Page 32 of Strictly Curious
I didn’t get to finish what I was saying. “Yet every single guy you hook up with looks like him in some way. Including me. Has he figured that one out yet? Garrett, you can tell me. Is his ass as tight as mine? Does he moan prettily for you?”
I gripped my phone almost tight enough to break it. I hadn’t thought it would be easy to get the fucker to take the article down, but this was insane. “Toby, take the damn article down.”
He laughed again, and the threat was there on the tip of my tongue. I was going to beat his scrawny ass.
“No worries, Garrett. Consider the article taken down. Just admit it. You want him, and damn, dude, I don’t blame you.”
I growled as the call disconnected. The article was gone after I pulled up Toby’s social media profile. I had a feeling this wasn’t the end of the battle. He wasn’t going to make things easy for us.
When I walked back into Tyler’s room, he was awake and curled around a pillow with his phone back in hand. He must not have been able to stay asleep after I’d left. I hadn’t been gone for long but I hadn’t been quiet while arguing with Toby in the hallway.
I sat on the edge of the bed next to him and reached out my hand. He finished typing something on his phone before he tossed it down to the mattress and grabbed my palm. His warm fingers intertwined with mine and he pulled me down next to him. While I’d rather not have the pillow between us and wanted to be the one he sought comfort in, he looked relaxed.
“Maisy is confused.”
The words hung heavy between us. I couldn’t care less what his ex-girlfriend thought, but they had been friends for so long. I hadn’t told him about her messaging him earlier before taking care of the Toby issue. Calming him down had been more important.
“What did you tell her?” I asked. It would be better if I knew how we were tackling this.
“I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I told her I didn’t know what Toby was doing. That there was nothing going on. Then she said that she wouldn’t judge me if it was. She’d be more hurt if I hadn’t told her myself.”
I nodded against the pillow and chewed the inside of my cheek. It was nice that she hadn’t been freaked with the idea that he could be sleeping around with his stepbrother.
“I think—I think if you wanted to tell her, she would be a safe bet. As much as Ava gives me shit, she’s always been my safe space. I think Maisy could be that for you too. She’s never told your other secrets.”
Tyler pursed his lips and pulled the pillow into his chest tighter. He pinched his eyes closed tight, letting out a shuddery breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were glassy with unshed tears.
I reached out and rested my hand against his cheek. His skin was warm to the touch as he leaned into me. My thumb absently rubbed back and forth against the small amount of stubble on his face.
“I just don’t even know where to begin. I’m still not sure what I feel. I’ve told you that.”
“I know, but she might be able to help you navigate it.”
One tear slid free and rolled down his cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb, leaning in and placing a soft kiss against his lips. The hands that had been clutching the pillow to his chest moved to my shirt instead, holding me to him.
Tyler tried to turn my innocent kisses heated, but that wasn’t what he needed at the moment. Pulling back slightly, I nuzzled my nose against his, giving it a soft peck.
“Ty, I need you to relax, okay? I get that a lot of this is new to you. I’m doing my best to help you navigate it, but you might need someone who isn’t me to talk to. Does that make sense?”
His frown was adorable, but he nodded. He tucked his head under my chin and I yanked the pillow from between us so that I could scoot closer to him. In my ideal world I’d be his sole pillar of support, but that wasn’t realistic. We had other shit we needed to navigate, too.
Tyler
DisentanglingmyselffromGarrettthe following morning, I thought long and hard about what he’d said about Maisy. She seemed like someone that I could trust, but I also knew that could be dangerous ground since our sexual history had been a bust. Maybe it answered some questions about why I had such a hard time with her.
I still didn’t feel right identifying myself as gay. I still very much found girls attractive as I’d established back on the trail before I’d fucked up my ankle. Maybe I was just thinking about it all too much and I just needed to go with the flow. Garrett had said the label wasn’t as important, yet my brain kept getting stuck on it.
He was still sleeping as I limped my way into the bathroom, and turned on the shower and let the water warm. My reflection blinked back at me as I stared in the mirror. I had been half horrified by how I’d reacted to the stupid article yesterday. I wasn’t a weeping child, yet I’d certainly acted like one.
Once I determined the water was to the proper temperature I peeled off my boxers and climbed into the shower. I cursed when I realized the damn bandage was still wrapped around my foot. I had just reached down to take it off when the shower curtain pulled back and Garrett blinked down at me.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
I huffed, motioning to my foot and then up to the running shower. “I’m trying to get clean, and I forgot to take off the wrap.”
He grunted at my response, hooked his fingers into his briefs, and slid them down his legs. My mouth ran dry at the sight. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I’d seen him naked at this point. It held a different level of appeal. Not to mention the whole encounter from the shower back at the campgrounds was now front and center in my mind.
I awkwardly hopped to the side as Garrett climbed into the tub and closed the shower curtain. He kneeled down and instructed me to rest my back against the wall. He lifted my foot and rested it against his warm thigh and unwrapped the bandage. It didn’t feel as sore today and I hadn’t even really noticed any pain when I’d walked to the bathroom to shower.
