Page 136 of Catch Me
He lifted Brooks’ arm off of him and sat forward, looking a little uncomfortable. “Why?”
“Just because.”
“If you’re not gonna tell me, then I don’t want to talk. Last time I saw you, you were hostile.”
I bounced on my toes and looked at the ceiling. There were too many damn people here and they were all watching me. Having this conversation with Til was bad enough, but I didn’t think I’d be able to avoid involving everyone else. They were all codependent.
“You told me to tell you when...” I trailed off, biting the inside of my cheek.
Til’s eyes widened. “Uh, I told you to call me, not show up at my place.”
“I’m in town and this is important.”
“Have you figured it out?”
I looked at the crowd and let out a frustrated growl. “Yes.”
“Figured what out?” West asked, obviously trying to push my buttons.
Fuck my life.
“I’m gay.”
Blank stares all around. That was just great.
Kai smirked. “Welcome to the club. Why do we care about this?”
“I . . .”
“They might act like dicks,” Til began, “but if you’re looking for help, there’s literally no better place than with all of us. Our stories are varied and you could see yourself in some of them.”
Nodding slowly, I wrapped my arms around myself. “I slept with Travis.”
West choked on his churro, Linc spit out his beer, Kai was way too entertained, Sen was a deer in headlights, and Brooks looked shocked for the first time since I’d met him. Til pulled his legs up to sit crisscross, then patted the seat beside him.
“Do I have to?”
“Yup,” he replied. “Since this is what finally made you reevaluate your entire existence, you’re going to tell us every detail.”
“And he’s our friend,” Sen added. “Did you hurt him?”
I sat down and my gaze fell to the floor. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
*****
After I begrudgingly explained the entire situation and heard some threats from the more unhinged of the group, I downed a really strong mixed drink that Til made.
“You’ve known him for two months,” he pointed out.
“How long did you know Brooks before you were interested in him?”
“Five seconds.”
Brooks smiled, then bit his tongue. “I was interested in Tilian before I met him, so there’s that.”
Linc smirked at West. “I thought he was hot the first time I met him, but it took me, like, six months to see him as more than a cockroach.”
His boyfriend scowled. “Don’t you dare bring up my roach trauma.”
