Page 39 of My Three Roommates

“Three scary words,” she says, only half-joking.

I take her hand in mine to lead her into the living room. I never thought I’d say this in my life, but cuddling up with Kenna on the sofa is now one of my favorite things to do. I won’t ever admit it, but she knows.

“It’s nothing scary, or at least I hope it isn’t. There’s something I need to tell you. Everyone at my job thinks I’m straight,” I blurt out.

I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. But there it is.

Kenna laughs before she realizes I’m serious. “Really? But you’re always so open about who you are. Why on you earth would you be hiding at work?”

“There’s something I never told you. I didn’t quit my last job because I got a better offer. I was let go. Not technically fired because that would be illegal, but laid off because of being gay.”

“You’re kidding,” she says. “That’s awful.”

“It was a shock. I’ve always been open my whole life, and then losing my job came right out of the blue. I was afraid the same thing could happen again, so I went into this job being very cautious. I had to climb into the closet.”

I exhale with frustration. “The easiest way to keep from slipping up was to invent a fake girlfriend. I got asked if I was seeing someone not five minutes after I started working there. I panicked, and your name came to mind, so I told everyone that I have a girlfriend named Kenna.”

She’s waiting expectantly for me to continue before she speaks up. “Is that it?”

“Pretty much,” I say. “You don’t mind? I did it long before we all got together.”

Kenna blinks at me. “Not at all. I thought you wanted to break up or something.”

I fold my arms around her. “Trust me, I’ll never want to do that. I was worried that you’d think it was creepy. Brad didn’t like it when he found out.”

“I think it’s funny. I mean, even if we hadn’t ended up together, I’d still be fine with it. I think what your other job did is horrible. I don’t understand though. Why you didn’t tell me? We’re best friends. You know you can tell me anything,” Kenna says.

“I wanted to, but I was starting to realize that I had feelings for you back then. It would’ve been hard to tell you that I was pretending you were my girlfriend at work when I was wishing it was true.”

Kenna taps at her lips. “If you were into me so long ago, then why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I never wanted to risk our friendship.” I try not to squirm in my seat. Even though this is Kenna, I hate talking about feelings. It’s not me.

“Then I decided I couldn’t stand it any longer. I was about to say something right when you met Brad. I figured I’d wait that out, but then you stayed together. I would never have wanted to get in the way of your happiness, Kenna.”

“Cody, I always liked you. If you had asked me out, I would’ve gone for it.”

“Now you tell me,” I groan.

“I honestly had no idea how you felt. But the way things have worked out now are beyond what I could’ve imagined,” she says. “I think this is better, don’t you?”

“A million times.” I toy with a strand of her hair. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Then why tell me all this now? Are you worried about your job again?”

“I wasn’t, not until yesterday. Brad came by my office instead of meeting me at the restaurant. I was panicking that the receptionist could somehow tell that he and I were together. The whole thing freaked me out. I don’t know what I would’ve done. It could’ve been disastrous.”

“So how did work go today?”

“Fine. I was on the edge of my seat worrying all morning, but no one made a single comment. I guess they just took him as a friend.”

Kenna sits back and gazes at me critically. “You know, you haven’t been quite like yourself since you got this job. I thought it was just the amount of work. But hiding who you are hasn’t been easy for you, has it?”

I think for a moment. “I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. It’s not like they were ever going to meet you. It was an innocuous lie. No one was hurt.”

“Seems like you were,” Kenna says.

“Guess so. It’s nice that now it’s not a lie. I can’t say anything about Tanner or Brad, but that’s an easier secret to keep.” I pause. “I can’t believe Brad’s adjusting to our whole new situation better than I am.”

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