Page 10 of Strictly Curious
Jacob and Anthony broke apart, looking at each other and laughing. That was interesting, and I was curious about what their story was. Anthony gave his boyfriend a quick kiss before sitting back.
“Jacob here thought he was good at hiding the fact that he thought I was hot.” He motioned to Jacob who rolled his eyes. They leaned against each other again as a server came by, carrying a tray with glasses of ice water. He set them on the table and frowned when he realized he was one glass short.
He looked up from his light brown fringe, a playful smile graced his lips when he looked at me. This must have been the server Ava was referring to on the phone. “Well, hello there, handsome. When did you get here?” He tucked the serving tray under his arm, cocking his hip.
Ava giggled again, pointing at me. “Trevor, you gotta learn when to turn it off, hon. It’s cute that you keep trying, though.”
He rolled his eyes waving to the menu board on the wall behind him. “Can’t blame a boy for trying. The single life is getting old and everyone who comes in here seems to be paired off already. This one was by himself. Menu is on the wall, did you all decide what you want yet?” he finished by asking.
I had to admit I found Trevor attractive. He was tall and thin with messy light brown hair that fell in his eyes which he shook out of his face. Had things not changed with Tyler last night, he’d be someone I’d easily consider for a fun time. He looked good in his cafe uniform, which was comprised of black slacks that hugged him in all the right places, a white short-sleeved button-down shirt, and a bow tie. The look was completed with a little black waist apron that he pulled a notepad and pen from, staring at us expectantly to take our orders.
We all ordered different sandwiches, and I ordered an iced coffee to go with my meal. Trevor winked at me before he sauntered off to fulfill our orders. Maybe I shouldn’t have watched him as closely as I had when he disappeared into the kitchen because he popped back out a moment later before heading toward the espresso station to make my drink. Trevor knew I was watching him, putting on quite the show. He added an extra sway to his hips as he walked back to the table, dropping my coffee in front of me.
“Really, Trevor?” Ava teased. He laughed, propping a hand on his hip and cocking it to the side again.
“So, what’s the story? Am I shot down again?” he asked, biting his bottom lip and blinking his lashes at me.
I gave him a shy smile, shrugging. “Sorry man, it was a fun show, though.” Trevor deflated and his smile dropped when he turned from the table, walking away. Something about that didn’t sit well with me.
“Move, please,” I begged Ava. She gave me a confused look before she let me out of the booth. I followed Trevor around a corner. He was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed. I approached him as slowly as possible so that I didn’t startle him. “Hey, man. Don’t take it personally.”
Trevor’s eyes popped open, and his head rolled so that he could look at me. He gave me a half-hearted smile, laughing softly. “How old are you, kid?”
The question startled me but I understood why he would ask it. “I’m nineteen. How old are you?” If we were going to play this game, I might as well get to know him.
“I’m twenty-two, and I’m bent out of shape because a teenager isn’t interested.”
I frowned at the explanation for his sour mood. He was a little older, sure, but barely. It seemed odd that this affected him so much.
He hefted a sigh, pushing off the wall and approaching me. I backed into the other wall and stared at him. He set a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Maybe I’m trying too hard?”
I wasn’t sure if his question was rhetorical, but he walked away before I could answer. I stared at his retreating form as he walked back into the cafe. He seemed back to his chipper self as he helped another table. What was his story? There had to be a reason he was trying so hard.
I walked back to the booth and Ava raised her brows in question when I motioned for her to let me back into my seat. She stood, and I scooted back in. Her confusion didn’t lessen as she slid in next to me.
“So what happened?” she questioned. I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.
“He’s fine. It’s not the end of the world. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t that upset or thought we were making fun of him or something.”
Ava nodded in understanding, sipping her water from her straw. She sat up straighter when not a few moments later Trevor arrived with our sandwiches. He set them in front of everyone wordlessly, but gave me a soft smile as he left me my food.
As we ate, Jacob decided it was time to bring up our earlier conversation. “So you didn’t tell us anything. Ava speculated it was something to do with a long-time crush, but there wasn’t any more than that between you.” He bit into his sandwich and studied me. It had been nice to have the Trevor distraction but there was no dodging this now.
“Yeah, you can say it’s been a long time crush. I’ve known him forever, or it feels like it’s been that long, anyway.” I let out a sigh and set my food on the table. Until this was out, I wouldn’t get to enjoy it.
Jacob and Tony sat up and leaned into the table as if suddenly extra interested in what I had to say. “You said ‘he’. Does he know you have a thing for him? Ava made it sound like something happened.”
I let out a humorless laugh. I ran the palm of my hand down my face and sank back into the plush seat of the booth. Ava and Lucy ignored my discomfort at the scrutiny of their friends. Maybe it would help to have someone to talk to about this. Jacob and Anthony were still watching and waiting for my response.
“Something happened, yeah.” My heart rate picked up again and my skin crawled. These guys didn’t really know me, so it wasn’t like they could really judge me. “He doesn’t know everything. He didn’t even know that I liked guys until yesterday.”
Jacob and Tony shared a look, turning their attention back to me. “So how did he figure out that you liked him?” Tony asked.
I laughed because this was all insane. “He doesn’t know that I like him, but that doesn’t change the fact that something happened. He’s straight. Has always been straight anyway. He’s only ever dated girls.” My face heated because I didn’t want to give away all of his secrets. Ava may have been my cousin by blood, but she’d been his cousin too since we were ten.
“Just because he’s always dated girls doesn’t mean anything,” Tony explained. “I only ever dated women until I got together with Jacob.” But they weren’t understanding what I was saying.
“Trust me, he told me. He’d never once even considered it until he caught me in the shower getting head from a friend.”
