Page 51 of Missing Linc
“Well, yeah. I was teasing the same way I’d tease any other guy because it’s fun to watch straight guys squirm at ‘the gay stuff.’ I didn’t actually think you are… pansexual.”
“Oh,” I reply because it’s the only thing I can say.
I can’t believe he said that. I can’t believe he’s so shocked by this. This is definitely not how I imagined this meeting going.
“You know, your teasing was part of the reason I finally faced up to my feelings for Cam,” I mumble.
Cam steps up next to me and puts his hand around my waist, and I slip mine around his shoulders.
“It was? It did?”
Ezra rubs his hand on the small of Isaac’s back.
“Are you okay?” he asks his boyfriend.
Isaac takes a beat but then turns to Ezra and nods.
“Sorry. Yes. I am.” Then he turns to me. “God, I’m sorry, Linc. I didn’t mean to sound freaked out. I’m just—”
“Surprised? Yeah, I can see that. It’s fine, dude. Itisa shock. You’re allowed to be shocked. As long…”
“As long?” Isaac asks.
“As long as that doesn’t change how you feel about me,” I tell him.
And just like that his jaw snaps shut and my friend is back.
“Don’t be a dickhead. Why would it change how I feel about you? Can you believe this idiot?” he asks Ezra.
Ezra smiles and pushes his boyfriend toward me.
“Come here, you big faggot,” Isaac shouts and wraps his hands around me to the sound of Ezra and Cam laughing.
When he pulls away, he turns to Cam with a grin and puts a hand on his shoulder.
“So all it took was a little minx like you, huh?” He laughs.
Cam chuckles with a shrug. Isaac hugs him, too.
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day this guy’s smile is real and genuine, so whatever you’re doing, keep doing it,” he says and slaps Cam’s cheek playfully a couple of times.
I pull Cam closer to me, and he squeezes his arm around my waist.
“So… lunch?” Ezra asks.
“Yes,” Cam and I say in unison.
“In or out?”
“I’ll say out only if you promise to go out like this,” I tell him.
The cheeky bastard grins.
“Deal,” he says.
“Look at you, Mr. Young. You’re all about the dick now, huh?” Isaac chuckles but puts his hands on his hips for good measure.
I roll my eyes.
