, my cock sparking to life. Oh God, how I wanted him. I slanted my mouth over his, kissing him again and again, the taste of whiskey and coke still on his tongue. Cupping his cheek, a moan rumbled out of me.

He whimpered and squirmed closer to me, almost crawling over the center console, the kisses becoming needy. As he brokethe kisses, he panted and fell back into his seat. “Fuck, Leo. That was um…”

“The best kiss I’ve ever had.” I adjusted my cock away from my damn zipper. “That’ll give me something to think about until our date in two weeks.” I raked my teeth over my lower lip. Two weeks were going to feel like a lifetime.

He dipped his head, then focused on me with a sly smile. “Yeah, that’s what I was going for. Just a little taste.” Leaning in, he kissed my cheek. “See you. Think about where you want to go.” He jumped out of my car, and jogged up to his front door, then ducked inside his house.

“Fuck me.” I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling of my car. I had so much to unpack with all this. Maybe I’d grow a backbone and tell Axel and Remy about me? Naw, not yet. I had to be sure about Archer first. No point in disrupting the queer balance in my family before then.

CHAPTER EIGHT

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