Page 26 of Outcast
“I’ll go with you,” Todd said. “We need another pitcher of beer.”
“Right, because more alcohol will make this less excruciating.” She paused. “Actually, that might be the first good idea you’ve had all night.”
“The Homecoming parade float was a good idea!”
“With me in a cheerleader’s outfit? I wasn’t even a cheerleader!”
They carried on arguing as they made their way to the front counter.
Marty leaned in. “I give them three weeks before they’re fucking over this table.”
“TMI,” I choked out.
He grinned, never one bothered by the idea of decorum. “Hey, I call it like I see it. And I see fucking in their future.”
“Oh, so you’re a psychic now,” Allison said from his other side. “Good to know.”
“Would you like to sit next to your fiancé?” he asked sweetly. “I hate to separate you lovebirds?—”
I kicked his right ankle. Allison stepped on his left foot.
“Ow,” he complained. “You two are perfect for each other. Abusive and cruel.”
“Stop feeding the rumors.”
Marty was my closest friend from high school—and one who knew that Allison and I would never get together again. He just liked to stir shit up.
He turned to Allison with a grin. “Hey, you can make out with me and put an end to those rumors right now.”
She shoved his face in my direction. “Or you can make out with Emory.”
I widened my eyes at her. What the fuck? Were we announcing I was into guys now? That was not the plan.
Marty chuckled, oblivious to my reaction. “Well played, Miss Prom Queen. I guess you’re stuck until one of you gets the balls to hook up with someone else.”
“It’s not that simple. You know her dad’s up for re-election.”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing stopping you from dating,” he said. “Ask Sasha before she gives in to the big jock energy. She crushed on you hard all through high school.”
I grimaced. Nothing against Sasha, but she was not what interested me right now. But how did I explain my tastes had changed from prom queens to tatted-up bad boys on the edge of town?
It didn’t make any sense—even to me.
That wasn’t who I was. I wasn’t a rebel. I was the former class president. The MBA graduate. The vice president at the bank. The next logical step was a wife, then a baby.
And yet…Gray’s face loomed in my mind, a reminder of just how much my sexuality had derailed that plan.
Not that I couldn’t get married eventually, right? I just had to explore this side of myself, resolve the curiosity, and then I could get back to being the Emory Gold everyone knew and loved.
Todd returned with a pitcher of beer. Sasha followed, carrying two large pizzas by herself. Marty jumped up to help her, moving so quickly I thought he might sprain something.
I exchanged a look with Allison. Perhaps Marty’s psychic prediction was actually projection. He clearly wanted to jump Sasha’s bones.
I leaned over. “You seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Uh-huh.” Allison sent me an evil smile. “Should we play matchmaker so everyone starts gossiping about them instead of us?”
I chuckled. “You’re a genius.”
