Page 44 of Fractured Souls
“No.” Jamie sighs, standing up and tugging Hunter in by his hoodie then kissing him hard.
Noah stares, wide green eyes blinking. “I amsogay.” He taps his chin. “You know. I think that’s exactly what came to mind when I wrote that down. Really hot guys. Maybe some tongue next—”
“Noah, shut up.” Hunter sits down.
Bo is now looking at me. We kiss all the time, so this shouldn’t be a big deal, but why does it feel like a big deal. “You kiss meconstantly,” he says, echoing my thoughts. I ignore the confused looks of his friends. Bowen leans in and for the first time ever I feel . . . nervous. It prickles my skin. He’s right. I’ve done this a million times before, but I don’t know . . . “Cam?”
“Oh um, yeah.” I lean in and kiss him. It doesn’t feel friendly. In fact it feels very not friendly. His soft mouth presses to mine and heat flares in my gut. It feels like it did that night we kissed, the night that quite literally changed my brain chemistry. It’s been a minute, or a second, or maybe it’s been hours, but Bo finally pulls away with a wide smile.
“We all get a point.”
“Point . . .” Oh yeah, points.
Noah has the whiteboard and is writing on it, glancing at me from behind it for some reason. “Here, Jamie, you go next, and then we’ll all just go in a circle.”
“So I get to pick last,” Mark grumbles, arms folding over his chest.
“Be lucky you’re getting to pick at all.” Noah rolls his eyes. “I legally have to invite you for Hunter’s sake.”
“I’m the reason you even know Hunter! And Jamie for that matter. You’re welcome.”
“How did you two even meet?” I’m curious. These two seem like complete opposites.
“Oh, I’m so glad you asked, Cam. It’s a tale filled with romance, danger, and political intrigue,” Noah says.
Jamie takes a loud sip of his water.
“You see, I was kicked out of my house because my father is a homophobic dickhead, and Hunter—so graciously might I add—let me stay in his home.”
“It was my home first, and he literally wanted you to sleep in the yard.” Mark shakes his head.
“Then Hunter caught feelings for me, and I mean, how can I blame him? He’s been stuck in a loveless relationship for years.So Mark asked me to move out because it was affecting their relationship.”
I look at Hunter, who’s eyes are closed, as he firmly clenches his fists before pressing them into his eyes. “Oh, I was catching feelings, but they were of the choking variety.”
“Hunter, keep your fantasies to yourself. Mark is right there.” Noah says, and he shakes his head. "This is our love story. Let’s not be rude and interrupt. Anyways. Mark begged me to go to this party so I’d meet Jamie and maybe take the pressure off Hunter’s developing feelings—”
I look at Mark. “Literally didn’t want him to go,” he says. “Hunter wanted to strangle him. I thought Jamie was a piece of shit.”
“Thanks.” Jamie shakes his head.
“Then . . .” Noah gets up on the booth seat, standing on the fake leather. His hands move animatedly with his words. “I walked into the living room and this man—” He hikes his thumb toward Jamie. “Literally dropped to his knees. Love at first sight. Jaw dropped. Dick diamond hard.”
“I—” Jamie squints at Noah for a minute, his mouth open. “I didn’t drop anywhere. I wouldn’t have been able to get back up. And I wanted to fuck you, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He shakes his head. “It wasn’t love at first sight.”
“That may be the only part that’s slightly true. You were kind of obsessed with him immediately,” Hunter corrects.
“Aw, baby. So romantic.” Noah pouts his bottom lip, placing his hand on Jamie’s beanie. Then his attention is back on us. “Then I blew him.” Noah beams. “After that he called me constantly, begged me to move in with him. I finally gave in because I could see how torn Hunter was between Mark and me. I moved in and we’ve been in love ever since.”
“You know what my favorite part of that story is?” Hunter drains the rest of his drink. “How none of that actuallyhappened.” With his drink empty he looks at me. “Noah came to live with us. He annoyed the shit out of me. I wanted him to go to a cookout with Jamie to get him out of the house. They met. They hooked up. They moved in. Danced around their feelings. Got together. Broke up. Got together again, and have been making our lives hell ever since. The end.”
“You’re taking some of the whimsy out of it, Hunter,” Noah snaps, sitting back down.
Jamie shakes his head with a slight smile and raises his hand to cradle Noah’s jaw. Smoothing along the skin with his thumb, he lifts Noah’s eyes to his. “No, what happened was this. I saw you at that party and it wasn’t love, but it was something. Your soul speaks to mine. I knew I needed you in my life. Since that day you’ve become my entire world. Some days you make me want to scream into a pillow, but most days you make me the happiest person who has ever lived.” He kisses him hard.
Noah swoons against him then fixes his eyes on Mark. “You wish this was you,” he says to him.
“Oh yes. So envious,” his friend deadpans. Hunter’s arm snakes around Mark’s shoulders, pulling him in for a kiss.
